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Alex Plakias

@alexplakias.bsky.social
371 followers 304 following 197 posts

philosopher at hamilton college. author of 'awkwardness: a theory' (oup) & 'thinking through food' (broadview press) eating, thinking, writing in various orders of priority.

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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Are we all just calling in Knicks to work this week or what
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
crowd shouting ‘Knicks in 4’ when Cleveland is playing *at home*, just brutal (and accurate)
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Update: to clarify, while I am obviously thrilled and could not love this team more, I will not, in fact, be partying like it’s 1999
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Maybe maybe… www.youtube.com/watch?v=rblt...
youtube.com
Prince - 1999 (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by Prince
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
slate.com/news-and-pol... It’s @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social & @madva.bsky.social in Slate! & if you’re one of those already thinking about next semester’s syllabi, highly recommend their book ‘somebody should do something’ (w @dryan149.bsky.social)!
slate.com
We Do a Lot of Sneering at “Virtue Signaling.” It May Be Time to Rethink Our Approach.
Yes, it's good to do good things. It may be even more effective to tell people you're doing them.
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Proud to announce that after decades as an awkwardness practitioner, I have finally been upgraded to awkwardness researcher! slate.com/life/2025/12...
slate.com
You’re Not the Only One Who Wants to Crawl Out of Their Skin at Holiday Parties. An Awkwardness Researcher Explains Why.
To be human is to be awkward. But there are some situations where you truly just want to sublimate into dust.
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
If you are looking for a gift that will really get inside someone’s head and subtly undermine their confidence (and who isn’t?!), might I recommend gifting them a copy of ‘awkwardness’ with zero context or explanation? Now on sale for $17, but hurry— only 9 copies left! a.co/d/bw2KIaS
a.co
Awkwardness: A Theory
Amazon.com: Awkwardness: A Theory: 9780197683606: Plakias, Alexandra: Books
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
Philosophy friends: planning a spring meta ethics seminar. I haven’t kept up much the last 5 years or so— what books did I miss that would be fun to read with advanced undergrads?
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Hmmm, I have been thinking of teaching a meta ethics seminar again— maybe it’s a sign…
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
And rolling it out at Kann— wonder what the other 3 restaurants will be, v curious to try this!
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
wrapped up intro to moral theory w/this Aeon piece on annoyance by @dryan149.bsky.social and @evanwestra.bsky.social- big hit, great way to wrap up a semester, by looking to future and thinking concretely about change: aeon.co/essays/why-d...
aeon.co
Why does moral progress feel preachy and annoying? | Aeon Essays
You might feel you can trust your gut to tell right from wrong, but the friction of social change shows that you can’t
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Reposted by Alex Plakias
Daniel Kelly @dryan149.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva and I are thrilled with the cover for our book, Somebody Should Do Something The release date is 9/16, but you can do preorders now mitpress.mit.edu/978026204978... #CoverReveal #Bookstagram @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social tein.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social
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Daniel Kelly @dryan149.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Great essay by @michaelbrownstein.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The threat of Trump is vast. But don’t underestimate incremental change | Michael Brownstein
The work of making change is difficult. Most of it is boring, unsexy and, at best, modestly incremental from day to day
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
new (version of an) SEP entry just dropped, maybe time to give the ol' evolution and morality seminar syllabus an overhaul...
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
usually keep the blackboard page pretty austere but this semester I needed to cheer myself up...
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
reposting this because I've seen a few people wondering where to direct resources and this seems like a non-obvious but important one.
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
what a great idea for a conference, and the associated pedagogy workshops look great too
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
This is great. A perfect pre-semester read www.noemamag.com/the-danger-o...
noemamag.com
The Danger Of Superhuman AI Is Not What You Think | NOEMA
The rhetoric over “superhuman” AI implicitly erases what’s most important about being human.
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
A while ago I suggested this as an approach to addressing the referee crisis and no one liked it (obviously I know funding is a different thing okay)
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Reposted by Alex Plakias
Gen Eickers @geneickers.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
it’s real!! 🥰
Photo of copies of book “Scripts and Social Cognition: How We Interact with Others” by Gen Eickers, Routledge.
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Philosopher friends/parasocial peeps, look for me at the eastern, I’ll be the one awkwardly squinting at everyone’s name tag like the borderline prosopagnosic I am
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
going back to the Eastern APA for the first time since 2011 & already having anticipatory anxiety. no I'm not 'presenting' my work on awkwardness per se, more like demonstrating it in informal settings...
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 05/01/2025
the secret to having it all? quantifier restriction.
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 05/01/2025
hey, if you're looking for something to fill a cold Monday afternoon (or evening), check out this virtual event I'm doing with The Philosopher tomorrow! www.thephilosopher1923.org/events/on-aw...
thephilosopher1923.org
On Awkwardness
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 31/12/2024
a little sweet, but also sour: was 2024 the year of the pickle? Idk, but I did have fun talking to Ted Anthony for this AP article: apnews.com/article/pick...
apnews.com
The dill of a lifetime? In a nation that’s enduring its own sour patch, the pickle dominated 2024
