Matt Seybold
@mattseybold.bsky.social
American Vandal Pod | Prof of AmLit & Twain Studies + Director of Media Studies, Elmira College | Resident Scholar @MarkTwain.bsky.social | Political Economy of Mass Media
TheAmericanVandal.substack.com
MattSeybold.com
buymeacoffee.com/americanvandalpod
TheAmericanVandal.substack.com
MattSeybold.com
buymeacoffee.com/americanvandalpod
Pinned
"You have to use it. You have to trust it.": Forced Adoption of AI is The Subtext of Davos
Authoritarianism is the AI Bailout; But If AI Doesn't Need a Bailout, Does it Need Authoritarianism?
theamericanvandal.substack.com
I watched a bunch of AI sessions at the WEF so you wouldn’t have to.
But you should read this.
But you should read this.
We are only a few dozen jargon scolds away from fully automated luxury communism.
February 3, 2026 at 2:03 AM
We are only a few dozen jargon scolds away from fully automated luxury communism.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
Given the news drop of elite institution in the Epstein files, I hesitate to say this about *any* institution but…if Harvard continues to hold out, it will matter. Something that he cannot buy. Nominally anyway.
The Trump administration is no longer trying to get cash from Harvard as it seeks a settlement. At this point, the White House seems happy to get a signature on anything they can call a compact.
Trump Drops Demand for Cash From Harvard After Stiff Resistance
www.nytimes.com
February 2, 2026 at 10:51 PM
Given the news drop of elite institution in the Epstein files, I hesitate to say this about *any* institution but…if Harvard continues to hold out, it will matter. Something that he cannot buy. Nominally anyway.
Early returns on work-in-progress: even the part of my argument that I consider expositional throat-clearing are liable to make some readers angry. Great.
February 2, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Early returns on work-in-progress: even the part of my argument that I consider expositional throat-clearing are liable to make some readers angry. Great.
"I insulted a stranger and they unceremoniously blocked me. Isn't that rude of them?" is one of the most incomprehensible, but also most reliable postures of Web 2.0 discourse.
February 2, 2026 at 6:15 PM
"I insulted a stranger and they unceremoniously blocked me. Isn't that rude of them?" is one of the most incomprehensible, but also most reliable postures of Web 2.0 discourse.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
The real question is why the Chronicle continues to find this stuff newsworthy. It is very strange to continue this focus on "viewpoint diversity" and "woke" in 2026, when faculty are confronting state censorship and students are getting abducted. I've told the editors I think it's strange.
February 2, 2026 at 2:57 PM
The real question is why the Chronicle continues to find this stuff newsworthy. It is very strange to continue this focus on "viewpoint diversity" and "woke" in 2026, when faculty are confronting state censorship and students are getting abducted. I've told the editors I think it's strange.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
Oh cmon!!! The author of this season of Humanity is tripping.
FYI, Kristi Noem’s full
initials are K.L.A.N.
initials are K.L.A.N.
February 2, 2026 at 1:18 PM
Oh cmon!!! The author of this season of Humanity is tripping.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
I wrote about Plato, Huxley, and Dewey— thepointmag.com/examined-lif...
Freedom of Intelligence | The Point Magazine
Before assigning Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel Brave New World to high school students, I like to read Plato’s allegory of the cave with them in […]
thepointmag.com
February 1, 2026 at 4:16 PM
I wrote about Plato, Huxley, and Dewey— thepointmag.com/examined-lif...
We did not attain mass literacy because of teachers and schools. Any approach to the “literacy crisis” which focuses exclusively on educational reform is naive, or worse.
February 1, 2026 at 5:50 PM
We did not attain mass literacy because of teachers and schools. Any approach to the “literacy crisis” which focuses exclusively on educational reform is naive, or worse.
I would like to be able to do a fulltext search of my iCloud docs. In fact, I’d like search functions across all ecosystems to start working like it’s 2019 again.
starting a list of actual problems actual coders could tackle to make modest but real improvements in work n life
mac mail search that actually works
scamproofing that isn't freakin' 2 factor for a restaurant res
citation format conversion generator
reliable synching of bluetooth devices
mac mail search that actually works
scamproofing that isn't freakin' 2 factor for a restaurant res
citation format conversion generator
reliable synching of bluetooth devices
Proposal: instead of pouring resources into AI, tech companies first figure out a way for people to be able to copy slides from one PowerPoint presentation to another without the formatting getting all fucked up
February 1, 2026 at 3:54 PM
I would like to be able to do a fulltext search of my iCloud docs. In fact, I’d like search functions across all ecosystems to start working like it’s 2019 again.
The people who push the EdTech, Apps, and Test Prep do not want us to solve the problem they’ve created. These outcomes are not an accident or a side effect. They are the intention.
Setting aside elementary curriculum & instruction for the moment, we've known for decades much of what it takes to encourage reading in and out of school by secondary students regardless of gender, and instead of doing this, we've plied them with edtech, apps, test prep, and devices they carry 24/7.
