Soundtracking Policy
The Effects of Adding Background Music to Short-Form Political Videos
I experimentally test the effects of adding background music to recent social media videos depicting homelessness and ICE arrests. Average treatment effects include stronger emotional responses and higher perceptions of video credibility and shareability, contingent on the issue. However, none of these effects translate into downstream policy support, suggesting that music is not politically persuasive in the short term.
Keywords: affective cognition, social media video, music, homelessness, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
A Corporation for Public Broadcasting Post-Mortem
We compare accuracy and bias on PBS and NPR against the big three networks (NBC, ABC, CBS) and the three dominant cable outlets (CNN, Fox, MSNBC) across a variety of objective economic measures and coverage of the last seven Presidential elections. We find that PBS and NPR are, on balance, not unique in terms of accuracy or bias.
Keywords: media accuracy, media bias, public broadcasting, PBS, NPR
Parody in the Age of Paradox
Trump's Effect on Political Comedy
I surveyed a select group of working comedy professionals (N≅121)—writers, performers, and producers—about Trump's effect on their humor. Quantitative and qualitative results from 2021 and 2025 suggest that comedians are less likely than expected to target Trump despite their personal political preferences.
Keywords: political comedy, political intent, Donald Trump, satire, sketch comedy
Electricity Blackouts and Environmental Voting
We measure the effects of PG&E's public-safety power shut-offs (PSPS) on public support for costly pro-environmental referenda in California.
Keywords: public safety power shut-offs, wildfires, environmental voting, climate change
Subordinate Frames
Testing the Political Effects of Color and Music in Television News
Master's thesis. New technological affordances allow amateurs and influencers alike to create professional-looking video media and distribute it widely. This experiment tests the emotional and political effects of two such aesthetic qualities: colorful graphics and sad or scary background music.
Keywords: framing effects, subordinate frames, public opinion, affective response, television news production, homelessness, housing policy