Public Impact
Information about my impact in the public sphere. Details on the academic impact of my scholarly work available here. Details on the academic impact of my journalistic work available here.
Profiles
“‘The Culture-War Stuff Just Rots the Brain.’ The Sociologist Musa al-Gharbi on Empire, Islam, and the Hypocritical Liberalism of Manhattan.” Len Gutkin, Chronicle of Higher Education, 30 June 2021.
“Is Musa al-Gharbi the Last Academic Who Can Tell the Truth?” Duncan Moench, Tablet, 3 May 2021.
Selected Interviews
1/31/2024 interviewed by Dominic Kennedy for The Times UK, “Rolling Your Eyes Is a Microaggression, Civil Servants Told.”
1/2/2024 “Heterodox Out Loud” w/ John Tomasi (Ep. 6): On ideological imbalances in social science and their consequences
12/12/2023 interviewed by Megan McArdle for Washington Post, “The World Could Use More Jerks.”
6/27/2023 interviewed by Tara Isabella Burton for The Atlantic, “How to Escape ‘the Worst Possible Timeline.’“
5/9/2023 interviewed by Andrew Jack for the Financial Times, “Florida’s New University Law Sparks Fears of Faculty Intimidation.”
3/8/2023 interviewed by Thomas Edsall for the New York Times, “The Death Knell for Higher Education in Florida.”
2/13/2023 interviewed by Adrienne Lu for Chronicle of Higher Education, “Everyone is Talking About ‘Belonging.’”
1/26/2023 interviewed by Pola Lem for Times Higher Education, “Do University Ban on Terms Like ‘Field Work’ Go Too Far?”
1/19/2022 interviewed by Thomas Edsall for the New York Times, “Why Millions Think It Is Trump Who Cannot Tell a Lie.”
1/20/2021 interviewed by Thomas Edsall for the New York Times, “Is America Ungovernable Now?“
1/8/2021 interviewed by Colleen Flaherty for Inside Higher Ed, “The Capitol Riots: A Failure to Educate.”
12/20/2020 interviewed by Krithika Varagur for Wall Street Journal, “The Unfinished Business of Office Diversity Training.”
11/5/2020 “NPR News Morning Edition” and “Consider This from NPR” w/ Leila Fadel: On minority support for Trump
10/19/2020 “Mindscapes” w/ Sean Carroll (Ep. 119): On the value of intellectual diversity.
6/22/2020 “This is Hell!” w/Chuck Mertz (Ep. 1189): On violence and policing in America.
2/6/2020 interviewed by Afi Scruggs for USA Today, “In a world full of African American Democrats, black Republicans stand alone.”
1/7/2019 interviewed by Robby Soave for Reason, “Portland State University Says Hoax ‘Grievance Studies’ Experiment Violated Research Ethics.”
10/10/2018 interviewed by Colleen Flaherty for Inside Higher Ed, “Beyond the Numbers on Gender and Research.”
8/9/2018 interviewed about the ways scholars and journalists analyze Trump supporters on “The Ingraham Angle,” Fox News.
6/29/2018 interviewed by John Blake for CNN, “Why the Rules for Racial Rhetoric Are Changing.”
5/3/2018 interviewed about the strange bromance between Kanye West and Donald Trump on “The Nexus w/ Matthew Moore,” TRT World.
5/2/2018 interviewed by Madeleine Kearns for National Review, “A Social Scientist on the Liberal-Left Biases of Social Scientists.”
1/18/2018 interviewed by Thomas Edsall for the New York Times, “Can Democrats Follow #MeToo to Victory?”
2/26/2016 interviewed by Britain Eakin for Courthouse News, “Cruz Bill Takes Aim at Muslim Brotherhood.”
12/13/2015 interviewed by Cecily Hillary for Voice of America, “Experts Mull Options for Dealing with I.S.“
6/11/2015 interviewed by Chantal Valery for Agence France-Presse (AFP) articles, “La policía de EEUU, cuestionada por múltiples casos de agresiones a negros” & “Etats-Unis: avec la multiplication des bavures, le pays a mal à sa police“
10/4/2014 interviewed by Cecily Hilleary for Voice of America, “The ISIS/ISIL Debate: What’s in a Name?”
Citations: Mainstream Media Outlets
“The Democrats’ Knowledge-Economy Bust” cited in:
Rutherford, Jonathan. “Sectarianism Has Returned to England.” New Statesman, 11 March 2024.
“How to Understand the Well-Being Gap Between Liberals and Conservatives” cited in:
Bennett, James. “Are American Progressives Making Themselves Sad?” The Economist, 4 April 2024.
Caicedo, Edwin. “¿Por qué los liberales están cada vez más tristes y los conservadores felices?” El Tiempo, 25 March 2023.
Douthat, Ross. “How the Right Turned Radical and the Left Became Depressed.” New York Times, 29 March 2023.
