Shay O’Brien
@shayobrien.bsky.social
Sociologist and Stone Center Postdoc at MIT studying elite kinship networks (she/her)
Pinned
Shay O’Brien
@shayobrien.bsky.social
· Jul 23
Unnatural Wills: Inheritance Disputes and Inequality
Within the conceptual frame of relational economic sociology, inheritance disputes are a canonical form of relational mismatch. But the social patterning of relational mismatches, and their various t...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
I am soo excited to share my newest article, “Unnatural Wills.” It’s about inheritance disputes!!! Murder, gold diggers, sex work, racial passing, secret lesbian lovers…WOW this was fun to write, and I hope it’s fun to read, too.
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
Join us on 1/27 for a symposium on "Why Wealth Inequality Matters," with panel discussions including:
➡️ The Political Philosophy of Wealth Inequality
➡️ Wealth Inequality in the US
➡️ Authoritarianism & Wealth Inequality
See the agenda & register: shapingwork.mit.edu/events/why-w...
➡️ The Political Philosophy of Wealth Inequality
➡️ Wealth Inequality in the US
➡️ Authoritarianism & Wealth Inequality
See the agenda & register: shapingwork.mit.edu/events/why-w...
January 8, 2026 at 2:11 PM
Join us on 1/27 for a symposium on "Why Wealth Inequality Matters," with panel discussions including:
➡️ The Political Philosophy of Wealth Inequality
➡️ Wealth Inequality in the US
➡️ Authoritarianism & Wealth Inequality
See the agenda & register: shapingwork.mit.edu/events/why-w...
➡️ The Political Philosophy of Wealth Inequality
➡️ Wealth Inequality in the US
➡️ Authoritarianism & Wealth Inequality
See the agenda & register: shapingwork.mit.edu/events/why-w...
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
After becoming a congressional leader, a politician’s stock portfolio beats out those of peers by 47 (!!!) percentage points a year through trades timed around bills and firms that later get government contracts
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
December 3, 2025 at 1:42 AM
After becoming a congressional leader, a politician’s stock portfolio beats out those of peers by 47 (!!!) percentage points a year through trades timed around bills and firms that later get government contracts
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
New York millionaires: threatening to flee the city since 2009
November 7, 2025 at 9:36 PM
New York millionaires: threatening to flee the city since 2009
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
Excellent reporting from Heated and Atmos.
It looks like some of the biggest investors in the anti-trans movement are fossil fuel billionaires who are trying to use trans issues to ensure that Republicans pass policies favorable to their industry.
heated.world/p/fossil-fue...
It looks like some of the biggest investors in the anti-trans movement are fossil fuel billionaires who are trying to use trans issues to ensure that Republicans pass policies favorable to their industry.
heated.world/p/fossil-fue...
Fossil fuel billionaires are bankrolling the anti-trans movement
An investigation shared exclusively with Atmos and HEATED finds that 80% of anti-trans organizations receive fossil fuel funding.
heated.world
September 26, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Excellent reporting from Heated and Atmos.
It looks like some of the biggest investors in the anti-trans movement are fossil fuel billionaires who are trying to use trans issues to ensure that Republicans pass policies favorable to their industry.
heated.world/p/fossil-fue...
It looks like some of the biggest investors in the anti-trans movement are fossil fuel billionaires who are trying to use trans issues to ensure that Republicans pass policies favorable to their industry.
heated.world/p/fossil-fue...
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
This piece in WaPo by @zhoyoyo.bsky.social, "The two reasons Americans aren’t having babies, according to data," has an unusual amount of wrong things, starting with the incorrectly labeled figure at the very top
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/int...
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/int...
August 14, 2025 at 4:43 PM
This piece in WaPo by @zhoyoyo.bsky.social, "The two reasons Americans aren’t having babies, according to data," has an unusual amount of wrong things, starting with the incorrectly labeled figure at the very top
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/int...
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/int...
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
For The Conversation, I wrote about how White Southerners are making sense of what it means to be White in these times.
