Archive: Sep 2025

New & Noteworthy

• “I pretty much just stick to ‘queer’ [in Vancouver], but when I’m in Texas, … it’s ‘gay’.” Gay in Texas, Queer in Vancouver by Anastasia Dulle summarizes research by Andy Holmes and Amin Ghaziani on why LGBTQ+ people use different labels in different contexts. [2 min read]

From the Archives

• TikTok was abuzz this week with many “apocalyptic influencers” believing that the rapture would take place on September 23rd, 2025. For those of us left behind, check out this 2008 article by Brooke Harrington on how Christian Protestant ideas about the “end of days” enable economic inequality. [4 min read]
• On Monday, President Trump told pregnant women not to take Tylenol during pregnancy, despite inconclusive evidence linking the drug to autism. Some worry the President’s comments contribute to a pattern of “mother blame,” where women are held responsible for children’s outcomes by sexist and perfectionistic standards. In this piece for Girl w/ Pen, Alison Piepmeier responds to perceived “mother blame” in Annie Murphy Paul’s 2010 book, Origins. [3 min read]

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts

• In Parental Profiteering, Colter J. Uscola spotlights research in New Media & Society by Tom Divon, Taylor Annabell, and Catalina Goanta that explores the legal and ethical implications of “kidfluencers” on TikTok. [2 min read]
• In GED to PhD, Chandra Reyna draws on her experience in the McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program to make the case against a Trump administration proposal to cancel it. McNair aims to “increase the attainment of Ph.D. degrees by students from underrepresented segments of society.” It is one of several similar government programs at risk of being eliminated. [4 min read]
• In Working For AI, Jeffrey C. Dixon voices his concerns about the fast-proliferating technology from his perspective as a sociologist of work, neoliberalism, and AI. [5 min read]

Council on Contemporary Families

• Anna Gjika was interviewed by Alicia M. Walker on her new book, When Rape Goes Viral: Youth and Sexual Assault in the Digital Age. Gjika discusses what she learned from conversations with teens about image-based sexual abuse, and why adult surveillance of teens’ digital lives might do more harm than good. [7 min read]

New & Noteworthy

• What does it mean to be “authentic?” In their new article, To Thine Own Self Be True: Identity and Authenticity, Mallory Harrington and Francesca Bernardino explain how our affinity for “true” belonging shapes our attitudes and behaviors, and why ambiguous or unattainable standards of authenticity can particularly harm marginalized communities.

From the Archives

• In the latest MAHA report on children’s health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. insisted on the need to address “vaccine injury.” As Secretary of Health and Human Services, he has spoken about the supposed connection between vaccination status and rising autism diagnoses in children. Our 2019 piece, Autism Across Cultures, reviews research on the causes of autism, providing social context and explanations for recent increases in autism diagnoses.
• As students return to school, many kids and teenagers will return to bullying from their peers. Despite the commonly used phrase “it gets better,” research warns that the consequences of peer aggression during adolescence can extend through adulthood. Read 2023’s Back to School, Back to Bullying from our partner World Suffering to learn more.

Backstage with TSP

• “TSP Tuesdays” is now returning to “TSP Fridays.” We’re sad to see the alliteration go. New board member Sara Kadoura is taking the reins of our weekly roundup, where you’ll continue to get updates from TSP and our partners.
• Anastasia Dulle is also now taking a leadership role on our flagship section, “Discoveries.” Anastasia will manage our publication schedule and join Jake, Doug and Chris on the editors team, streamlining our process to translate new and meaningful social science for the wider public.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts

• How the rich turn sludge into money by Doron Shiffer-Sebba illuminates how “bureaucratic practices” protect generational wealth in ultra-wealthy families and introduce business-like relationships into family life.

Council on Contemporary Families

• With big-city immigration raids in the news, William Lopez’s new book, Raiding the Heartland: An American Story of Deportation and Resistance, directs the spotlight toward the effects of raids in a less-covered space: rural America. In this interview with Alicia M. Walker, Lopez details how rural community members cope with the sudden absence of their neighbors and loved ones.

Give Theory a Chance

• Stefano Bloch joins Kyle Green in the latest episode of “Give Theory a Chance” to discuss his recent article, “Crime as Relational Concept in Political Geography,” published in Geography Compass.

