New & Noteworthy

This week’s Clippings includes: Robert Putnam discussed the link between social isolation and populism on PBS News Hour, highlighting how civic engagement can drive moral revival. Florence Becot appeared on The FarmHouse podcast to examine the invisible labor of women in agriculture, including the expectation of raising children while performing farm work. Battle for Tibet, a new FRONTLINE documentary, features Tibetan sociologist Gyal Lo’s research on Chinese boarding schools and their role in reshaping Tibetan identity. Meanwhile, Willam Robinson spoke at Peoples’ Platform Europe 2025 about the deepening crisis of global capitalism, warning of economic stagnation, rising authoritarianism, and environmental collapse in Medya News.

Crowdfunding Gaps for Female Gun Violence Victims by Dylan DiGiacomo-Stumm writes up research by Catherine Burgess and Jennifer Carlson. They found in their study of 535 GoFundMe campaigns that race and gender shape how victims are portrayed and the financial support their families receive, with white women and girls raising significantly more money than Black and Latinx victims.

Sociology in the News | Ep.8 | Elizabeth Bruch and Amie Gordon’s Dating App “Revel” of our TSP Podcast produced by Forrest Lovette includes TSP Board members Jordyn Wald, Emma Goldstein, Mason Jones discussing Elizabeth Bruch and Amie Gordon‘s recent coverage in The Pulse on “Revel“, a dating app for students at the University of Michigan that doubles as a research tool to uncover college dating patterns.

From the Archives

SNL just celebrated 50 years of comedy, including decades of political satire. From presidential impressions to Weekend Update, the show has shaped how audiences engage with politics. But humor isn’t just entertainment—it reflects and shapes social norms. Learn more about how comedy and politics intersect in this TSP Roundtable.

Recently, the IRS cut 6,000 jobs as we come up on tax season. This NPR article suggests these job cuts mean that American taxpayers will have a harder time getting information about taxes this year. This Discovery from 2019 covers how some policies place the burden of taxation unfairly on the socioeconomically disadvantaged, while perceptions of the fairness of tax heavily depend upon whether people view the government as competent.

Earlier this week, Trump called Ukrainian president Zelenskyy a “dictator”, accused him of corruption and misuse of foreign aid, and blamed Ukraine for starting the war with Russia. A piece published by the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 emphasizes the importance of upholding and remembering truths about past violence. Additionally, this Sociological Images piece written right before Trump’s first presidency discusses similarities between the leadership and rhetorical styles of Trump and Putin, and is interesting to return to over eight years later.

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Contexts

Council on Contemporary Families

First Publics

  • Teaching the Sociological Multiverse by Jonathan Wynn explores the “sociological multiverse,” emphasizing the importance of teaching multiple theoretical perspectives to foster critical thinking, resist one-dimensional explanations, and challenge assumptions in an increasingly polarized world.