BU social science faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates are doing necessary research that helps to improve human lives. Check back regularly to see the latest media coverage of this work. Heighten your own media presence by becoming part of BU’s expert database.
Study Points to Massive Undercount of Early COVID Deaths in the U.S. (Medpage Today, Mar 2026) Andrew Stokes (SPH/Global Health & CISS Affiliate) is mentioned in discussion of his recent work on a study which shows the large numbers of undercounting of early COVID-19 deaths int the United States.
More Than 150,000 Uncounted COVID-19 Deaths Occurred Early in the Pandemic, A Study Finds (Associated Press, Mar 2026) Andrew Stokes (SPH/Global Health & CISS Affiliate) is featured in discussion of a BU research study that finds that COVID-19 deaths went unaccounted for early in the pandemic.
The Rise of “Muskism” – Will We Live in Elon Musk’s Nightmare Future? (The Bunker Podcast, Mar 2026) Quinn Slobodian (Pardee) is interviewed in this podcast about Elon Musk’s vision of the future and its effects.
Newshour | What Is “Muskism” and How Does Understanding Elon Musk’s Approach to Business Help Us Understand the Trump Administration (interview begins at 40:20) (BBC, Mar 2026) Quinn Slobodian (Pardee) discusses “Mukism”, Elon Musk’s vision of the future and how that affects our understanding of Donald Trump’s administration’s goals.
Scaling Laws: Is AI a Death Sentence for Civic Institutions? with Jessica Silbey and Woodrow Hartzog (Lawfare, Mar 2026) Jessica Silbey (LAW & CISS Affiliate) and her colleagues discuss their new paper “How AI Destroys Institutions,” which argues that AI systems threaten to erode the civic institutions that organize democratic society.
The Peptide Boom Is Getting Out of Hand (The Atlantic, Mar 2026) Christopher Robertson (LAW/Health Law, Policy & Management & CISS Affiliate) is quoted in this article about peptides and enhancement drugs.
See Which Jobs Are Most Threatened by AI and Who May be Able to Adapt (The Washington Post, Mar 2026) In this article, James Feigenbaum (CAS/Economics & CISS Affiliate) is quoted in discussion of AI and jobs retentation.
Should You Take Social Security at 62? Consider These 4 Factors (USA Today, Mar 2026) Laurence Kotlikoff (QST/Economics) is quoted stating that you should “beg, borrow and steal” to avoid taking Social Security at 62.
In Arizona, an Electric Utility Holds an Election, Open Only to Property Owners (The New York Times, Mar 2026) Katherine Levine Einstein (CAS/Political Science & CISS Affiliate) discusses utility elections in New York.
The Best Money Advice of All Time (Kiplinger, Mar 2026) Laurence Kotlikoff (QST/Economics) is elaborating and quoted on the importance of long term financial planning, and “cautious life time budgeting.”
The Internet Has Always Fueled Eating Disorders. Influencers Could Be Adding To the Harm (The 19th, Mar 2026) Kathryn Coduto (COM & CISS Affiliate) is quoted regarding the rise in influencer culture, and the unhealthy beauty, and body standards that come with it.
America’s Vaccine Skepticism Is Starting to Show Up in Health Data (Vox, Mar 2026) Matthew Motta (SPH/Health Law, Policy, and Management & CISS Affiliate) & Timothy Callaghan (SPH/Health Law, Policy, and Management & CISS Affiliate) is quoted in this article about vaccine skepticism.
What Does History and the Constitution Say about a President’s Powers to Go to War? (WBZ-TV, Mar 2026) According to Thomas Walen (CGS/Social Sciences), “giving the president too much power” was the founding fathers “biggest fear” in the article about presidents sending troops prior to Congress actually declaring war.
Ruth Glass: Gentrification Visionary (The Developer, Mar 2026) Loretta Lees (CAS/Sociology & director of IOC) discusses the concept of “super gentrification” in London’s housing market, and its resulting effects on community members.
In Both Amsterdam and London, Living Alone is Difficult As a Single Person ‘At Some Point, You Have to Leave Again’ (Het Parool, Mar 2026) Loretta Lees (IOC/Sociology & director of IOC) is quoted on housing systems in the two cities, and how they are not designed for singles, especially when alongside dual income (coupled) households.
No Jargon | Ep 294: What Did We Learn From Covid? (Scholars Strategy Network Podcast, Mar 2026) In this podcast, Joseph Harris (CAS/Sociology & CISS Affiliate) Professor Joseph Harris reflects on what Covid revealed about the strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. public health system and the fragility of global cooperation.
