It’s difficult for me to say this, because I know it’s a practice that’s dear to a number of people who are dear to me, but in 2026 it is my *strong* sense that the discourse and practice of design fiction has failed to open up any particularly notable volume of social space in which to explore. I’m not even sure it’s proven its worth as corporate futuring. (I’d be delighted to hear of your counterexamples, but I really can’t think of any.)
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
mastodon
4.5.8
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
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Joined October 31, 2022
Lifepod, the podcast about taking care of ourselves in a world on fire:
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
17h ago
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
19h ago
[holding my tongue, if just barely]
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
1d ago
Here’s an irony: there is, within easy biking/public transit distance of me, a space that superficially seems to fulfill a lot of my criteria for an autonomous, convivial, noncommercial counterinstitution. This space fosters (a kind of) community. It supports the free exchange of knowledge (of a sort). It even hosts a weekly, no-cost dinner that, so far as I know, is open to all comers, and that has been running for years.
You think, well, we need spaces like this, right? Both strategically and simply socially? But every time I’ve been in there, there’s been such an overwhelming tang of boyzone that I’m immediately repulsed. This space is actively repulsive to me. It’s a vivid demonstration that you get that one thing wrong, and no good can come of the project, whatever else you get right. I may raise the topic on a forthcoming Lifepod episode.
You think, well, we need spaces like this, right? Both strategically and simply socially? But every time I’ve been in there, there’s been such an overwhelming tang of boyzone that I’m immediately repulsed. This space is actively repulsive to me. It’s a vivid demonstration that you get that one thing wrong, and no good can come of the project, whatever else you get right. I may raise the topic on a forthcoming Lifepod episode.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
1d ago
Either this is as gorgeous and wonderful and inspiring as it facially appears to be, or one of you will come along in thirty seconds to tell me why it isn’t, and that I should be ashamed to post it.
Please, please let it be the former.
https://nodestar.net/
Please, please let it be the former.
https://nodestar.net/
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
1d ago
@pjw For the same reason I wouldn’t say “for all intensive purposes,” or refer to the human population of a place as its “populous,” i.e. because I prefer not to commit patent illiteracies? Since when does correct usage require justification?
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
1d ago
@pjw “da Vinci” is not his name. It only means “of” or “from the town of Vinci.” He is properly referred to as “Leonardo.”
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
4d ago
@alberto_cottica @flyhigh ☝️
It’s my inner Italian insisting on the proprieties, I suppose. I was reading “Hyperion” (don’t ask me why) and dude referred to “Da Vinci University” and I like to threw the book across the room.
It’s my inner Italian insisting on the proprieties, I suppose. I was reading “Hyperion” (don’t ask me why) and dude referred to “Da Vinci University” and I like to threw the book across the room.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
5d ago
One of my pettest peeves: when people refer to “da Vinci.”
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
5d ago
A dude walked by wearing an “antifascist O)))” patch. I must be in the right place.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
5d ago
RE: https://kolektiva.social/@danmcquillan/116419355759125658
You may not know you need this in your life, but trust me: you do.
You may not know you need this in your life, but trust me: you do.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
5d ago
I’ve got to give Villeneuve this much: there’s a scene in “Dune: Part II” where Chani and her closest friends get into an argument with Stilgar and the more devout southern Fremen, and it is literally the only scene I can think of in all of science-fiction cinema where I felt like I was in the presence of a genuine ethnicity, a culture, a language and a structure of feeling.
Even his Imperium, with its barely-alluded-to complexity of Landsraad, Houses, CHOAM and Guild, feels like a generic Galactic Empire. But the Fremen onscreen feel like *a people*. It’s a real achievement.
Even his Imperium, with its barely-alluded-to complexity of Landsraad, Houses, CHOAM and Guild, feels like a generic Galactic Empire. But the Fremen onscreen feel like *a people*. It’s a real achievement.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
6d ago
(Holding off on shipping this episode for a few days, as on a first listen-through it needs a rewrite.)
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 15, 2026
Teaser.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 15, 2026
@JMMaok I think the difference is that for that cohort, there was still a distinction between performance and private life.
Influencers have subjected themselves to the Ballardian transformation, by way of which there’s little to no real interiority, and the entire inner life is everted and made available for public consumption.
Of course this is the limit case – I don’t suggest that in most cases content consumers are privy to the unmediated, unperformed moment-to-moment self. But someone like Clavicular seems to me not to have much going on beyond the raw membrane turned inside-out.
Influencers have subjected themselves to the Ballardian transformation, by way of which there’s little to no real interiority, and the entire inner life is everted and made available for public consumption.
