Check out the ideas, tools, and research grounding and inspiring us this month. H/T @votingrightslab.bsky.social @navigatorsurvey.bsky.social @protectdemocracy.org @npquarterly.bsky.social @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social @adamkahane.bsky.social https://horizonsproject.us/the-vista-february-2026/

“The pro-democracy movement has a lot of balls in the air right now. It’s essential to clarify which are rubber and which are glass. If we don’t keep our eye on the glass balls, we could see fundamental democratic safeguards shatter. Attacks on women’s fundamental rights are glass balls.”

What moral story shapes how you see your role as a citizen? Sociologist @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social joins us to unpack how faith and moral language shape politics, protest, and public life & what that means for pluralism and civic engagement today. Watch or listen: youtu.be/eQCudFFpwuk

Big fall-offs among all religious groups except Black Protestants - thus proving (as always) that everyone should listen to and understand Black theology, history, and ethics.

The defense secretary ordered a review of women in combat roles, claiming standards were compromised — but the requirements for women and men in combat roles are identical.

Cool, cool. Lesson learned.

Are women's rights more at risk than we thought? Another great essay from @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/ruthbrau...

If you aren't reading @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social 's Democracy is Hard Substack, you are missing out. Her latest post offers sober analysis about the SAVE Act, which if passed, could disenfranchise MILLIONS of women. It's a sleeping dog about which few know... substack.com/home/post/p-...

Never thought about the strategic use of chyrons by Trump & right-wing media. Then I read this by @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social & went to the gym. Saw 5 people on treadmills watching Fox or Newsmax on mute. So they don't get the rambling stupidity & ugliness. Just chyrons. ruthbraunstein.substack.com

What an honor for our documentary podcast When the Wolves Came to be named one of The Atlantic’s Top 20 Podcasts of 2025. Wild way to end a wild year!

Ok Mitt Romney, I'm listening... "I believe in free enterprise... But we have reached a point where any mix of solutions to our nation’s economic problems is going to involve the wealthiest Americans contributing more." www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/o...

In a new Q&A, @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social asks PRRI CEO @melissadeckman.bsky.social about young men and women's voting patterns in 2024 vs. 2025, and whether young men are anti-establishment, or just looking for campaigns to reach out and connect with them open.substack.com/pub/ruthbrau...

We met up with @sssreligion.bsky.social recently in Minneapolis, Minnesota to ask "What Are You Working On?" Meet emerging scholars and familiar faces working on all things religious scholarship!

Did you know that more Americans eat alone today than at any other point in human history? 🤯 In my latest at Democracy Is Hard, I consider whether "civic restaurants" could help us repair our democracy and restore our humanity. Read more open.substack.com/pub/ruthbrau...

For more info on this (failed) effort: religionnews.com/2025/07/30/e...

Hello! I'm coming up from the dissertation bunker to say that if you will be at SSSR I'll be putting together some fun Bluesky content with @dacuetovilla.bsky.social for the @asareligion.bsky.social account. COME TELL US WHAT YOU'RE WORKING ON. We'd love to amplify some voices.

Participants were able to show they were not terrorists or anarchists. The marches were a success; they were peaceful, joyful & well-organized. But they were soon overtaken by other headlines. Yet, this won't be the end of these mobilizations. More here: ruthbraunstein.substack.com/p/no-kings-p...

NEW: The 16th annual PRRI American Values Survey, released in partnership with @brookings.edu, finds that majorities of Americans say that Trump's cuts in funding for health care (60%), implementation of new tariffs (54%), and increase in funding for ICE (52%) have gone too far.

Exciting news about our audio documentary When the Wolves Came — we were named a Signal Award Gold Winner! If you have not yet listened or shared, now is your chance! Xoxo Dream Team (aka The Mash Up Americans).

Sociology+News! This week's TSP Clippings: 🧠Women managing the household mental load ⚠️ The phantom of political violence in 2025 @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social 📻 Public radio’s donor dependence @lauragarbes.bsky.social ✊France’s Block Everything & 2018's Yellow Vests 🔗 bit.ly/4mizu1Q 🔗

Finalist also means we are eligible for the Listener's Choice award, which means you the people can VOTE for us. Won't you? 👉 vote.signalaward.com

💥💥Our podcast When The Wolves Came is a Signal finalist for Best Documentary! It explores the extremist politics that have taken over US evangelical Christianity, and the pastors, congregants, and organizers who are pushing back in favor of a pluralist path. It is, as they say, relevant.

ASA member Ruth Braunstein @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social @jhu.edu, who has studied Charlie Kirk and the Right, notes that yesterday's shooting has the potential to spike already heated political tensions in the country. @reuters.com bit.ly/3VIeLtt

NEW PREPRINT: RELIGION UNBUNDLED Earlier this week at #ASA2025, @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social, @jlkucinskas.bsky.social, Brian Steensland, and I presented ideas for a new paradigm for the 21st-Century sociology of American religion. Full MS at SocArXiv for all those interested: osf.io/preprints/so...

