The American Vandal

By Matt Seybold, Center For Mark Twain StudiesEducation Books History

The American Vandal episodes

May 12 After OpenAI (Vandal Live at Wake Forest Humanities Institute)
As part of the Spring Symposium at the Wake Forest Humanities Institute, Matt Seybold discusses the present and future of AI speculation, including an extended discussion with Wake Forest faculty.
Cast (in order of appearance): Jennifer Greiman, Matt Seybold, Derek Lee, Michaela Appeltova, Nisrine Rahal, Barry Trachtenberg, Jeff Bills-Solomon, Dean Franco, Amanda Gengler
Date Recorded: April 29, 2026
Music: Danny Weiss Quartet, Moby
1 hr 23 min
April 06 Muskism with Quinn Slobodian & Ben Tarnoff
A discussion of the forthcoming book "Muskism: A Guild For The Perplexed" with its authors. Topics includes Muskism as the antidote to Musk Fatique, methods of historical research under threat of enshittification, the cultural imaginary of Elon Musk and Grok, satellite data centers, and more.
Date Recorded: April 1, 2026
Music: Redd Holt & The Heptet
TheAmericanVandal.Substack.com
1 hr 18 min
March 24 The Secret History of Canvas LMS, Corporate Raiders, & The Chatbot Bubble (Vandal Live at UVU)
Opens with Matt Seybold's short history of Instructure, the makers of Canvas LMS, with special emphasis on its acquisition by Dragoneer and KKR in 2024. This talk was delivered at Utah Valley University, with supplemental recording from University of Albany. The second half of the episode features a conversation with UVU faculty and students about the impact of the Generative AI boom on their institution.
Cast (in order of appearance): Matt Seybold, Christa Albrecht-Crane, Angie McKinnon Carter, Chiler Moore
Date Recorded: March 3, 2026
Music: Danny Weiss Quartet, Moby
1 hr 52 min
March 17 Close Reading Is Not A Luxury (Vandal Live at Emory)
From the Close Reading For The 21st Century Symposium, hosted by Emory University. What are the challenges, strategies, and rewards for teaching close reading? What are the stakes of teaching close reading through the nightmare of the contemporary?
Cast (in order of appearance): Johanna Winant, Brian Glavey, Matt Seybold, Nathan Suhr-Sytsma, Lindsay Reckson, Christopher Spaide, Katie Kadue, Dan Sinykin, Jeff Dolven, John Lysaker, Omari Weekes, Patrick Sui, Oren Izenberg, Paul Buchholz, Farah Bakaari, Annie Abrams, Beci Carver
Date Recorded: November 7, 2025
Music: Danny Weiss Quartet, Moby
TheAmericanVandal.Substack.com
1 hr 48 min
February 17 Close Reading Is A Conversation (Vandal Live at Emory University)
From the Close Reading For The 21st Century Symposium, hosted by Emory University. Why is close reading best understood as a conversation? What are its evaluative standards? How does it extend the conversation beyond literary studies?
Cast (in order of appearance): Johanna Winant, Matt Seybold, Farah Bakaari, Nathan Suhr-Sytsma, Dan Sinykin, Kimberly Quiogue Andrews, Oren Izenberg, Beci Carver, Brian Glavey, Miranda Hickman, Patrick Sui, Jeff Dolven, Katie Kadue, Omari Weekes, Lisa Lee, Daniel Reynolds, Julie Orlemanski, Joshua Kotin
Date Recorded: November 7, 2025
Music: Danny Weiss Quartet, Moby
Episode Webpage: TheAmericanVandal.Substack.com/Collarbone
1 hr 37 min
February 10 Close Reading For The 21st Century Symposium (Vandal Live at Emory)
The first of three episodes based on the "Close Reading For The 21st Century Symposium" hosted by Emory University. The symposium's opening address is followed by short provocations on "Freedom," "The Best," "Language," and "Difficulty," after which a there is a lengthy Q&A.
Cast (in order of appearance): Dan Sinykin, Matt Seybold, Johanna Winant, Beci Carver, Joshua Kotin, Julie Orlemanski, Omari Weekes, Anthony Cuda, John Lysaker, Dez Miller, Jeff Dolven, Oren Izenberg, Benjamin Reiss, Miranda Hickman, Emma Davenport, Farah Bakaari
Date Recorded: November 7, 2025
Music: Danny Weiss Quartet, Moby
Episode Webpage: TheAmericanVandal.Substack.com/RedWheelbarrow
1 hr 36 min
January 07 Theory At The Bargaining Table with Dominique Baker & Anna Kornbluh (Vandal Live at UIC)
Hosted by the University of Illinois-Chicago United Faculty, a roundtable discussion about confronting the challenges facing higher education labor organizing. Topics included education technology, faculty autonomy, power mapping, board composition, lobbying state legislators, artificial intelligence, surveillance and data-mining, Ponzi austerity, and more.
Cast (in order of appearance): Jeff Kessler, Matt Seybold, Anna Kornbluh, Dominique Baker, Peter Coviello, Nassar Mufti, Jeff Edwards
Date Recorded: December 4, 2025
Music: Danny Weiss Quartet
1 hr 26 min
November 17, 2025 Everyday Ecofascism with April Anson & Alexander Menrisky (Vandal Live at 2025 Quarry Farm Symposium)
The event launching the 2025 Quarry Farm Symposium on Energy Studies begins with opening address by co-organizer Jeffrey Insko, then discussion of the theory of Everyday Ecofascism with collaborators from University of Connecticut [8:00}, then questions from the live audience of Energy Humanities scholars [50:00].
Cast (in order of appearance): Jeffrey Insko, Matt Seybold, Alexander Menrisky, April Anson, Caroline Levine, Brent Bellamy, Thomas S. Davis
Date Recorded: October 10, 2025
Music: Redd Holt & The Heptet
For more about this episode, please visit TheAmericanVandal.Substack.com/EverydayEcofascism
1 hr 3 min
October 30, 2025 Criticism & The Chatbot Bubble with Christopher Newfield & Whitney Trettien (Vandal Live at UPenn English)
A spirited discussion of the state of higher education, the history of criticism, and the future of literary knowledge production, recorded with a live audience at University of Pennsylvania's English Faculty Lounge as part of the annual Penn English Department Lecture, delivered this year by Christopher Newfield.
Cast (in order of appearance): James English, Christopher Newfield, Matt Seybold, Whitney Trettien, Jenny, Zachary Lesser, Mark Algee Hewitt, Kerry McAuliffe, Eilis Lombard, Laura McGrath, Qing (Ruby) Liao
Date Recorded: October 22, 2025
Music: Redd Holt & The Heptet
Sound Engineering: Brian J. Kirk
For more about this episode, please visit TheAmericanVandal.Substack.com/Penn25
1 hr 47 min
September 18, 2025 Inside Slow Civil War with Jeff Sharlet
A chance to reflect, with journalism professor Jeff Sharlet, on his book, "The Undertow: Scenes From A Slow Civil War," the looming threat of acceleration, the methods and media of lingering, documentary modernism, and monsters within.
For a bibliography of this episode, please visit TheAmericanVandal.Substack.com/Lingering
47 min

About The American Vandal

From the publisher's feed

Each season of American Vandal is comprised of thematically-linked conversations about literature, history, higher education, media, technology, and political economy.