Michael Pershan
@mpershan.bsky.social
math teacher, writer
substack: pershmail.substack.com
website with links to publications etc: michaelpershan.com
substack: pershmail.substack.com
website with links to publications etc: michaelpershan.com
Pinned
Michael Pershan
@mpershan.bsky.social
· Aug 27
Really grateful to the crew at @hexliterary.bsky.social for giving this weird story a home. I can't say enough nice things about hex! I love what they're doing.
hexliterary.com?p=2829
hexliterary.com?p=2829
Reading a review of 'Vigil.'
I miss George Saunders' "kevin masturbates hile thinking about whales" phase.
POKING A DEAD FROG
11th anniversary
George Saunders
11th anniversary
George Saunders
January 27, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Reading a review of 'Vigil.'
Brief note about a Bud Smith story that I liked and how it reminds me of a Simon Rich story that I also like. michaelpershan.substack.com/p/pay-more-a...
Pay More Attention
1/26/26
michaelpershan.substack.com
January 27, 2026 at 12:31 AM
Brief note about a Bud Smith story that I liked and how it reminds me of a Simon Rich story that I also like. michaelpershan.substack.com/p/pay-more-a...
I think it's a 100% legit reaction but you gotta learn to keep that to yourself.
Why do people feel such a strong need to declare puzzles as easy?!
January 26, 2026 at 10:12 PM
I think it's a 100% legit reaction but you gotta learn to keep that to yourself.
A question for any of the cogntive psych experts -- Procedural knowledge is automatic, associative, implicit and conceptual is effortful, top-down, explicit. So does that make the procedural/conceptual distinction a dual process theory?
January 26, 2026 at 1:52 PM
A question for any of the cogntive psych experts -- Procedural knowledge is automatic, associative, implicit and conceptual is effortful, top-down, explicit. So does that make the procedural/conceptual distinction a dual process theory?
I don't love that the only word in English that gets its own symbol is 'and' with the ampersand. We should at the very least have a symbol for 'but.'
January 26, 2026 at 2:55 AM
I don't love that the only word in English that gets its own symbol is 'and' with the ampersand. We should at the very least have a symbol for 'but.'
I wrote about one of the major producers of curricular supplements in this country, a nice-seeming millenial woman who nobody knows anything about. pershmail.substack.com/p/people-sho...
January 25, 2026 at 9:45 PM
I wrote about one of the major producers of curricular supplements in this country, a nice-seeming millenial woman who nobody knows anything about. pershmail.substack.com/p/people-sho...
I'm not sure which is less fashionable in 2026, Isaac Bashevis Singer's obsession with dybbuks and traditional European Judaism or the way he puts Spinoza in every narrator's mouth.
January 25, 2026 at 8:33 PM
I'm not sure which is less fashionable in 2026, Isaac Bashevis Singer's obsession with dybbuks and traditional European Judaism or the way he puts Spinoza in every narrator's mouth.
I think it's possible that Bob Dylan is actually underrated.
January 25, 2026 at 4:20 PM
I think it's possible that Bob Dylan is actually underrated.
Checking out some Johanna Kaplan after seeing her collection of stories was nominated for a National Book Award and am finding something about thevoice that feels off. That singy yiddishy english comes so naturally in Singer's translated stories from the 70s but maybe trying a bit too hard here?
January 25, 2026 at 1:42 PM
Checking out some Johanna Kaplan after seeing her collection of stories was nominated for a National Book Award and am finding something about thevoice that feels off. That singy yiddishy english comes so naturally in Singer's translated stories from the 70s but maybe trying a bit too hard here?
WHO IS GINA WILSON?????? pershmail.substack.com/p/people-sho...
People Should Pay More Attention to Gina Wilson
She's very influential!
pershmail.substack.com
January 23, 2026 at 7:40 PM
WHO IS GINA WILSON?????? pershmail.substack.com/p/people-sho...
Do you use "All Things Algebra" or know somebody who does? I'm trying to get a sense for its popularity.
January 23, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Do you use "All Things Algebra" or know somebody who does? I'm trying to get a sense for its popularity.
This books connects some dots for me, on the rise of a lawless America, on special forces over conventional army(/police) forces, helps me see the line from the war on terror to our current political moment.
