Andy McCumber
@ahmccumber.bsky.social
Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech Sociology. Past: Postdoc, Stony Brook University IACS, UCSB Sociology PhD. Author of BAD NATURE, University of Chicago Press www.andymccumber.com
If you need a good example of “sampling on the dependent variable” for your stats class, look no further.
Episode 49: The Millionaire Next Door
In 1996, two marketing professors revealed the characteristics of America's new elite class: They buy the right kind of watch, marry the right kind of wife and were born the right kind of white.
In 1996, two marketing professors revealed the characteristics of America's new elite class: They buy the right kind of watch, marry the right kind of wife and were born the right kind of white.
The Millionaire Next Door
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · 02/05/2026 · 1h 11m
podcasts.apple.com
February 6, 2026 at 1:43 PM
If you need a good example of “sampling on the dependent variable” for your stats class, look no further.
I have a new paper out in American Journal of Cultural Sociology. It reports on a mixed-methods content analysis of climate fiction stories and proposes Raymond Williams’s notion of “structures of feeling” for examining the social experience of climate change.
Structures of feeling in climate fiction - American Journal of Cultural Sociology
With a steady onslaught of extreme weather events and quickly surpassed temperature records, the climate crisis is increasingly moving from the realm of hypotheticals to that of lived experience. In t...
link.springer.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:22 PM
I have a new paper out in American Journal of Cultural Sociology. It reports on a mixed-methods content analysis of climate fiction stories and proposes Raymond Williams’s notion of “structures of feeling” for examining the social experience of climate change.
Reposted by Andy McCumber
Gonna retrain the head of ICE? Anything besides abolish is support for the Gestapo. It isn't a gray area.
Q: Do you have any moral or ethical qualms about detaining a five-year-old on his way back from preschool?
Border Patrol Chief Bovino: I've got no qualms about making America a safer place
Border Patrol Chief Bovino: I've got no qualms about making America a safer place
January 22, 2026 at 8:39 PM
Gonna retrain the head of ICE? Anything besides abolish is support for the Gestapo. It isn't a gray area.
I’m old enough to remember what the “injuries” to another state-sanctioned murderer looked like.
January 14, 2026 at 5:52 PM
I’m old enough to remember what the “injuries” to another state-sanctioned murderer looked like.
After a long day of international travel, I was greeted upon landing in Dulles with an article acceptance! Coming soon to American Journal of Sociology, an analysis of climate fiction literature using Raymond Williams's concept of "structures of feeling."
January 14, 2026 at 2:19 PM
After a long day of international travel, I was greeted upon landing in Dulles with an article acceptance! Coming soon to American Journal of Sociology, an analysis of climate fiction literature using Raymond Williams's concept of "structures of feeling."
Ticked a box on the bucket list.
January 11, 2026 at 5:08 PM
Ticked a box on the bucket list.
The “Trump is using Venezuela to distract from his scandals” takes are a real grim insight into what qualifies as a scandal.
January 5, 2026 at 9:58 AM
The “Trump is using Venezuela to distract from his scandals” takes are a real grim insight into what qualifies as a scandal.
So strange that the guy who came up with Bush’s “axis of evil” bit has a bad take on this.
Just a couple weeks ago I heard Frum on a podcast predicting that Trump would never invade Venezuela because doing so wouldn't be rational. Yet here we are, and Frum is punching the anti-war left.
Some people are just impervious to any lessons history or common sense can offer us.
January 4, 2026 at 4:51 PM
So strange that the guy who came up with Bush’s “axis of evil” bit has a bad take on this.
Not putting Bush and the goons in his admin in The Hague in 2009 was the first step towards letting this happen again.
I was a teenager protesting the U.S war on terror as a pretext for oil imperialism from 2005-2009 in a largely liberal anti-war movement
i viscerally recoil at the fact that at no point in my adolescence or adulthood has the U.S NOT been at war for oil
i viscerally recoil at the fact that at no point in my adolescence or adulthood has the U.S NOT been at war for oil
This is not the first US imperial atrocity for oil —let’s not exceptionalize it— but wow is is it awful. And the violation of Venezuelans domestically in the name of a sovereign borders they actually dgaf about.
As Aimee Cesaire put it— the price of imperialism is the empire’s own civilization.
As Aimee Cesaire put it— the price of imperialism is the empire’s own civilization.
January 3, 2026 at 12:46 PM
Not putting Bush and the goons in his admin in The Hague in 2009 was the first step towards letting this happen again.
Ninja turtle jokes aside, this is an interesting rhetorical choice that suggests an alternative political use of nostalgia to MAGA’s reactionary, fascist one.
EXCLUSIVE: @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social will be sworn in as mayor on midnight on January 1 inside the old abandoned City Hall subway station, saying that he sees the venue as a symbol for the aims of his upcoming administration.
EXCLUSIVE: Mamdani Will Be Sworn In At Abandoned Original City Hall Subway Station
The mayor-elect will kick off a new era by throwing things back to an older one.
buff.ly
December 29, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Ninja turtle jokes aside, this is an interesting rhetorical choice that suggests an alternative political use of nostalgia to MAGA’s reactionary, fascist one.
Yeah, there definitely aren’t any incidents from American history that contradict this.
Greenland Envoy Gov. Jeff Landry: "Look, the United States has always been a welcoming party. We don't go in there trying to conquer anybody and trying to take over anybody's country. We say, 'Listen. We represent liberty. We represented economic strength. We represent protection.'"
December 24, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Yeah, there definitely aren’t any incidents from American history that contradict this.
If I thought Bari was a little brighter, I’d suspect this was an elaborate viral marketing campaign for this story.
