Max Pain (A Recent History)

<p>In early 2020, right before the pandemic, we released a memo titled <em>The Umami Theory of Value</em>. Written as a kind of elegy for the experience economy and the excesses of the preceding decade, we’ve been quite happy how, in retrospect, it managed to identify the end of a specific cultural-economic era.</p> <p>Two years later, the themes explored in Umami seem relevant once again. Recent events, including a world under variegated lockdown and the current perilous economic situation have caused friends and clients alike to speculate on the role of meaning and value in our culture today.</p>