Office Hours

Teacher Spotlight: Courtney Bell

Amber Powell — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 19:00:59 +0000

In this episode, guest host Amber Joy chats with Courtney Bell, a high school teacher in North Minneapolis who was a candidate for the 2018 Minnesota Teacher of the Year Award. In a recent article by the Star Tribune, Bell talks about her work teaching sociology to high school students in North Minneapolis. Bell discusses how she encourages her high school students to see themselves as budding sociologists, keeps them engaged in sociological research methods, and uses lessons from sociology to build what she calls emancipatory education.

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Best of 2017: Mimi Schippers on Polyamory and Polyqueer Sexualities

Allison Nobles — Fri, 29 Dec 2017 14:00:53 +0000

In this episode, guest host Allison Nobles talks to Tulane professor Mimi Schippers about her book Beyond Monogamy: Polyamory and the Future of Polyqueer Sexualities. The book interrogates “compulsory monogamy”, or our cultural disposition towards being in a relationship with only one other person at a time. Schippers argues that this compulsory disposition towards monogamy limits the ways that we can view relationships, and reproduces various kinds of inequalities.

Download Office Hours #131

Best of 2017: Lisa Wade on American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus

Amber Powell and Allison Nobles — Fri, 22 Dec 2017 14:00:03 +0000

In this episode, guest hosts Amber Powell and Allison Nobles talk to Associate Professor of Sociology at Occidental College Lisa Wade about her book American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus. The conversation focuses on interrogating what ‘hookup culture’ really is— and how college students make sense of themselves and their positions within (and excluded from) the culture. Using students’ self-reported experiences with sex on campus, Wade is able to narrate the complexities involved in navigating this ‘hookup culture’.

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Trevor Hoppe on Punishing Disease

Caty Taborda-Whitt — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 16:00:43 +0000

In this episode, guest host Caty Taborda-Whitt sits down with Trevor Hoppe to discuss his new book, Punishing Disease: HIV and the Criminalization of Sickness, which looks at the public health response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The conversation focuses on how this infectious disease became a target for criminalization through policies and laws that punished the sick.

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Michael Schudson on The News Media

j. Siguru Wahutu — Mon, 19 Jun 2017 17:00:54 +0000

In this episode, guest host Wahutu talks to Professor of Journalism at Columbia University Michael Schudson about his new book The News Media: What Everyone Needs to Know. The conversation focuses on the history of news as well as how the public makes sense of news today. Of particular interest is the legacy of the Watergate scandal on journalism and the east coast’s position historically as a center for news production.

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Marianne Cooper on Families in Insecure Times

Sarah Catherine Billups — Mon, 01 May 2017 14:30:46 +0000

Stanford sociologist Marianne Cooper is a leading expert in the field of gender and family dynamics. Her latest book, Cut Adrift: Families in Insecure Times, details her efforts to understand how families representing an array of social classes perceive and manage contemporary economic anxieties. She and guest-host Sarah Catherine Billups discuss the many ways that these problems often fall to wives and mothers, even amongst those who have transcended gender boundaries in professional life.

Download Office Hours #133

Theda Skocpol on the Koch Network

Jack Delehanty — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 19:37:43 +0000

Our guest today is Theda Skocpol, the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University, and the director of the Scholar Strategy Network, a network of professors that seeks to improve public policy and strengthen democracy by organizing scholars working in America’s colleges and universities, and connecting them and their research to policy makers, citizen’s associations, and the media.

Professor Skocpol is an expert on the history of American civic and political institutions. Her recent work has applied this knowledge to the Tea Party, the Koch Brothers, and the range of organizations currently marshalling resources and political energy on the right and the left. Today, we talk with her about how the Koch Brothers have transformed American democracy, and whether any corollaries are emerging on the political left.

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Sergio Chávez on Border Lives and Transnationalism

Matt Gunther — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 22:11:43 +0000

With the election of Donald Trump, much has been made about the construction of barriers to entry along the US border with Mexico. But while Trump has placed particular emphasis on the image of a wall designed to limit illegal movement across this border, thousands of workers travel lawfully from cities like Tijuana into the US — and back again — every day. In today’s episode, I talk with Rice University’s Sergio Chávez about his new book Border Lives: Fronterizos, Transnational Migrants, and Commuters in Tijuana, an ethnographic product of many years spent traveling (and waiting to travel) across the border with commuting workers. Dr. Chávez describes the incredible strain that border controls and bureaucracies place on low wage workers, but he also provides a remarkable account of the way that many workers leverage these difficulties into relationships and livelihood strategies. We also explore the implications of his findings for a relatively new approach to the scholarship on immigration, which social scientists call transnationalism.

