Wonyoung So, PhD
@wonyoungso.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Urban Technology at University of Michigan | Studying #race #equity #data #tech #housing | PhD at MIT | he/him.
I’m very proud to see our paper, Choice Denied: Impact of Income and Credit-Based Tenant Screening on the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program, co-authored with Anisha Gade and Forrest Hangen, finally published in Housing Studies (Open Access)!
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Choice denied: impact of income and credit-based tenant screening on the Housing Choice Voucher program
The Housing Choice Voucher program supports over 2.5 million households by subsidizing rent payments within the private housing market. However, challenges arise due to exclusionary practices, unde...
www.tandfonline.com
May 1, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I’m very proud to see our paper, Choice Denied: Impact of Income and Credit-Based Tenant Screening on the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program, co-authored with Anisha Gade and Forrest Hangen, finally published in Housing Studies (Open Access)!
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
New on the CLaSP blog: 'Race, Profit, and Algorithms', @wonyoungso.bsky.social details his research on iBuyers, a new class of real estate actors generating profits in racialized housing markets
www.claspblog.org/blogposts/ra...
www.claspblog.org/blogposts/ra...
Race, Profit, and Algorithms: How iBuyers Leverage Neighbourhood Inequality — CLaSP Blog
How do algorithm-driven business models interact with historical patterns of segregation, property devaluation, and racial capitalism? Wonyoung So addresses this question in new research into iBuyers—...
www.claspblog.org
April 1, 2025 at 12:27 PM
New on the CLaSP blog: 'Race, Profit, and Algorithms', @wonyoungso.bsky.social details his research on iBuyers, a new class of real estate actors generating profits in racialized housing markets
www.claspblog.org/blogposts/ra...
www.claspblog.org/blogposts/ra...
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
Most housing discrimination claims are handled by local nonprofits around the country. They say the Trump administration has hobbled them, and are challenging the cuts as unlawful.
HUD choked funding to enforce fair-housing laws. Legal aid groups may not survive
Most housing discrimination claims are handled by local nonprofits around the country. They say the Trump administration has hobbled them, and are challenging the cuts as unlawful.
www.npr.org
March 15, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Most housing discrimination claims are handled by local nonprofits around the country. They say the Trump administration has hobbled them, and are challenging the cuts as unlawful.
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
This is really good political communication, because it's forceful but also pedagogical on the fundamental issue, but also because while he mentions the audience's potential reaction to Khalil's views, he doesn't try to pander by distancing himself from them.
March 11, 2025 at 11:57 PM
This is really good political communication, because it's forceful but also pedagogical on the fundamental issue, but also because while he mentions the audience's potential reaction to Khalil's views, he doesn't try to pander by distancing himself from them.
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
“This isn’t the America I know.”
March 6, 2025 at 11:38 PM
“This isn’t the America I know.”
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
If Republicans in Congress want to help make our country safe, I have some ideas for them.
March 5, 2025 at 5:06 PM
If Republicans in Congress want to help make our country safe, I have some ideas for them.
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
I am happy to announce that my new book, Lessons From Eviction Court: How We Can End Our Housing Crisis, will be published soon by @cornellupress.bsky.social
Our inspiring clients teach my students and I about how we can fix our broken housing system. www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
Our inspiring clients teach my students and I about how we can fix our broken housing system. www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
Lessons from Eviction Court by Fran Quigley | Paperback | Cornell University Press
Lessons from Eviction Court goes behind the disturbing statistics of evictions and homelessness to provide the first-hand experience of a lawyer who is in eviction court each week, standing alongside....
