Episode 180 with Jennifer Dawn Carlson, Thorough and Thoughtful Researcher, Sociologist, and Interviewer, and Author of Merchants of the Right: Gun Sellers and the Crisis of American Democracy

Episode 180 Notes and Links to Jennifer Dawn Carlson’s Work

 

    On Episode 180 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Jennifer Dawn Carlson, and the two discuss, among other things, her unique schooling and relationship with her father which led her to reading widely and doggedly, her formative times at UC Berkeley, her views on writing for different audiences and in the arenas of sociology and journalism, and pertinent issues from her latest book: the roles of gun sellers, an evolving customer base for guns since the pandemic started, partisanship as fleshed out during the last few years, especially 2020, guns sellers and political views, and political divisiveness with regard to gun culture. 

 

   Jennifer Carlson is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Government & Public Policy at the University of Arizona. Prior to coming to University of Arizona, she was an assistant professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto. A graduate of Dartmouth College, she received her Ph.D. in Sociology in 2013 from University of California, Berkeley. Her research examines American gun culture, policing and public law enforcement, and conservative politics. She is the author of the book Citizen-Protectors: The Everyday Politics of Guns in an Age of Decline (2015; Oxford University Press) as well as articles appearing in Social Problems, British Journal of Criminology, Contexts, Theoretical Criminology, Law & Contemporary Problems, Gender & Society, Feminist Criminology, and Violence Against Women. Her research has won awards from the American Sociological Association Sex and Gender Section and Race, Gender & Class Section as well as from the American Society of Criminology Division on Women & Crime and Division on Critical Criminology. In addition to scholarly writing, her work has been featured in popular venues such as NPR, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, BBC, and Detroit News. 

Her latest book, Merchants of the Right: Gun Sellers and the Crisis of American Democracy, is out as of May 2, 2023.

 

 

Buy Merchants of the Right: Gun Sellers and the Crisis of American Democracy

 

Jennifer Dawn Carlson's Website

 

Jennifer Carlson at The MacArthur Foundation Website

 

At about 6:40, Jennifer speaks on the importance of her childhood and the “valu[ing] of education” in her household, including the impact her father had on her 

 

At about 8:25, Pete asks about the connections between Catholicism and conservatism, especially in Jennifer’s household 

 

At about 11:20, Indiana Academy is shouted out and Jennifer discusses her “super amazing” experience there and the ways in which it informed her reading and learning

 

At about 14:00, Pete and Jennifer discuss UC Berkeley and her formative time there, and Jennifer gives background on how interview subjects for her first book viewed the school

 

At about 16:30, Jennifer responds to Pete’s questions about distinctions and connections between journalism and sociology 

 

At about 17:45, Jennifer discusses works, writers, and programs that have informed her own writing, such as The Op-Ed Project, as well as how she approaches writing for different audiences 

 

At about 22:50, Jennifer talks about having her new book out in the world, and how “it was a fundamentally different process” than her previously-published work; she also shouts out The National Science Foundation and U of A grad student helpers 

 

At about 27:10, Jennifer expands upon wondering about ideas of timeliness with the book and all writing

 

At about 30:50, Jennifer reflects on the initial months of the pandemic, and the uncertainty that informed a lot of the subject matter of her interviews for the book

 

At about 32:20, Pete wonders about what Jennifer learned about race and racism in gun culture through her interviews with gun sellers; she muses about the ways in which gun sellers reference the “great equalizer” of gun sales, especially since 2020

 

At about 37:30, Jennifer expands on the connections between ideas of “democracy” and gun sales, and who is “fit” to buy guns

 

At about 38:55, Jennifer continues with her explanation of ideas of democracy, especially post-January 6

 

At about 40:10, Jennifer references her second book as she and Pete discuss Philando Castile as an example of a Black man not dealt with in the same way by the NRA as white men have been; Jennifer argues that the NRA backed down from defending him as part of a fear of being seen as anti-police  

 

At about 42:10, Partisanship is discussed with regard to the ways the gun sellers see liberals-”Awake but not Woke”

 

At about 44:10, “The great run on guns” and some stats and facts of 2020’s gun sales are discussed; “conservative gun culture” and a great paradox of gun sales and laws is brought up by Jennifer 

 

At about 47:15, Pete outlines the book’s structure and its chapters; “experience versus expertise” is discussed as a big part of many gun sellers’ mindsets

 

At about 49:00, Conspiracy and skepticism and individualism are analyzed with regards to gun culture 

 

At about 52:20, “Doing your research” is discussed, and an important quote creates conversation about “knowledge-making process”

 

At about 54:00, Pete points out an interesting explanation from Chapter Three of the connection between Protestant Christianity and political divisiveness; Jennifer highlights important work by Francesca Tripodi 

 

At about 56:35, The two discuss dark and sobering statistics and opinions as seen in some research questions that sum up the political divide 

 

At about 58:40, Jennifer highlights the book’s last chapter and lessons that can be built on about “building bridges”

 

At about 1:02:35, Pete compliments the book’s last chapter and its “call to action,” as well as the skillful rendering of the pre-politicization of the NRA

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  Please tune in for Episode 181 with Ramona Reeves. She is author of the linked short story collection It Falls Gently All Around and Other Stories, which won the 2022 Drue Heinz Literature Prize and The Sergio Troncoso Award for Best First Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters. Her stories and essays have appeared in The Southampton Review, Pembroke, Bayou Magazine, New South, Superstition Review, Texas Highways and other publications.

   The episode will air on May 5.