James Kirkham
@spoonybear.bsky.social
Brand Strategist. Broadcaster. Cultural critic. Public Speaker. Founder of ICONIC, Holler. Formerly Chief Business Officer Defected Records & COPA90. Ex-Global Head of Social Mobile at Leo Burnett.
Nevermind the knockout, in 2026 we'll see a new sports media role emerge : the conductor www.linkedin.com/posts/jamesk...
Never mind the knockout, last night’s fight shows that the bout is actually everywhere all at once.
📺 The broadcast still matters but for huge numbers of people it wasn’t the experience, it was… | J...
Never mind the knockout, last night’s fight shows that the bout is actually everywhere all at once.
📺 The broadcast still matters but for huge numbers of people it wasn’t the experience, it was just...
www.linkedin.com
December 20, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Nevermind the knockout, in 2026 we'll see a new sports media role emerge : the conductor www.linkedin.com/posts/jamesk...
As we move into 2026, the more useful question may no longer be how big something was at its peak, but how long it continued to convert our attention like this. The echo is where that conversion happens. www.linkedin.com/pulse/does-e...
Does it echo?
Most experiences are still engineered around a single moment, even though real value now accumulates after the room empties and the crowd disperses. That is where attachment actually forms, where peop...
www.linkedin.com
December 20, 2025 at 11:46 AM
As we move into 2026, the more useful question may no longer be how big something was at its peak, but how long it continued to convert our attention like this. The echo is where that conversion happens. www.linkedin.com/pulse/does-e...
My god this was so up my street. What a brilliant doc. youtu.be/M35kWPGmI1M
Breakdown: 1975 | Official Trailer | Netflix
YouTube video by Netflix
youtu.be
December 19, 2025 at 8:07 PM
My god this was so up my street. What a brilliant doc. youtu.be/M35kWPGmI1M
Clients should be asking which work still deserves time, money and above all, actual human judgement, or which is deliberately disposable
digiday.com/marketing/fu...
digiday.com/marketing/fu...
Future of Marketing Briefing: Why 'just good enough' is generative AI's real threat to marketers
The real risk of generative AI for marketers isn’t bad creative. It’s the rise of the “just good” economy.
digiday.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Clients should be asking which work still deserves time, money and above all, actual human judgement, or which is deliberately disposable
digiday.com/marketing/fu...
digiday.com/marketing/fu...
🗣️ Does it echo?
😶🌫️ The art of being hard to read
🎙️ Behind the velvet voice note
www.linkedin.com/pulse/does-e...
😶🌫️ The art of being hard to read
🎙️ Behind the velvet voice note
www.linkedin.com/pulse/does-e...
Does it echo?
Most experiences are still engineered around a single moment, even though real value now accumulates after the room empties and the crowd disperses. That is where attachment actually forms, where peop...
www.linkedin.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:40 AM
🗣️ Does it echo?
😶🌫️ The art of being hard to read
🎙️ Behind the velvet voice note
www.linkedin.com/pulse/does-e...
😶🌫️ The art of being hard to read
🎙️ Behind the velvet voice note
www.linkedin.com/pulse/does-e...
“They place culture at the heart of their reputational economy so when you own the cultural frame, you don’t need to interrupt the conversation because you already set the stage as well.”
www.thesubthread.com/featured/wha...
www.thesubthread.com/featured/wha...
What Happens to Culture When Brands Become Patrons
Traditionally artists rely on galleries, festivals, or cultural institutions for support and funding. These organisations don’t just distribute work, they also act as cultural gatekeepers, deciding wh...
www.thesubthread.com
December 18, 2025 at 11:58 AM
“They place culture at the heart of their reputational economy so when you own the cultural frame, you don’t need to interrupt the conversation because you already set the stage as well.”
www.thesubthread.com/featured/wha...
www.thesubthread.com/featured/wha...
Reposted by James Kirkham
The emotional meaning arrives in the conversations that follow, in the WhatsApp voice notes sent while waiting for taxis, in the long car journeys home. The aftermath has always been the place where memories are made.
www.thesubthread.com/featured/the...
www.thesubthread.com/featured/the...
