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# What Really Drives Gun Violence? Matthew Yglesias and Jens Ludwig in Conversation
- URL: https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/what-really-drives-gun-violence-matthew-yglesias-and-jens-ludwig-in-conversation/
- Published: 2025-04-15T18:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-24T21:37:09.000Z
- Description: A conversation about “Unforgiving Places” — and why most shootings grow out of fleeting, emotionally charged moments, not the motives we assume
- Author: Jens Ludwig
- Tags: Events, Gun Violence, #Import 2026-02-26 13:34

What if everything we thought we knew about gun violence was wrong? Vital City, NYU Wagner School, and the Institute for Public Knowledge are hosting a conversation between journalist Matthew Yglesias and University of Chicago behavioral economist Jens Ludwig exploring Ludwig’s new book, “Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence.” Drawing on decades of research and immersive fieldwork in Chicago, Ludwig shows that most gun violence is the result of fleeting, emotionally charged moments — and that the solutions can be simple, sidestepping the political debates that have hampered progress on one of the United States’ most intractable problems. 

Speakers:

- Jens Ludwig is the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, Pritzker Director of the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab, co-director of the Education Lab and co-director of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s working group on the economics of crime.
- Matt Yglesias is the author of "Slow Boring," a Substack of pragmatic takes on politics and public policy.