Matthew Harrison
@matthewharrison.bsky.social
pizza advocate; english professor
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
I keep waiting for cultural objects to be stripped of their affective force by my knowledge of how capitalist social relations shape their form and value but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ jokes on me I guess
December 28, 2025 at 4:15 PM
I keep waiting for cultural objects to be stripped of their affective force by my knowledge of how capitalist social relations shape their form and value but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ jokes on me I guess
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
*considers the Green Knight*
This photosynthetic magic trick allows for the big finale: some sacoglossan sea slugs can detach their own heads from their body (which contains the gut!) & live on photosynthesis for a few weeks while the body regrows from the head!
The body, unfortunately, cannot grow a new head.
The body, unfortunately, cannot grow a new head.
This Sea Slug Can Chop Off Its Head and Grow an Entire New Body--Twice
It is one of the “most extreme” examples of regeneration ever seen
www.scientificamerican.com
December 27, 2025 at 5:09 PM
*considers the Green Knight*
when i said i was "like Shakespeare," i didn't mean in the sense of talented writer; I meant I was a sloppy middle-aged man with bad hair
When I said I was "like Shakespeare" I didn't mean in the sense of dramatic genius but in the sense of being very sloppy about chronology
December 27, 2025 at 2:14 PM
when i said i was "like Shakespeare," i didn't mean in the sense of talented writer; I meant I was a sloppy middle-aged man with bad hair
@wtevs.bsky.social I mentioned to a friend that I had been on your newsletter the other day.
I got a lot more credit when you showed up on the tv immediately thereafter.
I got a lot more credit when you showed up on the tv immediately thereafter.
December 26, 2025 at 3:18 AM
@wtevs.bsky.social I mentioned to a friend that I had been on your newsletter the other day.
I got a lot more credit when you showed up on the tv immediately thereafter.
I got a lot more credit when you showed up on the tv immediately thereafter.
Trying to convince my brother (the pastor) to update the Christmas pageant based on what we now know about Roman tax law.
December 25, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Trying to convince my brother (the pastor) to update the Christmas pageant based on what we now know about Roman tax law.
My wife’s gift was shipped in a box that said what it was on the outside, so oops.
December 24, 2025 at 1:19 AM
My wife’s gift was shipped in a box that said what it was on the outside, so oops.
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
Parlor games with role-play elements were part of French aristocratic culture already in the 1500s. Such evening entertainments would spread as leisure time & literacy spread, with many such game outlines in publication by the 1800s when the Prussians "invented" the masculine preserve of wargaming.
December 23, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Parlor games with role-play elements were part of French aristocratic culture already in the 1500s. Such evening entertainments would spread as leisure time & literacy spread, with many such game outlines in publication by the 1800s when the Prussians "invented" the masculine preserve of wargaming.
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
Oh hell YES.
I've long maintained that based on the result of ink recipes, the word "azraq" couldn't mean "blue" in early Arabic texts but seems instead to be yellowish. Now I have textual proof: "Take red arsenic [realgar] or if you wish, azraq"—no such thing as blue arsenic, this means yellow!
I've long maintained that based on the result of ink recipes, the word "azraq" couldn't mean "blue" in early Arabic texts but seems instead to be yellowish. Now I have textual proof: "Take red arsenic [realgar] or if you wish, azraq"—no such thing as blue arsenic, this means yellow!
December 21, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Oh hell YES.
I've long maintained that based on the result of ink recipes, the word "azraq" couldn't mean "blue" in early Arabic texts but seems instead to be yellowish. Now I have textual proof: "Take red arsenic [realgar] or if you wish, azraq"—no such thing as blue arsenic, this means yellow!
I've long maintained that based on the result of ink recipes, the word "azraq" couldn't mean "blue" in early Arabic texts but seems instead to be yellowish. Now I have textual proof: "Take red arsenic [realgar] or if you wish, azraq"—no such thing as blue arsenic, this means yellow!