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Natasha Warikoo on The Diversity Bargain

Neeraj Rajasekar — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 16:34:54 +0000

In this episode, guest host Neeraj Rajasekar talks to Harvard professor Natasha Warikoo about her book The Diversity Bargain: And Other Dilemmas of Race, Admissions, and Meritocracy at Elite Universities. The book centers on conversations with white students and students of color at Harvard, Brown, and Oxford around their understandings of diversity and diversity programs. Through these interviews, Warikoo illustrates how elite students make sense of their positions at elite universities, the merit involved, and the role privilege plays.

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Stephen Ellingson on Religious Environmentalism

Caty Taborda-Whitt — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 21:18:41 +0000

In his new book, To Care for Creation: the Emergence of the Religious Environmental Movement, Professor Stephen Ellingson explores new — and often localized — environmental activism among mainstream religious groups in the United States. Through interviews with over 60 organizations, he tells the story of how activists overcome the institutional, political, and cultural barriers that have typically prevented religious organizations from investing in environmental causes.

Download Office Hours #128

Vanesa Ribas on Immigration to the New South

Erik Kojola — Mon, 12 Dec 2016 19:00:37 +0000

Prior to the 1990s, the sociology of immigration focused mainly on just a handful of major cities where most new arrivals had settled throughout the 20th century. But more recently, immigrants have been moving to new destinations in the rural South and Midwest, drawing scholars like today’s guest, Vanesa Ribas, to closely monitor how race and labor dynamics might be playing out in these smaller communities. Dr. Ribas’ new book, On the Line: Slaughterhouse Lives and the Making of the New South, examines these changes through a case study centered around a meat packing plant in rural North Carolina.

Download Office Hours #127

Douglas Hartmann on Midnight Basketball

Matthew Aguilar-Champeau — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 23:07:33 +0000

In this episode, I talk to University of Minnesota Professor and Editor-In-Chief of TheSocietyPages Douglas Hartmann about his book Midnight Basketball: Race, Sports, and Neoliberal Social Policy. This conversation focuses on a 1990s crime initiative, known as midnight basketball, which aimed to curb crime by setting up late night basketball leagues in inner cities. While initially popular with democrats and republicans , including president George H. W. Bush, the program would eventually fall, being attacked by right-wing politicians and radio hosts alike, but it left behind a complex history with many implications for sports, race, and social policy today.

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Joel Best on the Creepy Clown Craze

Ryan Larson — Mon, 31 Oct 2016 17:14:11 +0000

Across the country, sightings of people dressed as “creepy clowns” standing in forests, on roads, in doorways has exploded and captured part of the national imagination. A lot of people were unsure what to make of this odd development. Some call it a clown “invasion”, some call it a clown “uprising”, and some call it the “Great Clown Scare”— yet most agree that it is indeed creepy. In this episode, guest host Ryan Larson talks to University of Delaware professor Joel Best, author of Damned Lies and Statistics and Social Problems. This conversations focuses on the context of the recent clown sightings around the nation, and how they connect to other popular mythologies.

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Jooyoung Lee on Blowin’ Up: Rap Dreams in South Central

Matthew Aguilar-Champeau — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 19:39:12 +0000

In this episode, I talk to University of Toronto professor Jooyoung Lee, author of Blowin’ Up: Rap Dreams in South Central. This conversation focuses on the book as well as Professor Lee’s experiences writing the book. For some context, set in South Central Los Angeles, Professor Lee worked in and around Project Blowed, an open mic venue that functioned as a kind of hub for a large underground hip-hop community in Los Angeles. For some vocabulary, “Blowin’ Up” refers to getting attention/ fame/ money/ recognition in wider society and a “Blowedian” is a member of Project Blowed. Our conversations covers topics from what it means to be an insider in ethnography, to Professor Lee’s experiences ‘defending the block’ from intruders with his dance skills.

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Aldon Morris on The Scholar Denied

Enid Logan — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 22:30:39 +0000

Northwestern University professor Aldon Morris discusses W.E.B. Du Bois and the status of his work in the sociological canon. In this special hour-long episode, we explore the ongoing tension between social justice activism and the scientific features of contemporary sociology, especially as it is experienced by many black scholars today. Morris’ new book is called The Scholar Denied: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology.

