New to @apsa-preprints.bsky.social - Unexpected Voices: How Cultural Agents Reshape Political Communication - https://cup.org/46YJjwt - @eunjikim.bsky.social & Erin York #preprint

Grateful to Matt Baum, Jamie Druckman, @jonmladd.bsky.social @brendannyhan.bsky.social @dannagal.bsky.social for joining the Author Meets Critics session on The American Mirage tomorrow at 12:00. If you spot me at the conference, ask for my favorite book merch: a custom magnetic bottle opener!

EPSA have announced that they will hold a conference in July 2026. 😵‍💫 We understand that there might be some confusion about EPSS and EPSA. 👉🏽 So we thought we would clarify some things. A short 🧵

Cool book! Americans love reality competition TV. But does it shape political beliefs? @eunjikim.bsky.social says yes—and shows how it fuels faith in social mobility and individualism, despite declining economic opportunity. A subtle lesson in tournament wages: second place is first loser.

Thanks, Don Green, for inviting me to share "Persuasion at Scale: ML, Causality & Information," a course retrospective @ Columbia's DSI. @eunjikim.bsky.social & I covered the power & limits of causal inference & AI: from RCTs to LLMs talk: bit.ly/PScaleTalk20... class: lnkd.in/etbR2Dqc

Check out our newsletter! On Bullsh*t 20th anniversary | Misbehaving at the Crossroads with Honorée Fanonne Jeffers | Channel Spotlight: LGBTQ+ Studies | Scholarly Sources: Eunji Kim @princetonupress.bsky.social @eunjikim.bsky.social @blklibrarygirl.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/newbooks...

Check out this episode of the @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social podcast and listen to @eunjikim.bsky.social discuss her new book The American Mirage: How Reality TV Upholds the Myth of Meritocracy: newbooksnetwork.com/the-american....

Read this excerpt in @literaryhub.bsky.social of @eunjikim.bsky.social's new book The American Mirage, and learn how reality TV warps our perception of political and economic realities: lithub.com/how-reality-....

SICSS-Paris is on! Today, over 40 scholars from all over Europe (and beyond) gathered at @crestumr.bsky.social for 2 weeks of courses and talks about digital methods and text analysis. And in the evening, @eunjikim.bsky.social gave the first talk on influencers and political change.

Next week, CREST is hosting another edition of the Summer School in Computational Social Science (SICSS). Check out the speakers and participants here: sicss.io/2025/paris/p... and some here: @bartbonikowski.bsky.social @eunjikim.bsky.social @austin-van-loon.bsky.social @dirkhovy.bsky.social

Now I’m reading about Eunji’s efforts at driving a truck and recruiting participants at county flea markets, including wearing a donkey Halloween mask. More of this in political science, please.

I just finished the first chapter of “The American Mirage” by @eunjikim.bsky.social and it is one of the most engaging works I’ve read in a long time. Eager to read the rest. Thank you, Eunji! press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Yes, that's right. Today's reporter in the White House press briefing's "new media" seat is Jillian Michaels, the "Biggest Loser" trainer.

So honored (and amazed!) that Andrew Gelman—my senior colleague in political science and statistics—read The American Mirage cover to cover and wrote such a thoughtful review on his blog. Grateful for his generosity and sharp eye. statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/05/22/e...

Didn't get tickets for @eunjikim.bsky.social's sold-out Lectures on Tap event, "The Entertained States of America,” tomorrow (5/22) at 6:30 pm EDT? Follow Lectures on Tap on Instagram & check out their story tomorrow morning for a chance to get last-minute tickets: www.instagram.com/lecturesonta...

Getting photos like these over the past two weeks has been the most unexpectedly endearing part of publishing The American Mirage. Thank you for taking the time to snap a picture and share where the book landed in your lives. It’s heartening beyond words to feel the book out in the world 😍

Kristi Noem has been working with the producer of “Duck Dynasty” to pitch a reality TV show—titled “The American”—where immigrants will compete in a string of challenges across the country “for the honor of fast-tracking their way to U.S. citizenship,” according to a new report.

But I haven’t even finished @eunjikim.bsky.social’s just released a reality tv and politics book and already we have new chapters

Congratulations to @eunjikim.bsky.social on the publication of "The American Mirage"--really excited to have it and read it soon.

Look what arrived @eunjikim.bsky.social !!! Summer reading fun! 🙌🙌❤️❤️❤️❤️

Want to understand how we got a celebrity president and a cabinet filled with cable news jockeys? I highly recommend: “The American Mirage: How Reality TV Upholds the Myth of Meritocracy” by @eunjikim.bsky.social press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

@eunjikim.bsky.social explains why your parents might have been right about reality TV rotting your brain.

How the entertainment narrative of upward mobility distorts the harsh economic realities in America. The American Mirage by @eunjikim.bsky.social is out now. Learn more: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Tomorrow (April 30) at 6:15 pm EDT: ISERP at @columbiauniversity.bsky.social welcomes @eunjikim.bsky.social for a discussion of her forthcoming book, The American Mirage (out May 6 in North America/1 July in the UK). Register today for this free event:

Fascinating. How competition shows influence US politics & shape views about economic inequality www.niemanlab.org/2025/04/the-... with @eunjikim.bsky.social Reality TV watching = > belief in (the myth of) American Dream. Yep, pop culture elevates the myths that fuel tolerance for inequality.