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
The Cook, the Grinch, His Wife & Her Lover
The Grinch Who Came In From The Cold
Two Grinches for Sister Sarah
December 20, 2025 at 12:32 AM
The Cook, the Grinch, His Wife & Her Lover
im gonna be obsessively Ants-posting for the next moth, im afraid
December 19, 2025 at 11:42 PM
im gonna be obsessively Ants-posting for the next moth, im afraid
PUNCTUM RE-RELEASED THE ANTS
punctumbooks.com/titles/the-a...
it's the only perfect book, assuming you like sonnet sequences except the sonnets are actually strange prose poems about partially metaphorical and partly real ants
and if that's not what you like, why are you following me?
punctumbooks.com/titles/the-a...
it's the only perfect book, assuming you like sonnet sequences except the sonnets are actually strange prose poems about partially metaphorical and partly real ants
and if that's not what you like, why are you following me?
The Ants – punctum books
punctumbooks.com
December 19, 2025 at 11:36 PM
PUNCTUM RE-RELEASED THE ANTS
punctumbooks.com/titles/the-a...
it's the only perfect book, assuming you like sonnet sequences except the sonnets are actually strange prose poems about partially metaphorical and partly real ants
and if that's not what you like, why are you following me?
punctumbooks.com/titles/the-a...
it's the only perfect book, assuming you like sonnet sequences except the sonnets are actually strange prose poems about partially metaphorical and partly real ants
and if that's not what you like, why are you following me?
RTing because I want to see all the cool books people recommend.
OK I need a last minute book gift recommendation for a friend who really likes Shakespeare, blues and folk music, and classic world cinema—poetry, art, food (he's a chef). I'm sure other people could benefit from this thread too, if you reply with something!
December 19, 2025 at 11:23 PM
RTing because I want to see all the cool books people recommend.
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
The concept in my mind of “contradicting the whole enterprise” began as a hum a year or more ago and is now an expletive-laden roar.
December 18, 2025 at 7:36 PM
The concept in my mind of “contradicting the whole enterprise” began as a hum a year or more ago and is now an expletive-laden roar.
taking rilke's advice to change my life by imagining that this outfit is supercomfy.
like pajamas that are also a couch.
like pajamas that are also a couch.
18 Dec 1640: William Laud Archbishop of #Canterbury impeached #otd for High Treason. Harbottle Grimston MP describes him as 'the sty of all pestilential filth that hath infected the State & Government'. Ouch.
December 18, 2025 at 4:18 PM
taking rilke's advice to change my life by imagining that this outfit is supercomfy.
like pajamas that are also a couch.
like pajamas that are also a couch.
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
Love that most of Ancient Roman poetry is just "these twinks are killing me."
December 18, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Love that most of Ancient Roman poetry is just "these twinks are killing me."
another day in which people will do literally anything to avoid reprinting sawako nakayasu's The Ants (les figures, 2014)
December 18, 2025 at 4:05 PM
another day in which people will do literally anything to avoid reprinting sawako nakayasu's The Ants (les figures, 2014)
ted is once again complaining about civ 7
the glorious civilizational death march from inspiration to content gains a step with every update
December 18, 2025 at 4:02 PM
ted is once again complaining about civ 7
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
I have a weird question for the #bird people on here. Do you think someone could tell that a book was pooped on specifically by a sparrowhawk (or perhaps hawks generally) just from the feces? I'm looking at a 16th c. case where witnesses claim books were pooped on specifically by sparrowhawks!
December 18, 2025 at 3:13 PM
I have a weird question for the #bird people on here. Do you think someone could tell that a book was pooped on specifically by a sparrowhawk (or perhaps hawks generally) just from the feces? I'm looking at a 16th c. case where witnesses claim books were pooped on specifically by sparrowhawks!
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
I went to our campus design center to ask a question about a machine. I said it was something I wanted to do for a quilt and she said “you got this! Did you see the great quilts in the lobby?”
“well, yes, cuz I made them” 🤣🥹
manifold.open.umn.edu/projects/wea...
“well, yes, cuz I made them” 🤣🥹
manifold.open.umn.edu/projects/wea...
Weaving Dreams | OEN Manifold
Weaving Dreams showcases handmade quilts and other textile artifacts selected from the oeuvre of quilting artist and Barnard College professor of Africana Studies and Literature, Kim F. Hall, curated ...
manifold.open.umn.edu
December 18, 2025 at 2:56 PM
I went to our campus design center to ask a question about a machine. I said it was something I wanted to do for a quilt and she said “you got this! Did you see the great quilts in the lobby?”
