Phil Adams
@phil-adams.bsky.social
Lowfalutin® brand strategy. Your irresistible truth and how to tell it®.
Co-founder of All Hands On: NFP documentary production company.
Trustee on the board of Scottish Documentary Institute.
https://buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/archive
Co-founder of All Hands On: NFP documentary production company.
Trustee on the board of Scottish Documentary Institute.
https://buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/archive
Nick Liddell's book arrived this morning. I haven't read a word yet but it looks gorgeous. And it's bigger than I expected; about the same size as Campaign Magazine, when the print version was a big thing too, literally and figuratively.
November 29, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Nick Liddell's book arrived this morning. I haven't read a word yet but it looks gorgeous. And it's bigger than I expected; about the same size as Campaign Magazine, when the print version was a big thing too, literally and figuratively.
"Because if you don’t know what’s going to happen, how can you confidently stride up to your client and say “I’ll make you some magic, promise”? What are such promises worth?"
I promise Paul's post is worth your time. He's written some magic. And I do know what's going to happen; you'll enjoy it.
I promise Paul's post is worth your time. He's written some magic. And I do know what's going to happen; you'll enjoy it.
On the predictability of results, and how that drives so many creatives round the bend when it comes to pricing: paulclarke.com/photography/...
Light fantastic - Paul Clarke
Glowing with pride, a newly-minted Queen's Counsel bursts through a passageway in the heart of the Inner Temple, London's maze of legal chambers and halls. One of those pictures that I knew straight a...
paulclarke.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:20 PM
"Because if you don’t know what’s going to happen, how can you confidently stride up to your client and say “I’ll make you some magic, promise”? What are such promises worth?"
I promise Paul's post is worth your time. He's written some magic. And I do know what's going to happen; you'll enjoy it.
I promise Paul's post is worth your time. He's written some magic. And I do know what's going to happen; you'll enjoy it.
Catching up on stuff after a month away. This is courtesy of the most recent Storythings newsletter. "Fruitionising". Perfectly observed marketing Zoom call.
x.com/RealChalamet...
x.com/RealChalamet...
x.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Catching up on stuff after a month away. This is courtesy of the most recent Storythings newsletter. "Fruitionising". Perfectly observed marketing Zoom call.
x.com/RealChalamet...
x.com/RealChalamet...
Reposted by Phil Adams
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
Serving a niche in Osaka.
November 13, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Serving a niche in Osaka.
Reposted by Phil Adams
BBC Under Attack: Pot and Kettle Special
The new Private Eye is out now.
The new Private Eye is out now.
November 12, 2025 at 8:06 AM
BBC Under Attack: Pot and Kettle Special
The new Private Eye is out now.
The new Private Eye is out now.
Visitor map in a stationery/origami store in Kanazawa, Japan. There is one sticker for North Korea. Prank? Ignorance? Or a story behind the datum?
November 6, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Visitor map in a stationery/origami store in Kanazawa, Japan. There is one sticker for North Korea. Prank? Ignorance? Or a story behind the datum?
There are lots of these tall, boxy cars in Japan. Honda, Nissan, Toyota et al all make them. We’ve nicknamed them “Pixar cars.” This one is pictured on a street in Matsumoto.
November 2, 2025 at 3:36 AM
There are lots of these tall, boxy cars in Japan. Honda, Nissan, Toyota et al all make them. We’ve nicknamed them “Pixar cars.” This one is pictured on a street in Matsumoto.
It's 2025. You have to find a way to confuse the artificially infallible bot in order to get human help.
When we got there, the "live" human did explain the issue but couldn't resolve it. At least I got a reliable answer.
It's 2025. Just providing basic service is now a USP for a service business.
When we got there, the "live" human did explain the issue but couldn't resolve it. At least I got a reliable answer.
It's 2025. Just providing basic service is now a USP for a service business.
October 25, 2025 at 10:51 AM
It's 2025. You have to find a way to confuse the artificially infallible bot in order to get human help.
When we got there, the "live" human did explain the issue but couldn't resolve it. At least I got a reliable answer.
It's 2025. Just providing basic service is now a USP for a service business.
When we got there, the "live" human did explain the issue but couldn't resolve it. At least I got a reliable answer.
It's 2025. Just providing basic service is now a USP for a service business.
"Creative work begins with an impulse for WORK, the kind of thing you want to spend your time doing, to which narrative and emotional material is quickly added."
Interesting (shortish) take from Robin Sloan on the genesis of ideas.
www.robinsloan.com/lab/shape-of...
