David Barral
@thoreaupeutic.bsky.social
High school English Lit program in the French system
Thoreau studies (philological/philosophical wordplay) & translation; Lit; pragmatism | indie research
WIP « La résistance au gouvernement civil », traduction annotée : https://thoreaupeutic.net
Thoreau studies (philological/philosophical wordplay) & translation; Lit; pragmatism | indie research
WIP « La résistance au gouvernement civil », traduction annotée : https://thoreaupeutic.net
Pinned
David Barral
@thoreaupeutic.bsky.social
· Aug 17
I dwelt before, perhaps, in the illusion that my life passed somewhere only between heaven and hell, but now I cannot persuade myself that I do not dwell wholly within hell. … Life itself being worth less, all things with it, which minister to it, are worth less. (1/3)
“It’s all really about sex—unless it’s about sex” (borrowed)
December 1, 2025 at 8:06 PM
“It’s all really about sex—unless it’s about sex” (borrowed)
Reposted by David Barral
Our book *The End of College Football,* recipient of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport outstanding book award, is now available, just in time for the holidays, with a special 40% discount from @uncpress.bsky.social with the code 01DAH40.
uncpress.org/978146968346...
uncpress.org/978146968346...
December 1, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Our book *The End of College Football,* recipient of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport outstanding book award, is now available, just in time for the holidays, with a special 40% discount from @uncpress.bsky.social with the code 01DAH40.
uncpress.org/978146968346...
uncpress.org/978146968346...
sponsored ad (Blinkist): last time the pic was an AI generated approximation of Pinker; today, just a random old white geezer giving “prof.” nice work if you can get it I guess
December 1, 2025 at 8:02 PM
sponsored ad (Blinkist): last time the pic was an AI generated approximation of Pinker; today, just a random old white geezer giving “prof.” nice work if you can get it I guess
Reposted by David Barral
The event will be livestreamed! www.busboysandpoets.com/events/th-ev...
December 1, 2025 at 5:51 PM
The event will be livestreamed! www.busboysandpoets.com/events/th-ev...
Reposted by David Barral
breaking: reviewer that doesn't share your approach thinks your article manuscript is not ready for publication
December 1, 2025 at 8:39 AM
breaking: reviewer that doesn't share your approach thinks your article manuscript is not ready for publication
Reposted by David Barral
⬇️
Billet du 30 Novembre. Le pire n’est pas certain.
> Politique des Sciences du 3 décembre sur l'IA, la recherche et l'enseignement
> This survey is closed. Thank you
> Les rouages de l’antisémitisme, du racisme, du sexisme et des haines sociales
> Décliner son identité
rogueesr.fr/le-pire-nest...
> Politique des Sciences du 3 décembre sur l'IA, la recherche et l'enseignement
> This survey is closed. Thank you
> Les rouages de l’antisémitisme, du racisme, du sexisme et des haines sociales
> Décliner son identité
rogueesr.fr/le-pire-nest...
Le pire n’est pas certain
« Le pire n’est pas certain. Et s’il survient, il peut être combattu. Et une nouvelle fois repoussé. » Robert Birenbaum, Résistant, est décédé le 22 novembre 2025. Que la terre lui soit légère. Sém…
rogueesr.fr
December 1, 2025 at 10:50 AM
⬇️
Reposted by David Barral
the university was an exercise in professionalising epigrammatists and while it succeeded in that aim we discovered thereby that we mostly just preferred regular epigrammatists anyway
December 1, 2025 at 5:18 AM
the university was an exercise in professionalising epigrammatists and while it succeeded in that aim we discovered thereby that we mostly just preferred regular epigrammatists anyway
Reposted by David Barral
starting Dec 1st! ie tomorrow!
for structure to eke out pages at a bonkers time of year (that is also a precious writing-est time):
you can do 250 words a day! books get written that way! if more, amazing! if not when grading or festive-ing, that's ok!
check in daily at #acadecawriteathon
for structure to eke out pages at a bonkers time of year (that is also a precious writing-est time):
you can do 250 words a day! books get written that way! if more, amazing! if not when grading or festive-ing, that's ok!
check in daily at #acadecawriteathon
is there a NaNoWriMo but for December and academic/ nonfiction? Should we start it?
December 1, 2025 at 12:28 AM
starting Dec 1st! ie tomorrow!
for structure to eke out pages at a bonkers time of year (that is also a precious writing-est time):
you can do 250 words a day! books get written that way! if more, amazing! if not when grading or festive-ing, that's ok!
check in daily at #acadecawriteathon
for structure to eke out pages at a bonkers time of year (that is also a precious writing-est time):
you can do 250 words a day! books get written that way! if more, amazing! if not when grading or festive-ing, that's ok!
check in daily at #acadecawriteathon
Reposted by David Barral
Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition (1958)
One must imagine Sisyphus doing laundry.
December 1, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition (1958)
Reposted by David Barral
I do not like that universities feel the need to “brand” themselves. Find your “identity” as a department, they say. Revise your “mission.” I believe our mission is advancing knowledge in all areas. That hasn’t changed in a thousand years.
November 30, 2025 at 4:14 PM
I do not like that universities feel the need to “brand” themselves. Find your “identity” as a department, they say. Revise your “mission.” I believe our mission is advancing knowledge in all areas. That hasn’t changed in a thousand years.
Reposted by David Barral
"What, in essence, has changed? What in the simplest possible terms distinguishes this world from the previous one, demanding that we discard the word capitalism and replace it with technofeudalism? The triumph of rent over profit."
Varfoufakis
Varfoufakis
Chicago! be cozy in the snowy and do your homework for Wednesday! interccect.com/2025/11/02/s...
