Guns Unpacked

Jennifer Carlson
  • 5.0 (4)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

Hosted by Jennifer Carlson, sociologist, MacArthur Fellow and Director of Arizona State University's BRIDGS Initiative: Bringing Research & Innovation into the Debate on Guns in Society. This podcast features the latest, cutting-edge social science research on all things gun-related--from gun culture to gun trauma.

  1. Dr. Payne, Dr. Hitchens, and Darryl Chambers On Gun Violence in Wilmington, Delaware and Participatory Gun Violence Research

    JAN 5

    Dr. Payne, Dr. Hitchens, and Darryl Chambers On Gun Violence in Wilmington, Delaware and Participatory Gun Violence Research

    In this special episode of Guns Unpacked, we feature a live recording of the closing panel address at the BRIDGS Initiative’s first ever Guns in Society symposium hosted from January 30-31st, 2025. Dr. Alex Trimble Young opens the closing session by recognizing the many cosponsors, collaborators, and contributors to this symposium who made this event possible, which highlights the importance of scholarly collaboration in shaping the national conversation on guns and gun violence that currently grips the United States of America, and the critical role that the production of scholarly research plays in guiding the development and implementation of sustainable interventions and practices for the future. This event featured a presentation by Yasser Arafat Payne, Brooklynn K. Hitchens, and Darryl L. Chambers who discuss their 2023 hit book, Murder Town, USA : Homicide, Structural Violence, and Activism in Wilmington and how poor investment and structural violence create the perfect conditions for gun violence and the way in which communities and everyday Americans choose to respond.

    1h 24m
  2. Special Episode: Guns Unpacked...Unwrapped!

    12/23/2025

    Special Episode: Guns Unpacked...Unwrapped!

    In this special episode of Guns Unpacked, co-hosts Jennifer Carlson and Alex Trimble Young cover the highlights (and lowlights) of their work at the BRIDGS Initiative in 2025. In a conversation that ranges from the snarky to the emotional, they take on issues including the algorithmic censorship of gun-related content online to the state of gun studies as a field to the ubiquity of gun-related trauma in the contemporary United States.

    59 min
  3. Dr. Cedric Dark On US Gun Violence from the Perspective of an Emergency Room Doctor

    12/01/2025

    Dr. Cedric Dark On US Gun Violence from the Perspective of an Emergency Room Doctor

    In today’s episode of Guns Unpacked, we welcome Dr. Cedric Dark, an associate professor of history in the Henry J.N. Taub Department of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Dark co-hosts the “This Day” podcast and is also the co-executive producer of “You Get a Podcast.” Today’s conversation examines Dark’s work, and his experience in public health. Dark dives deeper into perceptions of the NRA, but also public health as it relates to firearms, and uses his unique perspective to provide suggestions about policy. Dr. Dark also offers advice for people seeking to enter his field of work. For more of Dr. Dark’s work, visit here for his books and other writing.

    42 min
  4. Dr. Emily Farris and Dr. Mirya Holman On County Sheriffs and US Gun Culture

    11/17/2025

    Dr. Emily Farris and Dr. Mirya Holman On County Sheriffs and US Gun Culture

    In this episode of Guns Unpacked, we are joined by Emily Farris and Mirya Holman, who address the unique role of sheriff within the American justice system and the influence they possess in the world of politics, and how that role shapes US gun culture.Farris is an associate professor in political science, and core faculty member in comparative race and ethnic studies” at Texas Christian University. Mirya is an associate professor at Hobby School of Public Affairs at The University of Houston. They are co-authors of "The Power of the Badge: Sheriffs and Inequality in the United States” with the University of Chicago Press (2024). This conversation focuses on the topics of the duty of sheriffs, accountability, local elections, white conservatism, gun control, red flag gun laws, and the possibility of future research. And the significance sheriffs’ hold in the debate on gun culture and local power within America.

    49 min
  5. Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson On the History and Politics of the AR-15

    11/03/2025

    Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson On the History and Politics of the AR-15

    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 transformation from a failed weapon of war into a cultural and political icon, and how both rights advocates and regulation activists have contributed to the mythology surrounding it. The guests also examine media coverage of mass shootings, the impact of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, and the future of regulation in a nation with more than 20 million AR-15s in circulation.

    41 min
  6. Dr. Michelle Phelps on Lessons from Minneapolis on Policing and Community Violence Intervention

    10/17/2025

    Dr. Michelle Phelps on Lessons from Minneapolis on Policing and Community Violence Intervention

    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 discuss her book, The Minneapolis Reckoning: Race, Violence, and the Politics of Policing in America. Today’s conversation examines Phelps’s work, and how she ties her work involving the politics of policing in America into violence and police abolition. Phelps also provides insight into her research timing and process, detailing important moments from her work, as well as the real-world impact of police abolition policy. For more of Dr. Michelle Phelps, visit the links here and here for her background and writing.

    1 hr
  7. Dr. Jan Dizard on The Cultural History of Hunting in the United States and Beyond

    09/20/2025

    Dr. Jan Dizard on The Cultural History of Hunting in the United States and Beyond

    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, and the convergence of conservation and gun culture. Recorded in February, we believe this was Dizard's last public interview before passing away in June 2025.

    49 min
  8. Dr. Gerald Higginbotham on Gun Rights and Race

    09/08/2025

    Dr. Gerald Higginbotham on Gun Rights and Race

    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 Higgenbotham to make sense of the nuance and intricacies of gun ownership. Higgenbotham also provides commentary on the racialization of gun rights, collective power, and perceptions of safety through the public eye. Higgenbotham also tackles these issues from a historical perspective, providing a framework of how this history impacts the world today. For more of Higgenbotham’s work and background, links to publications and distinctions can be found here.

    44 min
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About

Hosted by Jennifer Carlson, sociologist, MacArthur Fellow and Director of Arizona State University's BRIDGS Initiative: Bringing Research & Innovation into the Debate on Guns in Society. This podcast features the latest, cutting-edge social science research on all things gun-related--from gun culture to gun trauma.

Information

  • Creator
    Jennifer Carlson
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    23
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Jennifer Carlson 2022
  • Show Website
    Guns Unpacked