
Author: Michael Zoorob

Profiling is a reality for Muslims in the US (Vanderbilt Hustler Re-post, 02/02/15)
The campus appropriately erupted against her callous words, but the actions Swain prescribed – chiefly, “serious monitoring of Islamic organizations” – are not just the daydreams of a strident Islamophobe. They are reality. For law enforcement and intelligence agencies, profiling is policy and, for Muslim Americans, harassment is routine.
Equality in name only? How Vanderbilt promotes a discriminatory insurance policy (Vanderbilt Hustler Re-post)
While a student, I wrote several articles for Vanderbilt’s campus newspaper, but all of these were lost from the Vanderbilt Hustler website (along with all historic website content) sometime in the summer of 2016. I’m […]
Suicide is not inevitable (Vanderbilt Hustler re-post)
I wrote several articles for Vanderbilt’s campus newspaper, but all of these were lost from the Vanderbilt Hustler website (along with all historic website content) sometime in the summer of 2016. I’m going to try […]

The American Revolutionaries might have been Thugs
It’s really odd, actually, how the myth of the American founding that I learned in elementary school is reasonably transparent about the fact that this country was founded by thugs who had no respect for the rule […]

Nashville’s Policing Data Show Uneven Racial Burden from Operation Safer Streets
Operation Safer Streets (or OSS for short) has become the epicenter of Nashville’s debates over policing and racial justice. Every weekend, the MNPD funnels police officers to hotspots for gangs or crime, arguing that a […]
When Knowledge Becomes Power—Academics who became politicians
Since I’m studying (or, really, am about to start studying) academic political science towards a PhD in Government, I get asked a lot if I want to become a politician, which seems like a strange […]
Beautiful Etymology
Anandamide, the endogenous cannabanoid neurotransmitter; name comes from “the Sanskrit word ananda, which means ‘joy, bliss, delight.’” (I guess Vishy Anand, the chess player, gets his family name from this word too!) Coprolalia, the word for clinical profanity. Coprolalia […]
Summer Reading Goals and Progress
I have spent some time reading this summer. And a lot of time listening to Audiobooks. Not sure what my goals are, but I do like to keep on learning. I’ll track some progress and […]

Is there systematic gender discrimination in Metro Nashville Employment? Part 1
Using the same municipal employee data from data.nashville.gov as the previous post, here I am looking at whether there is evidence of gender discrimination in the salaries of Metro Nashville government employees. Obviously this is a pretty […]