Join the Finnish Cultural Center and the Wayne State University Humanities Center for a full reading of the Finnish national epic Kalevala on February 28th from 8am-midnight. Register in forms.wayne.edu/6978db31ceaff #kalevala #finland #folklore

Just had a startling moment when I thought I got an email whose subject line was 'People know you are on Substack' and I was like "No, I'm not" and then "How do they know?" Turns out the subject line actually read 'People you know are on Substack', which is very different indeed.

“Very, very senior” officials in the Trump administration have had secret meetings with far-right Canadian separatists trying to shake the foundations of the country.

GWU pausing admissions this year to both anthro PhD programs (anthro itself, and human paleobiology). Only the latest to do so (inexcusably late in the cycle), citing budget and declining international applications.

GWU pausing admissions this year to both anthro PhD programs (anthro itself, and human paleobiology). Only the latest to do so (inexcusably late in the cycle), citing budget and declining international applications.

It has only taken me thirty years of studying numerals to realize that while I usually say 'nonround' numbers, I sometimes say 'unround' numbers, and now neither of them seems right to me.

Many of you have written in to ask about this, so I’m finally addressing the rumours… Yes, my sister Jenny Lewis was the casting director for Heated Rivalry, and I am so proud of her. Thanks to @theserfstv.bsky.social for asking the hard-hitting questions the mainstream media is too afraid to ask!

You'd think that with all the fancy AI and whatnot, Word's grammar checker would learn how to deal with initialisms where each letter is pronounced. Although apparently it does know "an SOS" instead of "a SOS", "an ROTC instructor" is flagged. Perhaps it needs to be trained separately on each one?

I just thought everyone should see this

Article o'the day: "The Legend of Ea-Naṣir": How a Babylonian Businessman Became an Internet Meme, in the Journal of Contemporary Archaeology discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10...

Carney's speech is brilliant. Here is a transcript. I suspect we will be feeling some serious pain in Canada shortly from the reaction open.substack.com/pub/paulwell...

These days, how do people regard the Boren Scholarship program for linguistic study by students? Worth it? Problematic? How is the 'critical to US security interests' even interpretable in 2026? #linguistics

These days, how do people regard the Boren Scholarship program for linguistic study by students? Worth it? Problematic? How is the 'critical to US security interests' even interpretable in 2026? #linguistics

I'm not saying I'm starting a numismatic collection, nor that two constitutes a 'collection', but if I were starting a collection, it would be of chronograms, of course. I blame my dad (RIP), who left me a bunch of old coins that came to him from my grandma and that I now have to / get to sell off.

Did I just pay $1000 for three tickets to see @alyankovic.bsky.social in July here in Windsor? Maaaaybe. Don't judge me. The man is an international treasure.

It's crunch time - the Kickstarter for the Dana watch ends in less than 12 hours (or 6 dana, as the Sumerians would say). Don't miss this chance to get in on the opportunity to preorder this one-of-a-kind watch featuring 12 different global and historical numerical notations, which I co-designed.

This is a really great project, and it's coming down to crunch time for the Kickstarter. The Dana watch is a truly unique conversation piece for anyone who cares about #watches, #writing systems, #language, #mathematics, #alphabets, etc. Preorder yours now!

This is a really great project, and it's coming down to crunch time for the Kickstarter. The Dana watch is a truly unique conversation piece for anyone who cares about #watches, #writing systems, #language, #mathematics, #alphabets, etc. Preorder yours now!

Hey, look at me, saying no to a cool thing that I can't possibly commit to! Is 2026 the year I finally figure out how to decline opportunities? Only time will tell...

My new paper on time and studies of human behavior and evolution is out - Just FYI it's a theory paper onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

The Kickstarter for the Dana watch ends this week! You don't want to miss this chance to preorder this fantastic watch for 200 GBP (~$270 US), featuring 12 global and historical numerical notations. 2 sizes, choice of gold and silver colour. www.kickstarter.com/projects/dan...

Famed pseudoarchaeological content creator Erich von Däniken, best known for his popularization and promotion of ancient aliens claims, has died at age 90.

You may know that in the USA everything is measured in football fields. If you've ever wondered what the corresponding Canadian units are, here's what my local waste authority has to say. Now we know!

Slop is the 2025 Word of the Year! #woty2025

You may know that in the USA everything is measured in football fields. If you've ever wondered what the corresponding Canadian units are, here's what my local waste authority has to say. Now we know!

