Sean DiLeonardi
@sdileonardi.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of English and Director of the Center for Digital Studies at Pitt-Greensburg (he/him)
Every day I wake up and cognitively map like my subjectivity depends on it.
Every day I wake up and cognitively map like my subjectivity depends on it.
Reposted by Sean DiLeonardi
It’s beautiful 🥹 and it’s available for preorder!! https://bookshop.org/p/books/skin-contact-elisa-faison/a02ec31b1a2753d7?ean=9781538776018&next=t&
November 2, 2025 at 6:09 PM
It’s beautiful 🥹 and it’s available for preorder!! https://bookshop.org/p/books/skin-contact-elisa-faison/a02ec31b1a2753d7?ean=9781538776018&next=t&
If you assess a data viz by the ratio of ink to information, this one gets it.
Actual causes of death in the USA compared to populist media coverage ...
November 2, 2025 at 2:09 PM
If you assess a data viz by the ratio of ink to information, this one gets it.
Reposted by Sean DiLeonardi
Thrilled to announce my new book (electronic version out now, print next month) — it proposes a new value theory grounded in the longue durée of literary institutions, 1800–present.
October 29, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Thrilled to announce my new book (electronic version out now, print next month) — it proposes a new value theory grounded in the longue durée of literary institutions, 1800–present.
Woohoo! I just started it. Game changer for the classroom. Congrats to Dan and @johannawinant.bsky.social
Today is pub day for my third book: Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century. It is a handbook on how to read. It argues for the foundational importance of *caring* to thought. It offers an anatomy of close reading's five steps so we can hone the skills to perform them. It argues for why to read
October 21, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Woohoo! I just started it. Game changer for the classroom. Congrats to Dan and @johannawinant.bsky.social
Is it too much to ask for an exhaustive infographic of every crime, abuse of power, and other corrupt actions on a day-by-day basis, color coded by severity, and tagged with numbers linked to a numerical list of accomplices and stooges so that we are fully prepared on the day of reckoning?!
October 21, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Is it too much to ask for an exhaustive infographic of every crime, abuse of power, and other corrupt actions on a day-by-day basis, color coded by severity, and tagged with numbers linked to a numerical list of accomplices and stooges so that we are fully prepared on the day of reckoning?!
What did people think about Eddington? I have some criticisms but mostly liked it. It’s quiet condemnation of Silicon Valley is especially smart. The film starts and ends with the building of a data center that <seems> to have little to do with the plot but is actually essential.
October 18, 2025 at 3:16 PM
What did people think about Eddington? I have some criticisms but mostly liked it. It’s quiet condemnation of Silicon Valley is especially smart. The film starts and ends with the building of a data center that <seems> to have little to do with the plot but is actually essential.
This will definitely not lead to more lonely incels with raging misogyny
Oh good, ChatGPT is getting "erotica for verified adults" later this year
October 16, 2025 at 1:36 AM
This will definitely not lead to more lonely incels with raging misogyny
I’m very happy for László Krasznahorkai and the Nobel win, but look at this interview bit - did he steal it from Nic Cage’s monologue in Moonstruck? Same vibe.
October 11, 2025 at 7:42 PM
I’m very happy for László Krasznahorkai and the Nobel win, but look at this interview bit - did he steal it from Nic Cage’s monologue in Moonstruck? Same vibe.
Damning. Time spent fixing AI language or trying to figure out if information is accurate:
“The study estimates that workslop causes businesses $186 per month, per employee, or $9 million per year for a 10,000-person company.”
finance.yahoo.com/news/9-milli...
“The study estimates that workslop causes businesses $186 per month, per employee, or $9 million per year for a 10,000-person company.”
finance.yahoo.com/news/9-milli...
The $9 Million Problem: How AI-Generated 'Workslop' Is Costing Companies
AI slop, or content generated by AI that looks good but lacks substance, has officially entered the workplace. This workslop "creates the illusion of progress" but is largely meaningless, which has hu...
finance.yahoo.com
October 9, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Damning. Time spent fixing AI language or trying to figure out if information is accurate:
“The study estimates that workslop causes businesses $186 per month, per employee, or $9 million per year for a 10,000-person company.”
finance.yahoo.com/news/9-milli...
“The study estimates that workslop causes businesses $186 per month, per employee, or $9 million per year for a 10,000-person company.”
finance.yahoo.com/news/9-milli...
‘the human centipede of content’ is the most succinct, brilliant, and horrifying description of AI yet. AI is not the future, it is the past returned as shit.
Daughter of Robin Williams, Zelda Williams 💔
October 6, 2025 at 11:37 PM
‘the human centipede of content’ is the most succinct, brilliant, and horrifying description of AI yet. AI is not the future, it is the past returned as shit.
Reposted by Sean DiLeonardi
I made a lil game inspired by the Wordle universe. It's called Versedle (pronounced Verse-a-dle). You guess who wrote famous lines of literature.
