Dan Lockton
@danlockton.com
Utrecht, Netherlands + Norwich, UK
Institute for Sustainable Worlds, Norwich University of the Arts ⦿ Design—imagination—climate—futures ⦿ Imaginaries Lab http://imaginari.es ⦿ New Metaphors http://newmetaphors.com ⦿ he/him ⦿ Not my employer's views
Institute for Sustainable Worlds, Norwich University of the Arts ⦿ Design—imagination—climate—futures ⦿ Imaginaries Lab http://imaginari.es ⦿ New Metaphors http://newmetaphors.com ⦿ he/him ⦿ Not my employer's views
Pinned
Dan Lockton
@danlockton.com
· Oct 14
Join us online on Wed 22 Oct for 'Creative Futures in Education'. We have three amazing speakers: educator-researchers engaging with #futures:
↠ Grace Turtle (Monstrous Futurities, Sandberg Inst)
↠ Christian Petersen (Norwich University of the Arts)
↠ shobhan s (Purdue University & slowstudio)
↠ Grace Turtle (Monstrous Futurities, Sandberg Inst)
↠ Christian Petersen (Norwich University of the Arts)
↠ shobhan s (Purdue University & slowstudio)
Just wanted to say thank you Alom for these recipes—tried the two dals, both very good but also excellent instructions!
February 11, 2026 at 8:32 AM
Just wanted to say thank you Alom for these recipes—tried the two dals, both very good but also excellent instructions!
Strange feeling seeing my handwriting on that Post-it note slipped in the (Paperchase) box. Going by the sticker design, this is probably from a batch I assembled in a garden shed in Twickenham—incidentally just behind the Pilates studio visible @3m33s in Black Mirror s03e06 'Hated in the Nation' 😅
February 10, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Strange feeling seeing my handwriting on that Post-it note slipped in the (Paperchase) box. Going by the sticker design, this is probably from a batch I assembled in a garden shed in Twickenham—incidentally just behind the Pilates studio visible @3m33s in Black Mirror s03e06 'Hated in the Nation' 😅
Fascinating to read the (AI?) description here—including that the DwI cards are "a widely respected behavioral design and UX strategy tool used by designers, researchers, product managers, and innovation teams." www.ebay.com/itm/19797979... $135
(download them here imaginari.es/wp-content/u...)
(download them here imaginari.es/wp-content/u...)
February 10, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Fascinating to read the (AI?) description here—including that the DwI cards are "a widely respected behavioral design and UX strategy tool used by designers, researchers, product managers, and innovation teams." www.ebay.com/itm/19797979... $135
(download them here imaginari.es/wp-content/u...)
(download them here imaginari.es/wp-content/u...)
Reposted by Dan Lockton
Strange how hostile most newspapers always were about ‘media studies’, can’t imagine why.
February 4, 2026 at 7:48 AM
Strange how hostile most newspapers always were about ‘media studies’, can’t imagine why.
Reposted by Dan Lockton
So much of what we know, the facts, constructs, mental models that are available to us, come from an ongoing interaction with the people in our social networks and information universes. Being surrounded by yes-men and groupthink collaborators is like being in an inverted conspiracy cult of one.
February 3, 2026 at 9:54 PM
So much of what we know, the facts, constructs, mental models that are available to us, come from an ongoing interaction with the people in our social networks and information universes. Being surrounded by yes-men and groupthink collaborators is like being in an inverted conspiracy cult of one.
no need to get cranky
February 3, 2026 at 10:18 AM
no need to get cranky
Reposted by Dan Lockton
Have you heard of “The Populist Playbook?”
A few years ago, I posted what I still consider one of my most important messages.
It was about “The Populist Playbook” that I’ve watched play out often over my 33+ years of city planning.
Since then, it’s only gotten worse.
Do the steps sound familiar?
A few years ago, I posted what I still consider one of my most important messages.
It was about “The Populist Playbook” that I’ve watched play out often over my 33+ years of city planning.
Since then, it’s only gotten worse.
Do the steps sound familiar?
November 8, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Have you heard of “The Populist Playbook?”
A few years ago, I posted what I still consider one of my most important messages.
It was about “The Populist Playbook” that I’ve watched play out often over my 33+ years of city planning.
Since then, it’s only gotten worse.
Do the steps sound familiar?
A few years ago, I posted what I still consider one of my most important messages.
It was about “The Populist Playbook” that I’ve watched play out often over my 33+ years of city planning.
Since then, it’s only gotten worse.
Do the steps sound familiar?