Interesting (shortish) take from Robin Sloan on the genesis of ideas.
www.robinsloan.com/lab/shape-of...
The shape of creative ideas
Maybe not what you think.
www.robinsloan.com
October 25, 2025 at 9:10 AM
"Creative work begins with an impulse for WORK, the kind of thing you want to spend your time doing, to which narrative and emotional material is quickly added."
Interesting (shortish) take from Robin Sloan on the genesis of ideas.
www.robinsloan.com/lab/shape-of...
Interesting (shortish) take from Robin Sloan on the genesis of ideas.
www.robinsloan.com/lab/shape-of...
Good news that this is on until March. I should be able to get down and pay a visit. Excellent write-up as usual by Jim.
www.jimcarrollsblog.com/blog/2025/10...
www.jimcarrollsblog.com/blog/2025/10...
Blitz: The Art of Cultural Commentary — Jim Carroll's Blog
www.jimcarrollsblog.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Good news that this is on until March. I should be able to get down and pay a visit. Excellent write-up as usual by Jim.
www.jimcarrollsblog.com/blog/2025/10...
www.jimcarrollsblog.com/blog/2025/10...
For Edinburgh (Scotland) connections, I can't make this sadly, but it looks very good.
"a talk about empathy and the power of gentle thinking in a world that often rewards the loudest voice"
@creativemornings.bsky.social
creativemornings.com/talks/the-so...?
"a talk about empathy and the power of gentle thinking in a world that often rewards the loudest voice"
@creativemornings.bsky.social
creativemornings.com/talks/the-so...?
The Soft Centre of Design | CreativeMornings/Edinburgh
We’re so excited to host our first ever CreativeMornings Edinburgh at Edinburgh College of Art! 🎉
Join us on Friday 31 October, 8.30am, for “The Soft Centre...
creativemornings.com
October 24, 2025 at 10:28 AM
For Edinburgh (Scotland) connections, I can't make this sadly, but it looks very good.
"a talk about empathy and the power of gentle thinking in a world that often rewards the loudest voice"
@creativemornings.bsky.social
creativemornings.com/talks/the-so...?
"a talk about empathy and the power of gentle thinking in a world that often rewards the loudest voice"
@creativemornings.bsky.social
creativemornings.com/talks/the-so...?
If you’re a people business, your employer brand is your customer brand. And you have the option to make this a comms strategy.
My latest newsletter.
buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/a...
My latest newsletter.
buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/a...
When the wrong hands are the right hands
Nothing to see here, and everything to see here You can tell how old this ad is by the cut-out response coupon in the corner. You can also tell how old this...
buttondown.com
October 22, 2025 at 9:10 AM
If you’re a people business, your employer brand is your customer brand. And you have the option to make this a comms strategy.
My latest newsletter.
buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/a...
My latest newsletter.
buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/a...
Reposted by Phil Adams
![1
Nurse:
It’s become a real problem in this area
2
Nurse:
We’ve seen the whole community lost to addiction
3
Show a building sign posted:
Westminster ‘X’ Addiction Clinic
With various Westminster people or looking at their phones outside it
Nurse:
Ministers, Spads, Researchers…
4
Nurse:
Most mornings we’ll get a call about someone acting strangely
[Nurse on phone taking a call]
Ok - we’ll be right over
5
Nurse:
We just have a gentle chat
[Nurses approach a minister –Robert Jenrick? - standing in the Palace of Westminster
Minister:
I understand your concerns…
6
Nurse:
Are you OK love?
Minister:
Yes I’m just hearing legitimate concerns from real voters
7
Nurse:
That’s a robot, a Nazi and a poorly-disguised Russian
[Show that the people he is talking to are precisely these characters]
Nurse 2:
Give us your phone, love
8
Nurse:
At the clinic we put them in a Grass-Touching Pod, with a real voter to talk to
[We see them back at the clinic, holding the minister's head and pushing him into a glass isolation booth with a grass floor. And it is a baffled looking woman, on a chair, ready to talk to him.]
9
Minister:
YOU MUST BE WORRIED ABOUT THE COMING CIVIL WAR
[woman looks baffled]
10
woman:
I just want a bus service
Minister:
LOOK AT MY FLAG
[produces a St George's flag]
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreicahofq6s4xow7vowj7dx6odw6ejdwr4kwcmzta7qwi4hg2nvywji@jpeg)
Reposted by Phil Adams
I Photoshop Paddington into a movie, TV show, or pop culture until I forget: Day 1673
October 13, 2025 at 7:20 AM
I Photoshop Paddington into a movie, TV show, or pop culture until I forget: Day 1673
An excellent piece of writing whether you agree with it or not, which I mostly do. Yes to AI for science. No to AI for creative endeavours. The problem is that work sits somewhere in between.
medium.com/@tomwm/the-s...
medium.com/@tomwm/the-s...
