Rob Walker

Postcards from Wherever TAoN No. 195: A TAoN mindset takes on the Uninteresting Olympics. Plus a new (Australian!) Icebreaker, and more

I love these ideas! How to make a crowded place special, how to make a deserted urban walk into a fun mind game. (I do it on Tube trains.) @notrobwalker.bsky.social robwalker.substack.com/p/postcards-... #writingcommunity #writingtips #writinglife #skywriters

Mystery Lessons TAoN No. 194: A rewarding form of imaginative attention. And more

Mysteries are everywhere. We should always be asking questions. Like this - @notrobwalker.bsky.social robwalker.substack.com/p/mystery-le... #writinglife #authorlife #creativity #writingcommunity #skywriters

Robot meets bollard. Nothing beats the #WorldBollardAssociation

AWAKEN YOUR SENSES WITH US LEADING UP TO OUR BIG WRITE OUT EVENT IN OCTOBER TODAY, INSPIRED BY ROB WALKERS BOOK "THE ART OF NOTICING"... TAKE 5 MINUTES TO LOOK AT YOUR WINDOW EITHER AT WORK, IN YOUR CLASSROOM OR EVEN AT HOME. STUDY THE VIEW AND JOT DOWN ANY MOVEMENT. WRITE DOWN THREE THINGS YOU HAVE NEVER NOTICED BEFORE IN DETAIL. SHARE WITH US YOUR FINDINGS USING #WRITEOUT

The first writing prompt - by @mrsablund.bsky.social - as welcome invitation for the coming #writeout in October is all about noticing, and is inspired by Rob Walker's @notrobwalker.bsky.social post: Get Out (robwalker.substack.com/p/get-out)

Learn more about Write Out: writeout.nwp.org
#EduSky

Why we hate dynamic pricing All sorts of companies seem excited about the potential to use AI to set prices. There’s only one problem—consumers hate it.

Some companies, like fast food and airlines, like the idea of #AI dynamic pricing, but it just sounds like gouging to many customers (and voters), explains @notrobwalker.bsky.social

www.fastcompany.com/91382156/why... #commerce

YouTube video by JansLoveShack The Toys .......A Lovers Concerto

@jimderogatis.bsky.social Hey there, regarding that terrific Le Snobs track, sounds like their take on The Toys' "Lover's Concerto." Love the show! www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmJ1...

GREAT story!

That Dropped Call With Customer Service? It Was on Purpose. Endless wait times and excessive procedural fuss—it’s all part of a tactic called “sludge.”

I wrote about my car, our collective sanity and the state of Fuck It. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Augmented Reality Offers a New Perspective on Urban Planning - Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Emerging technologies are allowing planners to share their ideas in whole new ways, from immersive bus tours to digital libraries.

"AR is at heart a new way of using public spaces by adding digital layers to them, potentially raising questions about how such content (commercial and otherwise) should be overseen or regulated."
New City Tech column for @landpolicy.bsky.social
www.lincolninst.edu/publications...

NONSENSE POLL No. 8: Choose one

1️⃣ Frodo
2️⃣ Fredo

📊 Show results

7 partners leave Willkie Farr, firm that made Trump deal, for Cooley, which fought him The moves add to an ongoing exodus from law firms that made deals with President Donald Trump’s administration.

(After this closed, Willkie, another firm that cut a "deal," lost seven partners to a firm that didn't.)

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Law firms have a new way to attract clients and talent: Stand up to Trump A showdown with President Trump has turned into a branding moment for some of the largest law firms—whether they like it or not.

How are big law firms' responses to Trump orders affecting their brands? This week's Branded for @fastcompany.com

www.fastcompany.com/91350094/big...

Bookshelf: Spring 2025 Part of a seasonal roundup of book reviews on buildings, landscapes, and cities, featuring titles of interest to Places editors and contributing critics.

Spring books roundup out from @placesjournal.bsky.social includes my short review of "A Natural History of Empty Lots," a series of meditations on learning to see, interrogate, and appreciate the undeveloped land that’s tucked into and around urban spaces. placesjournal.org/article/book...

“Bookshelf: Spring 2025” includes contributions from an array of critics: Belmont Freeman, Kathryn Firth, Hubert Murray, @i-santoyoorozco.bsky.social, Simon Sadler, @jeremytill.bsky.social, Virginie Drujon-Kippelen, @notrobwalker.bsky.social, Anna Georas Santos, Joshua Mabie, and Regan Good.