January 21, 2026 at 11:34 PM
This books connects some dots for me, on the rise of a lawless America, on special forces over conventional army(/police) forces, helps me see the line from the war on terror to our current political moment.
Here's a thought: the challenge of teaching is the problem of trying to use language to create habits.
January 21, 2026 at 10:28 PM
Here's a thought: the challenge of teaching is the problem of trying to use language to create habits.
Getting into pataphysics.
January 20, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Getting into pataphysics.
My school is big on anecdotal reports...it's one of its things, quirks, whatever you want to call it. Anyway it's a huge lift! I just did word count, I hit 25k this year for 75 kids.
January 19, 2026 at 10:49 PM
My school is big on anecdotal reports...it's one of its things, quirks, whatever you want to call it. Anyway it's a huge lift! I just did word count, I hit 25k this year for 75 kids.
Didn't make the Robert Coover/Percival Everett connection but that feels very right. (Also I need an interesting hobby.)
January 19, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Didn't make the Robert Coover/Percival Everett connection but that feels very right. (Also I need an interesting hobby.)
I think I need to give up on more writing. I feel haunted by problematic drafts.
January 19, 2026 at 9:19 PM
I think I need to give up on more writing. I feel haunted by problematic drafts.
"I don't think you should like most comedy. Comedy, it's not like food...You should only be gravitating to the voices that speak to you. And if a lot of voices speak to you, I'm like, honey."
I love this, from James Austin Johnson.
I love this, from James Austin Johnson.
January 19, 2026 at 6:55 PM
"I don't think you should like most comedy. Comedy, it's not like food...You should only be gravitating to the voices that speak to you. And if a lot of voices speak to you, I'm like, honey."
I love this, from James Austin Johnson.
I love this, from James Austin Johnson.
All week I've been thinking about this video of some fitness influencer the algo served me, the guy said he'd torn his ACL three times and now he's never been faster, here are his workout tips, and to me that is probably the funniest thing I've ever heard.
January 19, 2026 at 5:05 PM
All week I've been thinking about this video of some fitness influencer the algo served me, the guy said he'd torn his ACL three times and now he's never been faster, here are his workout tips, and to me that is probably the funniest thing I've ever heard.
Reposted by Michael Pershan
Give it a read!: www.outlooksprings.com/stories/stup...
January 18, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Give it a read!: www.outlooksprings.com/stories/stup...
Reposted by Michael Pershan
always a treat to get to feature new Tom Snarsky!
"Scared of maps, I draw a bath
and think of a very weird thing, a future
child I’ll change and draw baths for
and feed and, surely eventually, disappoint."
https://www.havehashad.com/0wich
"Scared of maps, I draw a bath
and think of a very weird thing, a future
child I’ll change and draw baths for
and feed and, surely eventually, disappoint."
https://www.havehashad.com/0wich
Whose Woods by Tom Snarsky
Scared of maps, I draw a bath and think of a very weird thing, a future child I’ll change and draw baths for and feed and, surely eventually, disappoint. God they’ll say, looking at me you don’t…
www.havehashad.com
January 17, 2026 at 4:01 PM
always a treat to get to feature new Tom Snarsky!
"Scared of maps, I draw a bath
and think of a very weird thing, a future
child I’ll change and draw baths for
and feed and, surely eventually, disappoint."
https://www.havehashad.com/0wich
"Scared of maps, I draw a bath
and think of a very weird thing, a future
child I’ll change and draw baths for
and feed and, surely eventually, disappoint."
https://www.havehashad.com/0wich
I'm very into this!
powerhouse today from Ada Pelonia
"Then, the Leader came for chickens, their main livelihood, for sacrifice. People raised questions, but the Leader shunned the clangor and insisted on vacating the coops."
https://www.havehashad.com/4ayw5
"Then, the Leader came for chickens, their main livelihood, for sacrifice. People raised questions, but the Leader shunned the clangor and insisted on vacating the coops."
https://www.havehashad.com/4ayw5
Carnage by Ada Pelonia
First, ravens flecked with mud were pummeled down the soil, thick blood seeping into the cracks, because the new Leader, who vowed to bring rains, roared on community radio past midnight to declare…
www.havehashad.com
January 18, 2026 at 5:16 PM
I'm very into this!