Of course this is the limit case – I don’t suggest that in most cases content consumers are privy to the unmediated, unperformed moment-to-moment self. But someone like Clavicular seems to me not to have much going on beyond the raw membrane turned inside-out.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 15, 2026
@cyberlyra It’s the ecosystem, right? People who mold their life choices around the algo, yes, but also everyone who chooses to consume that “content.” (Don’t get me started on the closely-associated concept of “content creators.”)
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 15, 2026
@Talia WINNER WINNER CHIKN DINNER
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 15, 2026
@Talia Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 15, 2026
Very, very little challenges my practice in this life so much as the concept and existence of “influencers.” I find myself, often enough, thinking objectively vile thoughts like “All influencers should die,” and very nearly giving voice to those thoughts.
I think it’s worth thinking about what torques me so much about other people’s choices, when those choices are manifestly their own business. But it’s also true that I have to live in the world woven of many such choices, and I don’t particularly like it.
I think it’s worth thinking about what torques me so much about other people’s choices, when those choices are manifestly their own business. But it’s also true that I have to live in the world woven of many such choices, and I don’t particularly like it.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 13, 2026
@abolisyonista So far the US is concerned, anyway, in many cases our immigrant ancestors were running from cultures and homelands that meant to do them death.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 07, 2026
@jeromedenis @quota_atypique willdo! thanks!
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 07, 2026
@jeromedenis @quota_atypique This looks great. Can you have the publisher send me a copy?
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 07, 2026
I’ve been thinking more about what made the Yom Kippur War bit of “Maintenance” such uncomfortable reading.
It isn’t simply the neutral, red force v blue force narration of the conflict, when one of those forces is the IDF. It’s the frankly retrograde way Brand frames his analysis, which, in just about so many words, pivots on the notion that “shame is the overwhelming concern of the Arab.”
The Egyptian Army’s failures may well have been down to a culture of information-hoarding designed to prop up the social status of the knowledgeable party, and in which the class divide between officer ranks and enlisted meant the former could literally not be seen to get their hands dirty. But if want to make that assertion, in 2026 I think it’s on you to find sources establishing evidence supporting it from *within* the culture, and not rely on imperialist accounts not far removed from something T.E. Lawrence might have seen floating around the Arab Bureau in Cairo in 1915. It’s just gross.
It isn’t simply the neutral, red force v blue force narration of the conflict, when one of those forces is the IDF. It’s the frankly retrograde way Brand frames his analysis, which, in just about so many words, pivots on the notion that “shame is the overwhelming concern of the Arab.”
The Egyptian Army’s failures may well have been down to a culture of information-hoarding designed to prop up the social status of the knowledgeable party, and in which the class divide between officer ranks and enlisted meant the former could literally not be seen to get their hands dirty. But if want to make that assertion, in 2026 I think it’s on you to find sources establishing evidence supporting it from *within* the culture, and not rely on imperialist accounts not far removed from something T.E. Lawrence might have seen floating around the Arab Bureau in Cairo in 1915. It’s just gross.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 06, 2026
@dahukanna @debcha The table of types of corrosion was admittedly pretty neat, though. : . )
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 06, 2026
@dahukanna @debcha That was far and away the best material in the book – far more valuable to me than another retelling of the tired Kalashnikov v. Stoner story, or a long bit that could have been boiled down to “sometimes I search YouTube for repair instructions.”
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 06, 2026
@debcha My sense is that he’s surrounded himself with a tight, exclusively male knot of colleagues of many decades’ standing – G Dyson, B Eno, K Kelly – whose rather groupthinky take on what’s germane circumscribes his worldview, and whose banalities he therefore accords far too much weight to. And that has the effect of squeezing out voices and perspectives that knot cannot perceive, recognize and parse. The book is much the poorer for it.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 06, 2026
And then…that’s it. The book kind of just *ends*, without even so much as a STEWART BRAND WILL RETURN IN “RUST IS FOREVER.” (Maybe this is what comes of so prominently labeling the book “Part One”?)
“Maintenance” never quite recaptures the verve of its first section, on the great solo circumnavigators of 1968-1969. It’s weirdly uneven from that point onward, taking in the well-trod (Kalashnikov’s AK-47 v. Stoner’s M16), the interesting but deeply uncomfortable (a long, laudatory bit on the IDF’s improvisational genius in the Yom Kippur War, as opposed to the ostensibly culturally-determined weaknesses of the Egyptian military), and the head-scratchingly weak (you can learn how to fix anything from YouTube! and buy all the parts you need from Amazon!).
