Apr 16, 2018On MetamodernismAs a kid I was a loner. Not shy, quiet, or reserved — a loner. I wanted to be alone. I’d decided that to be seen in public was to be reduced in some way. Many years later, I read Edward Dorn’s post-hippie verse epic The Gunslinger. In it, Dorn…David Foster Wallace15 min readDavid Foster Wallace15 min read
Jul 26, 2017Metamodernism in Five Terrible DiagramsOnly Metamodernism Can Save America Now, As These Bad Pictures Illustrate1 min read1 min read
May 2, 2017Listen Up, Progressives: Here’s How to Deal with a 4Chan (“Alt-Right”) TrollNeedless to say, when an “alt-right” troll pops up in your social media feed, the best thing to do is ignore them. But sometimes — by dint of impatience, angst, or pique — you can’t help yourself and you engage the troll directly. It can be a cathartic experience, provided…2016 Election26 min read2016 Election26 min read
Apr 28, 2017This Is How 2,000+ Americans Described the Trump Administration (in Two Words)I recently asked readers of my Twitter account to describe the first 100 days of the Trump administration in two words. More than 2,000 readers responded, and while many of the responses were profane — and some didn’t quite follow the prompt — a trend among the replies was evident…Politics6 min readPolitics6 min read
Published in Just Words·Jul 22, 2015Metamodernism 101How David Foster Wallace Started a Cultural Revolution — by Seth Abramson Metamodernism, the cultural philosophy with which David Foster Wallace is most often associated, is usually summarized as a romantic response to crisis. But the “romantic response” metamodernism has in mind isn’t merely a philosophical one; rather, it’s an entirely practical reply to looming tragedies like the sinking…David Foster Wallace6 min readDavid Foster Wallace6 min read
Published in Just Words·Jun 25, 2015Why We WriteDavid Foster Wallace and the Education of the Spirit — by Seth Abramson I began writing poetry in 1998 because I deeply resented being a law student. I bristled at the way law school rewires your brain — makes you “think like a lawyer”, a skill-set that’s useful in a few situations and harmful in many others. The first time…Achievement5 min readAchievement5 min read
Published in Just Words·Jun 12, 2015To Teach as Wallace WroteTeaching Writing and Teaching Through Writing — by Seth Abramson One of the most alluring characters in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest is Madame Psychosis, a mysterious radio DJ whose identity is unknown even to the engineer of her long-running midnight-to-one radio program. Madame Psychosis uses her airtime to read strange texts aloud and offer her opinion…Achievement4 min readAchievement4 min read
