Dr. Art Jipson
@artjipson.bsky.social
Husband, Father, Cat Dad, Sociologist, Teacher at the University of Dayton, Writer, Music Lover, Radio DJ, Presenter, and Gardener. He/Him/His. Posts are my own. Live Kindness & Hope. https://udayton.edu/directory/artssciences/sociology/jipson_arthur_j.ph
When a weapon is called de-escalation buff.ly/oICmnwG
OPINION: When a weapon is called de-escalation
The most disturbing detail in the Associated Press report about Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) plan to equip officers with electric-shock gloves is not simply that the government wants another weapon. It is that the weapon is being presented as a tool of de-escalation.
buff.ly
Dr. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment over 100 times at a Senate hearing on COVID-19 origins, but behind that drama is a more important one: how conspiracy theories moved from obscure online communities into the the highest level of Republican politics.
Fauci’s COVID-origins hearing shows how conspiracy theories became political weapons
Conspiracy theories don’t just explain events – they identify villains, and Fauci is among the most popular.
theconversation.com
My latest public scholarship essay examines a case that could have implications far beyond Texas. Prosecutors are charging a teenage mass shooter with terrorism, raising important questions about how terrorism laws are applied in the United States. buff.ly/zm8rOej
Texas prosecutors are calling a teenage shooting spree ‘terrorism’ – the case could reshape American criminal law
When does a shooting become terrorism? A Texas case could help define the answer.
buff.ly
American political elites have transformed working-class identity into a carefully staged performance by connecting political theater, media spectacle and cultural branding—symbols of “authenticity” are repackaged to reinforce power. open.substack.com/pub/artjipso...
Performing Poverty: When Working-Class Identity Becomes Political Theater
Class, Spectacle, and the Reinvention of “White Trash” as Political Branding
open.substack.com
Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas—a warning that modern society values people only for productivity, data and optimization rather than human dignity itself. In an age of AI, the encyclical argues that the human person must be seen as sacred. open.substack.com/pub/artjipso...
Magnifica Humanitas: Pope Leo XIV’s Call to Restore Human Dignity in the Age of Algorithms
In his recently released encyclical Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), Pope Leo XIV presents what may become one of the defining moral critiques of the digital age.
open.substack.com
Johnson’s Great Society imagined an America built on equality, education, civil rights, public health, the arts and democratic inclusion. Trump, MAGA and Project 2025 represent an assault on that vision—replacing shared public purpose with grievance and inequality. open.substack.com/pub/artjipso...
Trump’s America and the End of the Great Society
How Trump, MAGA and Project 2025 Are Reversing Lyndon Johnson’s Vision of Equality, Democracy and the Public Good
open.substack.com
I would go see this movie. Dionne Warwick talks final album, Teyana Taylor portraying her in biopic | AP News apnews.com/video/dionne...
Dionne Warwick talks final album, Teyana Taylor portraying her in biopic
Speaking at Billboard Women in Music, Dionne Warwick calls Teyana Taylor her “alter ego” after handpicking her to portray her in a planned biopic. (April 29)
apnews.com
We need to retire the “lone wolf” myth. Political violence is rarely the work of isolated individuals. So-called lone actors are often embedded in ideological networks, online communities, and movements that radicalize, legitimize, and sustain them. open.substack.com/pub/artjipson/…
open.substack.com
We have idiocy in the WH so, on today's show, I'll speak with a professor of sociology, someone with common sense & knowledge he shares daily to inform the public. @artjipson.bsky.social is back today- join us live 3ET/12PT at youtu.be/6LNMyGLAyrI, nicolesandler.com, pod, nicolesandler.substack.com
I Love the Fully Educated with Art Jipson on the Nicole Sandler Show 3-12-26
YouTube video by Nicole Sandler
youtu.be
17/end By 2025, QAnon has morphed beyond a single persona into a broad folkloric framework. It shows us how, in a world of information overload, people will choose a complex, immersive narrative over a simple, ambiguous reality—as long as that narrative provides a sense of belonging and agency.
16/ As QAnon intersects with Christian Nationalism and the NAR, it moves from a digital rumor to a "new religious movement". It re-frames political conflict as a literal cosmic battle, using spiritual warfare language to justify extremist action and even political violence.
