Educational Writing

The Mathematics of Modern War: post-session thoughts on “EPICAC” by Kurt Vonnegut

by Jesse Masinter | May 20, 2026 | Educational Writing, Post-Session Lessons | 0 Comments

The Mathematics of Modern War Post-session thoughts on "EPICAC" by Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut's short story "EPICAC" is about a supercomputer tasked with solving war problems, but its true passion is writing poetry. Near the beginning of the story, the narrator...

Reflections from the Retirement Home: “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

by Jesse Masinter | May 13, 2026 | Post-Session Lessons | 0 Comments

Reflections from the Retirement Home: “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant A Novel Exchanges Session Recounting - from 5/11 I began with the question: Can money buy happiness? "Well, I like candy, and money can buy that!" Anna replied, laughing. Point taken – money can...

The Myth of Multitasking: Why Getting Off Your Phone Will Save Your Attention

by Jesse Masinter | March 18, 2026 | Educational Writing, Thoughts on Learning | 0 Comments

The Myth of Multitasking Your phone is destroying your most precious resource: attention Your phone is stealing from you. It's stealing from me, too. A digital void competes for our attention, stealing our presence from the physical space and people around us. Our...

Story-Driven Dialogue: What is it and why does it matter?

by Jesse Masinter | February 27, 2026 | Educational Writing, Thoughts on Learning | 0 Comments

Story-Driven Dialogue: What is it and why does it matter? Recently, the phrase "story-driven dialogue" has been rattling around in my brain. What does it mean? Why is it important? Here is my definition: a conversation in which the subject matter of a story provides...

Love, Anger and Injustice in The Brothers Karamazov

by Jesse Masinter | January 29, 2026 | Book Reflections, Educational Writing | 0 Comments

Thoughts on Love, Anger and Injustice from The Brothers Karamazov This is an anger-inducing period to live through in the United States of America (and that's saying something, because if you study history you know that every period of our history has involved some...

Keeping Up With The Karamazovs: How Does Dostoevsky Justify Suffering?

by Jesse Masinter | January 4, 2026 | Book Reflections, Educational Writing | 0 Comments

Keeping Up With the Karamazovs: How Does Dostoevsky Justify Suffering? The other day, a woman saw me reading The Brothers Karamazov and told me Crime and Punishment was her favorite Dostoevsky novel. Respectfully, (I replied) I disagree. All that happens in Crime and...

Will You Start the New Year as a Dreamer or a Doer?

by Jesse Masinter | December 10, 2025 | Book Reflections, Educational Writing | 0 Comments

In last night’s virtual discussion of “Speech Sounds” by Octavia Butler, I argued that there is nothing intrinsic about human nature; we are a product of the community that raised us. Morality is not universal; it is cultural. Today, I wonder if there is one part of...

Death by Doomscroll

by Jesse Masinter | October 30, 2025 | Educational Writing, Thoughts on Learning | 0 Comments

"They're coming for every second of your life. That's what these companies are coming for…It's not because anyone is bad, it's not because anyone in this company has evil plans or is trying to do this. They're not even doing it consciously. It's because these...

The Lottery: or, why we let bad things happen to other people

by Jesse Masinter | October 30, 2025 | Book Reflections, Educational Writing | 0 Comments

When I was in the 6th grade, we put on a skit for Hispanic heritage month in which I was a human sacrifice to Huitzilopochtli, the sun god. I leapt over a cardboard cutout of flames and landed a pile of gym mats (the flames were supposed to represent a volcano, even...

“The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury: or, thoughts on letting technology live for us.

by Jesse Masinter | October 30, 2025 | Book Reflections, Educational Writing | 0 Comments

Entertainment these days is so passive. You sit on the couch and watch a movie. You scroll on your phone (and fine, maybe your thumb presses a button every once and a while). You listen to a podcast or music, where other people talk about what they think,...

RB-67: The Miracle Drug to Prevent Doomscrolling

by Jesse Masinter | October 30, 2025 | Creative Writing | 0 Comments

Experts had labelled doomscrolling the most dangerous addiction of the century, and RB-67 was the solution. Smiling actors in lab coats announced the miracle cure in a series of ads on Instagram, Tik Tok, and YouTube shorts. Henry Siddik, every inch the proud...

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