Guns Unpacked

by Jennifer Carlson

Social Sciences Society & Culture

Season 3

Gun Biographies

One of the more unusual aspects of being a gun scholar is how frequently we are approached by folks outside the field with their gun stories, whether that means anecdotes about their connections to gun culture or their exposure to gun violence. In this episode, Jenny and Alex sit down to ask each other to reflect on their own stories about when they were first introduced to firearms, when they were first touched by gun violence, and how those early encounters shaped their approach to their scholarship. Their informal and personal conversation about their two very different paths toward gun scholarship ranges over questions of about guns in media, and the myriad ways differences in race, gender, class, and region shape our understanding of gun culture. Tune in if you’re curious about your hosts mutual obsession with OG Nintendo Duck Hunt or their very different introductions to self-defensive gun culture!

Jacob Charles On Our Transformational Moment in Second Amendment Law

In this episode, Jacob Charles, Associate Professor and Strauss Research Professor at the Caruso School of Law at Pepperdine University, helps host Alex Young explore how two pivotal court cases on the Supreme Court's 2026 docket transformed Second Amendment Law. After a broad overview of how the court's understanding of the Second Amendment has changed since the 2008 Heller decision, Charles delves into United States v. Hemani and Wolford v. Lopez to illuminate how these decisions imagine the relationship between drug law and gun law, and property law and gun law, respectively. In the wide-ranging conversation that follows, Charles and Young take on topics ranging from the drinking habits of the founding fathers to the upcoming court challenge to state-level assault weapon bans.

Season 2

Dr. Noah Schwartz On the NRA and the Power of Storytelling in US Gun Culture

On this episode of Guns Unpacked, we are joined by Dr. Noah Schwarz, professor of political science at Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada. Schwarz’s identity as a dual citizen gives him a unique perspective on gun conversation, allowing him to exist in two worlds. Dr. Schwarz’s first book, On Target: Gun Culture, Storytelling, and the NRA, places a spotlight on how the National Rifle Association uses its platform to engage the passions of gun enthusiasts. In our conversation, Schwarz discusses how his research allowed him to form connections with those immersed in gun culture to understand how narratives put forth by the National Rifle Association shape the attitudes and decisions of gun enthusiasts. Dr. Schwarz’s new book, Targeted: Citizenship, Advocacy, and Gun Control in Canada, redirects the conversation north, where Schwarz aims to close the literary gap on the pro-gun movement in Canada. More information on Noah Schwartz and his work can be found here. His book "Targeted" can be purchased here.

Alexander Sammartino On Masculinity, Marketing, and Arizona Gun Culture

In this month’s episode, Alex Trimble Young interviews Brooklyn-based novelist Alexander Sammartino about his debut novel Last Acts (Simon & Schuster 2024). Set in Phoenix and centered on the misadventures of a father and son duo who own a gun store, Last Acts is a hilarious, dark, and touching exploration of the imbrication of US gun culture with masculinity, addiction, and Arizona history. Young and Sammartino discuss the novel, its relation to its author’s Arizona upbringing, and what it says about the future in this engaging and personal interview.

Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson On the Politics of Force in Black Resistance

In this episode of Guns Unpacked, Alex Young interviews historian Kellie Carter Jackson, the Michael and Denise Kellen ’68 Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. Their discussion focuses on Dr. Carter Jackson’s award-winning 2024 book, We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance. The conversation ranges over topics including the role of firearms in the civil rights struggle, the relationship between Black refusal and resistance, and Black Americans’ complicated relationship to US gun culture at large.

Dr. Nora Gross On Black Boys and the Hidden Toll of Gun Violence

In this episode of Guns Unpacked, Dr. Jennifer Carlson interviews Dr. Nora Gross, a sociologist, educator, documentary filmmaker, and assistant professor at Barnard College. They discuss Gross’s 2024 award-winning book, Brothers in Grief: The Hidden Toll of Firearm Violence on Black Boys and Their Schools, and examine how grief, rather than trauma, influences the education, emotional, and social experiences of Black boys in schools that have experienced repeated loss. This conversation is based on ethnographic research conducted at a Philadelphia high school. It examines how grief unfolds over time, how schools and systems respond to violence, and how youth create their own spaces for grief, care, and survival.

Dr. Toni Jensen On Indigenous Survival under US Gun Culture

On this week’s episode of Guns Unpacked, we are joined by Toni Jensen, who teaches in the MFA program at the University of Arkansas, Institute for American Indian Arts. Her memoir, Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land, was named a Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist and New York Times Editors' Choice book. In our conversation, Dr. Jensen details how her identity as a métis woman and firsthand experiences with violence have shaped how she perceives gun identity in America. Dr. Jensen explores the shift in gun identity from hunting to self-defense during the Reagan years and discusses how modern sensationalism associated with mass shootings leads people to overlook the role “we” play in gun violence. Dr. Jensen’s most recent book can be found here. More information on Dr. Jensen can be found here.

Dr. Payne, Dr. Hitchens, and Darryl Chambers On Gun Violence in Wilmington, Delaware and Participatory Gun Violence Research

In this special episode of Guns Unpacked, we feature a live recording of the closing panel address at the BRIDGS Initiative’s first ever Guns in Society symposium hosted from January 30-31st, 2025. Dr. Alex Trimble Young opens the closing session by recognizing the many cosponsors, collaborators, and contributors to this symposium who made this event possible, which highlights the importance of scholarly collaboration in shaping the national conversation on guns and gun violence that currently grips the United States of America, and the critical role that the production of scholarly research plays in guiding the development and implementation of sustainable interventions and practices for the future. This event featured a presentation by Yasser Arafat Payne, Brooklynn K. Hitchens, and Darryl L. Chambers who discuss their 2023 hit book, Murder Town, USA : Homicide, Structural Violence, and Activism in Wilmington and how poor investment and structural violence create the perfect conditions for gun violence and the way in which communities and everyday Americans choose to respond.

Special Episode: Guns Unpacked...Unwrapped!

In this special episode of Guns Unpacked, co-hosts Jennifer Carlson and Alex Trimble Young cover the highlights (and lowlights) of their work at the BRIDGS Initiative in 2025. In a conversation that ranges from the snarky to the emotional, they take on issues including the algorithmic censorship of gun-related content online to the state of gun studies as a field to the ubiquity of gun-related trauma in the contemporary United States.

Dr. Cedric Dark On US Gun Violence from the Perspective of an Emergency Room Doctor

In today’s episode of Guns Unpacked, we welcome Dr. Cedric Dark, an associate professor of history in the Henry J.N. Taub Department of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Dark co-hosts the “This Day” podcast and is also the co-executive producer of “You Get a Podcast.” Today’s conversation examines Dark’s work, and his experience in public health. Dark dives deeper into perceptions of the NRA, but also public health as it relates to firearms, and uses his unique perspective to provide suggestions about policy. Dr. Dark also offers advice for people seeking to enter his field of work. For more of Dr. Dark’s work, visit here for his books and other writing.

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