Freeman, James. “Do Scientists Regret Not Sticking to the Science?” Wall Street Journal 30 March 2023.
Patel, Eboo. “My Son’s Identity Doesn’t Make Him a Victim. Why Does the Social Change World Insist It Does?” Chronicle of Philanthropy, 6 March 2024.
Tietz, Kendall. “Conservative Teenagers are Generally Happier Than Their Liberal Peers, Study Finds.” Fox News, 13 May 2023.
“Woke-Ism Is Winding Down” cited in:
Chait, Jonathan. “Conservatives Have a New Master Theory of American Politics.” New York Magazine, 26 July 2023.
Douthat, Ross. “Why Journalists Have More Freedom Than Professors.” New York Times, 5 May 2023.
Lehmann, Claire. “Has Cancel Culture Moved Beyond ‘Peak Woke’?” The Australian, 10 August 2023.
Mintz, Steven. “Intellectual Provocations or Reckless, Irresponsible Acts of Arson?” Inside Higher Ed, 22 February 2023.
Smith, Noah. “Wokeness as Mainline Orthodoxy.” Noahpinion, 20 February 2023.
“How Well Do U.S. Faculty Reflect America?” cited in:
Mintz, Steven. “Why Faculty Diversity Matters.” Inside Higher Ed, 13 February.
“Prevalence of Prejudice-Denoting Words in News Media Discourse” cited in:
Ewald, Angel. “The Failure of the Experts.” De Groene Amsterdammer, 27 April 2022.
Lehmann, Claire. “What’s to Like as Angertainment Rules the Newsfeed?” The Australian, 28 October 2022.
Yglesias, Matthew. “Urban/Rural Polarization is About Racial Attitudes.” Slow Boring, 24 September 2021.
“Diversity Training Doesn’t Work. This Might” cited in:
Maranto, Robert & Craig Frisby. “Diversity Training Divides Rather Than Unites.” The Hill, 28 January 2021.
Yglesias, Matthew. “Not All ‘Anti-Racist’ Ideas Are Good Ones. The Left Isn’t Being Honest About This.” Washington Post, 24 February 2021.
“The Trump Vote is Rising Among Blacks and Hispanics, Despite the Conventional Wisdom” cited in:
Holmström, Josefin. “Kan man rösta på Trump om man är svart?” Svenska Dagbladet, 5 November 2020.
Hussein, Murtaza. “Non-white Voters are Not Immune to the Appeal of Right-Wing Populism.” The Intercept, 6 November 2020.
Malovic, Dorian. “Présidentielle Américaine 2020 : Donald Trump en Progrès Chez les Electeurs Noirs et Hispaniques.” La Croix, 4 November 2020.
McArdle, Megan. “If We Want to Win at the Future, We Shouldn’t Focus on Trump.” Washington Post, 6 November 2020.
Ungar-Sargon, Batya. “The Immigration Debate Shows Progressives Have Abandoned the Working Class.” Newsweek, 8 June.
Yousufzai, Rashida. “Experts say while some may be surprised to see support for Donald Trump among non-white voters growing at the 2020 election, it’s actually fairly understandable.” SBS News, 6 November 2020.
“Diversity-Related Training: What is It Good For?” cited in:
Vandermassen, Griet. “A Problematic Experiment.” De Standaard, 22 March 2023.
Zane, Leslie. “Why the Unconscious is the Path of Least Resistance to Eradicating Bias in Your Workplace.” World Economic Forum, 29 July 2021.
“Disposable People” cited in:
Smythe, Polly. “They Don’t Care About Key Workers.” Tribune, 22 July 2021.
“The New York Times’ Obsession With Donald Trump, Quantified” cited in:
Azimi, Roxana. “Comment l’ère Trump a changé le New York Times.” Le Monde, 4 March 2020.
Wears, Adam. “Why the New York Times Opinion Section is So Bad.” Cracked, 26 January 2020.
“Seizing the Means of Knowledge Production” cited in:
Cowen, Tyler. “The Successes and Excesses of Political Correctness.” Bloomberg, 10 October 2019.
Mintz, Steven. “What Starts in Academia Doesn’t Stay There.” Inside Higher Ed, 6 April 2021.
“Resistance as Sacrifice: Towards an Ascetic Antiracism” cited in:
Dunnington, Kent & Ben Wayman. “The Problem of Comfortable Christians in an Age of Protest.” ABC Religion & Ethics, 11 June 2020.
Lee, Justin. “Reading ‘White Fragility’ and Canceling Your Friends Won’t Make You an Anti-Racist.” The Independent, 3 July 2020.
Rimbert, Pierre. “Au commencement était le verbiage.” Le Monde Diplomatique, December 2020.
“Trump Doesn’t Understand His Base” cited in:
Editorial Board. “Bernie’s Moment Has Come and Gone and Other Commentary.” New York Post, 20 February 2019.