If you VPN into Canada you can watch the 60 Minutes CECOT story here (for now). Global TV appears to have posted the original tape by accident watch.globaltv.com/series/2893d...
Home | Global TV App | Watch Shows, Movies and Live TV
The Global TV App is home to some of the most watched Canadian channels. Watch full episodes, Live TV and Global News.
watch.globaltv.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:54 PM
If I thought Bari was a little brighter, I’d suspect this was an elaborate viral marketing campaign for this story.
A “toilet rat” features prominently in an anecdote from BAD NATURE’s introduction.
This is good book promotion right?
This is good book promotion right?
King County warns of toilet rats after record flooding
King County warns of toilet rats after record flooding
Rats could climb up your toilet as a result of recent flooding from atmospheric rivers, King County officials say. Enter "wet rat winter."
www.seattletimes.com
December 20, 2025 at 8:23 PM
A “toilet rat” features prominently in an anecdote from BAD NATURE’s introduction.
This is good book promotion right?
This is good book promotion right?
Birtherism all the way down.
“They’re denying that any of her birth certificates, which are from Laurel, Maryland, her records of immunization, medical records — they’re denying the authenticity of them. It is something I’ve never encountered.” www.huffpost.com/entry/us-cit...
Trump Administration Says Maryland Woman's Birth Certificate Is Fake In Dystopian Move
Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales was arrested on Sunday. ICE won’t release her despite extensive documentation of her citizenship, her attorneys told HuffPost.
www.huffpost.com
December 19, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Birtherism all the way down.
“Awaiting Editor Decision” blues.
December 17, 2025 at 7:25 PM
“Awaiting Editor Decision” blues.
Impressive that it could reproduce the well known logo for NO WINNER (STRIKE).
For anyone worried AI will replace all of us.
Courtesy of Gemini for the prompt “create an infographic of all the World Series winners since 1986”
I dare you to find 10 things that are right.
Courtesy of Gemini for the prompt “create an infographic of all the World Series winners since 1986”
I dare you to find 10 things that are right.
December 17, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Impressive that it could reproduce the well known logo for NO WINNER (STRIKE).
I see prominent democrats are expanding their Trump-era rehabilitation of the Bush admin.
The only way you can still pretend that Reagan was good is if you believe in his policies or don’t believe in anything at all. Either one is disqualifying.
The presidency once served as a reminder of our common humanity. Ronald Reagan described its purpose as building "a nation composed of good and decent people."
December 17, 2025 at 2:44 AM
I see prominent democrats are expanding their Trump-era rehabilitation of the Bush admin.
Reposted by Andy McCumber
I wrote about Yglesias “defending liberalism” by joining a right wing moral panic over critical race theory. His vision of liberalism has room for bigots, but no room for scholars concerned about structural racism.
"Yglesias claims to think “rights are good,” but would have us ignore how neutral rules can be used to deny people their rights. Earlier this month, the Trump Department of Justice issued a memo that follows from Yglesias’s reasoning" www.liberalcurrents.com/a-tent-big-e...
A Tent Big Enough for Bigots but Too Small for Critical Race Theory
Like so many of critical race theory's detractors, Matthew Yglesias fails to engage with the actual scholarship.
www.liberalcurrents.com
December 16, 2025 at 1:50 PM
I wrote about Yglesias “defending liberalism” by joining a right wing moral panic over critical race theory. His vision of liberalism has room for bigots, but no room for scholars concerned about structural racism.
Will this unhinged post be treated the same way all those ones that plainly noted the exact words Charlie Kirk made at various points in his life? Only time will tell!
December 15, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Will this unhinged post be treated the same way all those ones that plainly noted the exact words Charlie Kirk made at various points in his life? Only time will tell!
It sure put the Universities of Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook on the map, though.
every time i read about one of these college presidents promising to reinvent the liberal arts education i think of "marge v. the monorail"
Yes we all agree that this is the reason colleges are in trouble
December 9, 2025 at 6:23 PM
It sure put the Universities of Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook on the map, though.
Reposted by Andy McCumber
every time i read about one of these college presidents promising to reinvent the liberal arts education i think of "marge v. the monorail"
Yes we all agree that this is the reason colleges are in trouble
December 9, 2025 at 4:57 PM
every time i read about one of these college presidents promising to reinvent the liberal arts education i think of "marge v. the monorail"
My partner just asked me “Why did the US invade Grenada?” and I always knew all that Choking Victim I listened to as a teenager would pay off.
December 8, 2025 at 3:02 AM
My partner just asked me “Why did the US invade Grenada?” and I always knew all that Choking Victim I listened to as a teenager would pay off.
It amazes me that a significant number of people out there continue to think that David Brooks is an important voice for us to listen to in our current political moment.
This seems like it’s from The Onion. “I know a thing or two about the American elite, ahem, and if you’ve read my work, you may be sick of my assaults on the educated elites for being insular, self-indulgent and smug. But the phrase “the Epstein class” is inaccurate, unfair and irresponsible.”
Opinion | The Epstein Story? Count Me Out.
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:15 PM
It amazes me that a significant number of people out there continue to think that David Brooks is an important voice for us to listen to in our current political moment.
Well he definitely won’t get along with Spencer Strider. I vote the Giants take Strider off their hands.
I think Rolison even clears Blake Treinen levels of conservative thought
November 20, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Well he definitely won’t get along with Spencer Strider. I vote the Giants take Strider off their hands.
“Senator Fetterman Hospitalized After Fall From Grace”
November 13, 2025 at 7:08 PM
“Senator Fetterman Hospitalized After Fall From Grace”