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Dalton Conley on the Use of Genomic Biology in Sociology

Sarah Catherine-Billups and Caty Taborda — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 17:26:20 +0000

Office Hours is back for fall semester! We welcome new producer Matthew Aguilar-Champeau, whose soundscaping includes a musical refresh courtesy of The Custodian of Records.

Hosts Sarah Catherine-Billups and Caty Taborda kick things off with Princeton professor Dalton Conley, author of Being Black, Living in the Red and the popular sociology textbook You May Ask Yourself. Their conversation pries into the sometimes controversial, but always provocative intersection between sociology and genetic science.

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Doug McAdam on American Racial Politics and Social Movements

Jack Delehanty — Mon, 16 May 2016 14:08:14 +0000

In this episode, host Jack Delehanty speaks with Stanford sociologist Doug McAdam, whose 2014 co-authored book Deeply Divided: Racial Politics and Social Movements in Postwar America traces the roots of polarization in today’s politics back to the national struggle over civil rights in the 1960s. In their conversation, Jack and Doug focus particularly on tensions between modern social movements and the interests of party leaders developing in this year’s presidential election. They consider how the ongoing national conversation about racial inequality might be changing how Americans relate to major political parties.

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Jane Ward on Sex Between Straight White Men

Allison Nobles — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 16:49:17 +0000

New host Allison Nobles interviews Jane Ward, a professor of gender and sexuality studies at the University of California Riverside. Dr Ward’s most recent book, Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men, explores the relationship between whiteness, masculinity, and sexuality. She explains how sex between straight, white men actually reaffirms their straightness, rather than calling it into question. In fact, she argues that homosexual acts are a necessary part of heterosexuality and have been since these categories were created. Not Gay clearly illustrates the complexity of human sexuality at the intersections of race and gender.

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Lois Lee on Recognizing the Non-religious

Jacqui Frost — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 15:14:18 +0000

While religious rhetoric pervades everyday American culture and politics, the population of Americans who identify with no organized religion has actually quadrupled in just the last 25 years. Worldwide, the non-religious now make up the third largest “religious” category, following Christianity and Islam. In this episode, guest host Jacqui Frost interviews Dr. Lois Lee, whose new book Recognizing the Non-religious: Reimagining the Secular explores the variety of beliefs and identities found within this growing population. They discuss how atheism, the non-religious identity that receives by far the most media attention, is only one non-religious identity among many. Dr. Lee describes findings from her research on non-religious groups and individuals in Britain and the ways they think about, enact, and even wear their non-religion in daily life.

Download Office Hours #119

Best of 2015: David Pellow on Nonhuman Members of the Community

Erik Kojola — Sat, 26 Dec 2015 18:00:21 +0000

This week, David Naguib Pellow drops in for a chat about his latest book, Total Liberation: The Power and Promise of Animal Rights and the Radical Earth Movement. In it, Dr Pellow explores how environmental and animal rights movements raise important questions about the criteria for membership in society. He explains how these questions inform crucial ethical debates in our culture today. Dr Pellow is a professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

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Andrew Perrin on American Political Publics

Jack Delehanty — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 01:47:01 +0000

Heading into a new presidential election cycle, we reconnect with 2008 guest Dr Andrew Perrin to talk about changes in the American political public. In his new book, American Democracy: From Tocqueville to Town Halls to Twitter, Perrin brings a uniquely sociological approach to the study of democracy. More than polls, candidates, and institutions he shows how major elections become about the performance of certain “publics” as much as they decide which people should lead us.

Find that 2008 episode here, and while you’re at it, check out this 2015 TSP Roundtable in which he talks Tea Party and identity politics.

Download Office Hours #118

Sanyu Mojola on Love, Money, and HIV

Sarah Catherine Billups — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 21:53:06 +0000

In this episode, University of Colorado sociologist Sanyu Mojola discusses her work on HIV rates among young African women. She discusses social mechanisms – specifically the entanglement of love and money – that lead to higher rates of HIV death among African females compared to African males. She also considers why money holds a value for African women above and beyond its economic value, specifically pointing to its cultural power and ability to advance women toward modernity.

Her new book earned the 2015 American Sociological Association’s Sex and Gender Section Distinguished Book Award. It’s
called Love, Money, and HIV: Becoming a Modern African Woman in the Age of AIDS.

