Michael Sierra-Arévalo
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michaelsierraa.bsky.social
Michael Sierra-Arévalo
@michaelsierraa.bsky.social
Sociologist: UT Austin 🤘🏽

Author: The Danger Imperative📕💀👮🏽‍♂️

lnk.bio/michaelsierraa
The Danger Imperative was selected as a Finalist for the Hamilton Book Awards at UT Austin!

Humbled to be selected alongside other finalists and the grand prize winner that explored vital topics cutting across free speech, politics, academic freedom, climate change, and more.

Onward 🚀
October 31, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Michael Sierra-Arévalo
When folks lie for fame & fortune- it hurts them & everyone who wants to believe in them &/or what they stand for. He was impressive & legit, but lied anyway- it's a character flaw, IMHO. I saw it over a decade ago when it mattered but he did not care to speak up
www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
Tim Kennedy vs. the Truth
The popular manosphere influencer has built a career on his reputation as an MMA fighter and a Green Beret. But can we believe everything he says?
www.texasmonthly.com
October 6, 2025 at 6:21 PM
My latest in Texas Monthly:

Tim Kennedy is a Green Beret, former UFC fighter, and manosphere influencer. He runs his own school in Cedar Park and, lately, has been spotted in the White House. But lawsuits and accusations of stolen valor threaten to bring it all crashing down.

Gift link:
Tim Kennedy vs. the Truth
The popular manosphere influencer has built a career on his reputation as an MMA fighter and a Green Beret. But can we believe everything he says?
www.texasmonthly.com
October 2, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by Michael Sierra-Arévalo
Excellent profile of Tim Kennedy by @michaelsierraa.bsky.social taking apart the various falsehoods he peddles.

One of the mothers of his children on why he enlisted: “I do think it was a flare of patriotic nobility. But also, it was a very convenient stage left from two young mothers and babies.”
Tim Kennedy vs. the Truth
The popular manosphere influencer has built a career on his reputation as an MMA fighter and a Green Beret. But can we believe everything he says?
www.texasmonthly.com
September 29, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Reposted by Michael Sierra-Arévalo
I spent the day with @michaelsierraa.bsky.social’s powerful book on police culture. Can’t wait to discuss it at @lawandsociety.bsky.social!!
May 9, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Reposted by Michael Sierra-Arévalo
👉 happy to see another thematic book review out on the slate of new books on policing (inc The Minneapolis Reckoning), this time focused on the failures of police reform by Daniel Krasnicki in SRE. cc @tonykcheng.bsky.social, @michaelsierraa.bsky.social: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
April 29, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Michael Sierra-Arévalo
“The Justice Department has abruptly rescinded job offers made to dozens of recent law school graduates who were to be placed in entry-level positions in its antitrust, criminal, civil rights, immigration and national security divisions, and at the F.B.I.”
January 23, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Grant reviews frozen. Medical trial recruitment frozen. Meetings with patient groups frozen. Hiring frozen. Jobs rescinded. All comms and travel frozen.

You don't have to abolish an institution or fire everyone to cripple it.
Trump hits NIH with ‘devastating’ freezes on meetings, travel, communications, and hiring
Researchers facing “a lot of uncertainty, fear, and panic”
www.science.org
January 23, 2025 at 5:06 PM
TASERs nor any other tech can end police brutality. Tech does not change the violent / coercive nature of policing. All tech can and will be misused and abused.

I wrote about this a while back. Nothing has changed.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Mississippi Police Use Tasers Freely, and Injuries Follow
A lack of state standards leaves Mississippi police and sheriff’s departments on their own to decide when to use stun guns, and many give officers a free hand.
www.nytimes.com
January 16, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Michael Sierra-Arévalo
Need a new grip of sociology on policing? I worked on these 2024 bangers:
↪️ @michellesphelps.bsky.social "The Minneapolis Reckoning" tinyurl.com/MSPMPLS
↪️ @tonykcheng.bsky.social "The Policing Machine" tinyurl.com/TCMachine
↪️ @michaelsierraa.bsky.social "The Danger Imperative" tinyurl.com/MSADanger
January 3, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Reposted by Michael Sierra-Arévalo
“Claremont—alongside other anti-immigration groups, such as FAIR, whose new ‘law enforcement advisor’ is Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, a Homan collaborator—has turned its focus to recruiting and training sheriffs to help execute its agenda.”
January 2, 2025 at 4:28 PM
“You’ll be visited by three spirits.”

