Rob Walker (born 1968) is an American journalist, author and educator, whose primary interests include design, business, technology, consumer culture, and the arts.
He is the author of ''The Art of Noticing'' (2019), ''Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are'' (2008), and co-author, with Joshua Glenn, of ''Significant Objects: 100 Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things'' (2012). He writes a regular column in ''
Fast Company
''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually.
History
''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...
Bloomberg Businessweek
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...
'', and ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 185 ...
''. From 2013 until 2018, he wrote "The Workologist" column in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', and between 2004 and 2012 was a contributing writer for ''
The New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...
'', for which he wrote the "Consumed" column. He serves on the faculty of the Products of Design MFA program at the
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design.
History
This school was started by Silas ...
in New York City.
Career
Walker has written for and worked as an editor at publications such as ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', ''
The New York Times Magazine
''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...
'', ''
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
'', ''
Money
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: m ...
'', ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 185 ...
The American Lawyer
''The American Lawyer'' is a monthly legal magazine and website published by ALM Media. The periodical and its parent company, ALM (then American Lawyer Media), were founded in 1979 by Steven Brill."The Anti-Consumerist" The Alcalde, by David Menconi Archived at the Internet Archive /ref>
in 2019, Walker published ''The Art of Noticing'', a book about distraction, attention, and finding inspiration, with
Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers ...
. As an addendum to the book, he publishes a biweekly email newsletter about "creativity, work, and staying human."
In 2008, Walker published a book exploring themes similar to those in his "Consumed" columns called ''Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are''. It was reviewed favorably and received much attention for its discussion of the term " murketing", which Walker had coined."Branded" review of ''Buying In'' by Farhad Manjoo, ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' Sunday Book Review, July 27, 2008.
Walker's 2005 book, ''Letters From New Orleans'', was compiled from essays emailed "to interested parties" about life in
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, where he lived in the early 2000s. All author proceeds from ''Letters from New Orleans'' went to relief organizations such as the
Red Cross
The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
and others working with victims of
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
."'Letters From New Orleans': Before the Flood" by Kate Sekules, ''
New York Times Book Review
''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'', October 23, 2005. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
Walker has written a number of
comic book
A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
stories published under the name R. Walker. A collection of his satirical stories of the business world was published in 2001 together with artist Josh Neufeld, as ''Titans of Finance: True Tales of Money & Business''.
Projects
Walker has participated in or led a number of artistic projects including the ''Hypothetical Development Organization'' (together with Ellen Susan and GK Darby), which explored renderings of purely hypothetical possibilities for blighted buildings in
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, and was part of the official U.S. presentation at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale. He also started the ''Unconsumption Project'', which tracks mindful consumption and creative reuse, and the MLK Blvd open source journalism project, which looks at the streets sharing that name all over the word.
The Significant Objects project, where writers are paired with an interesting object curated by Walker and co-founder Joshua Glenn, about which they write a fictional story, later to be sold on eBay.About the Significant Objects Project ''Significant Objects''. Accessed April 6, 2010. A book compiling 100 of these stories was published by
Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...
in 2012.
Personal life
Walker is a 1990 graduate of the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
, and is married to photographer and designer Ellen Susan.
Publications
* ''The Art of Noticing: 131 Ways to Spark Creativity, Find Inspiration, and Discover Joy in the Everyday'' (Knopf, May 7, 2019)
* ''Significant Objects: 100 Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things'', edited, with Joshua Glenn (Fantagraphics Books, August 6, 2012)
* ''Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are'' (Random House, June 2008)
* ''Where Were You?'' (self-published
zine
A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...
, 2007–present)
* ''Letters From New Orleans'' (Garrett County Press, 2005)
* ''Titans of Finance: True Tales of Money & Business'' (with artist Josh Neufeld) (Alternative Comics, 2001)
WNYC
WNYC is an audio service brand, under the control of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization. Radio and other audio programming is primarily provided by a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations: WNYC (AM) and WNYC- ...