“well, yes, cuz I made them” 🤣🥹
manifold.open.umn.edu/projects/wea...
“well, yes, cuz I made them” 🤣🥹
manifold.open.umn.edu/projects/wea...
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
I've told this story before, but an editor once told me I didn't get an interview for a job because they were looking for non-white people.
After spending a bit more time in the industry I realized I'd been completely unqualified. Charitably, they were trying to spare my feelings.
After spending a bit more time in the industry I realized I'd been completely unqualified. Charitably, they were trying to spare my feelings.
The real story: with decreased opportunity, these white men experience the success of people of color as symbolic.
When humanities jobs cratered, I was told I wasn't getting hired because I was white. The disappearance of hundreds of jobs, reinterpreted as the fault of a small handful of people.
When humanities jobs cratered, I was told I wasn't getting hired because I was white. The disappearance of hundreds of jobs, reinterpreted as the fault of a small handful of people.
December 17, 2025 at 4:24 PM
I've told this story before, but an editor once told me I didn't get an interview for a job because they were looking for non-white people.
After spending a bit more time in the industry I realized I'd been completely unqualified. Charitably, they were trying to spare my feelings.
After spending a bit more time in the industry I realized I'd been completely unqualified. Charitably, they were trying to spare my feelings.
As a white guy with an ivy degree who is bad at math, I'm exactly the target audience for that article.
it's a really striking example of the way white resentment is aimed and shaped; the way the visibility of race & gender (combined with their interpretive flexibility) make them into flashpoints
it's a really striking example of the way white resentment is aimed and shaped; the way the visibility of race & gender (combined with their interpretive flexibility) make them into flashpoints
December 17, 2025 at 3:41 PM
As a white guy with an ivy degree who is bad at math, I'm exactly the target audience for that article.
it's a really striking example of the way white resentment is aimed and shaped; the way the visibility of race & gender (combined with their interpretive flexibility) make them into flashpoints
it's a really striking example of the way white resentment is aimed and shaped; the way the visibility of race & gender (combined with their interpretive flexibility) make them into flashpoints
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
Anyways! That article is dumb and racist. But I think the story has gotten traction because phds have so many hard feelings of shame and guilt around our accomplishments or our failures. We've got to find a way a better way to talk about that. Especially now.
December 17, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Anyways! That article is dumb and racist. But I think the story has gotten traction because phds have so many hard feelings of shame and guilt around our accomplishments or our failures. We've got to find a way a better way to talk about that. Especially now.
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
I enjoy this for so many other reasons, but "it’s only our own barbarous language that has to choose" is such a succinct mood about not just translating into but writing in english
"...the only reflections in the lake were a slash of causeway, a dot of pavilion, a mustard seed of a boat and the two or three specks of ourselves aboard it."
Snow, and the Heart of the Lake
Like three and a half translations of Liu Zongyuan that I don't like, and one of Zhang Dai that I do.
www.burninghou.se
December 17, 2025 at 4:38 AM
I enjoy this for so many other reasons, but "it’s only our own barbarous language that has to choose" is such a succinct mood about not just translating into but writing in english
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
one of the great, pernicious myths perpetrated about higher ed—which media, higher ed administrators, politicians, and a number of faculty are complicit in spreading—is that humanities departments close due to some combination of cratering student demand and unjustifiable cost. It’s not true
My humanities dept was relevant. Majors were up. Courses were 100% enrolled. Revenue positive, GE serving, etc etc. We were still eliminated.
The problem is ideological administrative destruction. Couldn’t write a report, a self study, or a spreadsheet against that.
The problem is ideological administrative destruction. Couldn’t write a report, a self study, or a spreadsheet against that.
'For humanities departments to continue to matter, they must challenge the modern world rather than accommodate it. Indeed, the most useful lesson the humanities have to offer today is a profoundly countercultural one: Difficulty is good, an end in its own right.' 2/2
December 15, 2025 at 1:37 PM
one of the great, pernicious myths perpetrated about higher ed—which media, higher ed administrators, politicians, and a number of faculty are complicit in spreading—is that humanities departments close due to some combination of cratering student demand and unjustifiable cost. It’s not true