GBH Daily: Telling Truth from Disinformation (WGBH, Mar 2026) Joan Donovan (COM/Journalism and Emerging Media Studies & CISS Affiliate) discusses misinformation and its results, particularly in times when clarity is needed such as times when “every breaking news moment is an opportunity to fill the void with whatever kind of propaganda you see fit”.
Rosella Cappella Zielinski and Paul Poast, “Wheat at War: Allied Economic Cooperation in the Great War” (Oxford UP, 2025) (New Books Network Podcast, Mar 2026) Rosella Cappella Zielinski (CAS/Political Science & CISS Affiliate) Cappella Zielinski and her co-author are interviewed in discussion of their recently released book “Wheat at War: Allied Economic Cooperation in the Great War“.
Black History Month Was Never ‘Given’ to Black People. Thus It Can Never Be Taken From Us (The Guardian, Mar 2026) is an article written by Saida Grundy (CAS/Sociology) and discusses the nuances around Black History Month, and that it was ultimately never granted to Black individuals, so it was therefore nourished by Black individuals themselves.
BU’s Tom Whalen Discusses How Another War In The Middle East Will Affect Americans (WCVB, Mar 2026) elaborates on Thomas Walen’s (CGS/Social Sciences) point of view regarding the recent attack on Iran.
Video Games Can Help Your Mental Health (Futurity, Mar 2026) quotes James Cummings (COM/Emerging Media Studies & CISS Affiliate) on people’s personal outcomes of gaming, and how they can depend on the player’s individual emotional state.
Putin’s Legacy: Nations of Widows and Orphans (The Center for European Policy Analysis, Mar 2026) According to Walter Clemens (CAS/Political Science, Professor Emeritus), “Vladimir Putin’s attempt to destroy the Ukrainian people though an unprovoked war is also wiping out entire ethnic minorities across Russia.”
Why Your ‘Spicy’ Food Abroad Is Almost Always a Lie (Fodor’s Travel, Feb 2026) Merry “Corky” White (CAS/Anthropology, Professor Emerita) is quoted and elaborating on tourists’ experiences with different cultural foods, and their hunt for authentic experiences.
Casey Means, Critic of Mainstream Medicine, Poised to Become Nation’s Top Doctor (The New York Times, Feb 2026) Matthew Motta (SPH/Health Law, Policy, and Management & CISS Affiliate) is quoted on the controversy, and the meaning behind Dr. Casey Means’ nomination for US Surgeon General.
Is the YIMBY Movement Doomed? (NPR, Feb 2026) Katherine Levine Einstein (CAS/Political Science & CISS Affiliate) is quoted in this article about the “YIMBY” (Yes In My Backyard) movement.
RFK Jr. fought Pesticides for Years. Now He’s Backing their Production (Associated Press , Feb 2026) According to Matthew Motta (SPH/Health Law, Policy, and Management & CISS Affiliate) , Kennedy’s MAHA coalition, seen as a politically important group for Republicans, doesn’t always agree with Republican policies which puts Kennedy in a “tough spot between his base of supporters…and pleasing the president if he wants to be able to keep this job.”
Government Media for Mockery and Attacks: A Tool of Authoritarian Regimes that Is Replicated on the Networks and Pages of the Trump Administration (Factchequeado, Feb 2026) Michelle Amazeen (COM/Mass Communication & CISS Affiliate) is quoted in this Spanish language article about media attacks.
Who Is Generation Alpha? What Parents Should Know (Parents, Feb 2026) Deborah Carr (CAS/Sociology & CISS director) is quoted in this article discussing Generation Alpha, children born in or after 2010, and some key factors in their growth including technology access since birth and issues around diversity and inclusion.
A Rare Illness Haunts Generations of Massachusetts Families (Boston Globe, Feb 2026) Pria Anand (MED & CISS Affiliate) brings light to Machado-Joseph disease.
Jesse Jackson Shifted Black Politics from the Margins of the Democratic Party to Its Center (The Guardian, Feb 2026) In the wake of Jesse Jackson’s passing, Saida Grundy (CAS/Sociology) discusses Jackson’s strategic legacy “that no vote is captive to a party that has not earned it, and that marginalized and overlooked voters are best heard when coalitions that prioritize their common social and economic stakes challenge the party where their electoral margins for victory are the most vulnerable.”
