Sociology Ruins Everything: Recent Episodes
Matt Sedlar
The sociological imagination is great, but really, it ruins all your favorite things. This podcast, hosted by Matt Sedlar, takes a topic each month and explores it from a sociological perspective. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sociology-ruins-evrything/support
Collective action is the most effective way to bring about social change because it allows people to pool their resources and efforts to achieve a common goal. Strikes are one of the most useful forms of collective action because they can disrupt business operations and pressure employers to make concessions. With the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Writers Guild of America in the middle of a historic strike, this episode asks how did things get to this point and how does sociology fit into the conversation? In the episode, I'm joined by Kurt Scott, a WGA member, and Courtney Bell, a former SAG-AFTRA member and sociologist at George Mason University.
Show notes:
Entertainment Community Fund, https://entertainmentcommunity.org/
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What if I told you reality TV says a lot about the world around us? I'm sure you're skeptical, but hopefully, this episode will convince you that reality TV is worth paying attention to, especially for social scientists. Joining me are Danielle Lindemann, Associate Professor of Sociology at Lehigh University, and Maddy Rubin as we talk about viewing reality TV while using the sociological imagination.
Show notes
Lindemann, Danielle J. . 2022. True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Papacharissi, Zizi, and Andrew L. Mendelson. 2007. “An Exploratory Study of Reality Appeal: Uses and Gratifications of Reality TV Shows.” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 51(2):355–70. doi: 10.1080/08838150701307152.
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Not many people realize institutions and society regulate silence. The noise in our lives, both external and internal, is actually controlled by laws and norms, and that noise affects our physical and mental health. So what role do the social sciences play in this phenomenon? I'm joined by Leigh Marz and Justin Talbot-Zorn to talk about silence as a human right.
Show Notes
Chepesiuk, Ron. 2005. “Decibel Hell: The Effects of Living in a Noisy World.” Environmental Health Perspectives 113(1):A34–41. doi: 10.1289/ehp.113-a34.
Dillon, Liam, and Ben Poston. 2021. “Freeways Force out Residents in Communities of Color — Again.” Los Angeles Times.
Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast. 2021. "How Freeways Bulldoze California Communities of Color on Apple Podcasts.” Apple Podcasts. (https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/how-freeways-bulldoze-california-communities-of-color/id1280087136?i=1000542013424).
Hermes, Will. 2000. "The Story Of '4'33".' NPR, May 8.
Zorn, Justin, and Leigh Marz. 2022. Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise. New York, NY: Harper Wave, An Imprint pf HarperCollins Publishers.
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There are some wild theories about the Denver International Airport. But is it really the headquarters of the Illuminati, guarded by the demonic statue of a blue horse? Believe it or not, conspiracy theories like these can be useful to sociologists and other social scientists. They can teach us about a given society’s beliefs and general concerns and help us counter false beliefs. In this episode, I talk to Jesse Walker, book editor at Reason magazine and author of The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory (HarperCollins, 2013), as well as Stephanie Figueroa, public information officer at Denver International Airport.
Notes
DEN Files
https://www.flydenver.com/great_hall/denfiles
Rubino, J. (2020, March 3). Denver International Airport at 25: From Boondoggle to Boon. The Denver Post. Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://www.denverpost.com/2020/03/01/denver-airport-25-years-boondoggle-anniversary/
Walker. (2013). The United States of paranoia : a conspiracy theory (First edition.). Harper.
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062135562/reasonmagazineA/
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In the final episode of season one, I enlist the help of Ruth Yamamoto, PhD and certified improv instructor, to explore the role improv can play in improving science communication. Over the course of two one-and-a-half hour sessions, Ruth worked with me and other sociology graduate students on improv fundamentals. Did we improv(e) our confidence in public speaking? You'll have to listen to find out.
Show notes
Cohen, G. D., & The Center on Aging, Health & Humanities, The George Washington University (GW) (2006). The Creativity and Aging Study: The Impact of Professionally Conducted Cultural Programs on Older Adults. , (). Retrieved from https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/son_ncafacpubs/2
Yamamoto, R. H. (2021). Improv as creative aging: the perceived influences of theatrical improvisation on older adults. Activities, Adaptation & Aging, 45(3), 217-233. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01924788.2020.1763075
The Applied Improvisation Network
https://www.appliedimprovisationnetwork.org/
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How do we identify bullying and how do sociologists in particular study this phenomenon? This episode looks at the infamous Slap to examine whether bullying goes unrecognized among adults or whether we are applying the term too broadly. Sociologist Chris Donoghue, editor of the upcoming book The Sociology of Bullying, joins me to talk about definitions and how experiences in adolescents are guided by social structures.
Show notes
The Sociology of Bullying
https://nyupress.org/9781479803873/the-sociology-of-bullying/
Promo: DONOGHUE30-FM
Black Girl Nerds Podcast - The 2022 Oscars
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bgn-podcast-extra-the-2022-oscars/id1056793768?i=1000555521908
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The world is a mess, so let's talk about trauma. In this episode, I examine trauma in its many different forms and the ways social structures can create as well as mitigate its effects. I also ask if trauma claims can actually be good. You'll have to listen for the answer.
