Aram Sinnreich and Dunia Best during their visit to the DC Jail for 'Out of Our Cells'

Jesse Gilbert and Aram Sinnreich published an edited excerpt from their new book The Secret Life of Data in the MIT Press Reader. It’s called “How Data-Fueled Neurotargeting Could Kill Democracy."

Jesse and Aram also gave a reading and had an extended conversation about The Secret Life of Data as the keynote presenters for JUST Health Data Labs, an event focused on biomedical research and biometric industries in Sweden. The full recording of our talk is available here.

Kurt Braddock has been asked to present his research on attitudinal inoculation against extremist propaganda and the use of machine learning to identify contributors to radicalization at several key government meetings. The National Institute of Justice has asked Kurt to discuss his research on neural networks and radicalization to the International Association of Crime Analysts; the Department of Defense's Threat Lab has asked Kurt to present this same research at the 2024 Insider Threat Social and Behavioral Sciences Summit.

Voice of America showcased AU/SOC's Center For Environmental Filmmaking with interviews with Prof. Maggie Burnette Stogner, Prof. Larry Engel, and visual highlights of CEF’s associate directors, programs, initiatives, and more. The program was produced and anchored by MFA student Siamak Dehghanpour who is a Senior Anchor and Producer for Voice of America. You can watch the 20 minute program here. 

SOC “double Eagle” Samantha Hogan (SOC BA ’15, MA ’16) earned the 2024 Livingston Award in local reporting for “Maine’s Part-Time Court,” a year-long investigation into the state’s illusive probate courts. Her reporting at the Maine Monitor exposed stories of individuals whose life savings may have been pocketed by their conservators and revealed eight unexplained deaths of people who were under Maine’s state guardianship. “Samantha Hogan’s multi-year investigation into an alarming lack of oversight within Maine’s probate courts is a shining example of local journalism at its finest,” said Livingston Award judge Kara Swisher. The prestigious Livingston Awards honor the best reporting and storytelling by journalists under the age of 35; find more info here.

On June 12 The Washington Post published “Abused by the Badge,” a year-plus investigation that found at least 1,800 state and local law enforcement officers who were charged with crimes involving child sexual abuse from 2005 through 2022; officials at every level of the criminal justice system have failed to protect kids, punish abusers and prevent additional crimes. Reporters spent more than a year unearthing thousands of court filings, police records and other documents to understand who these officers are, how they gain access to children and what is — and isn’t — being done to stop them.

IRW Post-Graduate Fellow Hayden Godfrey (SOC MA ’23) received a byline on the investigation. John Sullivan provided additional editing. The following IRW fellows and American University-Washington Post practicum students contributed to the investigation and received contributor credit in the Post:  Alex Angle, Madeleine Sherer, Ben Baker, Nicholas Fogleman, Daniela Alejandra Lobo, Mirika Rayaprolu, Nami Hijikata, Solène Guarinos, Alexandra Rivera, Ron Simon III, Cameron Jennings Adams, Dima Amro and Siddhi Prabhanjan Mahatole. 

Here is more information on how the team reported the story.