Why These Researchers Say AI Could Be Mortal Threat to Democracy (San Francisco Examiner, Feb 2026) This article discuses a recent paper entitled How AI Destroys Institutions written by Jessica Silbey (LAW & CISS Affiliate) & Woodrow Hartzog (LAW) which indicates that AI engenders some significant harmful side effects, such as increasing carbon emissions and allegedly encouraging suicides. According to Silbey and Hartzog, “Absent rules mitigating AI’s cancerous spread, the only roads left lead to social dissolution.”
America’s Contract to Protect White Women Has Always Been Tenuous (The Guardian, Feb 2026) According to Saida Grundy (CAS/Sociology), “In the eyes of a racist state, race and gender are indicators but not absolutes when deciding who gets to be a “good” victim. Pure white womanhood deemed as “victimized” and chivalrous white manhood as “heroic” have long provided a moralistic makeover to immoral violence. But as we have seen with [Renee Nicole] Good, the rules are as fluid as they are frivolous.”
Are YIMBYs winning the Housing Wars? Not So Fast, These People Say (The Washington Post, Feb 2026) Adam Guren (CAS/Economics) discusses grassroots movements (YIMBY = Yes In My Backyard) advocating for increased housing supply, density, and affordability to combat housing shortages and high costs, primarily by ending restrictive single-family zoning.
Opinion: Stabilizing rents can reverse rise in homelessness (The Providence Journal, Feb 2026) Molly Richard (CISS Postdoctoral Alum & current Assistant Professor of Public Health, The University of Rhode Island) discusses homelessness in Rhode Island as a systemic failure, rather than a personal failure, ignoring broader systems that determine who can access and afford housing, and fueling policies that punish rather than prevent. “If Rhode Island is serious about reversing the rise in homelessness,” they say, “We need an emergency brake on the soaring cost of housing. Rent stabilization is one tool Providence can use to do that.”
Elon Musk Under Fire for Epstein Links, Grok’s Sexualized AI Deepfakes & SpaceX-xAI Merger (Democracy Now, Feb 2026) Quinn Slobodian (Pardee) elaborates on political pushback happening to Elon Musk, especially with his free speech approaches, and his platform, X as well.
Why These Researchers Say AI Could be Mortal Threat to Democracy (San Francisco Examiner, Feb 2026) Jessica Silbey (LAW & CISS Affiliate) speaks on how AI’s biggest threat isn’t just physical job loss, but it’s ability to also distort public discourse and opinion.
Briefly Noted: The Death and Life of Gentrification (New York Times, Feb 2026) The New York Times offers a brief summary of Japonica Brown-Saracino’s (CAS, Sociology & CISS Affiliate) recent publication, The Death and Life of Gentrification (Princeton University Press, 2026), stating, “Brown-Saracino also zeroes in on a crucial aspect of the term’s [Gentrification] appeal: in an era of ideological land mines.”
America’s Contract to Protect White Women Has Always Been Tenuous (The Guardian, Feb 2026) Saida Grundy (CAS/Sociology) discusses ICE violence, specifically against Renee Good, and how the state defends those who usually uphold a white racial order.
Are YIMBY’s Winning the Housing Wars? Not So Fast, These People Say (The Washington Post, Feb 2026) Adam Guren (CAS/Economics) speaks on the “Yes in My Backyard” Movement, and its advocacy on pushing for building more housing, although this may not necessarily guarantee affordability.
US Life Expectancy Hit an All-Time High in 2024, CDC Says (Associated Press, Jan 2026) Andrew Stokes (SPH/Global Health & CISS Affiliate) discusses trends in life expectancy since the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as trends having to do with overdose epidemics.
Is Wellness Culture Ruining Social Fun? (Boston Magazine, Jan 2026) Deborah Carr (CAS/Sociology & CISS director) talks about differing aspects of wellness culture in Boston, especially having to do with aging, and individual privileges.
In Minneapolis, Far-Right Influencers Frame ICE Resistance as Terrorism (MSNOW, Jan 2026) Joan Donovan (COM/Journalism and Emerging Media Studies & CISS Affiliate) elaborates on media manipulation and the rise of influencers documenting political events.
Ancient Humans Were Seafaring Far Earlier than We Realized (NewScientist, Jan 2026) Curtis Runnels (CAS/Anthropology & Archaeology) speaks on prehistoric peoples and their journeys throughout varying conditions, lands, and experiences.
