Ben Wurgaft
@benwurgaft.bsky.social
writer, historian, appetite!
there is a humanistic equivalent to innumeracy besides "illiteracy."
https://benwurgaft.org/
there is a humanistic equivalent to innumeracy besides "illiteracy."
https://benwurgaft.org/
Pinned
Ben Wurgaft
@benwurgaft.bsky.social
· May 18
I have a new cool guy thing I do which is, when I see a driver weaving across lanes of highway traffic, I say "whoa check out Anni Albers over there."
Coleridge [hilarious]: “Why is a murderer like an unborn jack-ass?” “He is an ass-ass-in, i.e. Ass in an ass.”
December 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Coleridge [hilarious]: “Why is a murderer like an unborn jack-ass?” “He is an ass-ass-in, i.e. Ass in an ass.”
1987 was a hell of a time. GI Joe lunch boxes. Trapper Keepers. Entire essays premised on being aggrieved that a book about puns did not sacrifice sufficient hekatombs to Derrida’s work on Joyce.
December 8, 2025 at 12:03 PM
1987 was a hell of a time. GI Joe lunch boxes. Trapper Keepers. Entire essays premised on being aggrieved that a book about puns did not sacrifice sufficient hekatombs to Derrida’s work on Joyce.
was just imagining High Fidelity, but for all the various methods of brewing coffee, and then I realized, with a moment of satisfaction not unlike a treasure chest unlocking, that I was simply imagining my life, as I have lived it.
December 7, 2025 at 10:29 PM
was just imagining High Fidelity, but for all the various methods of brewing coffee, and then I realized, with a moment of satisfaction not unlike a treasure chest unlocking, that I was simply imagining my life, as I have lived it.
There is a lot of news about the New School right now, and tuning in to facts can be tough. Here is @kmunro-econ.bsky.social with important ones:
Speaking as a private citizen on a matter of public concern, yes leadership is apparently planning to cut 50% of the faculty at the New School for Social Research in order to eliminate social research and replace scholarship with a trendy MA degree mill For the 21st Century 1/
December 7, 2025 at 5:58 PM
There is a lot of news about the New School right now, and tuning in to facts can be tough. Here is @kmunro-econ.bsky.social with important ones:
"This is pretentiously vatic," I spit, putting down a work of Derridean criticism.
"Stampeding cattle.... through the Vatican," spits Mel Brooks, putting some of the best lines in Blazing Saddles down on paper.
"Stampeding cattle.... through the Vatican," spits Mel Brooks, putting some of the best lines in Blazing Saddles down on paper.
December 7, 2025 at 2:43 AM
"This is pretentiously vatic," I spit, putting down a work of Derridean criticism.
"Stampeding cattle.... through the Vatican," spits Mel Brooks, putting some of the best lines in Blazing Saddles down on paper.
"Stampeding cattle.... through the Vatican," spits Mel Brooks, putting some of the best lines in Blazing Saddles down on paper.
On Mozart’s death day I recall Tom Lehrer’s remark that some people make you feel you have accomplished very little - for example by the time he was my age, Mozart had already been dead for twelve years.
December 5, 2025 at 10:56 PM
On Mozart’s death day I recall Tom Lehrer’s remark that some people make you feel you have accomplished very little - for example by the time he was my age, Mozart had already been dead for twelve years.
There's always a lot to say about Hannah Arendt; here Jennifer Szalai offers the useful reminder that she's "not our icon," that is to say, Arendt asked us to think for ourselves in a way that runs contrary to turning her into a political compass for dark times.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/b...
Hannah Arendt Is Not Your Icon
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 9:00 PM
There's always a lot to say about Hannah Arendt; here Jennifer Szalai offers the useful reminder that she's "not our icon," that is to say, Arendt asked us to think for ourselves in a way that runs contrary to turning her into a political compass for dark times.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/b...
much has been made of the little puns with which Lacan disrupted the intense atmosphere of seriousness within his lecture hall, the so-called "non du pere" of the "nom du pere," but less has been said about his snacks, the "nom nom nom du pere" sound Lacan would make as he smacked his chops-
December 5, 2025 at 6:35 PM
much has been made of the little puns with which Lacan disrupted the intense atmosphere of seriousness within his lecture hall, the so-called "non du pere" of the "nom du pere," but less has been said about his snacks, the "nom nom nom du pere" sound Lacan would make as he smacked his chops-
You may (as I do) need a diverting Friday read. This is a terrific short article about how, in the gulf between humans and other animals, ideas about sexual orientation often pull the wool over our eyes.
I interviewed the farmer with a flock of gay sheep, found out why there are no current plans for a flock of lesbian sheep, and felt conflicted about biological essentialism.
Just not that into ewes: ‘gay sheep’ escape slaughter and take over a New York catwalk
Designer Michael Schmidt’s 36-piece collection was made from the wool of rams who have shown same-sex attraction
www.theguardian.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:42 PM
You may (as I do) need a diverting Friday read. This is a terrific short article about how, in the gulf between humans and other animals, ideas about sexual orientation often pull the wool over our eyes.
Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. He was always doing that.
See, it's catchy!
See, it's catchy!
December 5, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. He was always doing that.
See, it's catchy!
See, it's catchy!
Reposted by Ben Wurgaft
The attacks on trans rights, which are basic human rights, are a terrible injustice and an attack on truth and fact as well. Everyone should be deeply alarmed and it should be disqualifying for a politician to support such discrimination.
December 4, 2025 at 6:09 PM
The attacks on trans rights, which are basic human rights, are a terrible injustice and an attack on truth and fact as well. Everyone should be deeply alarmed and it should be disqualifying for a politician to support such discrimination.
They are called Urkel glasses because they refer us back to the ultimate source (Ur-Quell) of knowledge.
