Proud to announce that after decades as an awkwardness practitioner, I have finally been upgraded to awkwardness researcher! slate.com/life/2025/12...

If you are looking for a gift that will really get inside someone’s head and subtly undermine their confidence (and who isn’t?!), might I recommend gifting them a copy of ‘awkwardness’ with zero context or explanation? Now on sale for $17, but hurry— only 9 copies left! a.co/d/bw2KIaS

Philosophy friends: planning a spring meta ethics seminar. I haven’t kept up much the last 5 years or so— what books did I miss that would be fun to read with advanced undergrads?

Hmmm, I have been thinking of teaching a meta ethics seminar again— maybe it’s a sign…

And rolling it out at Kann— wonder what the other 3 restaurants will be, v curious to try this!

wrapped up intro to moral theory w/this Aeon piece on annoyance by @dryan149.bsky.social and @evanwestra.bsky.social- big hit, great way to wrap up a semester, by looking to future and thinking concretely about change: aeon.co/essays/why-d...

Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva and I are thrilled with the cover for our book, Somebody Should Do Something The release date is 9/16, but you can do preorders now mitpress.mit.edu/978026204978... #CoverReveal #Bookstagram @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social tein.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social

Great essay by @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

new (version of an) SEP entry just dropped, maybe time to give the ol' evolution and morality seminar syllabus an overhaul...

usually keep the blackboard page pretty austere but this semester I needed to cheer myself up...

reposting this because I've seen a few people wondering where to direct resources and this seems like a non-obvious but important one.

what a great idea for a conference, and the associated pedagogy workshops look great too

This is great. A perfect pre-semester read www.noemamag.com/the-danger-o...

A while ago I suggested this as an approach to addressing the referee crisis and no one liked it (obviously I know funding is a different thing okay)

it’s real!! 🥰

Philosopher friends/parasocial peeps, look for me at the eastern, I’ll be the one awkwardly squinting at everyone’s name tag like the borderline prosopagnosic I am

going back to the Eastern APA for the first time since 2011 & already having anticipatory anxiety. no I'm not 'presenting' my work on awkwardness per se, more like demonstrating it in informal settings...

the secret to having it all? quantifier restriction.

hey, if you're looking for something to fill a cold Monday afternoon (or evening), check out this virtual event I'm doing with The Philosopher tomorrow! www.thephilosopher1923.org/events/on-aw...

a little sweet, but also sour: was 2024 the year of the pickle? Idk, but I did have fun talking to Ted Anthony for this AP article: apnews.com/article/pick...

Sorry to report, turns out I’m that person who comes in at the tail end of a 1000 piece puzzle and crows about every piece they place #highlyspecificvices

Charity requires you you interpret ‘gym’ as ‘nap,’ for example when I said I would go to the gym every day this week

9:45am. just put on a pork belly braise while I write down some deep thoughts about pickles. I am going to miss sabbatical, sigh.

"What is lost when victims leave philosophy..." Such an important point. "If only we could redistribute hubris." Maybe we can't, but those of us who teach and mentor can at least try to adjust the balance of confidence and self-doubt. www.thephilosopher1923.org/post/on-canc...

grrr, be serious. who is saying 'don't eat microwavable frozen veggies' (which isn't even UPF) or hummus (most wldn't qualify as UPF)? painting critics of UPF as enemies of all packaged food or as denying some UPF worse than others = disingenuous at best. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/o...

*you* call it lying to my kids about Santa, *I* call it teaching them about non-truth conditional semantics

Listening to the Ezra Klein episode on editing where he interviews Adam Moss. It's great. 'The Work of Art' is fantastic and different and would make a great gift for the writer/artist/philosopher* in your life www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/669522... *not me, I already own it

there are gift lists for all sorts of relationships. but what about that one person whose head you just want to mess with? might I suggest... a book about awkwardness, presented without comment or explanation? global.oup.com/academic/pro...

The starter pack of philosophers who are not members of any starter pack

the joy of cooking

If I’m not in a philosophy starter pack do I even exist

pre-thanksgiving checklist: potatoes? check. pie? check. awkwardness? I've got you covered! It's not too late to register for this online event tonorrow at 2:30-- you can listen while you make those pie crusts!

Awkwardness happens. Sometimes we can head it off before it happens, sometimes it's a problem to solve, sometimes it's the best of a bunch of bad options. I wrote a short piece for The Conversation explaining why: theconversation.com/awkwardness-...

No one knows awkwardness like philosophers know awkwardness. Join me and Victor Kumar to talk all things awkward, find out why Thanksgiving is the most awkward holiday, & how to cope! Bonus: OUP is offering 30% off the book if you use the code AAFLYG6-- order at global.oup.com/academic/pro...

I have recently become a regular glasses-wearer. The prob is all my previous experience makes me think I’m wearing sunglasses so no one can see my eyes and the result is some real weirdo behavior/gaze patterns

Love coming across randomness in the Aeon archives... Like yeah blah blah 'moist' but have you considered the horribleness that is the word 'delicious'? aeon.co/ideas/delici...

I felt awkward commenting on this, so: yes! parasocial awkwardness def a thing. Through writing the book & then being awkward engaging w it online I have unlocked a whole new level of meta-awkwardness...

Omg if all goes according to plan I will be doing something really exciting tomorrow and I can’t say what it is yet but here’s a hint

Update: this was really fun, though I almost lost my cool when I realized the guest before me was none other than THE Marion Nestle…

I'll be on SiriusXM's 'Doctor Radio' channel (no, I'm still not that kind of doctor, mom, sorry!) talking about alt-protein, edible insects, and the so-called 'yuck factor' at 1 today-- tune in, I might even share my controversial views on shrimp!

thinking of doing a short solo writing retreat-- anyone done one of these and have any advice to share?

Victor Kumar's not on Bluesky so I'll tell you: he thinks he's awkward, but he's really super-smooth. Don't believe me? Come to this Zoom chat we're gonna do about my book! I don't even care if you make pie while you listen, won't be awkward at all.

Update: I can't w the sound of my own voice, but I listened to intro & wow, yes. From day 1 of the project I wanted to be clear that saying smthing is awkward isn't trivializing it. Hearing that the book is relevant even now... feels like everything I hoped for. Really grateful for this interview.

I've been mostly listening to angsty 90s music and stomping around in doc martens, but if you are looking for a more sophisticated soundtrack, might I suggest this episode of The Gray Area? We talk awkwardness & some tips on avoiding it, should you so wish! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

a few days ago I posted about a piece I wrote that was published in the Washington Post. It was originally written for The Conversation, and they just published it on their site-- here's the (non-paywalled) link: theconversation.com/safe-route-o...

Wrote smthng about why focusing on 'the yuck factor' is a misleading way to approach changing people's food habits & it's out today... in The WaPo. Here's a link but if you'd rather not, summary in comments & it'll be on The Conversation's site soon: www.washingtonpost.com/food/2024/10...

7yo just tried the old ‘are you smart? Then spell ‘it’,’ got a five min lecture on the use/mention distinction. Sorry kid, I said I was smart, never claimed to be fun

Update: guys I listened to myself on a podcast and I didn’t die of cringe. (I do need to say ‘right?’ a LOT less often…). Thank you to David and Ellie for making this convo so not awkward: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o...

grrrrr this article. finding a borderline case and using it to argue that UPF is "arbitrary"- bad undergrad-level argument. real takeaway isn't that NOVA = flawed but that categories like 'bread' tell us more about function than contents of product. www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...