Sign in

Andy McCumber

@ahmccumber.bsky.social
1.2K followers 395 following 348 posts

Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech Sociology. Past: Postdoc, Stony Brook University IACS, UCSB Sociology PhD. Author of BAD NATURE, University of Chicago Press www.andymccumber.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I always get wrecked by the immune response from COVID/flu shots and the symptoms tend to enter into a feedback loop with my particular flavor of anxiety. This is a very small price to pay for a miracle of a public health measure and for the personal protection against getting sick. Get vaccinated.
021
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The Case for Letting Malibu … Fall into a Sinkhole at Nic Cage’s House
020
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I think it’s baffling that for years the most popular TV show was a prestige drama about ad execs and instead of inspiring a new golden age of heady advertising campaigns we somehow got the Liberty Mutual “LiMu emu” ads.
121
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
To be fair, he does all those things in public too.
010
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
“Protect women’s sports” they cry!
000
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
I parsed this incorrectly and was trying to figure out what the verb to “Gluck Cut” means.
240
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Oshkosh is the Tirana of America.
020
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
A university janitor attends court-mandated talk therapy sessions.
“DESCRIBE YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE AS BORING AS POSSIBLE” over a bunch of movie posters
030
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Mad Libs-ass conservative tweet.
110
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
If i recall, the @fivefourpod.bsky.social hosts had a similar take recently, arguing Democrats should message that, when they take back power, there will be consequences for ICE agents accused of wrongdoing (or even all agents). Beyond abolishing ICE. I’m glad this idea is becoming more mainstream.
010
Reposted by Andy McCumber
Heba Gowayed هبة جويد @hebagowayed.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Hakeem Jeffries has GOT to GO. Enough is enough. www.politico.com/live-updates...
politico.com
Hakeem Jeffries says he will oppose bid to cut off Israel aid
Democrats have split on a contentious amendment to the fiscal 2027 State Department spending bill.
35615
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Oh look, conservatives decided to notice women’s sports again.
100
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
The Clarence Thomas dissent.
Pepe Silvia
000
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
My partner Laura, a medical and economic sociologist, studies the absurd pricing of pharmaceuticals in the US (and the insidious role that charity plays in the system). She’s working on a book project about cancer drugs as a case study.
sciencedirect.com
From affordable to accessible: How the pharmaceutical industry transformed patient consumers into charity recipients
Recent changes in healthcare pricing and financing have resulted in patients paying more out of pocket for their healthcare. As a result, more patient…
1259
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Perfectly fine for a drunk with several credible sexual assault allegations against him to coach a girls basketball team, but absolutely unacceptable for a trans kid to play on that team, apparently.
110
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Once my partner and I both had our cars towed outside our house because of (confusingly labeled) road work. They told me at the police station there was a hefty fee if I didn’t get to the impound lot before they closed at 5 (it was 4:30 or so). Basically a default charge if you happen to work 9-5.
191
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
My book BAD NATURE recently received some incredible honors: -Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, Charles Horton Cooley Award -Outstanding Publication Award, ASA Section on Environmental Sociology (Honorable Mention) -Distinguished Book Award, ASA Section on Animals and Society
3130
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
@grantbrisbee.bsky.social as usual hitting the right note on this.
nytimes.com
Giants pitchers’ Bible verses on Pride Night caps show how they’ve missed the point (Gift Article)
To focus on the perceived sin, Landen Roupp and other Giants pitchers had to step over so much that they professed to believe.
052
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
My partner and I got to make a Southern Californian pilgrimage to see the Hockney exhibition in Paris last summer. We just finished painting our new house colors inspired by “A Bigger Splash,” which we’ve had a print of in our living room for years. RIP David Hockney.
David Hockney’s painting “A Bigger Splash”A photo from our new house with walls painted deep blue and brick redA photo from our new house with rooms painted deep blue, sky blue, and a yellowish peach color. A photo of our new kitchen and sunroom, which is painted bright yellow.
1152
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
I would just once like to see how these people would lose their damn minds if one of their teammates lodged even the most milquetoast of protests against the military industrial complex when the league has them wear those ugly ass camo hats.
150
Reposted by Andy McCumber
Caleb Scoville @calebscoville.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
In my capacity as Policy & Research Committee Chair for the Environmental Sociology Section of the ASA, I'm delighted to announce this year's awards. Congrats to all, and thanks to the members of the committees for their service to the section and field!
Environmental Sociology Student Paper Award

Co-Winners:
María Ximena Dávila, University of Texas at Austin, “Risky Bodies, Toxic Futures: Reproductive Decision-Making and Environmental Risk in Colombia.”

Margot R. Lurie, University of Chicago, “Electricity, Waste, and the ‘Other’: Racialization in the Electrification of the American West, 1902-1933.”

Honorable Mention:
Gabriel V. Lévesque, McGill University, “Why is Coal Still Mined? Insights from Asbestos and the Structures of Risk Invisibilization.” Theory and Social Inquiry, 1(1), 1-46. 2025.

