[new Isaac Chotiner interview]

pretty sad AI flubbed this gimme

"The Commission’s co-chairs seem insistent on becoming the patrons of one particular faction of MA Jews—not only providing a platform for them to dominate a different faction but also empowering them to use their access as “court Jews” to destroy the right to free expression in our state."

again just a gentle reminder that Melville intended this to be read in Pee-wee Herman's "I know you are but what am I?" voice

Genuinely great thread. Also this is how Matt Seybold's seductive baritone on the "American Vandal" podcast radicalized me into a Keynesian

Cambridge, Somerville, Boston, and beyond, come hear me talk about the past 4 billion years or so with my friend Phoebe, geologist extraordinaire, at the @harvardbookstore.bsky.social Thursday 7pm

A student emailed me to ask what "affect theory" is and I responded. iykyk

it must feel so good as a whale to boom your entire bulk

When people ask, "Right before the Republic crumbled, who was doing the best 19th century literary pun stencils?" remember my name.

My pal Pete has written a mad, obsessive, ambitious book about how everything comes down to one thing, and I can’t wait to read it!! (even though the one thing in question is not, as one might naturally assume, a specific albino fish)

Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Nature” (1836)

Just a reminder that by McTeague's Law anyone who owns this immediately becomes a dentist.

first day of teaching fit check

I smashed that follow button so fast.

Joyce, THANK YOU ❤️

As the Israeli army brazenly murders children, journalists, and doctors, some Massachusetts democrats have decided to do Trump's dirty work for him: instituting "don't say Palestine" rules and anonymous tip lines to suppress dissent. Great -- if upsetting! -- overview from @jpygold.bsky.social:

is that prejudice in your pocket or are you just inelastic to see me

You’re laughing. I’m asking you to let love bend your stiff prejudice and you’re laughing.

Sorry if you "completed" Zohran's scavenger hunt and got chai and a meet-n-greet you actually missed the last clue which led to a cask on a pier in lower manhattan containing a sacred text unlocking the secrets of socialism.

ummmm Moby-Dick *is* a story about fishing and in fact about *how* fishing *is itself* quite a bit darker and weirder than you might think..and fairly Leftist

You know, people sometimes complain about Bluesky, then an absolute killer post appears and renews your hope.

look I'm not myself a political scientist so I can't say what effects it would have for a spate of politicians to crop up saying "the enemy is the oligarchy" and "the enemy is billionaires" while swinging a kettlebell but I think we should try it for science and see what happens

turns out someone on facebook re-posted an old course poster I made to the Melville Society page, which explains why I suddenly got a bunch of emails from strangers demanding a doubloon.

Finale episode. Our next season will be a series of “Vandal Live” events. See you in October-ish.

Holy shit. I just had an extended, deep conversation—about love, loss, grief—with ChatGPT. Sorry but this thing has become fully sentient, y’all 🤯

Today’s arrivals (or departures?): I saw @natewolff.bsky.social & @rezekjoe.bsky.social ‘s Gordon Pym promos & thought … sure, why not? Then I learned that Verne read Baudelaire’s translation of Poe & thought … pourquoi pas?

hard agree. this deserves some attention from MA governor @massgovernor.bsky.social. Why is a MA state body acting like a MAGA house committee? 👇👇👇👇👇

Feels like Mass residents shld ask Democratic governor Maura Healey @massgovernor.bsky.social why she created a Commission on Antisemitism based entirely on discredited data from Trump-aligned ADL equating criticism of Israel w/ antisemitism & parroting MAGA talking points about protest as terrorism

[me, screaming at students filing out of the room after I've just revealed our "American Literature Survey" class meets on a doomed whaling vessel]

I think this headline is actually a little better than the usual NYT style which would be like "Ignoring Hysterical Left, Universities Strike Smart Deal with Trump"

Happy Birthday, Herman Melville! The author of beloved classics CLAREL, "I and My Chimney," and TIMOLEON was born on this day in 1819.

Look at what the fabulous Dr. Sarah Mesle and I are up to!!! We’re offering a seminar at C19's 2026 conference in Cincinnati, Ohio! Proposals aren't due until September 15th, so you've got plenty of time. Spread the word! Details on how to apply, etc., at www.c19society.org/2026-confere...

That’s me and @natewolff.bsky.social nerding out last night at @harvardbookstore.bsky.social. Thank you to everyone who came to our book event! Everyone should read PYM

I can’t stand it!!! Here we are @natewolff.bsky.social. In PRINT

Hey #BSbookclub 📖 we should read Arthur Gordon Pym. It's short and completely bananas.

‘“I just thought, ‘Why did he write it? What was he thinking?’” ... “I think … that it’s fun for people to encounter a text that causes some disequilibrium, kind of confuses you.”’ @natewolff.bsky.social and @rezekjoe.bsky.social on Poe’s ‘Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket’:

I loved talking with @natewolff.bsky.social and @rezekjoe.bsky.social about the new edition of Poe's only novel, THE NARRATIVE OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM, and why its strangeness is revelatory (and fun!). They appear at @harvardbookstore.bsky.social on Monday. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/24/a...

This is the first time anyone has drawn me who is not my own child. An honor to be included with famous local Moby-Dick internet personality @natewolff.bsky.social In QT’d post below find a fab article in the Boston Globe about our edition of ARTHUR GORDON PYM

Just read Pym after ten years of stubborn avoidance. definitely the right novel for this moment.

It's your boys @rezekjoe.bsky.social and me in The Boston Globe! In print on Sunday! (We are in a big fight about how to interpret the ending of Poe's novel and the illustration poignantly captures the strain in our friendship.) www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/24/a...

There's a scam email that keeps going around my school that involves the premise that a staff member is donating her late husband's welding equipment and there has simply never been a trap more likely to catch me. I want these welders so bad. (To be clear I do not know how to weld.)

Charles Brockden Brown, EDGAR HUNTLY (1799)

Happy pub day to @sandtclassics.bsky.social edition of Poe’s NARRATIVE OF ARTHUR GORDON PYM — featuring an afterword by me & @rezekjoe.bsky.social! And pls join us at Harvard Bookstore on Monday where we will continue the conversation and I will reveal the next iteration of my thematic hairdo.

My edition of ARTHUR GORDON PYM has arrived!!! @natewolff.bsky.social @unnamedpress.bsky.social

Went here and everyone knew you

Mass Commission on Combatting Antisemitism is voting on a set of recs for K-12, built on discredited ADL "data," that echo Trumpian policies to surveil & punish criticism of Israel. A potential nightmare for public ed that also threatens to *fuel* antisemitism by insisting Jewishness = Zionism.

The clam. Many consider it only a dangerous denizen of the sea — “man’s weirdest foe.” However, I have wrested them from the mudflat’s maw and created three tasty meals.

One month from today! On 7/28 come celebrate the gorgeous new @sandtclassics.bsky.social edition of Poe's PYM by hearing me & @rezekjoe.bsky.social talk about Poe's PYM! And why not buy a copy which includes a lively conversational afterword wherein me & @rezekjoe.bsky.social talk about Poe's PYM!

A modern day McTeague