Guns Unpacked

In this episode of Guns Unpacked, host Alex Trimble Young welcomes Wall Street Journal reporters Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson, co-authors of American Gun: The True History of the AR-15 (2023). Their book traces the rifle’s invention by Eugene Stoner, its troubled military adoption, and its evolution into one of America’s most polarizing symbols. Today’s conversation explores the AR-15’s technological development, its transfo...

In today’s episode of Guns Unpacked, we welcome Dr. Michelle Phelps, a professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota. Phelps is an expert on probation, criminal justice reform, and the politics of policing. Her first book is titled Breaking the Pendulum: The Long Struggle Over Criminal Justice, which is co-authored by Philip Goodman and Joshua Paige and published by Oxford University Press in 2017. Phelps joins us today to ...

This episode of Guns Unpacked features Jan Dizard, Professor Emeritus of American Studies at Amherst College, a pioneering thinker about hunting, gun culture, and the environment. Dizard authored groundbreaking works such as Going Wild, Mortal Stakes, and Hunting: A Cultural History (MIT Press, 2022, co-author Mary Zeiss Stange). The interview represents his work on hunting, his exploration of the cultural construction of nature, a...

In today’s episode of Guns Unpacked, we welcome Dr. Gerald D. Higgenbotham, an assistant professor of public policy and psychology at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Dr. Higgenbotham examines contemporary cognitive policies and how they influence repressive history through racism and collective power. Today’s conversation dissects “Firearm Psychology,” a term frequently used by...

In this episode of Guns Unpacked, we are joined by Dr. Metzl, a psychiatrist and sociologist who examines gun violence and mental health. Dr. Metzl also serves as the Director of the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society at Vanderbilt University. We discuss his 2024 book, What We’ve Become, which examines the Waffle House mass shooting in Nashville, Tennessee in 2017. Our conversation takes us through the intricacies of the "Dic...

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Emine Fidan Elcioglu, a sociologist at the University of Toronto. Dr. Elcioglu talks to us about her in-depth ethnographic fieldwork studying the politics of migration in Arizona, focusing on anti-immigrant and pro-immigrant groups that mobilized at the border. Her work opens up new insights and new questions regarding the relationship between gun politics and the politics of migration.

You can...

Dr. Micheal Sierra-Arévalo is an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin Department of Sociology. From 2020 to 2023 served on the Public Safety Commission for the City of Austin. Today, we discuss Dr. Sierra-Arévalo's extensively researched The Danger Imperative: Violence, Death, and the Soul of Policing. Using in-depth interviews and rich ethnographic observations, Dr. Sierra-Arévalo breaks down how the danger im...

Dr. Ieva Jusionyte, the Watson Family University Associate Professor of International Security and Anthropology at Brown University, joins us in this episode of Guns Unpacked. We discuss her new book, Exit Wounds: How America’s Guns Fuel Violence Across the Border, which examines the flow of guns from the United States to Mexico and the impact on gun violence and gun culture across borders. Dr. Jusionyte gives us insight into the c...

Dr. Jesenia Pizarro joins us in this episode of Guns Unpacked to dive into the complex dynamics of gun homicide. Dr. Pizarro is an ASU professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, a member of the Homicide Research Working Group, and a board member and recently elected President of the Research Society for the Prevention of Firearm-Related Harms. This episode explores her perspectives on gun violence, especially gun...

In this episode of Guns Unpacked, Dr. Samantha Simon, an Assistant Professor in the School of Government and Public Policy and the School of Sociology, joins us from the University of Arizona. Dr. Simon discusses her new book Before the Badge: How Academy Training Shapes Police Violence, which examines the effects of police training on officers. She also discusses her experiences while researching for the book, a year-long process ...

In this episode of Guns Unpacked, we are joined by Dr. David Yamane, a sociology professor at Wake Forest University, to discuss his book, Gun Curious: A Liberal Professor's Surprising Journey Inside America's Gun Culture. Dr. Yamane shares his journey into gun studies and becoming a gun owner as a lifelong liberal. He explains the evolution of gun culture, its contemporary focus on self-defense, and what the future may hold. We al...

Dr. Alexandra Filindra, associate professor of political science and psychology at the University of Illinois in Chicago, joins us to discuss her new book, Race, Rights, and Rifles: The Origins of the NRA and Contemporary Gun Culture. Dr. Filindra examines the NRA's beginnings and how ideologies of citizenship intersect with support for guns . She explains how historical links between militia service, political rights, and social e...

In this episode of Guns Unpacked, we are joined by Dr. Coker, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Connecticut College. We discuss his research on the intersections of mental health, gun violence, and community trauma, particularly among African American youth. He also explains the need to focus on the root causes of gun violence, the importance of community involvement in research, and the importance of changi...

In this episode of Guns Unpacked, we are joined by Dr. Amy Cooter, the Director of Research academic development and innovation at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute, to talk about her recent book Nostalgia, Nationalism and the US Militia Movement. Dr. Cooter discusses the militia movement, its political significance, and the role of firearms training. She also explores the links bet...

In this episode of Guns Unpacked, we are joined by Dr. Drew McKevitt, the John D. Winters Endowed Professor of History at Louisiana Tech University, to discuss his recent book Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture and Control in Cold War America. Dr. McKevitt examines the connections between gun culture and capitalism, extending back to post-WWII geopolitics, that contribute to contemporary gun politics. Dr. McKevitt also clarifies ...

In this episode of the Guns Unpacked podcast, we are joined by Dr. Curtis Austin, an associate professor in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at Arizona State University. Dr. Austin discusses his book Up Against the Wall, which examines the origins and legacy of the Black Panther Party and the complex dynamics of race, violence, self-defense, and power in the US. He also discusses the FBI COINTELPRO pro...