Ashley Rattner
@ashleyrattner.bsky.social
Former Internet personality
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I think about this essay frequently because it came out when I was in grad school and I posted it to Facebook and my friend's boyfriend saw the picture but didn't read it and bought me these salt and pepper shakers from Publix and they have lived nonfunctionally in every kitchen I have had since
If you are waiting for holiday events, why not take a moment and read this excellent Jonathan Beecher Field piece from the Commonplace catalog. It looks at the widening gap between academic and popular understandings of early American topics like #Thanksgiving. 🗃️ commonplace.online/article/come...
Come On, Lilgrim - Commonplace
The gap between academic and popular understandings of early American topics is an enduring challenge for early Americanists. In the case of Thanksgiving, that gap is widening.
commonplace.online
November 27, 2025 at 5:56 PM
I think about this essay frequently because it came out when I was in grad school and I posted it to Facebook and my friend's boyfriend saw the picture but didn't read it and bought me these salt and pepper shakers from Publix and they have lived nonfunctionally in every kitchen I have had since
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
60 years ago today, this happened…Happy Thanksgiving to all, especially those of you on the Group W bench.
November 27, 2025 at 1:01 PM
60 years ago today, this happened…Happy Thanksgiving to all, especially those of you on the Group W bench.
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
I’m still writing my first book — for all kinds of reasons. But this article I never finished in 2020 (got an R&R at another journal during peak lockdown/toddler parenting /depression) just published. I loved writing about the incredibly weird, compelling Nat Turner of the 1831 Confessions
November 27, 2025 at 1:09 AM
I’m still writing my first book — for all kinds of reasons. But this article I never finished in 2020 (got an R&R at another journal during peak lockdown/toddler parenting /depression) just published. I loved writing about the incredibly weird, compelling Nat Turner of the 1831 Confessions
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
I think if Canada wants to have a strong cultural identity we need to go back to doing what we're best at, making the weirdest fucking TV shows you've ever seen
November 26, 2025 at 7:33 PM
I think if Canada wants to have a strong cultural identity we need to go back to doing what we're best at, making the weirdest fucking TV shows you've ever seen
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
my favorite thing about Thanksgiving is that people stop emailing me for a few days
November 26, 2025 at 7:14 PM
my favorite thing about Thanksgiving is that people stop emailing me for a few days
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
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 Ashley Rattner
Every year it becomes more dangerous to read Jane Austen:
"she was reasonable enough to allow that a man of five and thirty might well have outlived all acuteness of feeling and every exquisite power of enjoyment"
"she was reasonable enough to allow that a man of five and thirty might well have outlived all acuteness of feeling and every exquisite power of enjoyment"
November 26, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Every year it becomes more dangerous to read Jane Austen:
"she was reasonable enough to allow that a man of five and thirty might well have outlived all acuteness of feeling and every exquisite power of enjoyment"
"she was reasonable enough to allow that a man of five and thirty might well have outlived all acuteness of feeling and every exquisite power of enjoyment"
[Tom Waits voice] frisson of carrion tang
New Jersey turkeys have a "slightly coarser, grainier" meat than ordinary turkeys but the "frisson of carrion tang" in the gizzard has made them #1 Thanksgiving fare for discerning gourmets.
November 26, 2025 at 3:01 PM
[Tom Waits voice] frisson of carrion tang
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
New episode out today featuring Alex Alston (Bryn Mawr College) and Maurice O. Wallace (Rutgers University, New Brunswick)!
S09 E05 | Animals in 19th-Century African American Literature
This episode features a conversation between Alex Alston, Assistant Professor of Literatures in English at Bryn Mawr College, and Maurice O. Wallace, Professor of English at Rutgers University, New Br
soundcloud.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:31 PM
New episode out today featuring Alex Alston (Bryn Mawr College) and Maurice O. Wallace (Rutgers University, New Brunswick)!
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
This is 19999% something Heather Gay would order and then throw up in a sprinter van
November 25, 2025 at 3:19 PM
This is 19999% something Heather Gay would order and then throw up in a sprinter van
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
Haven't received as many contributions as usual for this year's lists--could be many things, but one aspect is surely that our ability to get this in front of people is much diminished. If you know folks whose stuff should be on here, please suggest it! contingentmagazine.org/yearly-pub-l...
