Matthew Harrison
@matthewharrison.bsky.social
pizza advocate; english professor
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
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.
any scholars of early modern hair care on here? i just realized they managed these curls without shampoo or conditioner.
Portraits of the Princes Palatine, Charles-Louis I, elector (1617-1680) & of his brother Robert (1619-1682)
Antony van Dyck, 1637 (Musée du Louvre)
Antony van Dyck, 1637 (Musée du Louvre)
November 25, 2025 at 1:56 PM
any scholars of early modern hair care on here? i just realized they managed these curls without shampoo or conditioner.
Priya Krishna's Saag with Feta Instead of Paneer (from Indianish) is a perfect Thanksgiving side: like a creamed spinach, but it adds spice and heat that the meal needs. www.epicurious.com/expert-advic...
November 25, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Priya Krishna's Saag with Feta Instead of Paneer (from Indianish) is a perfect Thanksgiving side: like a creamed spinach, but it adds spice and heat that the meal needs. www.epicurious.com/expert-advic...
when I was
a young man
my father
took me into the city
to see the black parade
He said son will
you play me
a mem’ry.
I’m not really
sure how it
goes, but it’s
sad and it’s
sweet and I
knew it complete
when I wore
a younger
man’s clothes
a young man
my father
took me into the city
to see the black parade
He said son will
you play me
a mem’ry.
I’m not really
sure how it
goes, but it’s
sad and it’s
sweet and I
knew it complete
when I wore
a younger
man’s clothes
November 22, 2025 at 6:26 PM
when I was
a young man
my father
took me into the city
to see the black parade
He said son will
you play me
a mem’ry.
I’m not really
sure how it
goes, but it’s
sad and it’s
sweet and I
knew it complete
when I wore
a younger
man’s clothes
a young man
my father
took me into the city
to see the black parade
He said son will
you play me
a mem’ry.
I’m not really
sure how it
goes, but it’s
sad and it’s
sweet and I
knew it complete
when I wore
a younger
man’s clothes
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
Someone is going to have the write the thing about how “vibe” has become a substitute for meaningful theory in a world where the theory is so clear — grift and power — but we collectively refuse if because it isn’t sophisticated enough to generate make work for empiricists.
November 22, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Someone is going to have the write the thing about how “vibe” has become a substitute for meaningful theory in a world where the theory is so clear — grift and power — but we collectively refuse if because it isn’t sophisticated enough to generate make work for empiricists.
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
This is a very specific request for y’all. Does anyone have a current photo of a ginkgo tree that has changed color to yellow for fall? When I lived in Cambridge and Boston there were so many pretty ones. Now that I live in Phoenix, I don’t get to see this transformation. I miss those trees!
November 22, 2025 at 4:06 AM
This is a very specific request for y’all. Does anyone have a current photo of a ginkgo tree that has changed color to yellow for fall? When I lived in Cambridge and Boston there were so many pretty ones. Now that I live in Phoenix, I don’t get to see this transformation. I miss those trees!
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 20, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
Adam Elsheimer, The Artist in Despair, c. 1599, pen and brown ink, 71/8 x 75/8 in. (182 x 195 mm), Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung
November 20, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Adam Elsheimer, The Artist in Despair, c. 1599, pen and brown ink, 71/8 x 75/8 in. (182 x 195 mm), Munich, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
What this reveals is that for most people in charge right now “AI” is less useful as a technology than as a piece of language to shift a conversation in whatever direction they need it to go. In one minute it will propel a new economy; in another it’s the reason for a recession.
November 17, 2025 at 1:39 PM
What this reveals is that for most people in charge right now “AI” is less useful as a technology than as a piece of language to shift a conversation in whatever direction they need it to go. In one minute it will propel a new economy; in another it’s the reason for a recession.
got mad at a facebook post today. someone claimed the existence of a car pope in Cars 2 (2011) meant there was a car martin luther and a car reformation, and no it fucking doesn't.
like obviously there /was/ a car martin luther and a car reformation, but those facts are not logically entailed by..
like obviously there /was/ a car martin luther and a car reformation, but those facts are not logically entailed by..
November 19, 2025 at 10:11 PM
got mad at a facebook post today. someone claimed the existence of a car pope in Cars 2 (2011) meant there was a car martin luther and a car reformation, and no it fucking doesn't.
like obviously there /was/ a car martin luther and a car reformation, but those facts are not logically entailed by..
like obviously there /was/ a car martin luther and a car reformation, but those facts are not logically entailed by..
taught aereopagitica, and man. wow.
