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.

Brothers in Grief: The Hidden Toll of Gun Violence on Black Boys and Their Schools is beautifully written, analytically astute, and profoundly human. It is

2025 AM: 2024 C. Wright Mills Finalists

Days after the inauguration, White House directives and pledges to cut public health funding are already causing chaos and uncertainty. Experts say this is just the beginning.