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Shay O’Brien

@shayobrien.bsky.social

890 followers 960 following 41 posts

Sociologist and Stone Program Postdoc at Harvard studying elite kinship networks (she/her)

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Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 23

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

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Reposted by Shay O’Brien

Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 13d

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...

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

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · Aug 14

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...

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Reposted by Shay O’Brien

James M. Thomas (JT) @insurgentprof.bsky.social · Aug 14

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...

‘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

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Reposted by Shay O’Brien

Saeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · Aug 14

The thing about charging him with assault for throwing a sandwich is that it exposes the historic lie of “assaulting an officer.”

carlmalamud @yeswescan.org · Aug 14

“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

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Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Aug 12

Thank you so much, Regina!! And likewise - I am SO excited about yall’s project 🤩

Reposted by Shay O’Brien

Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality @stone-lis.bsky.social · Aug 6

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

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

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Reposted by Shay O’Brien

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · Jul 31

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

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Reposted by Shay O’Brien

Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · Jul 29

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?

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Reposted by Shay O’Brien

Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · Jul 28

All of this is deeply right and sensible.

www.thedriftmag.com/politics-is-...

“Politics Is Conflictual”

“Massive changes often unfold on large time scales,” philosopher Olúfẹmi O. Táíwò told The Drift in 2022.

www.thedriftmag.com

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Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 27

“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

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Reposted by Shay O’Brien

Maya Sen @mayasen.bsky.social · Jul 24

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...

www.usnews.com

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Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 24

Thanks, Katie!!! 😊😊

Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 24

😂😂😂😂

Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 24

Working on it!!!! 😁

Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 23

I’m so honored!! Thank you :)

Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 23

Thank you so much!! I’m really looking forward to reading yours when it comes out 🥳

Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 23

Jessie definitely deserves her own novel!!!

Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 23

Thank you SO much for taking the time to read it!! You made my day :)

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Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 23

Thanks, Shamus!!! 😁😁

Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 23

😭 Thank you Estela!!!!

Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 23

Thank you so much!!! I am flattered :)

Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 23

Thank you so much, Aaron!! :)

Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 23

Also, if you’ll be at ASA in a couple weeks, I’ll be presenting this paper! In the Culture, Value(s) and Relationships in Economic Life session on Tuesday 8/12 from 12-1:30pm, alongside four fascinating other presentations.

Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 23

..who really saved me from myself with their comments on this piece, and all the friends & family who have had to listen to me monologue on inheritance disputes for a year and a half- especially Luis Flores, who’s heard about them once a week at least, and who always has something brilliant to say.

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Shay O’Brien @shayobrien.bsky.social · Jul 23

As always, I had a lot of help. Thank you so much to the editors, reviewers, other special issue authors, the audience at my ESS presentation, Viviana Zelizer herself, my beloved and indispensable writing group @estelabdiaz.bsky.social and @shdoron1.bsky.social, ...

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