The social infrastructure of protest art in Minnesota, how it wins hearts and minds and mobilizes action, and the public history projects to archive and preserve it.
www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
The social infrastructure of protest art in Minnesota, how it wins hearts and minds and mobilizes action, and the public history projects to archive and preserve it.
www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
New! How homicide changed in Minnesota’s Twin Cities after the police murder of George Floyd. Check out @ryanplarson.bsky.com’s thread (and data viz) and/or our team’s new article in J of Quant Crim.
Social Indicators of the Surge — Labor Edition
@aaronsojourner.org & @aaronrosenthal.bsky.social
show how the DHS surge reduced the # of employees working, hours worked, and # of businesses open in Mpls-Saint Paul, costing an estimated $106 million in lost wages. northstarpolicy.org/labor-outcom...
The drawdown can be spun many ways “but history will show what this was: regular people, clergy and teachers, janitors and soccer moms, people across all of our complicated differences, simply refusing to let our neighbors be attacked and abducted without a fight” www.startribune.com/minnesota-re...
New! Poll shows that ICE tactics are deeply unpopular here in Minnesota — and that clear majorities blame the Trump administration for the violence and unrest, rather than state and local leaders or protesters and observers. [Gift link] www.startribune.com/poll-trumps-...
It’s really quite lovely during baseball season— and you might be able to find a ticket to see the Twins this year.
A major development. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) Force Investigations Unit (FIU) is the natural home for this investigation -- they have the expertise to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation of Alex Pretti's fatal shooting. www.startribune.com/pretti-inves...
Student (shaking her head) to ChatGPT: "Gurl, this is not your best work."
3/3 “Well I was walking through the middle of town,
And I said to myself, “What’s going on?”
People breaking the law just to make ends meet,
People breaking their hearts just to stay off the street,
And written on the wall for everyone to see,
Was “Love is the law” right there on the street…”
2/3 ...“What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding.” The first verse speaks to love, warmth and community in 2026 just as it did in 2013 and in the 1980s. I interviewed the band around the time it was released and they were absolutely *cooking* in live shows...
1/3 Love is the Law is a “movement song” you’ll hear on the streets of Minneapolis. Released in 1983 by The Suburbs it was the anthem of the 2013 marriage equality movement in Minnesota. Eminently danceable, with big hooky horns, it's become our own homegrown...
www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...
The national headlines describe “fear” in Minnesota, but here on the ground it feels more like anger and resolve in the face of betrayal and intimidation. We’re “hunkering down,” not cowering, in the face of this long, cold, brutal winter. www.minnpost.com/community-vo...
Go alpine and Nordic skiers (Lindsey Vonn and Jessie Diggins!), go all you amazing hockey players and curlers, go snowboarders, go speed skaters, go biathletes, go gophers, go Frost, go Wild! www.startribune.com/meet-the-min...
Image is a proposed state flag with a loon shooting lasers from its eyes. Source: submission #F15 in the Minnesota State Emblems Redesign Commission. source: https://serc.mnhs.org/flags
Minnesotans have apparently won more Winter Olympic medals (103) than folks from any other state (because, well, winter). It may feel bittersweet when our locals step to the podium for the USA in Milano-Cortina, but I'm hoping it's a unifying moment for all of us back home in the dark winter of '26.
Teaching Social Movements this Term? Something for everyone in this 32 "Songs of the Siege" compilation that goes from Laamar to Bruce to Maria Isa to NOFX to Durry to Messersmith to Sparhawk to Bathtub Cig to those sweet, sweet drums on the Stone Arch Bridge. www.minnpost.com/arts-culture...
apnews.com/article/immi...
Minnesota medical professionals refuse to be complicit.
“One doesn’t have to be a physician to conclude that a person can’t get skull fractures on both the right and left sides of their head and from front to back by running themselves into a wall.” -Dr. Lindsey Thomas
Social scientists and old-school Minnesotans like me fret about areas of decline in civic culture (e.g., corporate philanthropy), but we've held up pretty well in volunteering, voting, and mutual aid. And if it's 20-below and your car needs a jump, it's a pretty good place to be.
Sayin' their names.
No lies detected on the lyrics sheet. minnesotareformer.com/briefs/bruce...
Juvenile Arrest as a Life Course Trap: Being arrested as a juvenile is associated with a 20-30 percentage-point drop in the likelihood of graduating from a 4-year college.
-Garrett Baker, David Kirk, & Rob Sampson, new in SocIology of Education journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
[No, that's not her real name; Yes, I'm passing along information about where she can report it if she likes]
Many have now seen the casual brutality of masked federal agents in Minnesota. But we're also seeing casual intimidation and surveillance [via plate #s] of folks giving rides, food or aid.
An unknown agent followed a mom I know into a mall parking lot. “Go home to your children, Samantha,” he said.
Exactly.
Slide showing a small-group exercise based on analysis of the Homeland Security Statement of 1/24/26.
This slide identifies possible connections between passages in the statement and Sykes and Matza's (1957) techniques of neutralization.
I'm giving my Minnesota students some space this week, but here's a 2-slide small group version I may try later in the term.
-Slide 1 would precede the group discussion (without underlining or color-coding).
-After the groups report back, Slide 2 could be shown as one set of possible answers.
The Minnesota metro surge/siege appears distinctive — in scale, scope, concentration, tactics, aggressiveness, and disingenuousness — and it's put tremendous strain on our people and institutions, including local law enforcement in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and many smaller towns, cities, and suburbs.
National experts ask, "Why won't the Minneapolis Police Dept. provide basic crowd control, coordination, cover, or cooperation for federal agents?" They can't. The feds sent 3000 agents here, or 5X as many officers as MPD and equal to the 10 largest metro depts. www.startribune.com/how-ice-numb...
The University of Minnesota has confirmed that Mr. Pretti was a 2011 graduate of our CLA Geography Department's Biology, Society, and the Environment program -- a few floors down from my sociology office.
He will *not* be forgotten. apnews.com/article/immi...
We're mourning yet again in Minnesota — and struggling to square the gut-churning video of Alex Pretti's final moments with official accounts.
I'm teaching techniques of neutralization this term, so I made this quick slide on the DHS statement. Share if it's useful. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/us...
