Inking of Immunity

Dr. Bill Chopik (he/his/him) is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University. He studies how close relationships—and the people in them—change over time and across situations. Dr. Chopik’s work examines phenomena as broad as how relationships and social institutions shape development and as focused as the mechanisms that underlie the link between close relati...

Pym Avery is a revolutionary tattoo artist who began tattooing in 1987 at just 19. Travelling around Europe in a van and learning the craft entirely on her own, She opened her first tattoo shop in southern Germany in 1995, making her among the first women to break into a strongly male-dominated trade. More than three decades later, her journey is laid out in her memoir Show Time (published 2024),...

Aaron Deter-Wolf is a Prehistoric Archaeologist with the Tennessee Division of Archaeology in Nashville, where his responsibilities include managing ancient Native American sites on State-owned lands and conducting archaeological excavations and research. In addition to his work in Tennessee, for the past decade Aaron has been a leading researcher in developing the archaeological study of tattooin...

Michelle Myles started tattooing in 1991 when tattooing was still illegal in New York City. When tattooing was legalized in 1997 Michelle and Brad opened Daredevil Tattoo on Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side. We discuss with her the history of tattooing in New York, some of which she covers on her walking tour of the Bowery, and her own personal experience as a tattoo artist working in New York...