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu
February 28, 2025 at 1:41 PM
I am happy to announce that my new book, Lessons From Eviction Court: How We Can End Our Housing Crisis, will be published soon by @cornellupress.bsky.social
Our inspiring clients teach my students and I about how we can fix our broken housing system. www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
Our inspiring clients teach my students and I about how we can fix our broken housing system. www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
Musk's whole deal is to pretend that no one knew how government bureaucracy worked before, like it was this big mystery box, and it's exactly that combo of stupidity and arrogance that pervades silicon valley and leads to them reinventing a city bus and thinking they're Isaac Newton
February 23, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Musk's whole deal is to pretend that no one knew how government bureaucracy worked before, like it was this big mystery box, and it's exactly that combo of stupidity and arrogance that pervades silicon valley and leads to them reinventing a city bus and thinking they're Isaac Newton
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
For some Black families in the US, the wealth gap has consequences on their ability to start a business, pursue a college education, manage financial emergencies, & more.
Urban experts have identified 4 key policy interventions that could help Black Americans build, maintain, & grow their wealth.
Urban experts have identified 4 key policy interventions that could help Black Americans build, maintain, & grow their wealth.
Four Ways to Build Black Wealth and Increase Economic Opportunity
According to the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), the national median wealth was four times higher than the median wealth of a typical Black family.
www.urban.org
February 19, 2025 at 3:17 PM
For some Black families in the US, the wealth gap has consequences on their ability to start a business, pursue a college education, manage financial emergencies, & more.
Urban experts have identified 4 key policy interventions that could help Black Americans build, maintain, & grow their wealth.
Urban experts have identified 4 key policy interventions that could help Black Americans build, maintain, & grow their wealth.
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
Government’s wins are often invisible: Systems that avoid plane crashes; alliances that avert war; surveillance that prevent pandemics.
Government wins are often *the avoidance of loss.*
So how do we tell the story of the destruction of government? The story of future losses *not* averted?
Government wins are often *the avoidance of loss.*
So how do we tell the story of the destruction of government? The story of future losses *not* averted?
February 16, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Government’s wins are often invisible: Systems that avoid plane crashes; alliances that avert war; surveillance that prevent pandemics.
Government wins are often *the avoidance of loss.*
So how do we tell the story of the destruction of government? The story of future losses *not* averted?
Government wins are often *the avoidance of loss.*
So how do we tell the story of the destruction of government? The story of future losses *not* averted?
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
We are excited to launch "A Woman's Place is in a Safe City," a data story on the use of #NirbhayaFunds for digital surveillance in India, in collaboration with @mitdusp.bsky.social Data+Feminism Lab, POV Mumbai @thesafecityapp.bsky.social & 3 anonymised Kolkata-based NGOs. bit.ly/3EvqV3R 🧵Read on:
February 14, 2025 at 1:57 PM
We are excited to launch "A Woman's Place is in a Safe City," a data story on the use of #NirbhayaFunds for digital surveillance in India, in collaboration with @mitdusp.bsky.social Data+Feminism Lab, POV Mumbai @thesafecityapp.bsky.social & 3 anonymised Kolkata-based NGOs. bit.ly/3EvqV3R 🧵Read on:
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
Terrible, monopolistic landlord in Hyde Park, Chicago, Mac Properties, is sued for housing discrimination, steering voucher holders away from some buildings and toward others.
Yay for Hope Fair Housing!
Yay for Hope Fair Housing!
Mac Properties diverts housing voucher holders from Hyde Park's desirable apartments, class-action suit says
The complaint, filed in federal court, alleges Mac Properties systemically discriminates against voucher holders looking to rent in Mac’s newer, high-rise apartments in Hyde Park and steers them towar...
chicago.suntimes.com
December 18, 2024 at 4:15 PM
Terrible, monopolistic landlord in Hyde Park, Chicago, Mac Properties, is sued for housing discrimination, steering voucher holders away from some buildings and toward others.
Yay for Hope Fair Housing!
Yay for Hope Fair Housing!
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
I am extremely freaking thrilled to announce that Bad Company is *officially* available for preorder wherever you buy books. (I am linking to Bookshop but buy it wherever!) I worked so, so hard on this book, and it would mean a ton to me if you ordered it. bookshop.org/a/109816/978...