Download Office Hours #117

Sharmila Rudrappa on Global Surrogacy

Sarah Catherine Billups — Fri, 30 Oct 2015 18:42:34 +0000

In this episode, we step into the global market for surrogate mothers with University of Texas sociologist Sharmila Rudrappa. She explains why India has become an increasingly popular destination for American couples searching for affordable pregnancy assistance. She also considers why most Indian women who become surrogates come from working class backgrounds, and how their experiences as wage workers inform what kind of value gets placed on this new form of “labor”. Her book is called Discounted Life: The Price of Global Surrogacy in India.

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Joanna Kempner on the Gender Politics of Migraine

Matt Gunther — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 20:43:58 +0000

Because they suffer from an invisible affliction, people with migraines are sometimes suspected of “making up” their disease in order to avoid performing unwanted duties. Even within psychology, women were once suspected of self-inducing their own migraines as a result of their inability to cope with the chaos of daily life. These days, neurobiological research has helped to establish migraine as a legitimate disease, with causes rooted within the organic structure of certain brains. However, as Rutgers professor Joanna Kempner explains, even this paradigm shift tends to imply that the feminine “migraine brain” differs from the masculine “normal brain” in problematic ways. In Not Tonight: Migraine and the Politics of Gender and Health, she explores how cultural assumptions about gender and pain continue to inform how migraines are diagnosed, treated, and stigmatized.

Download Office Hours #115

Peter Hall on Sociological Memoir

Matt Gunther — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 20:09:09 +0000

In this episode, Colorado State professor emeritus Peter M. Hall drops in to talk about his forthcoming memoir, “Growing up Red, White, and Jewish: the Personal and the Political”. We discuss the potential of memoir as a sociological method, and we consider how telling one’s life story helps to reshape identity in the context of place and history. An early draft of Peter’s memoir is available on ResearchGate.

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Allison Pugh on The Tumbleweed Society

Lisa Gulya — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 15:46:29 +0000

It’s no secret that shifting economic winds have driven American workers to take on more work and more job changes today than in previous generations. But what does this shift mean in a culture where so many invest so much of their identities in their jobs? In this episode, guest host Lisa Gulya interviews professor Allison Pugh about her new book, The Tumbleweed Society: Working and Caring in an Age of Insecurity. In it, Dr Pugh investigates some of the ways that the precarious conditions in today’s workplace have generated ripple effects in the nature of relationships and family life. She explains how changes in obligations at work shape how we think about obligations and commitment in the most intimate corners of life.

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Ellen Berrey on the Enigma of Diversity

Matt Gunther — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 16:05:53 +0000

Diversity is one of those concepts that is all but taken for granted as a good and desirable quality in American social life. However, as professor Ellen Berrey explains, the actual institutions and practices designed to promote diversity can sometimes obscure real inequalities and limit the ways we think about social justice. Her new book, The Enigma of Diveristy: The Language of Race and the Limits of Racial Justice, chronicles three cases – one at a university, one in a neighborhood, and one at a large corporation – that demonstrate some of the problems that the idealization of diversity raises for minorities in America today.

Download Office Hours #112

Erik Schneiderhan on The Size of Others’ Burdens

Matt Gunther — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 23:40:28 +0000

The University of Toronto’s Erik Schneiderhan drops by to chat about his brand new book, The Size of Others’ Burdens: Barack Obama, Jane Addams, and the Politics of Helping Others. In it, Dr. Schneideran delves into the seemingly parallel biographies of Obama and Adams in order to understand the cultural pressures facing public servants in America.

As we discuss their many surprising similarities, we also explore some of the productive tensions that emerge from a sociological approach to biography, and the many interesting issues that arise from a biographical approach to studying culture and history.

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Lisa Cacho on Social Death and the Racialized Construction of Criminals

Stephen Suh — Fri, 10 Jul 2015 19:14:16 +0000

In this week’s episode, guest host Stephen Suh interviews Dr Lisa Cacho, who is an associate professor of Latina/Latino studies and Asian American studies at the University of Illinois. Together, they discuss Dr Cacho’s recent book Social Death: Racialized Rightlessness and the Criminalization of the Unprotected. In it, Dr Cacho explains the sociological concept of “social death” and how it often applies to racial minorities in America. Her book explores how the notion of a racial Other contributes to the criminalization of people on the basis of status, rather than their behavior.

Download Office Hours #110

Greta Krippner on the Politics of Financial Crisis

Erik Kojola — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 16:49:11 +0000

University of Michigan professor Greta Krippner offers a sociological perspective on changes that have made the American economy dangerously dependent on credit and speculation in recent decades. Her book, Capitalizing on Crisis, describes the government’s role in supporting this system, even as it continues to spiral through periodic disaster.

