The Subthread

The Aftermath Economy

In the “aftermath economy,” the real value of entertainment now lives after the broadcast – inside fan-led conversations, theories, and communal reinterpretations that complete the work and drive its cultural power.

James Kirkham

Nov 20, 2025 — 5 min read

Keeping authenticity when writing with AI (without becoming a slop brand)

AI can accelerate your written work. It can also really flatten your brand. Here’s how to keep your voice – and your audience’s trust – intact.

Marketing

Tom Rivers

Nov 21, 2025 — 2 min read

The Creative Stack: Flora

Welcome to The Creative Stack, a new regular spotlight on the creative AI platforms shaping brand work. What do users of these platforms think are their biggest strengths and weaknesses? In this week’s edition, Hannah Bowler talks Flora.

Creativity Tech

Hannah Bowler

Nov 19, 2025 — 6 min read

The Productivity Playbook: Descript

This week we focus on Descript; the all-in-one editing workspace that makes video creation feel easy for small teams.

Productivity Productivity Playbook

Rich Hewes

Nov 18, 2025 — 4 min read

Tyler Berry, creative director and co-founder of YeahNice

The Uncanny Valley of Brand Storytelling

Brands are so excited to show off their forward-thinking use of AI that they're forgetting what makes adverts resonate. Creative director at brand design studio YeahNice, Tyler Berry, talks about human connections and the real creative benefits of AI.

Creativity

Tyler Berry

Nov 17, 2025 — 4 min read

Productivity

Make time for meaningful work. Simple systems, tools, and habits for focused teams, from deep work and calendar hygiene to automations that reduce busywork and amplify your best hours.

The Productivity Playbook: Descript

This week we focus on Descript; the all-in-one editing workspace that makes video creation feel easy for small teams.

Productivity Productivity Playbook

Rich Hewes

Nov 18, 2025 — 4 min read

The Productivity Playbook: Notebook LM

Google’s Notebook LM turns your trusted sources into a private thinking partner. It’s taking the stress away from a real deep dive by surfacing patterns and compressing a week’s reading into usable insight for marketing (or other) teams.

Productivity Playbook Productivity

Rich Hewes

Oct 22, 2025 — 3 min read

The Productivity Playbook: Wispr Flow

Some tools feel like dashboards. Others feel like to‑do lists. Wispr Flow feels like something different, a place where you can just… talk. And, Wispr turns that talk into text you can use.

Productivity Playbook Productivity

Rich Hewes

Oct 1, 2025 — 3 min read

Explore our archive of articles, interviews, and creative projects

Are We Living in a Creative Nightmare, or a Creative Knightmare?

We’re quick to call it “AI slop”, but the real question isn’t whether brands use AI – it’s who’s holding the story. From the TV show Knightmare to Daisy by O2, this piece looks at how better storytelling can turn AI chaos into work that actually resonates with people.

Creativity Tech

Rich Hewes

Nov 12, 2025 — 6 min read

How WeTransfer Turned Cultural Impact into Brand Strategy

Every brand wants to be part of culture, but few understand what that really means. For most, “culture” is a line in a marketing strategy; for the file-transfer company WeTransfer, it’s the reason it exists.

Culture Creativity

Hannah Bowler

Nov 11, 2025 — 6 min read

Brave by Design

We sit down with BFB Labs’ head of product, Nabeena Mali, to unpack how Lumi Nova offers therapeutic digital intervention to children – and how her process of co‑creation, analog sketching, and a lean tool stack turn therapy into playable progress.

Design Tech