Award Committee: Daniel Auerbach, Pierce Greenberg, Anupriya Pandey, Lacee Satcher, and Caleb Scoville (chair)Environmental Sociology Outstanding Publication Award

Winner:
Zeke Baker, Sonoma State University, Governing Climate: How Science and Politics Have Shaped Our Environmental Future. University of California Press. 2024.

Honorable Mentions:
Manisha Anantharaman, Sciences Po, Recycling Class: The Contradictions of Inclusion in Urban Sustainability. The MIT Press. 2024.

Andrew McCumber, Virginia Tech, Bad Nature: How Rat Control Shapes Human and Nonhuman Worlds. The University of Chicago Press. 2025.

Award Committee: Robert Perdue, Ethan Raker, Ioana Sendroiu, Livio Silva-Muller, and Caleb Scoville (chair)Distinguished Contribution Award

Winner:
Michael Bell, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Award Committee: Feng Hao and Raoul Liévanos (chair)


Teaching and Mentorship Award

Winner:
Austin Luzbetak, University of Minnesota

Honorable Mention:
Paul Stock, University of Kansas

Award Committee: Archana Ramanujam and Lourdes Vera (chair)
0111
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Ok but also has anyone ever seen Altman and that guy who killed a bunch of people in Idaho in the same room?
050
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
I’m hoping Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi (a grad school advisor of mine) will see fit to write a follow up to The Fascist Spectacle for the unhinged aesthetics of modern fascism.
ucpress.edu
Fascist Spectacle by Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi - Paper
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
000
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
And yet somehow we’re one hot dog down the windpipe away from President Hall Monitor Vance.
020
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
At the library here at VT they put the covers of recent books by faculty up on the wall. They told me they put mine in the corner of the room because “thats where a rat would be.”
060
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Why do I watch this stupid sport every year.
000
Reposted by Andy McCumber
Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 09/03/2026
A simple survey rates the meaningfulness of the 200 most common American jobs. Inspired by @michaelhobbes.bsky.social @ @notalawyer.bsky.social's discussion. Results and voting available at the link.
familyinequality.wordpress.com
Which jobs make a meaningful contribution to the world?
Together maybe we can suss out the bullshit. Your vote counts.
165
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
New paper! I use text and image data from UNESCO’s official website to analyze global asymmetries in the ways animals contribute to the “universal value” of Natural Heritage Sites.
021
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
If you need a good example of “sampling on the dependent variable” for your stats class, look no further.
311111
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
I have a new paper out in American Journal of Cultural Sociology. It reports on a mixed-methods content analysis of climate fiction stories and proposes Raymond Williams’s notion of “structures of feeling” for examining the social experience of climate change.
link.springer.com
Structures of feeling in climate fiction - American Journal of Cultural Sociology
With a steady onslaught of extreme weather events and quickly surpassed temperature records, the climate crisis is increasingly moving from the realm of hypotheticals to that of lived experience. In t...
051
Reposted by Andy McCumber
Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Gonna retrain the head of ICE? Anything besides abolish is support for the Gestapo. It isn't a gray area.
317324
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
I’m old enough to remember what the “injuries” to another state-sanctioned murderer looked like.
Darren Wilson with a barely visible scrape on his cheek.
000
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
After a long day of international travel, I was greeted upon landing in Dulles with an article acceptance! Coming soon to American Journal of Sociology, an analysis of climate fiction literature using Raymond Williams's concept of "structures of feeling."
A screenshot of an email notifying me that my paper "Structures of Feeling in Climate Fiction" was accepted at American Journal of Cultural Sociology.
1121
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
Ticked a box on the bucket list.
030
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
The “Trump is using Venezuela to distract from his scandals” takes are a real grim insight into what qualifies as a scandal.
020
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
So strange that the guy who came up with Bush’s “axis of evil” bit has a bad take on this.
000
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
Not putting Bush and the goons in his admin in The Hague in 2009 was the first step towards letting this happen again.
040
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Ninja turtle jokes aside, this is an interesting rhetorical choice that suggests an alternative political use of nostalgia to MAGA’s reactionary, fascist one.
021
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
Yeah, there definitely aren’t any incidents from American history that contradict this.
120
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
If I thought Bari was a little brighter, I’d suspect this was an elaborate viral marketing campaign for this story.
000
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
A “toilet rat” features prominently in an anecdote from BAD NATURE’s introduction. This is good book promotion right?
010
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Birtherism all the way down.
030
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
“Awaiting Editor Decision” blues.
010
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Impressive that it could reproduce the well known logo for NO WINNER (STRIKE).
000
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
I see prominent democrats are expanding their Trump-era rehabilitation of the Bush admin.
000
Reposted by Andy McCumber
Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
I wrote about Yglesias “defending liberalism” by joining a right wing moral panic over critical race theory. His vision of liberalism has room for bigots, but no room for scholars concerned about structural racism.
15836218
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Will this unhinged post be treated the same way all those ones that plainly noted the exact words Charlie Kirk made at various points in his life? Only time will tell!
020
Andy McCumber @ahmccumber.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
It sure put the Universities of Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook on the map, though.
000
Reposted by Andy McCumber
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 09/12/2025
every time i read about one of these college presidents promising to reinvent the liberal arts education i think of "marge v. the monorail"
692130268