Delighted that this conversation with Mario Small @MarioLuisSmall is now public. Mario's ideas are indispensable to any social scientist concerned with social determinants on inequality and disadvantage. As will be evident in the podcast, these ideas have implications for the way one should model neighborhood effects, to given one example. Let me use this occasion to recommend this wonderful book with Jessica McCrory Calarco Qualitative Literacy: A Guide to Evaluating Ethnographic and Interview Research which reflects Mario's extraordinary ability to bridge quantitative and qualitative sources of evidence.

It’s not just about who you know; it’s the networks you belong to. @MarioLuisSmall is pushing us to broaden our focus from individuals to the structures that connect them. Listen to this week's episode of The Inequality Podcast with host @sndurlauf → bit.ly/3PWzw5d

New research suggests that "third places" -- social spaces in between home and work -- are crucial to revitalizing neighborhoods. @MarioLuisSmall and @JorgeGuzmanCBS explain: vitalcitynyc.org/articles/ho…

Can a coffee shop stimulate economic development? @MarioLuisSmall & @JorgeGuzmanCBS suggest that social spaces can spark local entrepreneurship. vitalcitynyc.org/articles/ho…

We think of the people we are closest to as the ones we talk to about sensitive or personal issues. But just as often, we avoid talking to them about those things. Fascinating research by @MarioLuisSmall, Kristina Brant, & Maleah Fekete. 1/ psychologytoday.com/us/blog/…

Congratulations to sociologist Orlando Patterson @Harvard, recipient of the 2024 Hegel Award from the City of Stuttgart and Museum Hegel-Haus for his groundbreaking and influential work on the sociology of slavery, freedom, and social justice.

Great podcast with @EricKlinenberg and Kellie Carter Jackson on the importance of physical spaces for community theatlantic.com/podcasts/arc…

Excited to share my paper on unemployment and suicide with @pescosol. Using big administrative data on suicide, we show that unemployed people are more likely to die by suicide, but their suicide risk is lower when and where more people are unemployed. doi.org/10.1177/000312242412…

BREAKING NEWS The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.” #NobelPrize

Bayes’ theorem, clearly explained:

In @ASR_Journal, @MarioLuisSmall @kristinapbrant & Fekete found in a representative survey that adult Americans were as likely to avoid as to talk to friends & family about difficult personal issues, suggesting a need to rethink theories of “strong ties.” journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs…

From Department Chair @MarioLuisSmall, Applications for Assistant Professor/Associate Professor/Professor (Open Rank) The Department of Sociology at Columbia University invites applications for an open rank position to begin July 1, 2025. Apply here: academic.careers.columbia.ed…

cool new paper in @ASR_Journal by @MarioLuisSmall colleagues on the avoidance of strong ties. Upshot: avoidance is a constitutive element of how people relate to close friends and family (i.e., more the rule than exception), common across demo groups and income levels.

Research from @marioluissmall shows avoidance happens almost as often as open communication in our closest relationships. Discover how and why we avoid certain topics—and what we can do about it. 🗣️💭 societytoday.org/when-talkin… #Communication #MentalHealth #Relationships

Introducing a @Starbucks in a neighborhood without prior cafés increases “the number of startups of 5.0% to 11.8% (or 1.1 to 3.5 firms) per year, over the subsequent 7 years.” nber.org/papers/w32604 (@JorgeGuzmanCBS/@MarioLuisSmall/@nberpubs).