Matthew Levay

You could be reading a book right now.

“There is no end to the process of forming ourselves into people who are genuinely open to what the world has to teach us.” So good an affirmation of the humanities, and of what higher education should be.

That entire week, I was in awe of how seriously he took Freud as a way to think through our lives, and how seriously he took every student in the class. 2/2

Sad to see this news, belatedly. I was lucky to attend a week-long seminar with Lear as a graduate student, and he was incredibly kind despite (or perhaps because of) how green I was. 1/2

Understandable. I can relate!

Solidarity, Cara. Always happy to be an outlet for venting.

Cover of a book titled The New Old Style: Anachronism in Contemporary Comics, by Matthew Levay. The cover features three vertically-arranged panels. The middle features the book’s title against a black background, while the top and bottom feature colorful drawings of a boy with white circles for eyes, done in a style clearly reminiscent of 1920s and 1930s-era newspaper comics and designed to appear as if they are printed on old newsprint.

Absolutely thrilled with the cover @univnebpress.bsky.social has designed for my book, The New Old Style: Anachronism in Contemporary Comics (coming August ‘26)! And special thanks to the wonderful and generous Cole Closser for allowing me to use their art.

Thanks, Ken!

The New Old Style - Nebraska Press

Preorder here!

Cover of a book titled The New Old Style: Anachronism in Contemporary Comics, by Matthew Levay. The cover features three vertically-arranged panels. The middle features the book’s title against a black background, while the top and bottom feature colorful drawings of a boy with white circles for eyes, done in a style clearly reminiscent of 1920s and 1930s-era newspaper comics and designed to appear as if they are printed on old newsprint.

Absolutely thrilled with the cover @univnebpress.bsky.social has designed for my book, The New Old Style: Anachronism in Contemporary Comics (coming August ‘26)! And special thanks to the wonderful and generous Cole Closser for allowing me to use their art.

Don't forget to register for the 2025 MSA Conference in Boston, starting Oct. 9. We have an exciting schedule of panels, roundtables, workshops, seminars, and plenaries. Plus we'll be celebrating all the amazing book prize winners.

Register here: www.moderniststudies.org/conference/M...

Proud to have an essay in this volume. And congrats to Jon for his fabulous work as editor! @upmississippi.bsky.social

It kills me that I live an easy drive from this archive (I mean, @rlevay.bsky.social even worked on the same campus!) but have never visited. Friends, let me know if you’d like to help rectify that by making a trip to Logan.

Thrilled to see my childhood team in the playoffs. But here’s hoping the Mariners take the whole thing.

Have been thinking of picking up the first volume as MSA plane reading, so this is very helpful!

Let’s go M’s

We have an incredible schedule of panels and roundtables at the MSA in Boston in TWO weeks. Also, don't forget to check out the TWO amazing keynote plenaries with Kelly Rich and Jina Kim AND with Kevin Quashie and Evie Shockley. Don't forget to register ASAP! See you in Boston!!!

Two kids and a small dog hiking along a rocky trail, with aspens and evergreens in the near distance. Leaves are just beginning to turn red and gold.

Got outside

Bruce Hornsby and the Range, Scenes from the Southside

For smart interview shows, I like Robert Harrison’s Entitled Opinions and Gil Roth’s Virtual Memories. I’m trying Bella Freud’s Fashion Neurosis too, which is good so far, even as it has a different dynamic than other, similar formats.

I may be a modernist, but I love a lot of cozy things.

All five are excellent.

Battling doomscrolling with five small pleasures:

The sound of a clothes dryer at night
Baseball on the radio, also at night
Old newspapers, especially the comics
Browsing eBay with no intention to buy
Making lists

If we’re sticking with television, any self-contained, early-ish episode of The X-Files that sees Mulder and Scully visiting a small town, interviewing a series of eccentric locals, and poring through decidedly un-digitized records.

OPUS 109 Beethoven | Bach | Schubert / Víkingur Ólafsson | Deutsche Grammophon Recent GRAMMY®-winner Víkingur Ólafsson announces his new upcoming album Opus 109. At the heart of the project is Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 30 in E on Deutsche Grammophon. Listen and buy now.

The news I needed: new Vikingur Ólafsson album coming this fall.

I reviewed this book for @mmodernity.bsky.social a few years ago, and it’s incredible. Check it out!

In all seriousness: play this one at my funeral.

A brown Ankole Watusi cow with mammoth horns, sitting in its enclosure.

A brown Scottish Highland cow, sleeping in its enclosure

Made some sleepy friends at the Eastern Idaho State Fair.

Penguin paperback edition of Montaigne’s Complete Essays

Little Free Library comes up again.

I desperately want every single one of these.