Trump has shredded the Constitution. He's taken an axe to checks and balances. He's using the presidency to line his own pockets and the pockets of those around him. He says he is constrained only by his “own morality.” When we say "No Kings," this is why.

working on books on rhythmomachia (like chess, but with more maths, extremely popular with huge dorks in the medieval period) also known as the 'ludus philosophorum' (game of philosophers), and glad the wikipedia disambiguation notes it is not to be confused with the Philosophers' Football Match

Hey, did you know that Greek lost the phoneme /h/ because of secularism? You see, /h/ intrinsically symbolises the Creator. And hydrogen. This journal is published by @springernature.com , and is hosted by @nature.com. How did this incoherent nonsense make it into print?

what's on my desk today is unfortunately topical: the first collection of folk-tales in Kalaallisut (Greenlandic), printed on the first major printing-press in Nuuk in 4 volumes from 1859 to 1856, illustrated by the Inuk hunter and artist Aron of Kangeq

Time is running short to pre-order the Dana watch on Kickstarter, featuring 12 global and historical numerical notations co-designed by (ahem) a very well-known professional numbers guy. Imagine how cool you'll be with such a unique text / artifact on your wrist! www.kickstarter.com/projects/dan...

Time is running short to pre-order the Dana watch on Kickstarter, featuring 12 global and historical numerical notations co-designed by (ahem) a very well-known professional numbers guy. Imagine how cool you'll be with such a unique text / artifact on your wrist! www.kickstarter.com/projects/dan...

If you have someone in your life who likes #watches, #mathematics, #linguistics, or is just the kind of wonderful nerd who would like to own such a thing, please send them to the Kickstarter for the new Dana watch, which I co-designed. www.kickstarter.com/projects/dan...

If you have someone in your life who likes #watches, #mathematics, #linguistics, or is just the kind of wonderful nerd who would like to own such a thing, please send them to the Kickstarter for the new Dana watch, which I co-designed. www.kickstarter.com/projects/dan...

Folks. Seriously. I know it's the first day of the new semester but I have received 32 emails today already and it's only noon. Let us ease into it!

Despite frequent remonstrations from digital archivists, Persephone never accepted that she could not photocopy a whole book in one go.

A propos of nothing other than my rich Canadian raising, 'outie' and 'Audi' are certainly not homophones for me.

After 18 months in development, the Dana watch is now available for preorder on Kickstarter, featuring 12 different numerical notations, featuring my numeral designs and historical background. A great gift for those interested in numbers or writing systems! www.kickstarter.com/projects/dan...

This is great, "Why one small American town won’t stop stoning its residents to death," a story where Isaac Chotiner interviews the guy who administers the lottery from "The Lottery" archiveofourown.org/works/733964...

I'm really proud of my involvement in this project, shaping the concept of the Dana watch, selecting 12 numeral signs from across the world, and historical consultation. A great gift for lovers of writing systems, mathematics, archaeology, and language! www.kickstarter.com/projects/dan...

I'm really proud of my involvement in this project, shaping the concept of the Dana watch, selecting 12 numeral signs from across the world, and historical consultation. A great gift for lovers of writing systems, mathematics, archaeology, and language! www.kickstarter.com/projects/dan...

After 18 months in development, the Dana watch is now available for preorder on Kickstarter, featuring 12 different numerical notations, featuring my numeral designs and historical background. A great gift for those interested in numbers or writing systems! www.kickstarter.com/projects/dan...

A special fuck you to Echovita, which is an AI monstrosity that scrapes actual obituaries (like my dad's) from funeral homes and "writes" new ones using such abhorrent phrases as "amidst the gentle rustle of leaves and the whispered song of the stars". Seriously, fuck you.

One of my undergrads put a hilarious 'Essay Enjoyability Table' at the end of his exam, ranking each of the six questions on difficulty and enjoyability. He was worried I'd be biased so insisted I shouldn't read it till after grading. (He did extremely well so I guess it wasn't a 'GPA Annihilator').

Now is the inevitable time of year to ask the question: do I want to see this (these) students in this class again next fall?

Thanks to all who shared their condolences about my dad. It's been a weird week for sure. To top it off, I got two really great pieces of work-related news this morning, and I've decided that I'm going to be happy, because why the hell not?

My dad, Peter Chrisomalis, died last night, at the age of 83. I've put together some thoughts, because although most of you didn't know him, I learned so much from him, so the least I can do is pass some of that along. glossographia.com/2025/12/17/p...

My dad, Peter Chrisomalis, died last night, at the age of 83. I've put together some thoughts, because although most of you didn't know him, I learned so much from him, so the least I can do is pass some of that along. glossographia.com/2025/12/17/p...

Three hours till my undergrads' exams are due. At the moment, 21/38 submitted. What's the over/under on how many of these things will be in before midnight, you think?

A common problem w/ studies testing non-WEIRD groups is they compare multiple groups using the same WEIRD measure. How can we compare groups w/ apples-apples measures w/o distorting cross-cultural differences? We explore this in this new paper! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...