My take on the connection btw pop culture & social mobility. The Celebrity Illusion: Why does America invest so much in the idea of fame? www.chronicle.com/article/the-... cc @eunjikim.bsky.social Countries that are most celebrity obsessed rank low on surveys happiness and social mobility.

The call for papers for the APSA Political Communication Preconference in Vancouver is now open! Together with @ashleymuddiman.bsky.social and @patyrossini.bsky.social, we're thrilled to invite your submissions. 📅: May 25th, 2025, 11.59pm PDT (GMT-7) More information: u.osu.edu/apsa2025/

@joshuabenton.com and @niemanlab.org thanks again!!

If like me you can’t wait to read @eunjikim.bsky.social’s new book American Mirage, on the attitudinal effects of reality TV, great interview reviewing some of her work by @joshuabenton.com. It answers questions you never thought of, like the percentage of people Uber drivers think watch Fox News.

"The behavioral data tells us that most American life is not political — so why don’t we study what people are actually consuming every day, however lowbrow it may seem?" - @eunjikim.bsky.social buff.ly/fdAqtMr

New by me —> It turns out watching reality TV — specifically, competition shows like The Voice, Top Chef, and Shark Tank — changes people’s opinions about economic inequality in America. Just one item from my chat with the very interesting @eunjikim.bsky.social www.niemanlab.org/2025/04/the-...

After years of doubt, drafts, and disbelief, my first—and likely last—book is finally out. It’s about how entertainment shapes American politics. If you preorder (a.co/d/ctGUWkZ), I’d love to send a small token of thanks: forms.gle/1YrkYX2t2nPC...

Thrilled to be hosting the 3rd MEEW (Media Effects Empirical Workshop) at Columbia again. Hope to see some of you there! RSVP link is available at: sites.google.com/view/columbi...

Terrific lineup for our Comparative Politics & Political Economy series this summer,incl @clandwehr.bsky.social @finseraas.bsky.social @eunjikim.bsky.social @ccavaille.bsky.social @anewq.bsky.social & @valentimvicente.bsky.social . Thanks for organizing @tobiastober.bsky.social @na-wehl.bsky.social

Newsletter eds @klunztrujillo.bsky.social and Kevin Munger have put together great pieces from Lynn Vavreck @vinarceneaux.bsky.social @nmalhotra.bsky.social Mateo Vasquez-Cortes @micuriel.bsky.social Kirill Chmel @eunjikim.bsky.social John Marshall @chloeahn.bsky.social @ddimmery.com Sangyeon Kim

@publisherswkly.bsky.social calls @eunjikim.bsky.social's The American Mirage: How Reality TV Upholds the Myth of Meritocracy "eye-opening." Read the full review here: www.publishersweekly.com/9780691267197

Scientists, academics, researchers: We’re excited to share that @altmetric.com is now tracking mentions of your research on Bluesky! 🧪

It’s important to remember how uncooperative staff alone can make it very hard for an unpopular leader to continue. This is not just symbolic, also practical.

This is literally (part of, etc) why we got Trump. Become Eunji Kim-pilled, realize that ‘apoliticial’ slop entertainment media is politically powerful. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

This is exactly @eunjikim.bsky.social's research area. Reality TV shapes views about the American Dream: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Police procedurals likely influence attitudes about the carceral state (work in progress) Entertainment TV has under-appreciated effects.

@TamarMitts and I are excited to host the 2nd MEEW (Media Effects Empirical Workshop) at Columbia University on May 3, 2024. Please register! (https://sites.google.com/view/columbia-meew/home) @iserp_columbia

Russell Sage Pipeline Grants are open for submissions: www.russellsage.org/research/pip...

📢 📢 📢 OPEN DATA RELEASE 📢 📢 📢 New large-scale comparative dataset on (negative) campaigns and candidate personality worldwide NEGex 2.0 is now available: osf.io/mekwg/ Covers all nat elections worldwide (2016-2020) ✅ 142 national elections ✅ 720 candidates ✅ 457 parties Data is open & free

This is just grim. "Misinformation research is buckling under GOP legal attacks" www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2... It is also the answer for why tenure is still a needed protection for researchers.

Thrilled to co-host (with @TamarMitts) the inaugural Media Effects Empirical Workshop on May 5 at @Columbia. This biannual workshop features the latest works in political communication across subfields. Please RSVP here: https://sites.google.com/view/columbia-meew/.

not sure whom should I talk to, but @hulu @FoodChannel your trailer description for Best in Dough inaccurately contains my name/affiliation. I only wish I were a judge for this reality TV show but I am not.. can you please correct this mistake? 😅

I’ve been incredibly lucky to be part of @VandyPoliSci, home to the discipline’s most generous and kindest colleagues. Last day in Nashville is full of emotions - I only hope to pay things forward. Heading to NYC and so thrilled to join @Columbia @Columbia_PolSci!!

This semester, I co-taught the largest class in Vanderbilt’s history (N=820+) on U.S. elections. It was *wild*. It only worked thanks to engaged students and spectacular TAs. Then a student sent us this photo of a custom-made sock. This may be the peak of my teaching career.

🚨 new #polcomm paper 🚨 thrilled to see this out in @PNASNews! @joshclinton, @mshepjr, and I utilize quasi-random media market boundaries to see how "urban-centric" local news affects public health behaviors of rural Americans. https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/08/19/2009384117