February 11, 2025 at 6:20 PM
I am extremely freaking thrilled to announce that Bad Company is *officially* available for preorder wherever you buy books. (I am linking to Bookshop but buy it wherever!) I worked so, so hard on this book, and it would mean a ton to me if you ordered it. bookshop.org/a/109816/978...
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
this stuff is so jank
January 18, 2025 at 5:18 PM
this stuff is so jank
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
I might sign up. The biggest barrier I see is this is some faint ink! I can read cursive but I'm squinting trying to see letters.
January 13, 2025 at 4:40 AM
I might sign up. The biggest barrier I see is this is some faint ink! I can read cursive but I'm squinting trying to see letters.
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
"covers people who owned Siri-enabled devices from September 17, 2014 to December 31, 2024"
for a huge admission of mass scale privacy invasion, $95M is a little slap on the wrist
for a huge admission of mass scale privacy invasion, $95M is a little slap on the wrist
“While Apple claimed that Siri only activated its listening mode after detecting its wake word—‘Hey Siri’—The Guardian reported that the assistant mistakenly turned itself on and began recording conversations in response to similar words and even the sound of zippers.”
Apple Agrees to $95 Million Settlement in Siri Eavesdropping Lawsuit
The company's virtual assistant allegedly recorded plaintiffs who hadn't said
gizmodo.com
January 2, 2025 at 8:46 PM
"covers people who owned Siri-enabled devices from September 17, 2014 to December 31, 2024"
for a huge admission of mass scale privacy invasion, $95M is a little slap on the wrist
for a huge admission of mass scale privacy invasion, $95M is a little slap on the wrist
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
Today is publication day for the new book - Critical Data Studies. But since my copies are stuck in Holyhead parcel pileup & open access version not yet available on publisher website I'm saving marketing stuff to new year. As a launch day it's a bit of an anti-climax! But it's no longer 'in press'
December 20, 2024 at 10:08 AM
Today is publication day for the new book - Critical Data Studies. But since my copies are stuck in Holyhead parcel pileup & open access version not yet available on publisher website I'm saving marketing stuff to new year. As a launch day it's a bit of an anti-climax! But it's no longer 'in press'
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
White House releases new data estimating the impacts of landlord joint price fixing (via algorithm) on rental prices in major cities, showing a pretty large impact in places like Atlanta: www.axios.com/2024/12/17/r...
December 18, 2024 at 12:01 AM
White House releases new data estimating the impacts of landlord joint price fixing (via algorithm) on rental prices in major cities, showing a pretty large impact in places like Atlanta: www.axios.com/2024/12/17/r...
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
The lesson the American left should learn from the S. Korean protests is that racism enables American authoritarianism more than anything else.
The psychological wages of whiteness are a real currency white people of a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds are willing to be paid in.
The psychological wages of whiteness are a real currency white people of a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds are willing to be paid in.
So one of the reasons South Korea is a healthier democracy is that it’s a relatively homogeneous country and racism can’t be used as an effective tactic for attacking democracy. The psychological wages of whiteness in the US are a key reason authoritarian attacks on democracy in the US succeed
South Korea is an healthier democracy than some other powerful old democracies.
That actions have consequences, even for the most powerful, is truly the basis. The minimum for a democracy.
That actions have consequences, even for the most powerful, is truly the basis. The minimum for a democracy.
December 15, 2024 at 1:28 AM
The lesson the American left should learn from the S. Korean protests is that racism enables American authoritarianism more than anything else.
The psychological wages of whiteness are a real currency white people of a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds are willing to be paid in.
The psychological wages of whiteness are a real currency white people of a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds are willing to be paid in.
Reposted by Wonyoung So, PhD
This immediately made me think of the @sunhahong.bsky.social paper "Prediction as Extraction of Discretion"
December 14, 2024 at 7:47 PM
This immediately made me think of the @sunhahong.bsky.social paper "Prediction as Extraction of Discretion"