In a nutshell, it’s complicated.
I hope you’ll read and share widely.
theconversation.com/its-a-compli...
In a nutshell, it’s complicated.
I hope you’ll read and share widely.
theconversation.com/its-a-compli...
‘It’s a complicated time to be a white Southerner’ − and their views on race reflect that
How do white Southerners think about their racial status in a world that is scrutinizing white advantages? Researchers found people across the political spectrum grappling with what being white means.
theconversation.com
August 14, 2025 at 12:38 PM
For The Conversation, I wrote about how White Southerners are making sense of what it means to be White in these times.
In a nutshell, it’s complicated.
I hope you’ll read and share widely.
theconversation.com/its-a-compli...
In a nutshell, it’s complicated.
I hope you’ll read and share widely.
theconversation.com/its-a-compli...
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
The thing about charging him with assault for throwing a sandwich is that it exposes the historic lie of “assaulting an officer.”
“He thought it was funny” said Judge Pirro. “Well, he doesn’t think it is funny today”. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/u... She confirmed the sandwich was from Subway as many had speculated. The perp confessed: “I did it. I threw the sandwich .”
Man Charged With Assaulting Federal Agent With Sandwich in D.C.
www.nytimes.com
August 14, 2025 at 12:43 AM
The thing about charging him with assault for throwing a sandwich is that it exposes the historic lie of “assaulting an officer.”
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
We invite applications for two postdoctoral scholars! These 2-year positions start in Aug. 2026 and are based at the GC CUNY Stone Center in NYC. One is focused on #mobility and #poverty, the other on #wealth and/or wealth inequality. Apply by Nov. 3!
#EconSky #Sociology #PoliSciSky
bit.ly/40TZR6J
#EconSky #Sociology #PoliSciSky
bit.ly/40TZR6J
Applications Are Open for Two Postdoctoral Positions at the GC CUNY Stone Center - Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality
The Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality is seeking applicants for an eighth cohort of postdoctoral scholars. These full-time, two-year positions will begin in August 2026.
stonecenter.gc.cuny.edu
August 6, 2025 at 4:13 PM
We invite applications for two postdoctoral scholars! These 2-year positions start in Aug. 2026 and are based at the GC CUNY Stone Center in NYC. One is focused on #mobility and #poverty, the other on #wealth and/or wealth inequality. Apply by Nov. 3!
#EconSky #Sociology #PoliSciSky
bit.ly/40TZR6J
#EconSky #Sociology #PoliSciSky
bit.ly/40TZR6J
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
how much of the money from the ICE/tax cuts bill is just going to go to scammers, do you think? www.richmonder.org/this-tuckaho...
This Tuckahoe home won a $1.26 billion contract for an ICE detention center. The owner isn't talking.
The company’s website is dated and largely accessible only via login.
www.richmonder.org
July 31, 2025 at 12:31 AM
how much of the money from the ICE/tax cuts bill is just going to go to scammers, do you think? www.richmonder.org/this-tuckaho...
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
We must see that our lives, our struggles and successes, are bound up in each other. What does collective action look like if you stop being optimistic your discipline's market will improve and instead think about academia as a whole?
July 29, 2025 at 3:07 PM
We must see that our lives, our struggles and successes, are bound up in each other. What does collective action look like if you stop being optimistic your discipline's market will improve and instead think about academia as a whole?
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
“When both sides of the political spectrum share an obsession with interrogating one’s racial purity, maybe it’s time to confront an uncomfortable truth: A lot of us are exactly who Donald Trump believes that we are.” @tressiemcphd.bsky.social
Opinion | The Elite Panic at the Heart of Liberal Attacks on Mamdani
www.nytimes.com
July 27, 2025 at 2:44 PM
“When both sides of the political spectrum share an obsession with interrogating one’s racial purity, maybe it’s time to confront an uncomfortable truth: A lot of us are exactly who Donald Trump believes that we are.” @tressiemcphd.bsky.social
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
New, from me - I wrote a piece on the alarming lessons for other universities from the Columbia settlement
(Contains a lot of arguments I’ve floated about here before!)
www.usnews.com/opinion/arti...