Reposted by Dan Lockton
by popular request i have turned the meme into a blog post, which explains how it works, links to the template file and includes a selection of examples from the thread
#KirbyFraming
#KirbyFraming
January 29, 2026 at 6:25 AM
by popular request i have turned the meme into a blog post, which explains how it works, links to the template file and includes a selection of examples from the thread
#KirbyFraming
#KirbyFraming
Reposted by Dan Lockton
With Trump’s increasing belligerence, the UK urgently needs to establish digital sovereignty. Our country’s day-to-day functions should not rely on a handful of US-based tech giants.
I am calling for a UK digital sovereignty strategy. Write to your MP! action.openrightsgroup.org/protect-brit...
I am calling for a UK digital sovereignty strategy. Write to your MP! action.openrightsgroup.org/protect-brit...
Protect Britain’s Digital Backbone — Ask Your MP to Act
Take action! What’s the problem? The UK’s digital backbone. The cloud services, data systems, and platforms that underpin government, public services, and democratic processes is dangerously reliant o...
action.openrightsgroup.org
January 28, 2026 at 2:25 PM
With Trump’s increasing belligerence, the UK urgently needs to establish digital sovereignty. Our country’s day-to-day functions should not rely on a handful of US-based tech giants.
I am calling for a UK digital sovereignty strategy. Write to your MP! action.openrightsgroup.org/protect-brit...
I am calling for a UK digital sovereignty strategy. Write to your MP! action.openrightsgroup.org/protect-brit...
Reposted by Dan Lockton
There are so many knock-on effects of degrading US regulatory standards, which will inevitably drive down standards everywhere else. I don't know about you, but I want the next plane I get on to be a lot better than "good enough".
The @usdot.bsky.social, which oversees the safety of airplanes, cars and pipelines, plans to use Google Gemini to draft new regulations. “We don’t need the perfect rule,” said DOT’s top lawyer. “We want good enough.”
Government by AI? Trump Administration Plans to Write Regulations Using Artificial Intelligence
The Transportation Department, which oversees the safety of airplanes, cars and pipelines, plans to use Google Gemini to draft new regulations. “We don’t need the perfect rule,” said DOT’s top lawyer....
www.propublica.org
January 26, 2026 at 9:03 PM
There are so many knock-on effects of degrading US regulatory standards, which will inevitably drive down standards everywhere else. I don't know about you, but I want the next plane I get on to be a lot better than "good enough".
Reposted by Dan Lockton
And there’s the irony: in the attempt to avoid inserting itself into the argument, a news organisation which fails to distinguish empty statements from evidenced ones is doing exactly that.
You cannot, in 2026, report passively and hope to be truthful.
/ends
You cannot, in 2026, report passively and hope to be truthful.
/ends
January 25, 2026 at 10:21 AM
And there’s the irony: in the attempt to avoid inserting itself into the argument, a news organisation which fails to distinguish empty statements from evidenced ones is doing exactly that.
You cannot, in 2026, report passively and hope to be truthful.
/ends
You cannot, in 2026, report passively and hope to be truthful.
/ends
Reposted by Dan Lockton
To my eye, some reporting also conflates the rather Victorian notion of truthfulness as “offering primary sources without attempting to interpret them“ with reporting any government statement as a primary source.
January 25, 2026 at 9:48 AM
To my eye, some reporting also conflates the rather Victorian notion of truthfulness as “offering primary sources without attempting to interpret them“ with reporting any government statement as a primary source.
Many thoughts about this, but as
@apiln.bsky.social has detailed so well over the years, "fury at X" has become the default pattern for what was once proper local journalism.
Also, imaginaries of real places as slogans/utopias/dystopias are fascinating to see in practice, from NL to Baltimore.
@apiln.bsky.social has detailed so well over the years, "fury at X" has become the default pattern for what was once proper local journalism.
Also, imaginaries of real places as slogans/utopias/dystopias are fascinating to see in practice, from NL to Baltimore.
January 25, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Many thoughts about this, but as
@apiln.bsky.social has detailed so well over the years, "fury at X" has become the default pattern for what was once proper local journalism.
Also, imaginaries of real places as slogans/utopias/dystopias are fascinating to see in practice, from NL to Baltimore.
@apiln.bsky.social has detailed so well over the years, "fury at X" has become the default pattern for what was once proper local journalism.
Also, imaginaries of real places as slogans/utopias/dystopias are fascinating to see in practice, from NL to Baltimore.
Reposted by Dan Lockton
In these times of trouble, something a bit niche but also a bit soothing - a post where I dug out some old roots of #metaphor theory that we have largely forgotten makingsciencepublic.com/2026/01/23/f... #histling
From metaphors on market day to metaphors we live by
I was talking the other day with some people about AI metaphors. During that discussion the thorny question came up ‘what are metaphors anyway?’, followed by ‘is there anything in language that’s n…
makingsciencepublic.com
January 23, 2026 at 7:24 AM
In these times of trouble, something a bit niche but also a bit soothing - a post where I dug out some old roots of #metaphor theory that we have largely forgotten makingsciencepublic.com/2026/01/23/f... #histling
not really much more than clickbait. It's like the Sir Humphrey syllogism en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politic... hybridised with with "one weird trick" endless-scroll brainrot. I feel like academics need to be much more critical of peers who take their careers down this route (Haidt, Peterson, et al).
