Yesterday was this blog’s 12th birthday. I always remember this date because May 22nd is also my oldest sister Rae’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Rae!

I didn’t have a chance to post on the day itself because I was so busy preparing for the 7th and final webinar in my series on “Ten Essential Observations on Guns in America” and also working on the launch of my book, Gun Curious, which will be published on June 1st.

I love this blog. It has meant so much to me over the years. I has given me a place to think publicly about my journey into America’s gun culture and the opportunity to meet so many amazing people who engage with me here.

I don’t spend as much time blogging as I used to simply because blog readership has fallen off so much. I merged my fledgling “Gun Curious” blog into this one because it never really took off, and started my “Light Over Heat” YouTube channel to try to reach people where they are. I spent weeks this spring preparing and delivering a free 7 part webinar to give the public some insight into how I approach the topic with my students at Wake Forest. I hold my nose and engage on Twitter/X because there are a significant number of people over there talking about guns and I want to make those conversations better.

All of these activities reflect my fundamental mission: “To educate people and enrich conversations about our fascinating, exasperating social world. Guns currently.”

All of these activities are free to you. I have never paywalled my work. But the work is not free to me. It take resources — time, energy, and money.

So, if you would like to support me going forward, please consider any of the following:

*Like and share my work. This helps others see this work which is my main goal. My self-promotion only gets me so far.

*Subscribe to my channels. Publishers and media outlets look at how many subscribers I have to assess my “platform” when considering my work.

*Buy my book: Gun Curious: A Liberal Professor’s Surprising Journey Inside America’s Gun Culture. I don’t make much money from the royalties but the sales can drive the algorith.

*Review my book: The two most important platforms for reviews are Amazon, of course (once the book is published), but also Goodreads. There are already a couple of ratings and one review of Gun Curious on Goodreads, so feel free to add to that.

*Recommend my book: Most people choose what to read based on personal recommendations from trusted friends. You know about my work, but who do you know that needs to know about it?

*Make a direct financial contribution to help offset my costs. Even a small one-time PayPal or Venmo contribution or gift of one $5 “coffee” helps, especially with morale.