As my parents can attest, it's hard! I made them an Easy Mode, but it's still kinda hard. Maybe you'll like it!
▶️ 📚: melaniewalsh.github.io/versedle/
As my parents can attest, it's hard! I made them an Easy Mode, but it's still kinda hard. Maybe you'll like it!
▶️ 📚: melaniewalsh.github.io/versedle/
VERSEDLE
Test your literary knowledge with Versedle!
melaniewalsh.github.io
October 2, 2025 at 3:33 PM
I made a lil game inspired by the Wordle universe. It's called Versedle (pronounced Verse-a-dle). You guess who wrote famous lines of literature.
As my parents can attest, it's hard! I made them an Easy Mode, but it's still kinda hard. Maybe you'll like it!
▶️ 📚: melaniewalsh.github.io/versedle/
As my parents can attest, it's hard! I made them an Easy Mode, but it's still kinda hard. Maybe you'll like it!
▶️ 📚: melaniewalsh.github.io/versedle/
Reposted by Sean DiLeonardi
Baby’s got a pub date! And some juicy catalog copy. MIDDLEMEN coming your way on April 26!
(Cover reveal soon!)
(Cover reveal soon!)
October 1, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Baby’s got a pub date! And some juicy catalog copy. MIDDLEMEN coming your way on April 26!
(Cover reveal soon!)
(Cover reveal soon!)
Thesis: Unlike Inherent Vice, One Battle After Another is not ‘based on Pynchon’ (a formal claim that characters and plot points get remediated by film) but PYNCHONIAN (a stylistic claim that Anderson is actually moving his auteur brand toward the sensibility of Pynchon’s novels
October 1, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Thesis: Unlike Inherent Vice, One Battle After Another is not ‘based on Pynchon’ (a formal claim that characters and plot points get remediated by film) but PYNCHONIAN (a stylistic claim that Anderson is actually moving his auteur brand toward the sensibility of Pynchon’s novels
I can confirm that scientifically this is a first, because from 2014-2016 I watched an episode of Wild Kratts every day that said sperm whale/squid battles in the deep sea have never been seen by humans.
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 24, 2025 at 10:43 PM
I can confirm that scientifically this is a first, because from 2014-2016 I watched an episode of Wild Kratts every day that said sperm whale/squid battles in the deep sea have never been seen by humans.
Hey thanks to @lithub.com.web.brid.gy for including my recent piece on translated bestsellers in their daily roundup of “the best of the literary internet”! Check it out:
lithub.com/lit-hub-dail...
lithub.com/lit-hub-dail...
lithub.com
September 23, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Hey thanks to @lithub.com.web.brid.gy for including my recent piece on translated bestsellers in their daily roundup of “the best of the literary internet”! Check it out:
lithub.com/lit-hub-dail...
lithub.com/lit-hub-dail...
Reposted by Sean DiLeonardi
Judith Butler was decisive to my own intellectual development when they were at Hopkins. Watching the UC facilitate their persecution by dipshit wreckers in the Trump administration is enraging. Butler, in all their thorniness and range, epitomizes the centrality of the fight for academic freedom.
September 22, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Judith Butler was decisive to my own intellectual development when they were at Hopkins. Watching the UC facilitate their persecution by dipshit wreckers in the Trump administration is enraging. Butler, in all their thorniness and range, epitomizes the centrality of the fight for academic freedom.
Reposted by Sean DiLeonardi
New at PB: Jed Kudrick & @sdileonardi.bsky.social scour bestseller data to unpack trending translation in the US, despite the low national average of translations published each year.
How Translations Sell: Three U.S. Eras of International Bestsellers
A translation renaissance in US publishing just ended. And you probably missed it.
www.publicbooks.org
September 19, 2025 at 8:07 PM
New at PB: Jed Kudrick & @sdileonardi.bsky.social scour bestseller data to unpack trending translation in the US, despite the low national average of translations published each year.
I thought this was a pretty cool fact when I discovered it. I mean 80 weeks is hella long for a book to be consecrated by U.S. popular culture as relevant (average bestseller lasts 1 week). Even for English language writers, this is like Harry Potter or Game of Thrones big.
“‘The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest’ spent nearly 80 weeks—more than a year and a half—in a top 10 spot. This gives Larsson’s novel the record of securing the longest length of time on the NYT bestseller list of any translated novel—from any language—ever.”
How Translations Sell: Three U.S. Eras of International Bestsellers
A translation renaissance in US publishing just ended. And you probably missed it.
www.publicbooks.org
September 18, 2025 at 6:30 PM
I thought this was a pretty cool fact when I discovered it. I mean 80 weeks is hella long for a book to be consecrated by U.S. popular culture as relevant (average bestseller lasts 1 week). Even for English language writers, this is like Harry Potter or Game of Thrones big.
