Guns Unpacked

Guns Unpacked season 2 launching September 8th!

In this episode of Guns Unpacked, we are joined by Dr. Metzl, a psychiatrist and sociologist who examines gun violence and mental health. Dr. Metzl also serves as the Director of the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society at Vanderbilt University. We discuss his 2024 book, What We’ve Become, which examines the Waffle House mass shooting in Nashville, Tennessee in 2017. Our conversation takes us through the intricacies of the "Dickey Line," the shortcomings of public health responses to gun violence, and Dr. Metzl's own position in the gun debate. You can purchase his book What We've Become from the ASU CSGS "Books for a Better Gun Debate" bookshelf on bookshop.org.

Dr. Micheal Sierra-Arévalo is an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin Department of Sociology. From 2020 to 2023 served on the Public Safety Commission for the City of Austin. Today, we discuss Dr. Sierra-Arévalo's extensively researched The Danger Imperative: Violence, Death, and the Soul of Policing. Using in-depth interviews and rich ethnographic observations, Dr. Sierra-Arévalo breaks down how the danger imperative is driving police culture and violence within the United States.You can purchase his book The Danger Imperative from the ASU CSGS "Books for a Better Gun Debate" bookshelf on bookshop.org.

Dr. Jesenia Pizarro joins us in this episode of Guns Unpacked to dive into the complex dynamics of gun homicide. Dr. Pizarro is an ASU professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, a member of the Homicide Research Working Group, and a board member and recently elected President of the Research Society for the Prevention of Firearm-Related Harms. This episode explores her perspectives on gun violence, especially gun homicide and intimate partner violence, from a transdisciplinary perspective. Learn more about Dr. Pizarro and her extensive expertise in firearms violence here.

In this episode of Guns Unpacked, we are joined by Dr. David Yamane, a sociology professor at Wake Forest University, to discuss his book, Gun Curious: A Liberal Professor's Surprising Journey Inside America's Gun Culture. Dr. Yamane shares his journey into gun studies and becoming a gun owner as a lifelong liberal. He explains the evolution of gun culture, its contemporary focus on self-defense, and what the future may hold. We also explore his experiences navigating gun debates from various perspectives and his thoughts on bridging the conversation between opposing camps.You can purchase his book Gun Curious from the ASU CSGS "Books for a Better Gun Debate" bookshelf on bookshop.org.

In this episode of Guns Unpacked, we are joined by Dr. Coker, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Connecticut College. We discuss his research on the intersections of mental health, gun violence, and community trauma, particularly among African American youth. He also explains the need to focus on the root causes of gun violence, the importance of community involvement in research, and the importance of changing how universities work with communities affected by gun violence.Dr. Coker currently is the co-editor of the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, a journal of the American Psychological Association, and welcomes research on topics related to guns and gun violence.

In this episode of Guns Unpacked, we are joined by Dr. Drew McKevitt, the John D. Winters Endowed Professor of History at Louisiana Tech University, to discuss his recent book Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture and Control in Cold War America. Dr. McKevitt examines the connections between gun culture and capitalism, extending back to post-WWII geopolitics, that contribute to contemporary gun politics. Dr. McKevitt also clarifies the global implications of gun violence, reframing gun violence as a humanitarian issue and addressing the root causes of gun violence.You can learn more about his work at https://andrewcmckevitt.com/ and purchase his book through the ASU Center for the Study on Guns in Society's "Books for a Better Gun Debate" Shelf at Bookshop.org.