Writing this paper has felt like spending the year doing a seminar with some of the most inspiring and theoretically savvy scholars of spirituality and religion —and friends. Our conclusion? Religion has been unbundled. Read more below:

"We are each charged with building a common life. We build this, imperfectly, through social contracts. Taxpaying is one of those contracts." Carey Mott reviews “Taxation and Resentment” and “My Tax Dollars.” https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/ways-and-means/

Excited to see this review of My Tax Dollars in the @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social, alongside a discussion of Andrea Louise Campbell’s excellent new book Taxation and Resentment. Check it out! @princetonupress.bsky.social

"Religion in a Changing Workplace" explores how people navigate faith on the job. What did our distinguished critics - @oneyaokuwobi.bsky.social, @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social, and @evanstewart.bsky.social - have to say about it?

Cue Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton's Cabinet Battle #1: “Imagine what gon happen when you try to tax our whiskey” I can’t avoid the “revenoor” even on a favorite hike in my home state of Georgia! #mytaxdollars

I also loved my conversation with @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social about the new research I’m doing w/ @ikennedy.bsky.social on Christian nationalist consumers. Read her Substack! If you want to read the full article that inspired our Q&A, the article can be found here: academic.oup.com/socrel/advan...

When your healthcare bills go up, remember that is by design. When hospitals start to close and nursing homes become unaffordable, remember that is by design. Do not forget how much they've stolen from you when tax season comes and you get a couple hundred dollar refund.

Loved my conversation with @msoma.bsky.social about his new research on how Christian nationalist consumers are being encouraged to “shop their values” (vs. “woke” mainstream businesses) and the parallel economy that has emerged to support them. Check it out! open.substack.com/pub/ruthbrau...

No one is talking about this part of the Republican budget: Rich people can donate to private schools and get that amount knocked off their taxes. This lets them avoid capital gains taxes. And while public schools get choked of resources, private schools will flourish. What?!

I figure out how to make even cool things nerdy.

Why DO so many reality TV stars get in trouble with the IRS? I had so much fun participating in this melding of the minds for sociologist and tax expert (taxpert?) @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social’s Substack! ruthbraunstein.substack.com/p/why-are-so...

I've said it before and I'll say it again: "Native-born Americans" are just immigrants plus time. Once we accept this, the logic of the Great Replacement Theory becomes nonsensical. In @kevinmkruse.bsky.social's latest essay, he offers some excellent evidence of this, including this great cartoon.

Fascinating tool that calculates the impact of Trump's tax bill on a family's finances. It accounts for tax changes *and* changes to benefits (like Medicaid) and policies (SNAP deduction) bc of the bill. Create diff profiles to see how various people fare. www.washingtonpost.com/business/int...

You may think you know everything about Lady Liberty — Americana’s overexposed starlet, photographed ad nauseam, objectified ad infinitum. But over at Substack I share why I think we’ve missed something essential, and why she is a potent symbol of resistance today.

Good insights from @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social here. What are many MAGA believers getting from the movement? "...[A] feeling of belonging, purpose, pride. In a community where those goods are in scant supply, even cheap versions of them are likely viewed as better than nothing."

Co-signed. I'm currently serving on the SSSR Committee leading this search, so if you have any questions or want additional info about the position, please drop me a line.

Are you a social scientist who studies religion, looking for a way to make a big impact on both the field and the public's understanding of religion? I hope you'll consider applying to become the next editor of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion @jssreligion.bsky.social

An important reminder from @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social that budgets are moral and we can be proud of thing like public and independent MEDIA (like WORT 89.9 FM), libraries, and the weather service that our tax $$ pays for.

Today at noon! @sssreligion.bsky.social is hosting a webinar on "From Francis to Leo XIV: Looking into a Post "Who Am I to Judge?" Catholic Church" feat. 2024 Student Paper Award winner Fr. Lucas Sharma S.J. w/ Tia Noelle Pratt & Tricia Bruce, moderated by Ariela Keysar.

Truly such a great conversation about taxpaying, tax resistance, living our values, and more with @saragabler.bsky.social and @apublicaffair.bsky.social. Plus, got to live my dream of being part of a live radio pledge drive!

Welcome to JHU, and Baltimore! 🦀

“Sesame Street” has found itself a new home. Netflix announced that the decades-old public educational television program will premiere its 56th season on the global streaming giant, along with 90 hours of previous episodes.

Some exciting personal news... 📣

Explosive original reporting about Trump's plans to drastically restructure domestic law enforcement to target immigrants en masse and crack down on opponents.

This cannot be real. Tell me this is not real. Calling @djlindee.bsky.social

On substack this week, I reflect on the seasonality of academic life; the importance of taking pop culture seriously; and some fun convos I have had lately about democracy and taxes!