November 19, 2025 at 10:08 PM
taught aereopagitica, and man. wow.
the anthology i'm using is full of weird quirks and errors, but the publisher was super nice to me when i had a problem in 2017, so i guess i'm using it for another decade.
November 19, 2025 at 4:28 PM
the anthology i'm using is full of weird quirks and errors, but the publisher was super nice to me when i had a problem in 2017, so i guess i'm using it for another decade.
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
It may well be the case that small, independent presses are the lifeblood of literature, and a vital feature of our cultural landscape, providing an essential service in a complex ecosystem, like wrasses or shrimps. What is undeniably the case is that we have sold a total of five books this month.
November 18, 2025 at 7:36 PM
It may well be the case that small, independent presses are the lifeblood of literature, and a vital feature of our cultural landscape, providing an essential service in a complex ecosystem, like wrasses or shrimps. What is undeniably the case is that we have sold a total of five books this month.
Let’s eat the soup
November 19, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Let’s eat the soup
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
In 1582, a papal bull introduced the Gregorian calendar, still used today by most of the world. Because it’s 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, countries introducing it simply skipped a third of October, and if you scroll back far enough in the iPhone calendar app you can see it change
December 31, 2024 at 2:41 PM
In 1582, a papal bull introduced the Gregorian calendar, still used today by most of the world. Because it’s 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, countries introducing it simply skipped a third of October, and if you scroll back far enough in the iPhone calendar app you can see it change
still thinking about how many incredible journalists i have known who struggled in this new media hellscape, while...
November 18, 2025 at 3:33 PM
still thinking about how many incredible journalists i have known who struggled in this new media hellscape, while...
(i secretly liked "people often, often people". i don't think it's good, but it's fun!)
November 18, 2025 at 3:14 AM
(i secretly liked "people often, often people". i don't think it's good, but it's fun!)
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
oh my god you have to read this until the end www.telos.news/p/part-1-how...
Part 1: How I Found Out
Olivia had just returned from a reporting trip—at least that’s what she told me it was—and her Herschel backpack, the one with the flap that never quite closed properly, was tossed beside our bed, its...
www.telos.news
November 18, 2025 at 1:00 AM
oh my god you have to read this until the end www.telos.news/p/part-1-how...
finally figured out what this larry summers crap reminded me of: @laurakolb.bsky.social's essay on anger and Shakespeare's women. She points out the doubleness of such revelations: a rhetoric of discovery, yet what is discovered is what we knew.
essay here: electricliterature.com/the-very-mod...
essay here: electricliterature.com/the-very-mod...
The Very Modern Anger of Shakespeare’s Women - Electric Literature
What “Measure for Measure” means to us in 2019
electricliterature.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:34 PM
finally figured out what this larry summers crap reminded me of: @laurakolb.bsky.social's essay on anger and Shakespeare's women. She points out the doubleness of such revelations: a rhetoric of discovery, yet what is discovered is what we knew.
essay here: electricliterature.com/the-very-mod...
essay here: electricliterature.com/the-very-mod...
combining the humanities, social sciences, and climate science into our new School of AAAARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH
November 14, 2025 at 7:43 PM
combining the humanities, social sciences, and climate science into our new School of AAAARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
academeblog.org/2025/11/13/t...
My colleague has captured what is currently happening at my institution. I have found the chipper rhetoric announcing it particularly depressing.
My colleague has captured what is currently happening at my institution. I have found the chipper rhetoric announcing it particularly depressing.
The Eternal Synergy of the Spotless Mind
BY ADAM RZEPKA A large public university is wiping out all of its humanities departments. It isn’t sure why. As I write this, our Interim Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS…
academeblog.org
November 14, 2025 at 3:07 PM
academeblog.org/2025/11/13/t...
My colleague has captured what is currently happening at my institution. I have found the chipper rhetoric announcing it particularly depressing.
My colleague has captured what is currently happening at my institution. I have found the chipper rhetoric announcing it particularly depressing.
making a new social media site just for complaining about the other drivers at the elementary school drop-off
November 14, 2025 at 2:00 PM
making a new social media site just for complaining about the other drivers at the elementary school drop-off
Reposted by Matthew Harrison
Gift link to my argument in favor of teaching works of "serious literary value" in public schools: slate.com/life/2025/05...
This Year, We All Realized That Kids Aren’t Reading Books in School. Only the Right Is Offering a Solution.
Common Core and the College Board are my enemies. But the classical education movement is not my friend.
slate.com
May 28, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Gift link to my argument in favor of teaching works of "serious literary value" in public schools: slate.com/life/2025/05...
hey just threw away a rug, if anybody needs to hide a body
November 14, 2025 at 2:17 AM
hey just threw away a rug, if anybody needs to hide a body