Laura Clawson, born at the very end of 1976, is currently the Mellon Fellow in Sociology at Dartmouth College. She graduated from Wesleyan University and has a PhD in sociology from Princeton. She does not approve of academic PhD's being called "Dr." and in particular, "Dr. Laura" jokes will not go over well.

Politics were always an important part of Laura's life - her early memories include a strike picket line, a gay pride march, and untold Democratic Socialists of America potluck dinners. She participated in the first AFL-CIO Union Summer and other political activities during college, but was not part of an active political community in 2003 when, with great relief, she discovered Daily Kos, which ultimately propelled her back into real-world political action.