• One chapter of my dissertation (article under review) approaches ongoing debates about the "vibecession" by examining how the US public perceives economic data. I find that distrust is widespread and not confined to populists or conservatives. The organization of media discourse around abstract statistical representations of material conditions consolidates distrust in economic expertise across people with various political leanings and backgrounds.

• Drawing on novel interview data shortly preceding the "Great Resignation," Alexandrea Ravenelle and I show that low-wage workers on pandemic unemployment benefits reinterpreted their time, previously spent making money, as an opportunity to invest in and revalue their selves, leading them to seek less precarious employment.

• In a study coauthored with Andrew Perrin, we document how middle-ground response choices on the American National Election Survey are motivated by cultural norms of opinion-giving about social issues, including the meaning of (not) taking a stand and the perceived legitimacy of having and expressing attitudes.

• Another chapter of my dissertation (article under review) examines popular expectations about economic impacts from AI. I find that these beliefs draw from science-fiction to imagine AI as a potential group actor competing in the labor market. Engagement with this unrealistic possibility enables members of the public to subvert purportedly "hegemonic" values equating moral worth with productivity.

• In my research with Alexandrea Ravenelle and Erica Janko, we find that mistaken beliefs and perceived stigma against welfare led some precarious workers to eschew pandemic social programs and opt for gig work. This "side-hustle safety net" was risky and often yielded less money than the benefits workers could have drawn. In our subsequent work, we show how low-wage workers accept responsibility for avoiding job scams, expanding the cultural “risk shift” into self-preservation against criminal behavior.

• My study with Alexandrea Ravenelle and Abigail Newell explores how essential workers' dismissal of pandemic news coverage helped them cope with risks from their work.