Pride Month is looking very beige this year The rainbow-brand logos disappeared from social media this June, as some companies have gotten quieter about support for the LGBTQ+ community.

Pride Month is looking very beige this year
Today's Branded column for @fastcompany.com
www.fastcompany.com/91347014/pri...

Travelogue: Greek everyday solutions to common problems - an orange book with a postcard of a donkey in a straw hat duct taped to the cover

A picture of a window low to the street with two broken car mirrors under it. The opposite page says: Surveilance system Discarded car mirrors The window being at street level requires some precautions to be taken. Whether to protect any passersby from a sudden opening of the window, or to be used as a surveillance device, protecting the housekeeper from unwanted visitors. However, it seems that these mirrors cover both needs.

Found a book @notrobwalker.bsky.social would like in Athens

Senior Fellow Anthony Flint, author of "Mayor’s Desk: 20 Conversations with Local Leaders Solving Global Problems," and @notrobwalker.bsky.social, author of "City Tech: 20 Apps, Ideas, and Innovators Changing the Urban Landscape," co-moderated.

That DOES look interesting!

Why Trump’s ‘little problem’ with Apple could be a big challenge Apple is caught between a $3,000 iPhone and a hard place. Can Tim Cook negotiate his way out of this tariff mess?

Why Trump turned on Apple -- and what Tim Cook might do about it.

Branded for @fastcompany.com

www.fastcompany.com/91342820/why...

Living the Slop Life

This is well done, by @emmagoldberg.bsky.social
Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/s...

How long can brands like Walmart really 'eat the tariffs'? Even as Trump lashes out at Walmart, more than half of U.S. companies polled say they will have to raise prices to cope with tariffs.

As Trump berates companies to "eat the tariffs," big brands are left to thread the needle of keeping investors informed of risks—while avoiding hostile publicity from the White House.
New Branded column for @fastcompany.com
www.fastcompany.com/91339534/how...

Curiosity & Choosing to Be Optimistic, with Kevin Kelly I think of choosing to be curious as acting on the idea that there is opportunity in the unknown -- a very optimistic enterprise. Kevin Kelly, a man of many passions and pursuits, is a self-described ...

“I’m not trying to denigrate the scale of our problems. I’m not trying to say they are smaller than we think. I’m saying our capacity to solve problems is much larger than we think.” @kevinkelly.bsky.social

The intersection of curiosity & choosing to be optimistic.

lynnborton.com/2025/05/22/c...

Sky Before Screen An easy (right?) morning ritual. Plus The Heard

What a delight to find myself mentioned by the wonderful @notrobwalker.bsky.social , who shares my appreciation on @menkasanghvi.bsky.social's mention of @sophiehowarth.com 's "Sky Before Screen" -- that's a curiosity chain if ever there were one! open.substack.com/pub/robwalke...

Companies are turning Trump's tariffs into a marketing opportunity Tariffs have left companies reeling. But many are using this moment to tout their brands—and sell as much as possible.

It's the promotional occasion nobody asked for: How trade-war peril became a marketing hook. Latest Branded column for @fastcompany.com

www.fastcompany.com/91329858/com...

Can the Tesla brand be saved? We’re about to see the extent of the damage to Tesla caused by global outrage directed at Elon Musk and DOGE.

Replacing Elon Musk as CEO of Tesla makes sense for the brand. "...given how singularly the Musk personal brand is intertwined with Tesla’s, the most obvious solution would be to get some daylight between the two," writes @notrobwalker.bsky.social.

www.fastcompany.com/91313599/can...

NONSENSE POLL NO. 7: Choose one

1️⃣ Netherlands
2️⃣ Neanderthals

📊 Show results

NONSENSE POLL No. 6. Part of a series. Choose one.

1️⃣ Cumberbatch
2️⃣ Humperdinck

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It's Taco Tuesday -- Monday-style

NONSENSE POLL No. 5. Part of a series. Choose one.

1️⃣ Capote
2️⃣ Chipotle

📊 Show results

NONSENSE POLL No. 4. Part of a weekly series. Choose one.

1️⃣ Founder
2️⃣ Bounder

📊 Show results