Why Boys Are Behind in Reading at Every Age
www.nytimes.com
February 1, 2026 at 2:23 PM
The people who push the EdTech, Apps, and Test Prep do not want us to solve the problem they’ve created. These outcomes are not an accident or a side effect. They are the intention.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
Setting aside elementary curriculum & instruction for the moment, we've known for decades much of what it takes to encourage reading in and out of school by secondary students regardless of gender, and instead of doing this, we've plied them with edtech, apps, test prep, and devices they carry 24/7.
Why Boys Are Behind in Reading at Every Age
www.nytimes.com
February 1, 2026 at 1:52 PM
Setting aside elementary curriculum & instruction for the moment, we've known for decades much of what it takes to encourage reading in and out of school by secondary students regardless of gender, and instead of doing this, we've plied them with edtech, apps, test prep, and devices they carry 24/7.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
LISTEN TO MATT
Good morning.
Mountainhead is a better cinematic confrontation with the complex social horrors of the present than One Battle After Another.
Mountainhead is a better cinematic confrontation with the complex social horrors of the present than One Battle After Another.
February 1, 2026 at 12:50 PM
LISTEN TO MATT
Good morning.
Mountainhead is a better cinematic confrontation with the complex social horrors of the present than One Battle After Another.
Mountainhead is a better cinematic confrontation with the complex social horrors of the present than One Battle After Another.
February 1, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Good morning.
Mountainhead is a better cinematic confrontation with the complex social horrors of the present than One Battle After Another.
Mountainhead is a better cinematic confrontation with the complex social horrors of the present than One Battle After Another.
Did a Twain seminar at Université de Paris yesterday with another Twain scholar & the French translator of Everett’s “James” for students prepping for the Agrégation exam. Today Vandal is racing up French pod charts.
Don’t know how I’d be doing without this little reminder that it’s not just US.
Don’t know how I’d be doing without this little reminder that it’s not just US.
February 1, 2026 at 2:33 AM
Did a Twain seminar at Université de Paris yesterday with another Twain scholar & the French translator of Everett’s “James” for students prepping for the Agrégation exam. Today Vandal is racing up French pod charts.
Don’t know how I’d be doing without this little reminder that it’s not just US.
Don’t know how I’d be doing without this little reminder that it’s not just US.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
I hope this book sells a billion copies. It is designed to. Lucid. Funny. A little salacious. Like using an Eminent Victorians style biography to smuggle materialist history.
January 31, 2026 at 4:49 PM
I hope this book sells a billion copies. It is designed to. Lucid. Funny. A little salacious. Like using an Eminent Victorians style biography to smuggle materialist history.
Proud to say I’ve been boycotting Brett Ratner’s films since 2001.
February 1, 2026 at 1:35 AM
Proud to say I’ve been boycotting Brett Ratner’s films since 2001.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
when there’s a panic about something, opportunists seek to standardize and test
February 1, 2026 at 1:25 AM
when there’s a panic about something, opportunists seek to standardize and test
It wasn’t all bad. This episode shaped American Vandal as much as any ever has.
February 1, 2026 at 12:05 AM
It wasn’t all bad. This episode shaped American Vandal as much as any ever has.
Leave it to the Libertarians to stumble ass-backwards into the most utopian vision of the near future espoused by any US political party.
January 31, 2026 at 10:26 PM
Leave it to the Libertarians to stumble ass-backwards into the most utopian vision of the near future espoused by any US political party.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
after reading this article I spent a lot of time fantasizing about starting a podcast where I ask men from a variety of backgrounds to talk about books they loved as children. counter-programming for the trad podcast this article mentions.
Why Boys Are Behind in Reading at Every Age
www.nytimes.com
January 31, 2026 at 9:33 PM
after reading this article I spent a lot of time fantasizing about starting a podcast where I ask men from a variety of backgrounds to talk about books they loved as children. counter-programming for the trad podcast this article mentions.
Reposted by Matt Seybold
Important thread
Students can't watch movies because they don't watch television.
January 31, 2026 at 8:13 PM
Important thread
Reposted by Matt Seybold
I am sure that everyone who answered this reporter's email did so in an effort to understand the issue, convey the complexity of the situation, and steer the public conversation toward better ends. But that wasn't why the ask went out, and we all need to be more attentive to the frame.
January 31, 2026 at 8:12 PM
I am sure that everyone who answered this reporter's email did so in an effort to understand the issue, convey the complexity of the situation, and steer the public conversation toward better ends. But that wasn't why the ask went out, and we all need to be more attentive to the frame.
Twain was right, Horseradish Salad edition.
January 31, 2026 at 6:32 PM
Twain was right, Horseradish Salad edition.
Nepworking, pass it on.
"Networking" is just fancy speak for "get hired because you're buddies with the CEO/middle manager" just like "lobbying" is fancy speak for "corruption".
For the record, henceforth if you describe “networking” to me as a necessary professional skill, just know, in my head, I’m thinking of Jeffrey Epstein tremendous “networking” acumen. Fair warning.
January 31, 2026 at 6:16 PM
Nepworking, pass it on.