December 4, 2025 at 5:22 PM
They are called Urkel glasses because they refer us back to the ultimate source (Ur-Quell) of knowledge.
I barely know who Nuzzi is (I live like a monk) but I see journalists complaining about a mediocrity being elevated while more worthy people cannot find work, and isn't this the common predicament of every artist and intellectual? To see false stars burnished while real ones are covered up?
December 4, 2025 at 3:54 PM
I barely know who Nuzzi is (I live like a monk) but I see journalists complaining about a mediocrity being elevated while more worthy people cannot find work, and isn't this the common predicament of every artist and intellectual? To see false stars burnished while real ones are covered up?
He never sleeps, Toronyan. He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die.
Toronyan, an apprentice river-boatman cat, is the mascot for Nagatoro Town in Saitama. His hat is decorated with the town’s flowers, cherry blossoms and wintersweet, and his eyes sparkle like the flowing Arakawa River.
December 4, 2025 at 3:21 PM
He never sleeps, Toronyan. He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die.
Reposted by Ben Wurgaft
Thinking of my New School friends whose programs have been closed (~30 of them), whose PhD programs have been indefinitely halted, and who are now receiving invitations to resign + accept severance payments — with the threat of 🪓 if not enough folks take the offer. A ✨-if-imperfect place ruined 😥
December 4, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Thinking of my New School friends whose programs have been closed (~30 of them), whose PhD programs have been indefinitely halted, and who are now receiving invitations to resign + accept severance payments — with the threat of 🪓 if not enough folks take the offer. A ✨-if-imperfect place ruined 😥
The weird story of Kalshi (“prediction markets”) mostly reminds me of how much futures work is fundamentally about money, rather than about future states of non-business affairs.
December 4, 2025 at 1:21 PM
The weird story of Kalshi (“prediction markets”) mostly reminds me of how much futures work is fundamentally about money, rather than about future states of non-business affairs.
I just got an ad: “imagine being overstimulated and then coming home to this weighted sloth” and I really do not want to know if this is a joke or a glitch in my simulation.
December 4, 2025 at 1:18 AM
I just got an ad: “imagine being overstimulated and then coming home to this weighted sloth” and I really do not want to know if this is a joke or a glitch in my simulation.
Vermont Teddy Bear, the company that sells the famous “Bernie mittens,“ emailing me the dismayingly personal ”missing something cuddly?”
December 3, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Vermont Teddy Bear, the company that sells the famous “Bernie mittens,“ emailing me the dismayingly personal ”missing something cuddly?”
“Your listening age is 147,” ITunes reports to me, after my 200th play of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado. “You’re a 90s kid, but the 1890s.”
December 3, 2025 at 3:07 PM
“Your listening age is 147,” ITunes reports to me, after my 200th play of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado. “You’re a 90s kid, but the 1890s.”
Reposted by Ben Wurgaft
ODYSSEUS: wife I am home after 20 years
PENELOPE: oh shit I mean honey you are home how wonderful
ODYSSEUS: who are all these strange men
PENELOPE: well, I'll tell you what they're definitely not, which is a 300 person polycule ruling in your absence
PENELOPE: oh shit I mean honey you are home how wonderful
ODYSSEUS: who are all these strange men
PENELOPE: well, I'll tell you what they're definitely not, which is a 300 person polycule ruling in your absence
December 2, 2025 at 8:28 AM
ODYSSEUS: wife I am home after 20 years
PENELOPE: oh shit I mean honey you are home how wonderful
ODYSSEUS: who are all these strange men
PENELOPE: well, I'll tell you what they're definitely not, which is a 300 person polycule ruling in your absence
PENELOPE: oh shit I mean honey you are home how wonderful
ODYSSEUS: who are all these strange men
PENELOPE: well, I'll tell you what they're definitely not, which is a 300 person polycule ruling in your absence
In which I twist Bourdieu around a bit to characterize academics who really want big influential careers and care little for solidarity:
We need a new term for them: “the wannabee dominator subportion of the dominated portion of the dominating class.”
December 2, 2025 at 4:10 PM
In which I twist Bourdieu around a bit to characterize academics who really want big influential careers and care little for solidarity:
TFW it’s cold and you realize that the structure of Venus in Furs perfectly accommodates the lyrics “tiny tiny/tiny dogs in sweaters.”
December 2, 2025 at 2:54 PM
TFW it’s cold and you realize that the structure of Venus in Furs perfectly accommodates the lyrics “tiny tiny/tiny dogs in sweaters.”
Reposted by Ben Wurgaft
You can still get this recipe & speaking as someone who's never made a successful pie crust the instructions look promising. If I still never make a successful pie crust, at least some folks got a little food money.
Perhaps like me you don't live in Portland, ME, but often wish you did. Maybe one reason (as for me) is Tandem Coffee, whose pie is superb. They are raising money for Wayside Food Programs in Maine - you get their pie dough recipe for a donation of $5 or more: www.tandemcoffee.com/products/pie...
Pie Dough (Recipe) For The People
A digital recipe. The foundation of something good. A way to help. Happy holidays! We've made this video to help you through one of the most important parts of a homemade feast—the pie crust. Tandem h...
www.tandemcoffee.com
December 1, 2025 at 6:21 PM
You can still get this recipe & speaking as someone who's never made a successful pie crust the instructions look promising. If I still never make a successful pie crust, at least some folks got a little food money.
I was going to come up with one of these but this one is too compelling.
I named my fists Moby and Dick because I am about to whale on you.
I named my fists Chekhov and Gun because you know they're coming but you don't know when
December 1, 2025 at 4:49 PM
I was going to come up with one of these but this one is too compelling.
in fruitcake production, full family mobilization
December 1, 2025 at 1:00 AM
in fruitcake production, full family mobilization