Maxwell School News and Faculty Media, Opinion and Analysis

Barkun quoted in Business Insider piece on QAnon's Trump conspiracy theory

March 1, 2021

"You really feel like you're in an Alice in Wonderland world when you start going through the ideas of the sovereign citizens," says Michael Barkun, professor emeritus of political science. "They will construct more and more complex rationalizations that push the events that they wish for farther and farther into the future."

Barkun participates in discussion panel on QAnon

February 17, 2021

The panelists discussed the dangers of conspiracy theories, the processes of joining and leaving cults (and whether QAnon is itself a cult), and the threat that the United States faces from QAnon now that Joe Biden is president.

Thorson quoted in National Geographic article on conspiracy theories

January 11, 2021

Emily Thorson, assistant professor of political science, was quoted in the National Geographic article, "Why people latch on to conspiracy theories, according to science."

Barkun quoted in Foreign Policy article on QAnon

October 13, 2020

Reeher discusses the media's treatment of Trump in The Hill

September 23, 2020

"I do think it is clear, after almost four years of his presidency, that editorial choices...are very clearly very critical of the president [Donald Trump]," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute.

Jackson cited in Slate article on capitalizing white

August 12, 2020

"We don’t need any more mechanisms to make whiteness more visible," says Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science.

Barkun cited in VICE articles on conspiracy theories

July 20, 2020

According to Michael Barkun, professor emeritus of political science, three core principles characterize most conspiracy theories. First, the belief that nothing happens by accident or coincidence. Secondly, that nothing is as it seems: The "appearance of innocence" is to be suspected. Finally, the belief that everything is connected through a hidden pattern.

Barkun quoted in Foreign Policy article on QAnon movement

July 15, 2020

Gadarian quoted in Science article on coronavirus messaging

April 17, 2020

"When you hear [health] experts saying one thing and the head of your [political] party saying another, that’s a troubling kind of thing to decide," says Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science. In the United States, "What we’re seeing evidence of is that Republicans are basically going with what the president says."

See related: COVID-19, Media & Journalism, United States

Reeher weighs in on coronavirus communications in Newsday

March 16, 2020

Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute says, "If it’s constant updates and endless press conferences with nothing new but an updated number, it doesn’t help," about how much information should be shared about the coronavirus pandemic.