New & Noteworthy

• Mallory Harrington‘s weekly Clippings is back! In this week’s coverage of sociology in the news, sociologists and scholars weighed in on politics, gender, and justice. Michel Anteby defended the role of bureaucrats as crucial public safeguards, while Tristan Bridges analyzed Hasan Piker’s ability to challenge gender norms through “jock insurance.” Meanwhile, David Garland critiqued America’s penal state, architects were urged to draw on sociology, Robert Putnam and Richard Reeves revisit the “boyhood crisis,” and Patrick Bergemann explored the dynamics of whistleblowing and social control.
• Money Talks in the American Workplace by Francesca Bernardino covers research in Social Forces by Patrick Denice, Jake Rosenfeld, and Shengwei Sun showing that while workplace norms and bans often suppress “pay talk,” younger and raise-seeking workers increasingly break these rules to pursue fairer wages and challenge pay inequality.

From the Archives

• Trump’s crime crackdown is again considering giving prosecutors more power to pursue the death penalty, despite research showing the death penalty’s limited-to-no impact on deterring crime. Read more from our 2019 piece covering Trump’s death penalty efforts in his first term.
• The NFL season started last week, with some close games leaving fans very happy (shoutout to the Minnesota Vikings win last night against the Bears). Sociologically speaking, TSP and our partner Engaging Sports has many pieces covering research on the role of college and professional football in society. Check out this 2020 football NCAA round up for some great pieces to ground your college football discussions.

Backstage with TSP

• Last Friday TSP held its first Fall 2025 graduate student board meeting. We are lucky to be welcoming a new cohort of public oriented scholars to the board and begin work on new projects. During these initial weeks, we typically start with orienting folks on our Discoveries process where we 1) locate recent publications with high research rigor, 2) take turns “pitching” three of these pieces to the full board, 3) we then workshop each piece in front of the full board and Chris and Doug (a both stressful and incredibly beneficial experience for new and old board members alike) and 4) post on the site for the world to see.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts

• Aging with Imagination by Colter J. Uscola writes up research by Juliane Jarke and Helen Manchester on participatory workshops help older adults challenge AI-driven, ageist narratives and instead imagine futures of aging on their own terms.

Council on Contemporary Families

• BDSM Without the Sex: What Kink Practitioners Can Teach Us About Building Community? by Alicia M. Walker and Arielle Kuperberg shows how kink communities, through consent, boundary-setting, and collective care, model intentional forms of connection that challenge individualist approaches to happiness and offer lessons for building stronger, supportive communities.

New & Noteworthy

How do Americans Define Discrimination? Well… It’s Complicated by Jordyn Wald covers new research in the American Journal of Sociology on how Americans disagree on what counts as discrimination. Some focus on intent and unequal treatment, others on unequal outcomes and power. Views differed by issue and by group, with younger Democrats leaning toward outcomes and power and older Republicans toward intent.

Backstage with TSP

Fall semester is here! The TSP Board’s first meeting is this week, and we’re excited for another year of bringing sociology to a screen near you. For board members, TSP is not only a place to publish and network, but also a chance for grad students to learn about public sociology. We discuss sociology in the news, brainstorm ways to make it more accessible, and are continually innovating new projects. Stay tuned.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts

• Attending Church Encourages Acceptance of Atheists? No, It’s a Suppression Effect by Paul A. Djupe, Amanda J. Friesen, Anand E. Sokhey, and Jacob R. Neiheisel on the increases in acceptance of atheists from church attendance and its apparent statistical suppression effect, when Christian nationalism is included, attendance does not raise and often lowers support.
• Financial Theatrics by Elena G. Van Stee writes us research which shows families favor “pseudo-formal” written-but-flexible loan agreements because they preserve the recipient’s dignity, ease discomfort, and help separate personal from financial relationships.

Council on Contemporary Families

• 3Q with Andréa Becker Get it Out: On The Politics of Hysterectomy with Alicia M. Walker and Andréa Becker on how hysterectomies are common yet silenced, and that people’s choices are constrained by a fertility-first, under-researched, and unequal U.S. healthcare system, with added barriers in gender-affirming care and across race and class.
• Pandemic Influences on Gender Inequality in Unpaid Work by Liana C. Sayer and Joanna Pepin on how COVID briefly narrowed gaps as fathers spent a bit more time with kids, but by 2021 mothers still did more childcare and housework, so lasting equality will require men doing more unpaid labor.