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 ...
www.thesubthread.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:08 AM
The emotional meaning arrives in the conversations that follow, in the WhatsApp voice notes sent while waiting for taxis, in the long car journeys home. The aftermath has always been the place where memories are made.
www.thesubthread.com/featured/the...
www.thesubthread.com/featured/the...
Reposted by James Kirkham
Last weeks show now on soundcloud on.soundcloud.com/vL6UPsyQYcJh...
Pipe and Slipmats - 20 Nov 25
A 2 hour celebration of old school dance music and club culture from a veteran DJ trio who still have one foot in the rave.
soundcloud.com
November 23, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Last weeks show now on soundcloud on.soundcloud.com/vL6UPsyQYcJh...
A world that anticipates rather than waits and the constant presence of presumption. www.linkedin.com/pulse/life-d...
Life in draft
No, I don't want that email summarised thank you, I think I can handle it. More of our days are arranged for us before we're even properly awake.
www.linkedin.com
December 12, 2025 at 7:42 AM
A world that anticipates rather than waits and the constant presence of presumption. www.linkedin.com/pulse/life-d...
Listening to an Australian Ashes series from England’s winter is borrowing another hemisphere's heartbeat.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/4am-as...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/4am-as...
The 4am Ashes
There is a particular feel to the world at 4 am. It is a soft, unruly space where you are awake but not yet properly so, kind of between the last thought and the next dream.
www.linkedin.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Listening to an Australian Ashes series from England’s winter is borrowing another hemisphere's heartbeat.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/4am-as...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/4am-as...
The old “event” has become this sort of constellation, held together by the energy of people watching together in different corners of the digital and physical worlds and in 2026 I think the sport will catch up with its audience.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/4am-as...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/4am-as...
The 4am Ashes
There is a particular feel to the world at 4 am. It is a soft, unruly space where you are awake but not yet properly so, kind of between the last thought and the next dream.
www.linkedin.com
December 5, 2025 at 6:38 AM
The old “event” has become this sort of constellation, held together by the energy of people watching together in different corners of the digital and physical worlds and in 2026 I think the sport will catch up with its audience.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/4am-as...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/4am-as...
Reposted by James Kirkham
It’s a matter of taste, yea lbbonline.com/news/Brand-a...
Brand Activation in the Age of AI: Why Humanity Is the New Competitive Advantage | LBBOnline
Little Black Book, As AI reshapes behavior at unprecedented speed, brands face a critical question: How do we scale intelligence without losing the human connection that creates lasting value?
lbbonline.com
December 2, 2025 at 6:29 PM
It’s a matter of taste, yea lbbonline.com/news/Brand-a...
It’s a matter of taste, yea lbbonline.com/news/Brand-a...
Brand Activation in the Age of AI: Why Humanity Is the New Competitive Advantage | LBBOnline
Little Black Book, As AI reshapes behavior at unprecedented speed, brands face a critical question: How do we scale intelligence without losing the human connection that creates lasting value?
lbbonline.com
December 2, 2025 at 6:29 PM
It’s a matter of taste, yea lbbonline.com/news/Brand-a...
Reposted by James Kirkham
I remember the 80s newsstand more clearly than the holiday itself. The Zante Beach Hotel had a heavy revolving door which would spit you out onto the sunlit pavement and into a small kiosk that smelled intensely of ink, Piz Buin and warm plastic.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/zakynt...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/zakynt...
The Zakynthos Newsstand
I remember the newsstand more clearly than the holiday itself. Zante, mid-80s, long before Laganas became a tourist conveyor belt.
www.linkedin.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:15 AM
I remember the 80s newsstand more clearly than the holiday itself. The Zante Beach Hotel had a heavy revolving door which would spit you out onto the sunlit pavement and into a small kiosk that smelled intensely of ink, Piz Buin and warm plastic.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/zakynt...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/zakynt...
I remember the 80s newsstand more clearly than the holiday itself. The Zante Beach Hotel had a heavy revolving door which would spit you out onto the sunlit pavement and into a small kiosk that smelled intensely of ink, Piz Buin and warm plastic.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/zakynt...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/zakynt...