The Sloppery Slope of AI
We keep telling ourselves AI is making life easier. But what if it’s just making it emptier?
medium.com
October 8, 2025 at 7:16 AM
An excellent piece of writing whether you agree with it or not, which I mostly do. Yes to AI for science. No to AI for creative endeavours. The problem is that work sits somewhere in between.
medium.com/@tomwm/the-s...
medium.com/@tomwm/the-s...
"All of my meetings with my heroes have gone well, every single one. I've had like just magical moments. No assholes. And they've all blown me away. But I will attribute some of that to myself because I had really good taste in the people that I chose to admire."
www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/bro...
www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/bro...
Shirley Manson | Broken Record
Shirley Manson shares how a piece of advice from an acting coach during her time on the Fox sci-fi series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles continues to shape her creative process, the challenge...
www.pushkin.fm
October 7, 2025 at 8:06 PM
"All of my meetings with my heroes have gone well, every single one. I've had like just magical moments. No assholes. And they've all blown me away. But I will attribute some of that to myself because I had really good taste in the people that I chose to admire."
www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/bro...
www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/bro...
"To the Congolese it seems odd that if one man gets fifty votes and the other forty-nine, the first one wins altogether and the second one plumb loses. That means almost half the people will be unhappy, and in a village that's left halfway unhappy you haven't heard the end of it."
Democracy, huh?
Democracy, huh?
October 3, 2025 at 9:38 AM
"To the Congolese it seems odd that if one man gets fifty votes and the other forty-nine, the first one wins altogether and the second one plumb loses. That means almost half the people will be unhappy, and in a village that's left halfway unhappy you haven't heard the end of it."
Democracy, huh?
Democracy, huh?
Went to see Stewart Lee vs the Man-Wulf last night. Having read his book, How I Escaped My Certain Fate, I could better appreciate the interwoven narratives & the attention to rhythm & individual words. It's very funny & very clever.
I mention his book in this post:
buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/a...
I mention his book in this post:
buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/a...
The night wanderings of an amorous cat
A wordy ramble A ramble about words. In the writing and in the editing I’ve tried to hold it back from becoming (too much of) a wordy rant. Words matter in...
buttondown.com
September 28, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Went to see Stewart Lee vs the Man-Wulf last night. Having read his book, How I Escaped My Certain Fate, I could better appreciate the interwoven narratives & the attention to rhythm & individual words. It's very funny & very clever.
I mention his book in this post:
buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/a...
I mention his book in this post:
buttondown.com/Lowfalutin/a...
It's Google's 27th birthday. It just gives me wistful feelings about what has been lost in the name of progress, which won't have been the desired effect of reinstating the old logo for a day.
September 27, 2025 at 11:04 AM
It's Google's 27th birthday. It just gives me wistful feelings about what has been lost in the name of progress, which won't have been the desired effect of reinstating the old logo for a day.
EnSlackification is a subset of more general enshittification.
If I'd wanted a messaging style conversation, I'd have messaged you. I sent an email for a reason. WTF?
If I'd wanted a messaging style conversation, I'd have messaged you. I sent an email for a reason. WTF?
September 26, 2025 at 11:43 AM
EnSlackification is a subset of more general enshittification.
If I'd wanted a messaging style conversation, I'd have messaged you. I sent an email for a reason. WTF?
If I'd wanted a messaging style conversation, I'd have messaged you. I sent an email for a reason. WTF?
"when people tell you the future is inevitable, it isn’t because they know. It’s because they are trying to get you to submit to their version of the future... It’s propaganda."
Margaret Heffernan's keynote at Cambridge Tech Week.
heffernanm.substack.com/p/polluter-p...
Margaret Heffernan's keynote at Cambridge Tech Week.
heffernanm.substack.com/p/polluter-p...
Polluter Pays
The rhetoric of AI's inevitability needs to stop
heffernanm.substack.com
September 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
"when people tell you the future is inevitable, it isn’t because they know. It’s because they are trying to get you to submit to their version of the future... It’s propaganda."
Margaret Heffernan's keynote at Cambridge Tech Week.
heffernanm.substack.com/p/polluter-p...
Margaret Heffernan's keynote at Cambridge Tech Week.
heffernanm.substack.com/p/polluter-p...