The American Vandal

An episode recorded as part of the Modes of Reading Today Symposium, hosted by the Townsend Center For The Humanities begins with a discussion of John Donne's insomnia and Wilfred Bion's undigested nightmares, followed by a vigorous discussion of attention, sleep, and immersion as they relate to literature and criticism [39:00], after which the symposium's organizer (and host of the Psychoanaliterature podcast) flips the studio for some analysis of The American Vandal's creator [90:00].

Cast (in order of appearance): Matt Seybold, David Marno, Yael Segalovitz, Jonathan Kramnick, Toril Moi, Emma Lieber, Nicholas Baer, Dora Zhang, Anne-Lise François, Farah Bakaari, Sina Dell'Anno

Dates Recorded: February 19-20, 2026

Music: Danny Weiss Quartet, Moby, L. D. Miller

For more about this episode, please visit TheAmericanVandal.com

A discussion of the historical trajectory informing the current polycrisis reverberating from the Strait of Hormuz with two historians of Iranian Oil, authors of "Nationalising Oil & Knowledge in Iran" (Edinburgh UP, 2025) and "Machineries of Oil" (MIT Press, 2018).

Cast (in order of appearance): Matt Seybold, Katayoun Shafiee, and Mattin Biglari

Music: Danny Weiss Quartet, Moby

For more about this episode, please visit TheAmericanVandal.substack.com

Two events organized by the Center For Mark Twain Studies focus on the complex legacy of Mark Twain and the omissions and misrepresentations of his wife, Olivia Langdon Clemens, and extended family.

Cast (in order of appearance): Matt Seybold, Ann Ryan, Kerry Driscoll, Barbara Snedecor, Chuck Lindsay

Dates Recorded: October 16, 2025 and November 30, 2023

Music: Danny Weiss Quartet, Moby

For more about this episode, please visit TheAmericanVandal.substack.com

A live crossover podcasting event with the This Guy Sucked podcast, hosted at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The question is not only whether and how much Mark Twain might have sucked, but also the potential for Twain's complex legacy to be altered by politics, propaganda, education, and scholarship.

Cast (in order of appearance): Matt Seybold, Claire Aubin, Erin Bartram

Date Recorded: May 6, 2026

Music: Danny Weiss Quartet

For more about this episode, please visit ThisGuySucked.com or TheAmericanVandal.substack.com

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