Why Some Experts Disagree With Dave Ramsey on Claiming Social Security Early (Finance Buzz, Jan 2026) Laurence Kotlikoff (CAS/Economics) vehemently disagrees with suggestion of Dave Ramsey, personal finance expert and radio personality, when deciding when to take social security for most people.
Why Is Gen Z So Obsessed with Japan? (Deseret News, Jan 2026) Merry White (CAS, Professor Emerita of Anthropology) speaks to the the culinary scene in Japan, sushi, and the shift of Japan’s influence from an economic power to a cultural exporter.
Healey Reelection Launch Focuses on Cost-Cutting, Trump’s Impact (NBC 10, Jan 2026) Thomas Whalen (CGS/Social Science) is interviewed in discussion of Massachusetts politics and how they have been affected by the Trump administration.
Do You and Your Partner Have Formal ‘Planning Sessions’? (USA Today, Jan 2026) According to Deborah Carr (CAS/Sociology & CISS director), planning sessions should be about affirmation and accountability, “It helps a couple discuss important yet difficult issues. Once you say it out loud and write it down, the other person can help keep you moving toward that goal.”
‘An Antidote to Hopelessness’: At MLK Jr. Day Events Across Boston, People Call for Action Amid Political Turmoil (The Boston Globe, Jan 2026) Melissa Gilliam (BU President & CAS/Sociology) discusses hopelessness during times of turmoil and potential antidotes.
Trump Is Taking on High Housing Costs. Will His Ideas Help? (The Boston Globe, Jan 2026) Adam Guren (CAS/Economics) is quoted in this article about the Trump administrations efforts to address high housing costs.
Opinion Piece: The Lifesaving Potential of Opioid Abatement Funds (JAMA, Jan 2026) Christopher Robertson (LAW & CISS Affiliate) discusses the lifesaving potential of opioid abatement funds and the challenges of the program.
The Bones of Children’s Mouths Are Being Wrenched Apart (The Atlantic, Jan 2026) Luke Glowacki (CAS, Anthropology & CISS Affiliate) discusses body modifications, specifically dental expanders, in this article about the benefits and faults of dental modification.
How Trump Could Use ICE Shooting To Impact 2026 Midterms (Newsweek , Jan 2026) According to Thomas Whalen (CGS/Social Science), “…it looks like [Trump] or at least his party is going to lose big time at the midterms,” and therefore the possibility of Trump invoking the Insurrection Act and deploying troops to Democratic cities ahead of the November 2026 midterms should be taken “seriously.“
Caring Sociology: An Author Q&A (Sage Journals, Jan 2026) Celeste Curington (CAS/Sociology & CISS Affiliate) is interviewed in review of her new book, Laboring in the Shadow of Empire: Race, Gender, and Care Work in Portugal (Rutgers University Press, Jan 2026).
Psychologists Are Reimagining How Society Supports Children (American Psychological Association, Jan 2026) Ruth Paris’ (SSW) and her colleagues’ work on a therapeutic intervention for children and their mothers in recovery for a substance use disorder, known as Building Resilience through Intervention: Growing Healthier Together (BRIGHT) is discussed. Delivered alongside an addiction treatment program, BRIGHT addresses parental and child trauma and helps parents attune to their child’s emotions and respond in healthy ways.
Mass. Residents on Venezuela Strike, Trump’s “America First” Policy (WBZ-TV, Jan 2026) Thomas Whalen (CGS/Social Science) comments on the Venezuela strike and Trump’s America first policy.
Here’s the Best Age to Take Social Security, Based on Simple Math (USA Today, Jan 2026) Laurence Kotlikoff (CAS/Economics) offers his own take on the best age to take Social Security, based on simple math.
2026 Changes to Medicare & Medicaid (Newsweek, Jan 2026) Paul Shafer (SPH/Health Law, Policy, and Management & CISS Affiliate) reflects on the coming changes to Medicare and their effects on those in need.
Tatiana Schlossberg, Granddaughter of JFK, Dies at 35 After Battle with Rare Cancer (WCVB, Jan 2026) Thomas Whalen (CGS/Social Science) comments on the untimely passing of Tatiana Schlossberg, grandaughter of JFK.
Presidential Historian Tom Whalen Reacts, Speaks on US Striking Venezuela (Boston 25, Jan 2026) Thomas Whalen (CGS/Social Science) reacts to the U.S. attacks on Venezuela.
Out Of Bounds: How to RUIN a Legacy? Bill Belichick