Dr. Jeremy Young: Taking to Twitter to Share Insights on the Angry Mob

Dr. Jeremy Young: Taking to Twitter to Share Insights on the Angry Mob

By Braxton Thornley

Dr. Jeremy Young knows a thing or two about angry mobs—or at least about the use of the term as a political bludgeon. As an Assistant Professor of History and Political Science, Young has seen the term deployed throughout American politics.

For this reason, when President Trump used the term during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings to describe his appointee’s accusers—and the accusers’ supporters—Young felt the need to weigh in. Ultimately, this “weighing in” resulted in Young writing his third op-ed for The Washington Post.

But The Post isn’t Young’s only platform; he also sports over 9,000 followers and wide recognition on Twitter. Last January when Young tweeted about a potential presidential run by Oprah Winfrey, he received over 1,500 likes and a re-tweet from Nate Silver of 538. And when the Kavanaugh hearings began to build into a crescendo, Young’s insights garnered nearly 11,500 re-tweets and over 26,000 likes.

Young’s work also exists in more academic realms. Having recently published a book through Cambridge University Press titled The Age of Charisma: Leaders, Followers, and Emotions in American Society, 1870-1940, Young is quick to note that his popular work and his academic work are just two pieces of who he is as an individual.

Perhaps most notably, though, Young sees himself as more than an expert and a scholar. He also sees himself as a teacher: “[Dixie State] is a very good fit for me. I really enjoy the opportunity to work closely with undergraduate students… this is a school where many students are very hungry for knowledge and very interested in learning.”

And although Young believes that “weighing in is a part of [his] teaching mission,” he’s quick to note that he keeps “partisanship out of the classroom.”

Follow Jeremy Young on Twitter: @jeremycyoung