Scholars Strategy Network's No Jargon

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) was signed into law almost one year ago, but Americans are still learning how this giant legislative package impacts them. With provisions targeting different sectors of the economy, the IRA has focused most prominently on clean energy investments, prescription drug pricing, and funding for the IRS. And to learn what research can tell us about these major provisions, we spoke to experts who study each of these issue areas. Professor Matto Mildenberger took on the climate provisions, Professor Soumitra Bhuyan discussed health care, and Vanessa Williamson analyzed the increase in IRS funding. Enjoy this jam-packed special edition of No Jargon to celebrate 250 episodes! For more of Matto Mildenberger's work: Check out his book Carbon Captured: How Business and Labor Control Climate Politics. For more of Soumitra Bhuyan's work: Read his paper, co-written by Shiyanbola O, Deka P, Isehunwa OO, Chandak A, Huang S, Wang Y, Bhatt J, Ning L, Lin WJ, and Wyant D: The role of gender in cost-related medication nonadherence among patients with diabetes. For more of Vanessa Williamson's work: Read her book, Read My Lips: Why Americans are Proud to Pay Their Taxes

In an annual report, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that over half a million Americans were experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2022. According to Professor Megan Welsh Carroll, racial discrimination, criminalization, and of course, the high cost of housing all contribute to this growing crisis. And while progress is being made, many critical public services remain out of reach for this group, including one that has led to serious public health issues: a lack of public restrooms. As the director of San Diego State University's Project for Sanitation Justice, Welsh Carroll explained what her team is doing to combat this specific problem in San Diego and how their work can serve as a model in other parts of the country. For more on this topic: Read Welsh Carroll's OpEd in the Los Angeles Times: California cities don't have enough public bathrooms. Here's one solution Read her SSN policy brief, co-authored by Jennifer Kate Felner and Jerel Pasion Calzo: Increasing Access to Public Bathrooms is Critical for San Diegans' Health Read her policy brief on the criminalization of the unhoused: Why Cities Must End Their Reliance on Police to Manage Homelessness – and How They Can Do it

2023 marks 50 years since the beginning of mass incarceration in 1973, when the U.S. prison population started increasing every single year for nearly four decades, according to Professor Nazgol Ghandnoosh. Ghandnoosh, who works for The Sentencing Project, shared some sobering numbers: today, over five million people are under supervision by the criminal legal system, and nearly two million people, disproportionately Black, are living in prisons. During this conversation, she delved into the different costs of incarceration – both on the incarcerated and on our society – and highlighted efforts needed to bring down our prison population. For more on this topic: Check out Ghandnoosh's brief for the Sentencing Project, Ending 50 Years of Mass Incarceration: Urgent Reform Needed to Protect Future Generations Read her report on racial disparities in the prison system: Black Lives Matter: Eliminating Racial Inequity in the Criminal Justice System

In states across the country, a flurry of new laws are being considered, and often passed, that specifically target transgender individuals – from bills that bar access to gender-affirming healthcare for youth to legislation that bans transgender people from competing in athletics. Professor Zein Murib shared where things stand, why transgender people have become the focus of so much legislative activity, and what these laws mean for the future of the LGBTQ+ movement and American society as a whole. For more on this topic: Check out Murib's forthcoming book, Terms of Exclusion: Rightful Citizenship Claims and the Construction of LGBT Political Identity Read their OpEd for Teen Vogue, Expect More Right-Wing Anti-Trans, Anti-"Critical Race Theory" Pushes in 2023 – and 2024 Find the book, Testosterone: An Unauthorized Biography, mentioned in the episode

Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Americans may at times feel as though they're invisible. An estimated 3 million of them live in the U.S. yet have no box to mark their identities on government forms, such as the Census, and other surveys. Professor Neda Maghbouleh, who has spent years studying the exclusion faced by MENA Americans, laid out how the misrepresentation of their race impacts their lives. She explained what steps need to be taken to increase visibility for those who fall in the MENA category as well as what changes are already underway – thanks to efforts by Magbouleh and her colleagues René D. Flores and Ariela Schachter. For more on this topic: Check out Neda Maghbouleh's OpEd in Newsweek, coauthored by René D. Flores and Ariela Schachter: 5 Years After Muslim Ban, Middle Eastern and North African Americans Remain Hidden. Read an interview with Maghbouleh conducted by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights: Why a MENA Category Matters.