(Contains a lot of arguments I’ve floated about here before!)
www.usnews.com/opinion/arti...
www.usnews.com
July 24, 2025 at 11:14 PM
New, from me - I wrote a piece on the alarming lessons for other universities from the Columbia settlement
(Contains a lot of arguments I’ve floated about here before!)
www.usnews.com/opinion/arti...
(Contains a lot of arguments I’ve floated about here before!)
www.usnews.com/opinion/arti...
I am soo excited to share my newest article, “Unnatural Wills.” It’s about inheritance disputes!!! Murder, gold diggers, sex work, racial passing, secret lesbian lovers…WOW this was fun to write, and I hope it’s fun to read, too.
Unnatural Wills: Inheritance Disputes and Inequality
Within the conceptual frame of relational economic sociology, inheritance disputes are a canonical form of relational mismatch. But the social patterning of relational mismatches, and their various t...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
July 23, 2025 at 2:56 PM
I am soo excited to share my newest article, “Unnatural Wills.” It’s about inheritance disputes!!! Murder, gold diggers, sex work, racial passing, secret lesbian lovers…WOW this was fun to write, and I hope it’s fun to read, too.
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
The national "housing wage" needed to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment is now $33.63 an hour.
The federal minimum wage—unchanged for the past *sixteen* years—is just $7.25 an hour.
The federal minimum wage—unchanged for the past *sixteen* years—is just $7.25 an hour.
July 17, 2025 at 2:18 PM
The national "housing wage" needed to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment is now $33.63 an hour.
The federal minimum wage—unchanged for the past *sixteen* years—is just $7.25 an hour.
The federal minimum wage—unchanged for the past *sixteen* years—is just $7.25 an hour.
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
Personally, I find it more concerning that the Commissioner of the NYPD is the daughter of a multimillionaire corporate CEO than that the mayoral candidate didn’t immediately recognize that CEO.
I have to say, I don't think "recognizing incredibly wealthy individuals" is a skill that I value highly among civil servants
July 16, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Personally, I find it more concerning that the Commissioner of the NYPD is the daughter of a multimillionaire corporate CEO than that the mayoral candidate didn’t immediately recognize that CEO.
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
Very happy to be part of this special issue on "Gender and Wealth Accumulation" in @sasemeeting.bsky.social next to a fantastic group of scholars ✨
@dariatisch.bsky.social @schechtlm.bsky.social @nicolekapelle.bsky.social @pmlersch.bsky.social @shayobrien.bsky.social academic.oup.com/ser/article/...
@dariatisch.bsky.social @schechtlm.bsky.social @nicolekapelle.bsky.social @pmlersch.bsky.social @shayobrien.bsky.social academic.oup.com/ser/article/...
Gender and wealth accumulation: an international perspective
Abstract. Why do women accumulate less wealth than men globally? As wealth inequality rises both within countries and worldwide, studies on gender and weal
https://academic.oup.com/ser/article/23/2/479/8190030?login=true#no-access-message#no-access-message
July 7, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Very happy to be part of this special issue on "Gender and Wealth Accumulation" in @sasemeeting.bsky.social next to a fantastic group of scholars ✨
@dariatisch.bsky.social @schechtlm.bsky.social @nicolekapelle.bsky.social @pmlersch.bsky.social @shayobrien.bsky.social academic.oup.com/ser/article/...
@dariatisch.bsky.social @schechtlm.bsky.social @nicolekapelle.bsky.social @pmlersch.bsky.social @shayobrien.bsky.social academic.oup.com/ser/article/...
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
Whenever you hear conservative politicians preach from the gospel of "fiscal responsibility," remember that one of the biggest drivers of deficits lately are the Bush and Trump tax cuts, which have added nearly $10 trillion to the national debt.
June 26, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Whenever you hear conservative politicians preach from the gospel of "fiscal responsibility," remember that one of the biggest drivers of deficits lately are the Bush and Trump tax cuts, which have added nearly $10 trillion to the national debt.