Serfs Up
Is too-late capitalism evolving a new mode of production? A new mode of accumulation? Or just a new political and ideological dispensation of the main forces and relations that have defined moderni…
interccect.com
November 30, 2025 at 4:57 PM
"What, in essence, has changed? What in the simplest possible terms distinguishes this world from the previous one, demanding that we discard the word capitalism and replace it with technofeudalism? The triumph of rent over profit."
Varfoufakis
Varfoufakis
Reposted by David Barral
November 30, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by David Barral
Given how well received it's been this weekend, I'm hoping to do some more giveaways of books that I wrote next week. These three are in contention!
November 30, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Given how well received it's been this weekend, I'm hoping to do some more giveaways of books that I wrote next week. These three are in contention!
Reposted by David Barral
He’s taking a battering.
France’s far-right leader hit by egg, days after flour attack
French far-right leader hit on the head with an egg
Jordan Bardella, leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, was hit on the head with an egg Saturday, just days after another incident in which a protester threw flour at him.
www.ctvnews.ca
November 30, 2025 at 7:15 AM
He’s taking a battering.
Reposted by David Barral
Just added a substack version of the review I wrote of one of the best books on Medieval hygiene I've ever read.
You can find it here;
fakehistoryhunter.substack.com/p/book-revie...
The wordpress version is here;
fakehistoryhunter.net/2024/07/13/b...
You can find it here;
fakehistoryhunter.substack.com/p/book-revie...
The wordpress version is here;
fakehistoryhunter.net/2024/07/13/b...
Book review: 'Urban Bodies: Communal Health in Late Medieval English Towns and Cities' by Carole Rawcliffe (2013)
I’ve just finished reading ‘Urban Bodies: Communal Health in Late Medieval English Towns and Cities’ by Carole Rawcliffe, Professor of Medieval History, University of East Anglia.
fakehistoryhunter.substack.com
November 30, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Just added a substack version of the review I wrote of one of the best books on Medieval hygiene I've ever read.
You can find it here;
fakehistoryhunter.substack.com/p/book-revie...
The wordpress version is here;
fakehistoryhunter.net/2024/07/13/b...
You can find it here;
fakehistoryhunter.substack.com/p/book-revie...
The wordpress version is here;
fakehistoryhunter.net/2024/07/13/b...
Reposted by David Barral
Love that there's a gif of me marking
Death Note GIF
ALT: Death Note GIF
media.tenor.com
November 30, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Love that there's a gif of me marking
Reposted by David Barral
New publication on active life of lit-> "How does the study of literature, language, and humanities help build critical capacities? How do we address the current state of the humanities in the age of AI? What are examples of applied humanities programs and careers?"
asterismbooks.com/product/buil...
asterismbooks.com/product/buil...
November 19, 2025 at 2:56 PM
New publication on active life of lit-> "How does the study of literature, language, and humanities help build critical capacities? How do we address the current state of the humanities in the age of AI? What are examples of applied humanities programs and careers?"
asterismbooks.com/product/buil...
asterismbooks.com/product/buil...
Reposted by David Barral
and it also should be read alongside @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social 's "Close Reading is For Everyone"
defector.com/close-readin...
defector.com/close-readin...
Close Reading Is For Everyone | Defector
In Sigrid Nunez’s 2018 novel The Friend, a famous writer kills himself. Not long before, he complains to the narrator about readers: “People talking about a book as if it were just another thing, like...
defector.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:33 PM
and it also should be read alongside @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social 's "Close Reading is For Everyone"
defector.com/close-readin...
defector.com/close-readin...
“In our work, [my students and I] assumed—before anything else, before any evidence—that there was meaning, and that we were rational, and we decided that we treat texts, ourselves, and each other this way. This is truly and always radical”.
I wrote an essay for @bostonreview.bsky.social about what I learned about close reading when I taught at West Virginia University
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
November 30, 2025 at 6:33 AM
“In our work, [my students and I] assumed—before anything else, before any evidence—that there was meaning, and that we were rational, and we decided that we treat texts, ourselves, and each other this way. This is truly and always radical”.
Reposted by David Barral
I wrote an essay for @bostonreview.bsky.social about what I learned about close reading when I taught at West Virginia University
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
November 26, 2025 at 3:14 PM
I wrote an essay for @bostonreview.bsky.social about what I learned about close reading when I taught at West Virginia University
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
Reposted by David Barral
Citation is feminist memory.
The whole point of citations beyond "showing your work" is so it's clear where your evidence is coming from. I'll be the last person to be a stickler about the specifics of a given style other than my deep and abiding hatred for APA but citations matter! They matter so much!
November 30, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Citation is feminist memory.
Reposted by David Barral
Hagueseth
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Hagueseth
Reposted by David Barral
Look, we could have all seen this coming with Hagueseth. The man cares so little about keeping his hands clean he doesn't wash them after taking a crap
November 30, 2025 at 5:48 AM
Look, we could have all seen this coming with Hagueseth. The man cares so little about keeping his hands clean he doesn't wash them after taking a crap
Reposted by David Barral
We seem to be getting stupider when we could really use our wits. The antidote? Reading more. Also a good antidote against the evils of social media, from distraction to misinformation. And did I mention the pleasure of it? Don't miss out on the pleasure... #books
www.economist.com/culture/2025...
www.economist.com/culture/2025...
Is the decline of reading making politics dumber?
As people read less they think less clearly, scholars fear
www.economist.com
November 29, 2025 at 5:30 PM
We seem to be getting stupider when we could really use our wits. The antidote? Reading more. Also a good antidote against the evils of social media, from distraction to misinformation. And did I mention the pleasure of it? Don't miss out on the pleasure... #books
www.economist.com/culture/2025...
www.economist.com/culture/2025...
Reposted by David Barral
Oh no!
November 29, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Oh no!