Shannon Mattern

"The academic career is framed as a privileged but high-risk venture that ppl knowingly choose to embark on so they must endure the consequences or find a way to cope, thus obscuring deliberate adoption of biz models that [deprioritize] investment in staff + render large sections of the workforce 🗑️"

One annoying thing about continuantly getting older is that, every time a new report or project is released, I have to resist the pedantic temptation to point out the precedent project addressing the very same issue from a decade ago.

I’m at a panel discussion where the rule is: when you ask a ?, you have to join the panel — that is, move your 🪑 up to the conference table at the front of the room. The hosts ultimately want EVERYone in the room sharing their expertise ON the panel. I ❤️ it when ppl mess with event hierarchies 😊

"'There’s a kind of freedom that’s present in being an artist that allows for inquiry,'.. Embedded within municipal departments, PAIRs occupy unusual positions as temporary bureaucratic agents — or infiltrators — who make systems more visible, translate civic life, and advocate for change."

"Not that “Parks and Rec” solves anything, exactly. But that it models a way of being in the world—engaged, patient, occasionally exasperated, frequently hopeful—that feels, in this moment, subversive."

I just learned (belatedly) about Darren Raven's Lecture-Zines: "daily Instagram series... where I share 12 x pages/images/collages/texts, inspired by 20 years of learning and teaching in higher education" — about methods, tools, experiments, etc. I love these....

Just got the April nwsltr from the Philly Free Library Art Dept, which — despite my departure — continues to be a beacon. This month: live music, embroidery workshops, comics clubs, a Wikipedia edit-a-thon with the great local arts organizer (+ my friend) Daniel Tucker, new exhibitions...

I ❤️ that there's another Shannon Mattern out there who runs a consultancy focused on helping designers maximize profit. Meanwhile, my whole career has been: commons it; open-source it; donate those honoraria; take that paycut to save your soul; undersell yourself at every opportunity!

There's an @urbanomnibus.bsky.social article about this work! (and fwiw, I've written a few pieces over the past decade+ about urban auscultation :)

This is tonight + tomorrow, and it promises to be great! I'll be livestreaming!