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
A ProPublica investigation found Musk paid less than $70,000 in federal income tax between 2015 and 2017 and paid $0 in 2018.
“Elon Musk reposted.”
“Elon Musk reposted.”
June 20, 2025 at 5:22 PM
A ProPublica investigation found Musk paid less than $70,000 in federal income tax between 2015 and 2017 and paid $0 in 2018.
“Elon Musk reposted.”
“Elon Musk reposted.”
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
Buying political influence is a bargain. Warren Stephens purchased an ambassadorship with $7 million. He purchased his house in Carmel (a decade ago!) for $31 million. Jeff Bezos paid $250 million for the Washington Post but twice that for his yacht.
newrepublic.com/article/1961...
newrepublic.com/article/1961...
How the Billionaires Took Over America
Yes, Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. But the far bigger menace is the monstrous growth in wealth concentration over five decades that made a Trump presidency possible—and maybe inevitable. Here...
newrepublic.com
June 19, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Buying political influence is a bargain. Warren Stephens purchased an ambassadorship with $7 million. He purchased his house in Carmel (a decade ago!) for $31 million. Jeff Bezos paid $250 million for the Washington Post but twice that for his yacht.
newrepublic.com/article/1961...
newrepublic.com/article/1961...
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
Breaking: Transgender people lose Skrmetti, SCOTUS rules that Tennessee's law banning gender affirming care is not subject to heightened scrutiny.
I'll be reading and reporting more fully today.
Terrible day for transgender people.
Full decision here:
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
I'll be reading and reporting more fully today.
Terrible day for transgender people.
Full decision here:
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
www.supremecourt.gov
June 18, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Breaking: Transgender people lose Skrmetti, SCOTUS rules that Tennessee's law banning gender affirming care is not subject to heightened scrutiny.
I'll be reading and reporting more fully today.
Terrible day for transgender people.
Full decision here:
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
I'll be reading and reporting more fully today.
Terrible day for transgender people.
Full decision here:
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
At the blog I focus on a few recent articles by the one and only Deirdre Bloome.
One of them: be careful about interpreting trends in absolute mobility (the % of people who outearn their parents). This measure tends to privilege trends of higher income kids.
asocial.substack.com/p/inequality...
One of them: be careful about interpreting trends in absolute mobility (the % of people who outearn their parents). This measure tends to privilege trends of higher income kids.
asocial.substack.com/p/inequality...
June 3, 2025 at 10:44 AM
At the blog I focus on a few recent articles by the one and only Deirdre Bloome.
One of them: be careful about interpreting trends in absolute mobility (the % of people who outearn their parents). This measure tends to privilege trends of higher income kids.
asocial.substack.com/p/inequality...
One of them: be careful about interpreting trends in absolute mobility (the % of people who outearn their parents). This measure tends to privilege trends of higher income kids.
asocial.substack.com/p/inequality...
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
The recent vandalism of a lynching site historical marker in Dallas is part of that city’s longstanding war with its past. I write about it here:
open.substack.com/pub/drmphill...
open.substack.com/pub/drmphill...
A Second Lynching
Nothing Terrifies Dallas Like History and Its Lessons
open.substack.com
June 1, 2025 at 12:03 AM
The recent vandalism of a lynching site historical marker in Dallas is part of that city’s longstanding war with its past. I write about it here:
open.substack.com/pub/drmphill...
open.substack.com/pub/drmphill...
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
trans people are real and bathrooms and sports are made up. if you act like that's the other way around i do not have to hear your argument because it is based on a false premise
May 29, 2025 at 8:36 PM
trans people are real and bathrooms and sports are made up. if you act like that's the other way around i do not have to hear your argument because it is based on a false premise
Reposted by Shay O’Brien
A long long time ago, in a far away galaxy... the US used to tax the rich
May 23, 2025 at 8:19 PM
A long long time ago, in a far away galaxy... the US used to tax the rich