“Race and the Race for the White House: On Social Research in the Age of Trump” cited in:
McArdle, Megan. “What Connects Trumpish Figures Around the World? The Internet is the Best Answer.” Washington Post, 31 December 2018.
“On the Sokal Squared/ Grievance Studies Hoax” cited in:
Hanlon, Aaron. “How a Blind Reverence for Science Obscures Real Problems.” Washington Post, 29 January 2019.
ibid. “Lies About the Humanities and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.” Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 December 2018.
“About That Blue Wave…” cited in:
Leonhardt, David. “Louisiana ‘a Failed State.’” New York Times, 8 March 2018.
Maher, Bill. “Blue Waver.” Real Time w/ Bill Maher Blog, 1 May 2018.
Rall, Ted. “Democrats Should Run on Impeachment.” Rasmussen Reports, 16 March 2018.
“Historical Patterns Suggest Trump Will Likely Win Reelection in 2020” cited in:
Brady, Conor. “A Rough Ride Ahead with Trump as Default Driver.” The Times of London, 5 November 2017.
Kilgore, Ed. “Trump’s Reelection Prospects 18 Months Out.” New York Magazine, 29 April 2019.
Lewis, Kevin. “Any Given Tuesday.” National Affairs, 3 November 2017.
Vyse, Graham. “How Trump Wins Reelection.” New Republic, 26 February 2018.
“A Lack of Ideological Diversity is Killing Social Research” cited in:
Gill, John. “Does the Academy Risk Being Left Behind?” Times Higher Education, 27 April 2017.
Tuccille, J.D. “College Isn’t Higher Education and May No Longer Be the Best Way to Deliver the Goods.” Reason, 26 September 2017.
“The Democratic Party is Facing a Demographic Crisis” cited in:
Edsall, Thomas. “Donald Trump’s Political Stew.” New York Times, 9 March 2017.
Sainato, Michael. “Election Exit Polls: Democrats Have Been Losing Support in Every Voter Demographic.” The Observer, 7 March 2017.
“Why Aren’t There More Black Republicans?” cited in:
King, Colbert. “The Decline of the Black Republican.” The Washington Post, 2 September 2016.
“There Is No Social Change Without Coercion” cited in:
Taranto, James. “Free Speech Aside.” Wall Street Journal, 5 May 2015.
“ISIL’s Barbaric Acts are Highly-Successful Propaganda” cited in:
Allemand, Andres. “La barbarie sans limite, arme tactique de Daech.” Tribune de Geneve, 6 March 2015.
“Mexican Drug Cartels Are Worse Than ISIL” cited in:
Gusterson, Hugh. “ISIS vs. Ebola.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 23 October 2014.
Haltiwanger, John. “The Mexican Drug War Has Killed More Americans Than ISIS or Ebola Ever Could.” Elite Daily, 21 October 2014.
Huck, Peter. “The Heart of Darkness of Mexico’s Drug War.” New Zealand Herald, 21 March 2015.
José, Coleen. “What the U.S. Should Be Fighting Instead of ISIS.” Mic, 5 November 2014.
Paulmarthoz, Jean. “La danse macabre des caciques et des califes.” Le Soir, 10 November 2014.
Porter, Tom. “Figures Show That Mexican Drug Cartels Eclipse ISIS in Violence.” International Business Times, 24 October 2014.
Pugliese, David. “Are Mexican Drug Cartels Worse Than ISIL?” Ottawa Citizen, 17 November 2014.
Schut, Bart. “Mexicaanse drugskartels: erger dan IS.” Jalta, 15 November 2014.
Sullivan, Andrew. “ISIS on the Rio Grande?” The Dish, 29 October 2014.
Wilson, Michael. “Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Violence in Mexico.” Buzzfeed, 27 October 2014.
“The Myth and Reality of Sectarianism in Iraq” cited in:
al-Shinqiti, Muhammad. “Sunnis and Shias: Between Engagement and Disconnection.” Al-Jazeera, 1 April 2014.
“Israel, Not Hamas, Orchestrated the Latest Conflict in Gaza” cited in:
Husein, Harun. “Alasan Ini yang Jadikan Israel Serang Jalur Gaza.” Republika Online, 12 August 2014.
Vion-Dury, Philippe. “Le Hamas responsable de la mort des trois ados israéliens ? Plus si sûr.” Rue 89, 27 July 2014.
Zavadski, Katie. “It Turns Out Hamas May Not Have Kidnapped and Killed the 3 Israeli Teens After All.” New York Magazine, 25 July 2014.
“The Ill-Considered Debate About Drones” cited in:
Saeed, Sana. “6 Victims of US Drone Attacks The Government Thinks Aren’t Really Worth Talking About.” Buzzfeed, 16 January 2014.
Additional print, television, podcast interviews and media citations available here.