Show Notes
The Jane Addams Collective, "Mutual Aid, Trauma and Resiliency"
https://www.janeaddamscollective.org/matr
Jeffrey C. Alexander, Trauma: A Social Theory
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13762975-trauma
Judith Herman, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/542700.Trauma_and_Recovery
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What does Adam McKay's 2021 disaster film Don't Look Up say about the current discourse over climate change? In this episode, I talk with Nik Janos, Associate Professor of Sociology at California State University, Chico, whose research focuses on the intersection of urbanization and ecological crisis. In our discussion we cover the sociology of disaster, failures of science communication and actions people can take from the local to the global. Just a fair warning: If you enjoyed Don't Look Up, this episode might change your mind about some things.
Show notes
Janos, N. and C. McKendry. (fall 2021). Urban Cascadia and the Pursuit of Environmental Justice. University of Washington Press.
https://www.urbancascadia.com/
Green Space Notes
http://greenspacenotes.org/
Sutton, Barbara and Kari Marie Norgaard. 2013 “Cultures of Denial: Avoiding Knowledge of State Violations of Human Rights Violations in Argentina and the United States.”Sociological Forum 28(3): 495-524
http://pages.uoregon.edu/norgaard/pdf/Cultures-of-Denial-Sutton-Norgaard-2013.pdf
Emma Marris
https://www.emmamarris.com/
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What is marriage? What are the origins of marriage? What does it mean today? For this episode, I'm joined by Shannon Davis, associate dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs at George Mason University, Korea, and PhD student Courtney Bell in the podcast's first ever roundtable discussion.
Show notes
Davis, Shannon N. and Theodore N. Greenstein. 2020. Why Who Cleans Counts: What Housework Tells Us About American Family Life. Bristol, United Kingdom: Policy Press. https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/why-who-cleans-counts
Stephanie Coontz
https://www.stephaniecoontz.com/books
Nock, S. L. 1998. Marriage in men's lives. New York: Oxford University Press.
https://www.worldcat.org/title/marriage-in-mens-lives/oclc/39157563
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In this episode, I head to California to explore why there isn't enough housing and what the state and activists are doing about it. Joining me are New York Times reporter Conor Dougherty and YIMBY Law Executive Director Sonja Trauss. There might be some meditation and revelations along the way.
Show notes
Golden Gates: The Housing Crisis and a Reckoning for the American Dream
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/585765/golden-gates-by-conor-dougherty/
YIMBY Law
https://www.yimbylaw.org/
The Hidden History of Culver City Racism
https://la.streetsblog.org/2019/04/05/the-hidden-history-of-culver-city-racism/
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You've probably heard the term private equity, but you might not know what it does. This episode looks at how private equity is embedded in our everyday lives, funded by the institutions that surround us, and what kind of impact that has on us. It also explores how sociologists can study that impact. To learn more, I'm joined by economist Eileen Appelbaum, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and Dylan Nelson, a PhD Sociology student at the University of Michigan.
Show notes:
Private Equity at Work: When Wall Street Manages Main Street by Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt
https://www.russellsage.org/publications/private-equity-work
Center for Economic and Policy Research:
https://cepr.net
Dylan Nelson:
https://www.dylanknelson.com/
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This episode looks at what we think of witches and witchcraft and how historically these concepts have been used for political and social repression. But there's also another definition of "witch." I'm joined by cultural anthropologist Ashley Scrivner as we talk about cultural practices and forms of knowledge that challenge Western thinking.
Show notes:
Arthur Miller, "Why I Wrote The Crucible": https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/10/21/why-i-wrote-the-crucible
Exploring scientifically proven herbal aphrodisiacs: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3731873/
Matt Cummins on Bandcamp: https://mattcummins.bandcamp.com/
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
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We're hearing a lot about the return to "normal" after the COVID-19 pandemic, but what is "normal"? And should we return to "normal" when that's what got us in trouble in the first place? This episode is a deep dive into the idea of normality and the origins of sociology, itself -- with only a little bit of (censored) swearing thrown in. I also talk with Joseph Scimecca, professor of sociology at George Mason University, about how sociology has changed over time as normality has shifted. All of that in less than 18 minutes!
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In this episode, I explore roller skating -- its history and the role of the rink as a cultural institution. To explore this topic, I am joined by Alan Bacon, a trustee at the National Museum of Roller Skating and rink owner, and Jocelyn Marie Goode, founding director of the African-American Roller-Skate Museum. If you enjoyed this episode, below are some links worth checking out.
National Museum of Roller Skating
https://www.rollerskatingmuseum.org/
African-American Roller-Skate Museum
https://www.afamrollerskatemuseum.org
"Once Upon A Roller Skate" a narrative of roller skate history and black culture
https://www.afamrollerskatemuseum.org/learn
A Tribute to West Covina's Skate Junction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsbzI7a_xIY
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sociology-ruins-evrything/support
How are action movies shaped by our national identity and do they, in turn, reshape our personal identity? I'm joined by pop culture critic Chris Klimek as we talk about muscles and masculinity. In this episode, sociology ruins your favorite action blockbusters. Sorry.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sociology-ruins-evrything/support
Is the media part of civil society? Have political actors weaponized objectivity? Does anyone actually get Soylent Green references these days? All this and more when I'm joined by Liz Bent at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. There's also music by me and Lobo Loco.
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sociology-ruins-evrything/support