The three spirits:
December 24, 2024 at 10:10 PM
Reposted by Michael Sierra-Arévalo
Added more gun researchers to this starter pack who joined BlueSky. Please share and lmk if you’d like to be added! @daniel-semenza.bsky.social @vitalcitynyc.bsky.social @meganranney.bsky.social @sonalirajan.bsky.social @thetrace.org @giffords.org @everytown.bsky.social

go.bsky.app/G9zEmHs
December 20, 2024 at 3:15 AM
Reposted by Michael Sierra-Arévalo
Nikki Giovanni
(1943-2024)
December 11, 2024 at 4:51 AM
Reposted by Michael Sierra-Arévalo
This is an incredible opporunity all. I did this in 2009 (ancient times) and met tons of my current colleagues. And friends. And launched my sociology theory career.
It’s that time of year again — the call for papers for the Junior Theorists Symposium is live! Submit your précis here: bit.ly/jts2025
December 11, 2024 at 8:15 PM
The level of anxiety needed to make armed rideshare anything but a bad punchline is truly staggering.

Armed ride-hailing app will soon be coming to these Texas cities. Here's what to know

www.statesman.com/story/busine...
Armed ride-hailing app will soon be coming to these Texas cities. Here's what to know
Holsters and hospitality, that's the business model for the latest ride share app, BlackWolf, coming to Texas in 2025.
www.statesman.com
December 6, 2024 at 4:20 PM
APD fires officer Christopher Taylor following prison sentence for fatal 2019 shooting

www.statesman.com/story/news/l...
APD fires officer Christopher Taylor following prison sentence for fatal 2019 shooting
A judge on Tuesday sentenced Christopher Taylor to two years in prison for the 2019 fatal shooting of Mauris DeSilva.
www.statesman.com
December 5, 2024 at 1:41 AM
Any recs for the/a few key texts on the ascendance of the “influencer”?

Maybe how “influencing” shapes more than pop culture / brands, but also HOW politics is done, how movements (R or L) form/function?
December 1, 2024 at 5:43 PM
It’s cold and windy in Philly today. Missing Austin and the homie Shiner AKA The Bubs AKA My lil Dirtbag.
December 1, 2024 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by Michael Sierra-Arévalo
Hello. I’m a criminologist working in a prosecutor’s office to increase the proportion of decisions that are informed by data and research, and evaluated. We support operations, policy/practice, transparency, research, and community.

The #DATALab: information for decision-makers.

Data.philadao.com
Philadelphia DAO Data Dashboard
Data.philadao.com
November 21, 2024 at 11:03 PM
You don’t have to fire faculty to kill a department. As enrollments drop, it’s easier to justify mergers, downsizing, whatever admin speak you want to use. Don’t fool yourself into thinking this can’t happen on your campus, too.

www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/u...
Republicans Target Social Sciences to Curb Ideas They Don’t Like
Conservatives in Florida have moved from explosive politics to subtler tactics to uproot liberal “indoctrination” in higher education by removing subjects like sociology from core requirements.
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2024 at 10:33 PM
Reposted by Michael Sierra-Arévalo
"In Texas, one university is prioritizing open debate to reset the marketplace of ideas." This is a real sentenced in the snippet below. It's a complete abdication of journalistic responsibility to present the piece in the exact way the subject would want it to be presented rather than critically.
As contempt for cancel culture and self-censorship on college campuses continues to drive a political divide across the country, Jon Wertheim reports on a new start-up university, the University of Austin. Sunday on 60 Minutes ⏱️
November 25, 2024 at 3:15 PM