The Zakynthos Newsstand
I remember the newsstand more clearly than the holiday itself. Zante, mid-80s, long before Laganas became a tourist conveyor belt.
www.linkedin.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:15 AM
I remember the 80s newsstand more clearly than the holiday itself. The Zante Beach Hotel had a heavy revolving door which would spit you out onto the sunlit pavement and into a small kiosk that smelled intensely of ink, Piz Buin and warm plastic.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/zakynt...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/zakynt...
Last weeks show now on soundcloud on.soundcloud.com/vL6UPsyQYcJh...
Pipe and Slipmats - 20 Nov 25
A 2 hour celebration of old school dance music and club culture from a veteran DJ trio who still have one foot in the rave.
soundcloud.com
November 23, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Last weeks show now on soundcloud on.soundcloud.com/vL6UPsyQYcJh...
The emotional meaning arrives in the conversations that follow, in the WhatsApp voice notes sent while waiting for taxis, in the long car journeys home. The aftermath has always been the place where memories are made.
www.thesubthread.com/featured/the...
www.thesubthread.com/featured/the...
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 ...
www.thesubthread.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:08 AM
The emotional meaning arrives in the conversations that follow, in the WhatsApp voice notes sent while waiting for taxis, in the long car journeys home. The aftermath has always been the place where memories are made.
www.thesubthread.com/featured/the...
www.thesubthread.com/featured/the...
2 hours of old school rave records and stories to warm you, we’re live on Loose FM from 11am-1pm 🙂https://www.loose.fm
November 20, 2025 at 8:52 AM
2 hours of old school rave records and stories to warm you, we’re live on Loose FM from 11am-1pm 🙂https://www.loose.fm
This week we record our first live radio on Loose FM, and to get you in the mood here's the new episode of Pipe & Slipmats. A summer slammer typically edited and finished just in time for Christmas. Worth it for the opening track alone. open.spotify.com/episode/1LQl...
8: Pipe and Slipmats Vol 8: the podcast for ageing ravers
open.spotify.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:46 AM
This week we record our first live radio on Loose FM, and to get you in the mood here's the new episode of Pipe & Slipmats. A summer slammer typically edited and finished just in time for Christmas. Worth it for the opening track alone. open.spotify.com/episode/1LQl...
New episode of Pipe & Slipmats is out. The opening track is a Clissord Park rave classic. open.spotify.com/episode/1LQl...
8: Pipe and Slipmats Vol 8: the podcast for ageing ravers
open.spotify.com
November 15, 2025 at 6:52 PM
New episode of Pipe & Slipmats is out. The opening track is a Clissord Park rave classic. open.spotify.com/episode/1LQl...
Scroll long enough and you start to live inside the ghost of your past behaviours like an algorithmic echo chamber whispering reminders of who you used to be.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/cultur...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/cultur...
Cultural Pollen
Certain aspects of culture often don't really have a defined launch moment you can actually find or recall, it all just drifts. It floats across platforms like fine dust landing wherever the air carri...
www.linkedin.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:33 AM
Scroll long enough and you start to live inside the ghost of your past behaviours like an algorithmic echo chamber whispering reminders of who you used to be.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/cultur...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/cultur...
We won!! Nabbed best Branded Content for our Chelsea film It’s Our House 😍🤩😍🏆🏆🏆🏆
November 14, 2025 at 6:15 AM
We won!! Nabbed best Branded Content for our Chelsea film It’s Our House 😍🤩😍🏆🏆🏆🏆
Websummit in Lisbon 👊
November 13, 2025 at 5:04 AM
Websummit in Lisbon 👊
The magic of Blue 🪄🔵
November 13, 2025 at 5:02 AM
The magic of Blue 🪄🔵
Trump, and the Conservatives own propaganda pamphlet the Telegraph, have somehow caused the removal of the head of the BBC - aka Farage loving Reform platformer in chief. If this now shifts BBC coverage back to near neutral, ie less Reform, it will be the most delicious irony.
November 9, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Trump, and the Conservatives own propaganda pamphlet the Telegraph, have somehow caused the removal of the head of the BBC - aka Farage loving Reform platformer in chief. If this now shifts BBC coverage back to near neutral, ie less Reform, it will be the most delicious irony.