In the American school system, math and science are considered essential building blocks of a good education. But for many students, those building blocks can topple over somewhere along the way. We spoke to Professor Lara Perez-Felkner, who laid out invisible barriers faced by racially minoritized and economically disadvantaged students pursuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). Perez-Felkner discussed ways that school administrators, policymakers, and families can come together to remove these barriers and increase opportunity – all the way from kindergarten classrooms to college laboratories. For more on this topic: Check out Lara Perez-Felkner's SSN brief: Transforming Opportunity to Support STEM Success for All. Read her paper, co-authored by Samantha Nix: Difficulty Orientations, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity: An Intersectional Analysis of Pathways to STEM Degrees

Gone are the days of file cabinets, wall calendars and phone books, as advances in technology have made storing information easier than ever. But given a slew of high-profile data breaches in recent years – both at governmental agencies and private companies – cybersecurity is quickly becoming one of the most pressing issues facing our country. How can our government better protect against increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks? And how might these data breaches impact the lives of everyday Americans? Professor Jeremy Straub answered these questions and more, emphasizing what needs to happen to prevent a truly catastrophic data breach – and what such a breach could mean for the world. For more on this topic: Check out Jeremy Straub's SSN brief: Cybersecurity Incidents Can Be Unwelcome Wakeup Calls for Unprepared Agencies. Read his paper: Defining, Evaluating, Preparing for and Responding to a Cyber Pearl Harbor.

According to the CDC, more than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021. And a record-breaking 627 of those deaths occurred in the state of Maine. Substance use disorder is seen as a public health emergency by the medical community – but drug arrests continue to increase all over the country. In light of these developments, professor of political science Rob Glover, alongside his colleague Karyn Sporer (professor of sociology), set out to discover Mainers' attitudes about current drug policy in their state and what reforms they favor. Professor Glover shared these eye-opening findings with us – as well as its policy implications. For more on this topic: Check out Rob Glover and Karyn Sporer's OpEd published in the Kennebec Journal: Maine Voters Want a New Approach on Drug Policy. Read an overview of their findings.

With the midterm elections around the corner, all eyes are on the record-breaking number of Black female candidates on the ballot. We spoke to professor of government Nadia E. Brown, who shared her research on what's contributing to the rising numbers of Black women seeking office. During the conversation, Professor Brown explored what the combined identity of being Black and female means for those who enter into politics and ways in which prior political participation becomes a key motivator for them to run for office. For more on this topic: Check out Nadia E. Brown's book, Sisters in the Statehouse: Black Women and Legislative Decision Making. Read her paper, coauthored by Jamil Scott, Lorrie Frasure, and Dianne Pinderhughes: Destined to Run?: The Role of Political Participation on Black Women's Decision to Run for Elected Office. Read her SSN brief: What's Hair Got to Do With It? Black Women's Bodies and the Traditional Look of Success in American Politics.

With rent prices and mortgage rates continuing to skyrocket, finding and keeping stable housing is getting increasingly challenging for many Americans. But according to sociology professor Prentiss Dantzler, those challenges are amplified for members of marginalized groups, such as Black Americans. Professor Dantzler spoke to us about the ways racial discrimination persists in the housing market, despite laws - such as the Fair Housing Act of 1968 - that were put into place decades ago to prevent it. He emphasized that having a home should not be viewed as a privilege, but rather a human right, and offered policy solutions to help achieve that vision. For more on this topic: Read Prentiss Dantzler's paper, Making Our Way Home: Housing Policy, Racial Capitalism, and Reparations. Check out a paper written by two of his colleagues, Elizabeth Korver-Glenn and Junia Howell, mentioned in the episode: The Increasing Effect of Neighborhood Racial Composition on Housing Values, 1980-2015.