You don’t need this book. If you expect to come away from it with the kind of reorienting insights “How Buildings Learn” dispensed on just about every one of its pages, you’ll be disappointed. And you’ll wonder where all the women went.
“Maintenance” never quite recaptures the verve of its first section, on the great solo circumnavigators of 1968-1969. It’s weirdly uneven from that point onward, taking in the well-trod (Kalashnikov’s AK-47 v. Stoner’s M16), the interesting but deeply uncomfortable (a long, laudatory bit on the IDF’s improvisational genius in the Yom Kippur War, as opposed to the ostensibly culturally-determined weaknesses of the Egyptian military), and the head-scratchingly weak (you can learn how to fix anything from YouTube! and buy all the parts you need from Amazon!).
You don’t need this book. If you expect to come away from it with the kind of reorienting insights “How Buildings Learn” dispensed on just about every one of its pages, you’ll be disappointed. And you’ll wonder where all the women went.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 06, 2026
Intimately familiar with the concept of pace layering as he is, Brand correctly notes that different parts or aspects of the book will age at different speeds.
I *strongly* suspect that among the passages that will age most poorly are those celebrating the technical qualities of Tesla cars, which cannot be maintained by users in the usual sense of that word, and are increasingly understood by knowledgeable observers to be deathtraps for their drivers and passengers should they for any reason catch fire.
I *strongly* suspect that among the passages that will age most poorly are those celebrating the technical qualities of Tesla cars, which cannot be maintained by users in the usual sense of that word, and are increasingly understood by knowledgeable observers to be deathtraps for their drivers and passengers should they for any reason catch fire.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 05, 2026
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 05, 2026
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 05, 2026
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 05, 2026
@mokafish Then say what you mean.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 05, 2026
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 05, 2026
@mokafish That is not at all the case, as you’d be able to ascertain for yourself if you’d read the introduction, but more importantly I’d ask you to reflect on what causes you to dismiss Stewart for being “a zillion years old.”
Weigh the text for its faults, and its author for his, certainly. They are prominent enough. But the ageism is ugly.
Weigh the text for its faults, and its author for his, certainly. They are prominent enough. But the ageism is ugly.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 05, 2026
The disqualifying bits are genuinely disqualifying, i.e. I could not in good conscience recommend this book to anyone. It isn’t simply the erasure of women (though boy *howdy* that’d be sufficient), it’s Stewart’s insistence on larding the text with the occasional, entirely gratuitous comment revealing who he’s become or always was.
That said, “Maintenance” is clearly the result of a writer gifted with a lucid, unpretentious prose style addressing a subject that is important, dear to them, and which they’ve thought deeply and carefully about for many, many years.
That’s the tragedy here. We need a book shaped a lot like this one, but this is not it.
That said, “Maintenance” is clearly the result of a writer gifted with a lucid, unpretentious prose style addressing a subject that is important, dear to them, and which they’ve thought deeply and carefully about for many, many years.
That’s the tragedy here. We need a book shaped a lot like this one, but this is not it.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 04, 2026
@jessamyn No, I gotcha. They’re both perfectly cromulent words.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 04, 2026
@joyfulcarla Yeah, maybe so.
My feelings about all of this are complicated by the fact that Stewart’s work — first with “The Whole Earth Catalog,” later with “How Buildings Learn,” and still later in personal interaction — has been sparking thought and provoking inquiry for me for literally fifty years of my life. We all have to kill the Buddha eventually, but that doesn’t make it particularly pleasant.
My feelings about all of this are complicated by the fact that Stewart’s work — first with “The Whole Earth Catalog,” later with “How Buildings Learn,” and still later in personal interaction — has been sparking thought and provoking inquiry for me for literally fifty years of my life. We all have to kill the Buddha eventually, but that doesn’t make it particularly pleasant.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 04, 2026
@jessamyn Kintsugi? : . )
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 04, 2026
The infuriating thing about this book is that when it’s good, and on the things it’s good on, it is very good indeed, and lots of fun besides.
It is disqualified completely, however, by its thorough, fatal lack of attention to those inveterate maintainers known as “women,” acknowledged in its pages only on the dedication page (and even then in a way that isn’t anywhere near as charming as Brand presumably intends).
It is disqualified completely, however, by its thorough, fatal lack of attention to those inveterate maintainers known as “women,” acknowledged in its pages only on the dedication page (and even then in a way that isn’t anywhere near as charming as Brand presumably intends).
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 04, 2026
@eqe Yeah, the ecomodernism material just about broke my heart. Will let you know!
