Jess Calarco

@jessicacalarco.com

46328 Followers 2358 Following

Sociologist. Author. Professor. Roosevelt Institute Fellow. Expert on families, schools, kids, privilege, and power. Bylines in NYT, WaPo, MSNBC, Atlantic, etc. "Other countries have social safety nets. The US has women." www.jessicacalarco.com

"If you’re going to take out a loan to get a degree in the humanities or the social sciences, what are you thinking?” Watters ranted Wednesday. “You’re going to be 28 years old, and you’re going to have no skills and no experience, and you’re not going to take an entry-level offer because you think you have this big, fancy degree, that you’re worth more,” he continued." https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/jesse-watters-fox-women-college-degree-b3020246.html#:~:text=If%20you%E2%80%99re%20going,more%2C%E2%80%9D%20he%20continued.
Angus Young, in a bright blue school boy uniform, playing the electric guitar
Camp Randall when AC/DC takes the stage
The view from the upper decks of Camp Randall, showing a mostly full stadium.
My 9-year-old, wearing an AC/DC bandana made by my husband, and shouting with joy from the upper decks of the stadium, with the stage in the background
Embroidered icons representing: Red card for Trump's interference in the referee decision against a USMNT player Teal ribbon for allegations of sexual assault against Senate candidate Graham Platner Carrot for Laura Loomer's speculation that the missing Mitch McConnell was in a "vegetative state" VW logo for the car company's announcement that it will be cutting its model offerings in half amidst declining sales and competition from Chinese manufacturers Soccer cleat for Belgium booting the USMNT out of the Men's World Cup Door for Trump's DOJ subpoenas of NY Times reporters who raised security questions about his Qatari-gifted Air Force One plane Flip fop for the death of Lindsay Graham, who hailed from the beachy state of South Carolina and was known, in part, for his abrupt about-face on Trump Maine for Graham Platner's official withdrawal from the state's senate race, in the wake of sexual assault allegations Bullet hole for the death of Joan Sebastian Guerrero at the hands of ICE officers, who shot him in his car Lettuce for the growing number of cases of cyclosporiasis, a parasite which causes explosive diarrhea and is usually spread through contaminated produce Fire for the wildfires in Canada and the resulting smoke blanketing the US Midwest Taco Bell for investigations linking cyclosporiasis infections to Lettuce served at the fast food chain
A photo taken at 4pm Central outside of Chicago, with a smoke filled sky over a sea of shipping containers.
Graffiti carved into the plaster by political prisoners at Kilmainham Gaol
The panopticon-style wing of the prison added in the 1800s, which includes memorials to the members of the Easter Uprising of 1916--the Irish republican activists who signed a declaration of independence and were executed on the grounds of the gaol by the British officials running the prison
My then 1 and 4 year old on a train in fancy wedding attire
My 12-year-old picking up my 9-year-old in a big hug
My 12-year-old sitting on the quad at Trinity College, eating her lunch.
Photo of the sun coming up over the harbor in Galway, with colorful buildings illuminated along the waterfront and swans sleeping in the water with their necks draped back over their shoulders onto their backs
The entrance to our castle rooms, where a lot of the stone and plaster is original to the building, and where some of the decor is 400 years old
Stitch-the-news daily news diary with embroidered icons representing a major news story of each day
Murals on the Solidarity Wall
News article with image of a burning bonfire in a loyalist neighborhood of Belfast, with an effigy of immigrants in a boat and a sign saying "stop the boats"
One of the gates separating Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods in Belfast, showing the daily hours
Sunrise over the rocky beach
The view from a run along Lough Gill, near Sligo in Ireland, where the mist was so thick I couldn't see the mountains across the lake
My kids in the trunk of our rental car, in a parking lot outside of Limerick, eating their lunches, after touring Bunratty Castle.
Sheep crossing the road
Two cows in a field behind some barbed wire at the start of the trail to the Caves of Keshcorran
My 12-year-old taking a photo of the sheep at the top of Sliabh Liag, the highest cliffs in Ireland
My kids, smiling and laughing together as they walk down the street behind me--my younger one eating Gelato and my older one drinking a lime Jarritos.
My kids at the top of the trail to the Keshcorran Caves, with sheep dotting the steep green hills below
A plastic plug-in container with metal rods and hot rollers for hair curling.
Crossing the Carrick-a-Rede bridge
Looking down at my feet on the stones
Embroidered icons representing: A giraffe for Gracie, who was living her best life before being found in Texas A Richter scale chart for the earthquake in Venezuela A set of imbalanced scales for the Supreme Court's ruling on independent agencies An athlete for the Supreme Court's anti-trans ruling The Empire State Building for the climbers who scaled it, and then proposed marriage on top A National Park patch for the Supreme Court's ruling that Trump can rewrite the parks' history material A diamond ring for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding A broken ferris wheel for Trump's debacle of an attempt at a celebration of 250 years of the US