Politician's syllogism - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
January 23, 2026 at 8:32 AM
not really much more than clickbait. It's like the Sir Humphrey syllogism en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politic... hybridised with with "one weird trick" endless-scroll brainrot. I feel like academics need to be much more critical of peers who take their careers down this route (Haidt, Peterson, et al).
I think partly what's dismaying with Airport Book Policymaking (as @ifbookspod.bsky.social @michaelhobbes.bsky.social @notalawyer.bsky.social have demonstrated so well over the years) is just how easy it seems to be to capture the minds of supposedly thoughtful, critical public figures, with what's
Airport book policy making is totally a thing. We have a live case- banning social media for under 16s.
@joxley.jmoxley.co.uk hits the mark.
And as with anything when you look at the actual data the picture is far more complex. Parent brain is not enough.
open.substack.com/pub/joxleywr...
@joxley.jmoxley.co.uk hits the mark.
And as with anything when you look at the actual data the picture is far more complex. Parent brain is not enough.
open.substack.com/pub/joxleywr...
Airport Book Brain
How faddish ideas keep seducing.
open.substack.com
January 23, 2026 at 8:32 AM
I think partly what's dismaying with Airport Book Policymaking (as @ifbookspod.bsky.social @michaelhobbes.bsky.social @notalawyer.bsky.social have demonstrated so well over the years) is just how easy it seems to be to capture the minds of supposedly thoughtful, critical public figures, with what's
Reposted by Dan Lockton
Reminder that it was Young's father who coined the term 'meritocracy’, if you were beginning to doubt that the universe has a sick sense of humour
Welcome to the UK, where today transphobe Tanni Grey-Thompson, transphobe Sharron Davies and transphobe Toby Young have all taken their place in the House of Lords, where they’ll get to help decide our laws until they die, at our expense. Makes you sick, doesn’t it?
January 22, 2026 at 9:28 PM
Reminder that it was Young's father who coined the term 'meritocracy’, if you were beginning to doubt that the universe has a sick sense of humour
Reposted by Dan Lockton
I've had enough.
January 21, 2026 at 2:09 PM
I've had enough.
From what I see in NL (not in any policy sphere, just people I know) there's a real fear that a future UK government—if that Russian asset and his band of conmen gets in—would just not fulfil any agreements made. I fear unfortunately the UK needs to get past this phase before we'll be trusted again.
January 17, 2026 at 5:49 PM
From what I see in NL (not in any policy sphere, just people I know) there's a real fear that a future UK government—if that Russian asset and his band of conmen gets in—would just not fulfil any agreements made. I fear unfortunately the UK needs to get past this phase before we'll be trusted again.
would love to read this too!
January 13, 2026 at 10:52 AM
would love to read this too!
some horrid AI in that paper (it was new and exciting at the time, is my excuse 😅) — hi Dominika!
This might also be an interesting take on metaphors imaginari.es/new-metaphor...
This might also be an interesting take on metaphors imaginari.es/new-metaphor...
New Metaphors: Introduction to the toolkit | Imaginaries Lab
imaginari.es
January 13, 2026 at 8:25 AM
some horrid AI in that paper (it was new and exciting at the time, is my excuse 😅) — hi Dominika!
This might also be an interesting take on metaphors imaginari.es/new-metaphor...
This might also be an interesting take on metaphors imaginari.es/new-metaphor...
Imagine what Nigel Kneale could have done with this!
NEW: An Anglo-Saxon burial site with remarkable similarities to Sutton Hoo has been discovered at the development of the Sizewell C nuclear power station
www.thetimes.com/article/1528... #history #archaeology #anglosaxons
www.thetimes.com/article/1528... #history #archaeology #anglosaxons
Burial site ‘akin to Sutton Hoo’ sheds new light on Anglo-Saxons
The extremely rare discovery made during excavations at Sizewell C dates to the 6th or 7th century and includes a princely burial of two people and a horse
www.thetimes.com
January 12, 2026 at 10:36 AM
Imagine what Nigel Kneale could have done with this!
Some interesting ideas here.
Message in a bottle. www.designswarm.com/blog/2026/01...
The next 80 years of the Design Council (a letter from a friend)
The Design Council is selecting its new CEO and as a friend of the organisation (I’ve worked there twice, in 2005 as an intern and in 2022 as an interim Chief Design Officer) here are my thou…
www.designswarm.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:55 PM
Some interesting ideas here.