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 04, 2026
@philgyford Hahahaha they said more directly what I’d only alluded to obliquely. It’s legitimately sad, though.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 04, 2026
@quota_atypique @jeromedenis Ahh, sorry - I misunderstood you. Carry on!
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 04, 2026
@quota_atypique @jeromedenis I’m sorry, who’s that?
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 04, 2026
(Exploring the particular irony of lauding Musk’s ostensible design genius, in an era when we know his insistence on flush, electronically-actuated handles on Teslas has contributed to the deaths by incineration of multiple victims, is left as an exercise for the reader.)
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 03, 2026
OK, it’s, admittedly, gorgeously produced. And I’m willing to give Stewart some considerable benefit of the doubt, given how primordially foundational his work has been for so much of who and what I am.
But opening it to see an ESR quote, in this day and age, feels greasy and retrograde and gross – not quite as bad as getting some DHH on you, but not far off, either. And it gets worse: I wouldn’t have bought the book in the first place had I known Stewart devotes an entire (brief) section to the design “of” Elon Musk, as if Musk had ever designed anything more elaborate than a stealthy excursion to a Black Sea hair-transplant clinic. That bit is all-but-disqualifying in itself, and tends to make me ashamed to have the book on my shelves.
The deeper issue, though, is Stewart’s narrow definition of “maintenance.” The book feels like it’s sidestepped a whole generation of discourse on the topic, to its detriment. I’ll let you know what I wind up concluding.
But opening it to see an ESR quote, in this day and age, feels greasy and retrograde and gross – not quite as bad as getting some DHH on you, but not far off, either. And it gets worse: I wouldn’t have bought the book in the first place had I known Stewart devotes an entire (brief) section to the design “of” Elon Musk, as if Musk had ever designed anything more elaborate than a stealthy excursion to a Black Sea hair-transplant clinic. That bit is all-but-disqualifying in itself, and tends to make me ashamed to have the book on my shelves.
The deeper issue, though, is Stewart’s narrow definition of “maintenance.” The book feels like it’s sidestepped a whole generation of discourse on the topic, to its detriment. I’ll let you know what I wind up concluding.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 03, 2026
@joelvanderwerf Oh, there are so, so many examples. Well-publicized, high-budget ones as well as offerings from indie or otherwise sidelined voices – “Don’t Look Up,” anyone? I honestly don’t know what she was thinking.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 03, 2026
@woodbark In her defense, as wrong as I think she is, it was an off-the-cuff remark. But there’s no question that you have to be more or less deliberately not paying attention if you think this is not a topic for contemporary cultural or artistic production.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 03, 2026
@Mabande Oof. I think we all have blind spots, but I try not to make a big public proclamation of mine, y’know?
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 03, 2026
@cairobraga It can’t hurt.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 03, 2026
Last week I heard someone who should know better, one of the initiators of the Hard Art project, express her surprise that no one was making art about the ecosystemic catastrophe we’re all living through. And I wanted to say: yes they are! They’re just doing so in ways, modes and genres you think are beneath you.
#Metal, and specifically #blackmetal, remains a place where all the anguish and grief and fury and terror we experience at the willed destruction of the Earth can be felt, expressed and metabolized – and never better or more pointedly than by Austin Lunn’s project Panopticon, who we were lucky to see last night in London. If what you’re looking for is art that weighs our entanglement with labor, struggle, the land and our desecration of it, you needn’t look any further. But you might just have to get outside the gallery.
#Metal, and specifically #blackmetal, remains a place where all the anguish and grief and fury and terror we experience at the willed destruction of the Earth can be felt, expressed and metabolized – and never better or more pointedly than by Austin Lunn’s project Panopticon, who we were lucky to see last night in London. If what you’re looking for is art that weighs our entanglement with labor, struggle, the land and our desecration of it, you needn’t look any further. But you might just have to get outside the gallery.
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Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
Adam Greenfield
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
Endurance athlete, heavy-music appreciator, compulsive greeter of cats, host of Lifepod. My book “Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in A World on Fire,” is available from Verso; new books forthcoming 2026.
social.coop
@adamgreenfield@social.coop
·
Apr 02, 2026
New Lifepod episode just dropped! This time Cassie Thornton of the Feminist Economics Department joins me, to discuss her project the Hologram and the viral practice of mutual care.
As ever, I hope you enjoy our conversation, and find it useful. (Feel free to share, obviously.) https://lifepod.transistor.fm/s1/4
As ever, I hope you enjoy our conversation, and find it useful. (Feel free to share, obviously.) https://lifepod.transistor.fm/s1/4
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