Publications by Non-Tenure-Track Historians
Since we began publishing in 2019, Contingent has published end-of-year lists of books and articles by non-tenure-track historians released in the past calendar year. To submit something for inclusion...
contingentmagazine.org
November 24, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Haven't received as many contributions as usual for this year's lists--could be many things, but one aspect is surely that our ability to get this in front of people is much diminished. If you know folks whose stuff should be on here, please suggest it! contingentmagazine.org/yearly-pub-l...
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
I think it’s pretty clear at this point that one of the main impacts of LLMs is to disrupt thinking: to make it so that far too many people never properly learn how to do it, and then to control the output so there are thoughts that people never learn how to think.
November 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
I think it’s pretty clear at this point that one of the main impacts of LLMs is to disrupt thinking: to make it so that far too many people never properly learn how to do it, and then to control the output so there are thoughts that people never learn how to think.
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
Here are Musk's replies to the five different times Rogan lobs him softballs about how AI is likely to improve in the future:
"Yeah yeah."
"Yeah. Have you ... yeah."
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
"Yes. No, it's ... yeah."
"Yeah yeah."
"Yeah. Have you ... yeah."
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
"Yes. No, it's ... yeah."
November 24, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Here are Musk's replies to the five different times Rogan lobs him softballs about how AI is likely to improve in the future:
"Yeah yeah."
"Yeah. Have you ... yeah."
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
"Yes. No, it's ... yeah."
"Yeah yeah."
"Yeah. Have you ... yeah."
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
"Yes. No, it's ... yeah."
"FEAST YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD"
–Alabama Department of Transportation signage
–Alabama Department of Transportation signage
November 23, 2025 at 11:56 PM
"FEAST YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD"
–Alabama Department of Transportation signage
–Alabama Department of Transportation signage
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
In Monrovia, California, protesters are purchasing 17¢ ICE scrapers from Home Depot and immediately returning them to create long lines and slow down the entire store. Their aim is to disrupt sales and convey a message opposing ICE raids occurring in their neighborhood.
November 23, 2025 at 11:37 AM
In Monrovia, California, protesters are purchasing 17¢ ICE scrapers from Home Depot and immediately returning them to create long lines and slow down the entire store. Their aim is to disrupt sales and convey a message opposing ICE raids occurring in their neighborhood.
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
Perfect ASA experience: present 4 papers on rot, someone in the audience is like “actually this all reminds me of gooning” then we all talk about the energy economy of gooning for 15 minutes
November 22, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Perfect ASA experience: present 4 papers on rot, someone in the audience is like “actually this all reminds me of gooning” then we all talk about the energy economy of gooning for 15 minutes
It's called marketing
@ashleyrattner.bsky.social doing her part to force C19 on everybody at ASA
November 22, 2025 at 2:59 AM
It's called marketing
Dental humanities reunion at @ishmaelcallme.bsky.social's Berenice paper at ASA this weekend!
November 19, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Dental humanities reunion at @ishmaelcallme.bsky.social's Berenice paper at ASA this weekend!
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
One girl said “it doesn’t matter if you ban a book because everyone can find that information online” and then I blew their minds by talking about how your search history can be monitored and sold to the government without your permission, but your library borrowing history requires a warrant.
November 18, 2025 at 1:26 AM
One girl said “it doesn’t matter if you ban a book because everyone can find that information online” and then I blew their minds by talking about how your search history can be monitored and sold to the government without your permission, but your library borrowing history requires a warrant.
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
fully prepared to blame Ezra Pound for this as well
November 18, 2025 at 2:37 AM
fully prepared to blame Ezra Pound for this as well
Reposted by Ashley Rattner
are you going to be at ASA in San Juan this weekend? Come listen to me, @ashleyrattner.bsky.social, @ericastevens.bsky.social, and friends talk about all things rotten in this failing state! (Graphic courtesy of Ashley. I bullied her into making it a few months ago, and I forget why)
November 17, 2025 at 1:43 PM
are you going to be at ASA in San Juan this weekend? Come listen to me, @ashleyrattner.bsky.social, @ericastevens.bsky.social, and friends talk about all things rotten in this failing state! (Graphic courtesy of Ashley. I bullied her into making it a few months ago, and I forget why)