Step counter showing 34,304
A photo of the cliffs on the north coast of Ireland, with lush green vegetation on dark rocks over turquoise water
My husband and my kids hiking up steep stone steps
Three tiny slant-roof cottages, on rolling green hills in front of a blue sky
Three tiny slant-roof cottages, on rolling green hills in front of a blue sky
Rolling clouds over a flowery meadow, with the ocean in the distance
Thanks for your message! I'm currently out of the office, trading paper deadlines, academic disputes, and review requests for screen time negotiations, sibling conflicts, and snack demands while attempting aninternational "vacation" with my kids. To that end, I'll be checking email less regularly (or at least more distractedly) than usual until XXX, and I appreciate your patience with my response, Best Wishes, Jess
Pie-shaped diary, with wedges for each month, and with tiny embroidered icons representing news stories from each day.
Facebook post from the US Department of Education, posted at 1pm Eastern on 6/30/26, with a partially pixelated image of what looks to be Secretary DeVos waking down a long corridor on a red carpet, next to someone who maybe looks like Trump.
A partially consumed container of blue and green buttercream frosting
Facebook post from the US Department of Education, posted at 10am Eastern on 6/30/26, with a pixelated red white and blue image, with gold accents, and the heading "Something big is coming..."
A child in a pool, wearing Goggles and a nose clip, inside of two donut-shaped pool floats and sitting on top of an inflatable log and holding a barbell-shaped inflatable log.
A spoon tucked into a small container of blue and green buttercream frosting.
Four half-pint jars of dark purple mulberry jam, resting on a cutting board after coming out of the canning pot, next to a larger one-pint jar of jam from yesterday's haul.
My 12-year-old holding a bowl full of rioe mulberries
My husband and my kids in kayaks on a lake under a blue sky, laughing as my 9-year-old splashes all of us as we try to get the two boats together for a photo.
Embroidered icons representing A paintbrush with blue paint for the reflecting pool debacle A Swiss flag for the negotiations over the Iran war A closed sign for the uncertainty around access to the Strait of Hormuz A Messi jersey for the man who finally tied a record set by a woman (Marta) A hammer for Congress's passage of an affordable housing bill that Trump refused to sign An NYC DSA logo for Mamdani-backed candidates winning democratic primaries in New York A cat for the Supreme Court's insistence that there was no racism in Trump's abhorrent comments about Somali immigrants A fan for the deadly heat wave sweeping Europe
Title 10 – Home-Ownership for Main Street America Sec. 1001 – Homes Are for People, Not Corporations Restricts the purchase of new single-family homes by large institutional investors that directly or indirectly own at least 350 single-family homes. Provides exemptions, including for large institutional investors seeking to purchase or build new single-family homes specifically for the rental market, and establishes a renter outreach resource to help renters of homes owned by large institutional investors through landlord disputes.
A selfie of me wearing my Roe Roe Roe Your Vote t-shirt, albeit a bit rumpled from sleeping in it last night.
The finished cake: 3 layers of chocolate cake (with a little espresso for good measure), chocolate buttercream crumb coat and filling, dark chocolate ganache outside, and chocolate chips on top.
My 12-year-old behind her lunch salad, which includes romaine lettuce from the garden, chopped tomatoes, red onion, pecans, crumbled blue cheese, and grilled chicken, with apple chips on the side.
My 12-year-old standing next to a set of mushrooms she drew on her bedroom wall with acrylic paint markers
Trump Says Reflecting Pool Will Likely Need to Be Drained The pool has taken on clouds of algae after a hasty renovation. A three-time Olympian was charged with destroying government property after he says he touched one of the strands of blue paint peeling off the pool’s bottom.
A rainbow of assorted buttons, on a hallway rug.
Results of a new CNN poll showing that the percent of men who agree that the US would be better off with 1950s gender roles has increased 6% since the 1990s, while, among women, that agreement has fallen by 12%, such that now, about 40% of men agree, compared to only about 25% of women
Embroidered icons representing A very big number for Musk becoming the first trillionaire A UFC claw for the debacle on the White House lawn A classic Knicks logo for their Championship win A bathroom sign for an important court ruling on trans inclusion A pen for Trump's initial agreement to a deal with Iran A G7 logo for the meeting of key leaders in France A bottle of ranch dressing for World Cup visitors' obsession with American food A paintbrush with blue paint for the ongoing ridiculousness with the reflecting pool and the algae and the peeling paint
Photo of a typed English paper about Heart of Darkness, with a margin note saying "Use an em dash or 2 hyphens. (Nitpicky, but valuable to know for college)."
Screenshot of Am I in the Weights report for Jessica Calarco, showing 710 strength and top 5%
Collage with a photo of Trump's combover going rogue in the wind, above a photo of the blue paint peeling off the bottom of the reflecting pool and floating in the water
Inside view, frog pond cake