15/ Digital echo chambers act as accelerants for this radicalization. In these spaces, "collective intelligence" is replaced by groupthink. Dissent is framed as a threat, and the community rewards those who provide the most creative, high-stakes interpretations of the ambiguity.
14/ This process thrives on scriptural inference. Like religious texts, Q’s ambiguity lets followers project their fears—from COVID-19 to election anxiety—onto a single narrative. The lack of clarity isn’t a bug; it’s a feature that keeps the movement adaptable and “all-encompassing.”
13/ At its core, QAnon is gamified sense-making. By using "drops"—cryptic, ambiguous puzzles—it invites followers to "do their own research". This turns passive consumption into active, participatory labor, making the resulting "truth" feel personally discovered and thus undeniable.
12/ QAnon is the ultimate sociological "stress test" for collective sense-making. It operates as a "big tent" conspiracy, resolving the deep anxiety of institutional distrust by weaving disparate rumors into a single, cohesive grand narrative.
11/ Ultimately, these movements show us that when a society loses its "shared reality," the vacuum isn't filled by facts. It's filled by authoritarian certainty. The goal isn't to find the truth; it's to eliminate the anxiety of the unknown through total, unquestionable control.
10/ In digital echo chambers, these movements accelerate through collective storytelling, taking real-world anxieties and re-narrating them as “prophetic” events. When a rumor enters the chamber, it’s no longer a guess—it becomes a divine revelation reinforcing the group's extremist identity.
9/ Then there’s the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). It thrives on “strategic spiritual warfare,” casting political and social conflicts as battles between literal angels and demons—and turning policy debate into a cosmic struggle for “dominion” over the Seven Mountains of culture.
8/ To understand the intellectual engine here, look at Christian Reconstructionism. It seeks to “reconstruct” society by replacing secular law with Old Testament civil codes—claiming one “right knowledge” for every aspect of life: business, law, and family, and governance itself.
7/ Christian Nationalism is a prime example. It isn't just about faith; it's a sociological project to resolve the "ambiguity" of national identity by merging religious and political power into a single, divine mandate that leaves no room for pluralism.
6/ Ambiguity doesn't just generate rumors; it’s the fertile soil for extremism. When people feel a profound "crisis of truth" due to social upheaval or institutional distrust, they gravitate toward ideologies that offer total, binary certainty.
5/ By shielding us from cognitive dissonance, digital spaces turn ambiguity into a weapon. We no longer negotiate reality with our neighbors; we confirm it with a global tribe, turning local gossip into powerful, self-sustaining alternative realities.
4/ These chambers don’t just spread info; they solidify identity. Within an echo chamber, collective sense-making becomes a loyalty test. To question the group’s narrative is to risk social exclusion, making the "truth" secondary to group cohesion.
3/ Enter the Digital Echo Chamber. In the physical world, social friction (dissenting voices) often tempers wild speculation. Online, algorithmic curation removes that friction, accelerating the transition from "unverified rumor" to "shared dogma."
2/ Sociology teaches us that conspiracy theories are often a form of "improvisational history." In the absence of trust in formal institutions, people use collective storytelling to reclaim a sense of agency and order over chaotic events.
1/ Collective behavior thrives in the gray zones. When social reality feels fractured or information is scarce, ambiguity acts as a vacuum. Rumors and gossip aren’t just "talk"—they are informal tools used by groups to map out an uncertain environment.
Ambiguity fuels collective sense-making. When official narratives leave gaps, rumors and conspiracies fill them. We don’t simply share information—We negotiate “truth” to ease the uncertainty. In Today’s Conspiracy Theories, Lack of Evidence Is Evidence www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/m...
In Today’s Conspiracy Theories, the Lack of Evidence Is the Evidence
nytimes.com
An opinion essay I wrote for Inside Higher Education. Wider Forces Lie Behind Changing Classroom Norms www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
Wider Forces Lie Behind Changing Classroom Norms (opinion)
Wider structural forces lie behind shifting classroom norms.
insidehighered.com
Standing Together: How Minneapolis and St. Paul Are Organizing Community Solidarity and Resistance open.substack.com/pub/artjipso...
Standing Together: How Minneapolis and St. Paul Are Organizing Community Solidarity and Resistance
When federal immigration agents expanded enforcement operations in Minneapolis and Saint Paul in early 2026 under the Trump administration’s so-called “Operation Metro Surge,” they expected to disrupt...
open.substack.com
