Last four watched

Left with no comment other than, You know what to do: c.org/QXJBNfxLsN

Last four watched.

Had a great time presenting at The Quartet Symposium today organised by my wonderful colleagues @drelizabethmac1.bsky.social and Dan Varndell! The papers were all incredibly delivered and thought-provoking. I previewed my Utopian Studies paper I'll be giving in Bucharest in a couple of weeks!

Last four watched.

Last four watched on #Letterboxd.

Last four watched on #Letterboxd

First day of Term 2, and back to teaching. This morning, I had an intro session for "Researching Film Studies". This afternoon, I have the opening class for "Superheroes", covering hero monomyths, defining the superhero and superhero film genre, and other opening debates and discussions.

Need something uplifting right now? This might be it...

Loved Marty Supreme. What starts as a period sports drama centred on a self-mythologising chancer, evolves into an anxiety-inducing riff on hustle culture (and Chalamet's quest for greatness) touching on post-WWII class and race, soundtracked anachronistically by banging 1980s electronic music.

Just sent round details of an online and in-person book launch for Male Mental Illness in Contemporary Culture. Online event: Tues 2nd December 5-6pm. In-person: Weds 3rd December 5-6.30pm, UoB campus in Muirhead Tower. DM for full details. link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

We are listed @sunypress.bsky.social! Congrats, @matthewleggatt.bsky.social! sunypress.edu/Books/W/Wast...

Physical copies of my book have arrived, yay! I’ll be having an in-person launch at UoB on the 3rd December, more details soon.

Evidence of today's class - Structuralism and "Kiss Me Deadly".

Sheffield Hallam was pressured by the Chinese state to shut down research into human rights abuses and gave in. “It’s incredibly worrying that Hallam appears to have silenced its own professor on behalf of a foreign government.” Jo Grady. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

My day today: * teaching 9am-11am (Golden Age cartoons), * rush to town, gown-up, and do graduation (11:45- 1:45), * do a little bit of celebrating (1:45-2ish), rush to de-gown, * rush back to campus, * teach 3pm-5pm (semitic and film) Coffee, don't fail me now ...

New episode of @utopiaanddystopia.bsky.social landing on Wednesday and given its close connection to my own research on play in utopian and dystopian fiction and the fact it marks a year since we started the podcast it's certainly a special one for me.

One Battle After Another. What a film.

Well, I sure picked an interesting evening to go and see Eddington...

It's alive! Publication day! Play in Utopian and Dystopian Ficion arrived in the mail. Thanks Liverpool University Press for producing such a beautiful book.

Publication day! If you're interested in reading my piece on Julie Dash's brilliant "Daughters of the Dust" (film and novel), co-authored with the wonderful Betty Knight, you can read it here. It's Open Access. doi.org/10.1080/0195...

Bags packed, out of office on, books to read ready, train on its way - annual leave, baby!

Anyone else read The Unworthy yet? It's one I think will stay with me and I'm keen to hear what others made of it...

Just finished watching the new Adam Curtis series, "Shifty". It took a while for the central thesis to come through, and I'm not sure that he was really saying anything new...but, as always, the archival footage was fascinating, the micro stories were interesting, and there was a great soundtrack.

I'm very excited to announce that my @edinburghup.bsky.social book The President's Kill List has just won the Richard E. Neustadt book prize of the PSA's American Politics Group. Thanks to @historydafydd.bsky.social, @pete-d-finn.bsky.social, and the APG Committee.

Just received a follow from @nortoncriticals.bsky.social. (The highlight of my day.) In my classes, I sometimes end modules by asking students which texts that we have read are the ones that they think will likely join 'the canon'. (Who will we be reading, teaching, debating in 100 years' time?)

www.theguardian.com/wellness/ng-... That's it, that's the post.

Next Tuesday, America Now! returns with a session on the state of masculinity in the US of Trump 2.0. You can book your ticket for 'Tech Bros, Proud Boys and Christian Dads' here: buff.ly/WCI5XS4 27th May, 6:30pm. British Library, London. In-person.

My midweek live music jolly this evening was Snapped Ankles. Band on top form, and a strong turnout for a midweek gig night. To paraphrase the title of the band's latest LP, these may be hard times, but I did much furious dancing.

🎂

My last teaching week of the semester kicks off tomorrow with "The Social Network", 'Silicon Valley Cinema' and C21 Hollywood now for "Twenty-First Century Hollywood,' and "Brightburn", 'supervillain films' and wrapping up for "Superheroes".

Song of the day: Life During War Time "This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around." My nomination for the soundtrack song of 2025. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8al5...

Happy Birthday, Thomas Pynchon 🌈🚀 W.A.S.T.E. "Paranoia's the garlic in life's kitchen, right, you can never have too much..."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Sorry to those who said C was best. Stuck to my instinct and went with B which was also a popular choice. Play in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction also now has a webpage. Due for publication in September! www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....

Thanks @geekgirlauthority.bsky.social for including THE FERVOR on this list of books to read after watching SINNERS www.geekgirlauthority.com/sinners-read...

A nice photo of us all from the CMT Symposium in Winchester last week, 'The Defining Moment'. Nice to catch up with old friends (like @matthewleggatt.bsky.social ) and hear some fascinating papers.

This week, I will be teaching: "Zero Dark Thirty" and the War on Terror in C21 Hollywood; "Avengers Assemble" and the MCU; sessions on essay writing; the first of two weeks worth of classes on "Girl, Woman, Other" as transatlantic text; and the first of two weeks on John Polidori's "The Vampyre".

Brilliant news that this is already out. My first podcast as host for National Security books on the @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social. It's a fascinating conversation with @paulmcgarr.bsky.social on India's Cold War, its intelligence services, and their evolution from independence to the present.

There’s still time to apply for this permanent SL post. Job description fairly broad. I can’t stress enough how much we are hoping to increase the diversity of our department. Get in touch. Join us. We are a good bunch. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMN524/s...

A new episode of the Utopian and Dystopian Fictions podcast is coming tomorrow. It features a great interview with @aoifemod.bsky.social and @ruthhoughton.bsky.social, covering all things utopia, law, and feminist utopias.

Just in time, and in keeping with our our increasingly strange and strained days, Pynchon is back: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316427...

Just a reminder that we are looking for an SL in politics. Job description below. Have a look at the areas of specialism. We are particularly keen to increase the diversity of our Department. Get in touch via email with me or Dr @drmatthewwall.bsky.social. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMN524/s...

About to do my first ever (!) class on David Foster Wallace, teaching "Good Old Neon". Wallace was one of the key authors in my PhD, and I've had a varied roster of teaching topics and disciplines since I finished the PhD. Looking forward to seeing what the students think.

The moment has arrived, my Edinburgh University Press book The President's Kill List is now available for pre-order in paperback. It is only £24.99. Plus, you can get a 30% discount with the code PAPER30. It is the perfect beach read. edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-pre...

Spending my Sunday revisiting David Foster Wallac ahead of a guest lecture that I am giving next week.

Happy Mother's Day! Do you know who also had a mother? George Orwell! So, here's the new episode of Utopian and Dystopian Fiction which has just gone live and features a great interview with Orwell expert Nathan Waddell. Please share widely. open.spotify.com/episode/5Fgg...

Undertaking some stuff-sifting (long story), and came across this first indicator that perhaps young Dan, aged 14, was drifting in the direction of academia from much earlier than I realised... (The handwriting has improved a bit since then, thankfully.)

You find some interesting things when clearing out rooms, sometimes...