Matthew A. Pagan
@mttpgn.bsky.social
Walter Benjamin: Collected Poems (translation collab) coming 2027. Read my essays at https://captiveliberty.substack.com/
I'm thrilled to announce that nearly a hundred poems written by the philosopher Walter Benjamin will be translated into English in a new book out next year.
July 16, 2026 at 5:54 PM
I'm thrilled to announce that nearly a hundred poems written by the philosopher Walter Benjamin will be translated into English in a new book out next year.
"But if you want to construct a building for future generations, write a book."
--Amos Oz
--Amos Oz
May 3, 2026 at 10:10 PM
"But if you want to construct a building for future generations, write a book."
--Amos Oz
--Amos Oz
Found these Yiddish vocabulary posters at my local deli (the stern-looking lady in the frame for 'Shvigger' depicts a mother-in-law, in case that's unclear).
April 8, 2026 at 8:21 AM
Found these Yiddish vocabulary posters at my local deli (the stern-looking lady in the frame for 'Shvigger' depicts a mother-in-law, in case that's unclear).
Excerpt from Nox by Anne Carson.
February 27, 2026 at 5:24 AM
Excerpt from Nox by Anne Carson.
Remembering today the @debian.bsky.social developer Jérémy Bobbio (Lunar^), who died November 2024 of cancer.
One time I was discussing with him the UDHR. Lunar strongly rejected the document as a basis for ethics. When I asked Why, he explained, "Because it supports private property and Fuck That"
One time I was discussing with him the UDHR. Lunar strongly rejected the document as a basis for ethics. When I asked Why, he explained, "Because it supports private property and Fuck That"
February 24, 2026 at 9:06 PM
Remembering today the @debian.bsky.social developer Jérémy Bobbio (Lunar^), who died November 2024 of cancer.
One time I was discussing with him the UDHR. Lunar strongly rejected the document as a basis for ethics. When I asked Why, he explained, "Because it supports private property and Fuck That"
One time I was discussing with him the UDHR. Lunar strongly rejected the document as a basis for ethics. When I asked Why, he explained, "Because it supports private property and Fuck That"
My favorite quote from @qntm.org's novel _There Is No Antimemetics Division_:
> We have been, inevitably, losing. But we have been losing as slowly as humanly possible.
> We have been, inevitably, losing. But we have been losing as slowly as humanly possible.
February 8, 2026 at 6:59 PM
My favorite quote from @qntm.org's novel _There Is No Antimemetics Division_:
> We have been, inevitably, losing. But we have been losing as slowly as humanly possible.
> We have been, inevitably, losing. But we have been losing as slowly as humanly possible.
How do people form beliefs about the future? Philosophers like Walter Benjamin found in astrology more than just an inane relic from a pre-scientific era.
captiveliberty.substack.com/p/mazel-tov
captiveliberty.substack.com/p/mazel-tov
January 6, 2026 at 7:31 PM
How do people form beliefs about the future? Philosophers like Walter Benjamin found in astrology more than just an inane relic from a pre-scientific era.
captiveliberty.substack.com/p/mazel-tov
captiveliberty.substack.com/p/mazel-tov
Discover the true nature of everyone's favorite paradise messengers. The latest in my series on Walter Benjamin.
captiveliberty.substack.com/p/the-new-an...
#Angels #Angelology #WalterBenjamin #HistoricalMaterialism
captiveliberty.substack.com/p/the-new-an...
#Angels #Angelology #WalterBenjamin #HistoricalMaterialism
November 10, 2025 at 6:24 AM
Discover the true nature of everyone's favorite paradise messengers. The latest in my series on Walter Benjamin.
captiveliberty.substack.com/p/the-new-an...
#Angels #Angelology #WalterBenjamin #HistoricalMaterialism
captiveliberty.substack.com/p/the-new-an...
#Angels #Angelology #WalterBenjamin #HistoricalMaterialism
For your weekend reading, all about the mighty jackalope. captiveliberty.substack.com/p/its-hard-t...
September 6, 2025 at 12:23 AM
For your weekend reading, all about the mighty jackalope. captiveliberty.substack.com/p/its-hard-t...
"History's foremost concern in every generation is awakening."
--Walter Benjamin
--Walter Benjamin
July 8, 2025 at 4:08 AM
"History's foremost concern in every generation is awakening."
--Walter Benjamin
--Walter Benjamin
When to fight really bad vibes and when to quit: Read my poem "Vibrato".
captiveliberty.substack.com/p/vibrato
captiveliberty.substack.com/p/vibrato
July 4, 2025 at 5:06 AM
When to fight really bad vibes and when to quit: Read my poem "Vibrato".
captiveliberty.substack.com/p/vibrato
captiveliberty.substack.com/p/vibrato
"The more you change, the more you become what you are."
