The American Vandal

Matt Seybold

marktwain@theamericanvandal.com

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Booking Overview

An academic interview and conversation podcast focused on literature, history, higher education, media, technology, and political economy, typically featuring scholars and authors with specialized research expertise. Credible pitches include university professors, historians, literary critics, and authors of serious scholarly books; booking is likely medium difficulty because guests generally need substantial academic credentials or published work.

Metrics

Episodes: 116

Frequency: Irregular

Rating: 4.7/5.0

Estimated listeners: 1k-10k

Gender skew: Neutral

Location: USA

Contact Information

marktwain@theamericanvandal.com

For verified host and producer emails, sign up to view.

Host

Matt Seybold - Scholar of American literature and Mark Twain studies, and Executive Director of the Center for Mark Twain Studies.

Booking Intelligence

Booking Requirements

medium
Typical Credentials:  
University scholars, historians, literary critics, and authors with specialized research expertise and substantial scholarly publication records.
Required Achievements:  
Authored scholarly books, Published university-press research, Established expertise in literature, history, higher education, media, technology, or political economy

Recent Guest Discussions

Mattin Biglari - The Historical Production Of Oil And Knowledge In Iran And The Political Context Surrounding The Strait Of Hormuz.

Katayoun Shafiee - The Historical Production Of Oil And Knowledge In Iran, Iranian Oil, And The Political Context Surrounding The Strait Of Hormuz.

Recent Topics

Literature, Mark Twain, History, Higher Education, Political Economy

Episodes

Here's the recent few episodes on
The American Vandal
:

Close Reading Is Having A Moment (Vandal Live at UC-Berkeley)

July 07, 2026

The second episode derived from the ⁠Modes of Reading Today Symposium⁠, hosted by the ⁠Townsend Center For The Humanities⁠ assesses what it means that "close reading is having a moment" through papers titled "What is Close Reading?" [8:00], "Finding The Right Place For Close Reading" [30:00], "The Affected Fallacy" [56:00], "On Generalizing" [77:30], and "Close Reading as Field-Making" [100:00]Cast (in order of appearance): Yael Segalovitz, Matt Seybold, Jonathan Kramnick, Toril Moi, Joshua G...

Reading, Sleep, Attention, Grief (Vandal Live at UC-Berkeley)

June 18, 2026

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 creato...

The Production of Oil & Knowledge in Iran with Mattin Biglari & Katayoun Shafiee

June 02, 2026

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

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