When did we know for sure? Was it April, when Nature Made introduced its pickle-flavored gummy vitamins?
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
Sorry to report, turns out I’m that person who comes in at the tail end of a 1000 piece puzzle and crows about every piece they place #highlyspecificvices
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Charity requires you you interpret ‘gym’ as ‘nap,’ for example when I said I would go to the gym every day this week
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
9:45am. just put on a pork belly braise while I write down some deep thoughts about pickles. I am going to miss sabbatical, sigh.
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
"What is lost when victims leave philosophy..." Such an important point. "If only we could redistribute hubris." Maybe we can't, but those of us who teach and mentor can at least try to adjust the balance of confidence and self-doubt. www.thephilosopher1923.org/post/on-canc...
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
grrr, be serious. who is saying 'don't eat microwavable frozen veggies' (which isn't even UPF) or hummus (most wldn't qualify as UPF)? painting critics of UPF as enemies of all packaged food or as denying some UPF worse than others = disingenuous at best. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Is Ultraprocessing Really the Best Way to Think About Nutrition?
The category of ultraprocessed foods is so broad it borders on useless.
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
*you* call it lying to my kids about Santa, *I* call it teaching them about non-truth conditional semantics
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Listening to the Ezra Klein episode on editing where he interviews Adam Moss. It's great. 'The Work of Art' is fantastic and different and would make a great gift for the writer/artist/philosopher* in your life www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/669522... *not me, I already own it
penguinrandomhouse.com
The Work of Art by Adam Moss: 9780593297582 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER and "The gift book of the year, a volume that should have broad appeal and deliver many hours of pleasure to the recipient. The Work of Art is a gorgeous book.” —John...
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
there are gift lists for all sorts of relationships. but what about that one person whose head you just want to mess with? might I suggest... a book about awkwardness, presented without comment or explanation? global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
The starter pack of philosophers who are not members of any starter pack
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
the joy of cooking
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
If I’m not in a philosophy starter pack do I even exist
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
pre-thanksgiving checklist: potatoes? check. pie? check. awkwardness? I've got you covered! It's not too late to register for this online event tonorrow at 2:30-- you can listen while you make those pie crusts!
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Awkwardness happens. Sometimes we can head it off before it happens, sometimes it's a problem to solve, sometimes it's the best of a bunch of bad options. I wrote a short piece for The Conversation explaining why: theconversation.com/awkwardness-...
theconversation.com
Awkwardness can hit in any social situation – here are a philosopher’s 5 strategies to navigate it with grace
Awkwardness is what happens in social interactions when you suddenly find yourself without a script to guide you through.
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
No one knows awkwardness like philosophers know awkwardness. Join me and Victor Kumar to talk all things awkward, find out why Thanksgiving is the most awkward holiday, & how to cope! Bonus: OUP is offering 30% off the book if you use the code AAFLYG6-- order at global.oup.com/academic/pro...
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
I have recently become a regular glasses-wearer. The prob is all my previous experience makes me think I’m wearing sunglasses so no one can see my eyes and the result is some real weirdo behavior/gaze patterns
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Love coming across randomness in the Aeon archives... Like yeah blah blah 'moist' but have you considered the horribleness that is the word 'delicious'? aeon.co/ideas/delici...
aeon.co
Delicious is disgusting: how one word conquered food porn | Aeon Ideas
How one repellent word – ‘delicious’ – came to dominate of the food-porn industry
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
I felt awkward commenting on this, so: yes! parasocial awkwardness def a thing. Through writing the book & then being awkward engaging w it online I have unlocked a whole new level of meta-awkwardness...
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
Omg if all goes according to plan I will be doing something really exciting tomorrow and I can’t say what it is yet but here’s a hint
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
Update: this was really fun, though I almost lost my cool when I realized the guest before me was none other than THE Marion Nestle…
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
I'll be on SiriusXM's 'Doctor Radio' channel (no, I'm still not that kind of doctor, mom, sorry!) talking about alt-protein, edible insects, and the so-called 'yuck factor' at 1 today-- tune in, I might even share my controversial views on shrimp!
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
thinking of doing a short solo writing retreat-- anyone done one of these and have any advice to share?
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
Victor Kumar's not on Bluesky so I'll tell you: he thinks he's awkward, but he's really super-smooth. Don't believe me? Come to this Zoom chat we're gonna do about my book! I don't even care if you make pie while you listen, won't be awkward at all.
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Update: I can't w the sound of my own voice, but I listened to intro & wow, yes. From day 1 of the project I wanted to be clear that saying smthing is awkward isn't trivializing it. Hearing that the book is relevant even now... feels like everything I hoped for. Really grateful for this interview.
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Alex Plakias @alexplakias.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
I've been mostly listening to angsty 90s music and stomping around in doc martens, but if you are looking for a more sophisticated soundtrack, might I suggest this episode of The Gray Area? We talk awkwardness & some tips on avoiding it, should you so wish! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
podcasts.apple.com
Well this is awkward
Podcast Episode · The Gray Area with Sean Illing · 11/11/2024 · 1h 2m
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