--Philip K. Dick
--Philip K. Dick
June 25, 2025 at 4:14 AM
"The more you change, the more you become what you are."
--Philip K. Dick
--Philip K. Dick
"A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the 'why' for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any 'how'."
--Viktor Frankl
--Viktor Frankl
May 22, 2025 at 9:25 PM
"A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the 'why' for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any 'how'."
--Viktor Frankl
--Viktor Frankl
How do i gently break things off with my language learning app?
May 16, 2025 at 8:40 PM
How do i gently break things off with my language learning app?
Suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little.
--Viktor E. Frankl
--Viktor E. Frankl
May 15, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little.
--Viktor E. Frankl
--Viktor E. Frankl
Was Franz Kafka familiar with Pure Land Buddhist? He nearly certainly was not, and yet... captiveliberty.substack.com/p/infinity-e...
May 8, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Was Franz Kafka familiar with Pure Land Buddhist? He nearly certainly was not, and yet... captiveliberty.substack.com/p/infinity-e...
I am accepting this only so that you do not believe you there is anything you have failed to do.
--The Gatekeeper in Kafka's tale, "Before the Law"
--The Gatekeeper in Kafka's tale, "Before the Law"
May 2, 2025 at 5:09 AM
I am accepting this only so that you do not believe you there is anything you have failed to do.
--The Gatekeeper in Kafka's tale, "Before the Law"
--The Gatekeeper in Kafka's tale, "Before the Law"
Indefinite extrajudicial detentions have many times in American history followed from the executive branch assuming authority from the judicial. open.substack.com/pub/captivel...
A Political Genealogy of You Can Just Do Things
Walter Benjamin #2: Critique of Violence
open.substack.com
April 21, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Indefinite extrajudicial detentions have many times in American history followed from the executive branch assuming authority from the judicial. open.substack.com/pub/captivel...
@heynowdana.com Love the show. Can you play "At Peace " by Propaghandi?
April 18, 2025 at 2:19 PM
@heynowdana.com Love the show. Can you play "At Peace " by Propaghandi?
An author interview I heard a while back (don't remember with whom) gave some advice that finding the right audience for one's book and discovering a community of fellow writers with shared sensibilities are both part of the important journey of finding one's people. So, go find your people.
April 11, 2025 at 4:33 AM
An author interview I heard a while back (don't remember with whom) gave some advice that finding the right audience for one's book and discovering a community of fellow writers with shared sensibilities are both part of the important journey of finding one's people. So, go find your people.
Empire-slop: the roots of kitsch in the White House's AI-generated deportation tweet open.substack.com/pub/captivel...
March 31, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Empire-slop: the roots of kitsch in the White House's AI-generated deportation tweet open.substack.com/pub/captivel...
"No it's fine."
...
"Yeah no heaven's amazing. Really great stuff."
...
"Not at all, it's just... Well, I wasn't expecting God to be a giant-ass crab, that's all."
...
"I dunno, a man, I guess."
...
"Yeah no heaven's amazing. Really great stuff."
...
"Not at all, it's just... Well, I wasn't expecting God to be a giant-ass crab, that's all."
...
"I dunno, a man, I guess."
March 25, 2025 at 1:42 AM
"No it's fine."
...
"Yeah no heaven's amazing. Really great stuff."
...
"Not at all, it's just... Well, I wasn't expecting God to be a giant-ass crab, that's all."
...
"I dunno, a man, I guess."
...
"Yeah no heaven's amazing. Really great stuff."
...
"Not at all, it's just... Well, I wasn't expecting God to be a giant-ass crab, that's all."
...
"I dunno, a man, I guess."
Where we see the appearance of a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe, which unceasingly piles rubble on top of rubble and hurls it before his feet.
March 10, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Where we see the appearance of a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe, which unceasingly piles rubble on top of rubble and hurls it before his feet.
Wisdom has to be, by its very nature, rational.
—Philip K. Dick, in _Valis_.
—Philip K. Dick, in _Valis_.
March 7, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Wisdom has to be, by its very nature, rational.
—Philip K. Dick, in _Valis_.
—Philip K. Dick, in _Valis_.
It's strange to consider how Walter Benjamin and Philip K. Dick wrote during the same century. They are both 20th century thinkers.
February 25, 2025 at 11:42 PM
It's strange to consider how Walter Benjamin and Philip K. Dick wrote during the same century. They are both 20th century thinkers.