A spike in COVID-19 cases in Japan forced an abrupt ban on spectators at the Olympics this summer. Andrew Gordon and Michael R. Reich investigate the cause of the surprisingly slow vaccine rollout that left the Japanese population vulnerable.

By Michael R. Reich and Andrew Gordon... Read more about Japan’s Political Hesitancy Created a Sad Summer Olympics

Economist Nathan Nunn and his team measure the long-term impacts of the Tulsa massacre on Black communities in the US and find a pattern that resonates with an earlier analysis of the transatlantic slave trade, where violence begets long-term economic and social disadvantages that span generations.

By Michelle Nicholasen... Read more about Livelihoods Destroyed: The Long Reach of The Tulsa Massacre

In the North Pacific, a scholar conducts field work amidst the ghosts of great empires.

... Read more about In God's Hands: The Marshall Islands—Missionaries, Nuclear Testing, and Climate Change

We think of citizenship as a binary category: you’re either a citizen or you’re not. But the levels of membership can be complex. Refugees and asylum seekers often find that the criteria for acceptance change, as states devise rationales to exclude them. Three Weatherhead Center sociologists reveal the motivations behind various immigration policies, from the colonial past to the present, and discuss the ethics and impact of open borders.

... Read more about Episode 6: The Blurry Lines of Belonging (with Talia Shiff, Anna Skarpelis, and Elke Winter)