I’m on page xi ofTaking Back Control by Wolfgang Steeck and I’m already into it/asking questions:
“The nation-state is the only social site - the only institutionalized polity - that is potentially available for democratisation in opposition to capitalist distributional justice”
“The nation-state is the only social site - the only institutionalized polity - that is potentially available for democratisation in opposition to capitalist distributional justice”
September 17, 2025 at 11:39 PM
I’m on page xi ofTaking Back Control by Wolfgang Steeck and I’m already into it/asking questions:
“The nation-state is the only social site - the only institutionalized polity - that is potentially available for democratisation in opposition to capitalist distributional justice”
“The nation-state is the only social site - the only institutionalized polity - that is potentially available for democratisation in opposition to capitalist distributional justice”
Reposted by Sean DiLeonardi
A translation renaissance in US publishing just ended. And you probably missed it.
New at PB: Jed Kudrick & @sdileonardi.bsky.social ask how such a renaissance went unnoticed?
New at PB: Jed Kudrick & @sdileonardi.bsky.social ask how such a renaissance went unnoticed?
How Translations Sell: Three U.S. Eras of International Bestsellers
A translation renaissance in US publishing just ended. And you probably missed it.
www.publicbooks.org
September 17, 2025 at 1:35 PM
A translation renaissance in US publishing just ended. And you probably missed it.
New at PB: Jed Kudrick & @sdileonardi.bsky.social ask how such a renaissance went unnoticed?
New at PB: Jed Kudrick & @sdileonardi.bsky.social ask how such a renaissance went unnoticed?
Saw Noah Wyle at school drop off.
September 17, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Saw Noah Wyle at school drop off.
I’m very excited to share this. My first time co-writing with a student who won a year-long fellowship to help compile the data. Many thanks owed to those who read, edited, and supported along the way. Please share widely!!
Big essay out by @sdileonardi.bsky.social in @publicbooks.bsky.social today, drawing on 100 years of translations and bestseller data to show that the US has seen three waves of translation: European; Latin American Boom; Nordic Noir. And what this means for us.
www.publicbooks.org/how-translat...
www.publicbooks.org/how-translat...
How Translations Sell: Three U.S. Eras of International Bestsellers - Public Books
A translation renaissance in US publishing just ended. And you probably missed it.
www.publicbooks.org
September 16, 2025 at 3:29 PM
I’m very excited to share this. My first time co-writing with a student who won a year-long fellowship to help compile the data. Many thanks owed to those who read, edited, and supported along the way. Please share widely!!
Reposted by Sean DiLeonardi
I don't think Omid Bagherli is on bluesky (then again, why am I on bluesky?) but I'm grateful for this review and particularly happy to see it in ASAP/Review since a lot of this book happened because of friends and colleagues at @asapartsnow.bsky.social
asapjournal.com/review/slow-...
asapjournal.com/review/slow-...
Slow Motion’s Half-Rhyme: Mark Goble’s Downtime: The Twentieth Century in Slow Motion
: : Technically speaking, slow motion used to work by way of an inversion. Before the effect could be implemented with digital postproduction, high-speed cameras were typically used.
asapjournal.com
August 29, 2025 at 3:58 PM
I don't think Omid Bagherli is on bluesky (then again, why am I on bluesky?) but I'm grateful for this review and particularly happy to see it in ASAP/Review since a lot of this book happened because of friends and colleagues at @asapartsnow.bsky.social
asapjournal.com/review/slow-...
asapjournal.com/review/slow-...
Hoo boy! I can’t believe it’s happening. We’ve been working on this for years. Thanks to @post45data.bsky.social you can now search our IB database, with a very cool interface!
Please share with anyone who might be interested
Special thanks to @ninasabak.bsky.social for aiding with the data source
Please share with anyone who might be interested
Special thanks to @ninasabak.bsky.social for aiding with the data source
New dataset on bestsellers from 40+ countries, with consistent coverage for France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the U.S.
Congrats to the authors @sdileonardi.bsky.social, @beccacohen.bsky.social, and @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social on this major contribution! 🎉
🔗: doi.org/10.18737/386...
Congrats to the authors @sdileonardi.bsky.social, @beccacohen.bsky.social, and @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social on this major contribution! 🎉
🔗: doi.org/10.18737/386...
July 29, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Hoo boy! I can’t believe it’s happening. We’ve been working on this for years. Thanks to @post45data.bsky.social you can now search our IB database, with a very cool interface!
Please share with anyone who might be interested
Special thanks to @ninasabak.bsky.social for aiding with the data source
Please share with anyone who might be interested
Special thanks to @ninasabak.bsky.social for aiding with the data source
Of all the Coldplay lyrics when “Nobody said it was easy [cheating on your wife], but no one ever said it would be so hard” is right there
The statement from the Coldplay cheating guy is KILLING ME. The last line😭😭😭
July 18, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Of all the Coldplay lyrics when “Nobody said it was easy [cheating on your wife], but no one ever said it would be so hard” is right there