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Michaela DeSoucey on Food and Cultural Authenticity

Matt Gunther — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 15:23:01 +0000

Professor Michaela DeSoucey drops in to chat about consumer culture and the many political projects that shape our tastes for cuisine ranging from foie gras to craft beer. She discusses some of the challenges facing ethnographers who study taste, and we also consider how the industrial scale of modern food production may have leveled cultural practices once reserved for the wealthy.

Dr DeSoucey’s forthcoming book is called Contested Tastes: The Politics of Foie Gras in the U.S. and France.

Download Office Hours #108

Susan Terrio on Children in US Immigration Custody

Lisa Gulya — Sat, 23 May 2015 20:44:09 +0000

Professor Susan Terrio of Georgetown University discusses her new book, Whose Child Am I? Unaccompanied, Undocumented Children in U.S. Immigration Custody. In it, Dr Terrio considers the fraught relationship between the American government and the thousands of child detainees placed under both its care and prosecution. Her work reveals how the immigration system shapes the boundaries of childhood, culpability, and the American Dream.

Download Office Hours #107

Joyce Bell on Social Work and the Black Power Movement

Matt Gunther — Tue, 05 May 2015 17:48:02 +0000

In this episode, professor Joyce Bell explains the legacy of activists in community organizations that emerged as a result of the Black Power movement in the 1960s and 70s. Her work demonstrates both the resources and tensions that radical social movements bring to institutions in civil society. Her new book is called The Black Power Movement and American Social Work.

Download Office Hours #106

Victor Rios on Policing Black and Latino Boys

Sarah Shannon — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 03:49:38 +0000

Guest host Sarah Shannon interviews Victor Rios, professor of sociology at the University of California at Santa Barbara. In his recent ethnography, Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys, Dr. Rios searches for ways that police and a culture of punishment cause boys of color to internalize fatalistic attitudes about class and race. His book is the winner of several awards, including the American Sociological Association’s Oliver Cromwell Cox Book Award.

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Hahrie Han on Organizing Political Activists

Evan Stewart — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 20:20:50 +0000

In this episode, Wellesley College professor Hahrie Han discusses some of the findings from her book, How Organizations Develop Activists: Civic Associations and Leadership in the 21st Century. In it, Dr Han explores how modern political organizations employ new strategies to inspire action and enthusiasm in the digital age.

Download Office Hours #104

Tim Pippert on Diversity in College Recruitment Brochures

Matthew Aguilar-Champeau — Sun, 28 Dec 2014 22:31:02 +0000

In this episode, we talk to Tim Pippert, Associate Professor of Sociology at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. In his recent co-authored paper, “We’ve Got Minorities, Yes We Do: Visual Representations of Racial and Ethnic Diversity In College Recruitment Materials“, Pippert explores the over-representation of students of color on college brochures throughout the United States. In this episode, we discuss, the over-representation of students of color in brochures, the motivation of colleges to over-represent, and the meaning of diversity on college campuses.

Download Office Hours #102

Leta Hong Fincher on Gender Inequality in China

Anne Kaduk — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 21:29:25 +0000

In this episode, award winning journalist Leta Hong Fincher drops by to discuss her new book, Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China. The Society Pages’ Anne Kaduk asks her to explain the reasons behind increasing marginalization of women in China, both in state policy and public discourse.

Download Office Hours #101

Emily Bazelon on Translating the Social Sciences

Kyle Green — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 19:40:39 +0000

In this episode we speak to Emily Bazelon. Emily is former senior editor at Slate, a New York Times Magazine staff writer, and the Truman Capote Fellow for Creative Writing and Law at Yale Law School. We asked Emily to join us today as she is one of the most visible translators and disseminators of social science research.

This episode also marks a milestone, as it is the 100th episode of Office Hours. Sarah Lageson and I, Kyle Green, have enjoyed producing and hosting the podcast for the past few years and we are now passing it on to the new graduate editorial board at the society pages.

We will however be directing our efforts towards a new podcast on research methods in practice called Give Methods a Chance, find us at thesocietypages.org/methods .

Thanks for listening!

Download Episode #100!!!

Michael Burawoy on Global Social Movements

Matt Gunther — Fri, 24 Oct 2014 05:05:26 +0000

Famed sociologist Michael Burawoy visits to share his thoughts on the common character of social movements happening throughout the world today. Michael is the former president of both the American and International Sociological Associations, and he is widely credited as a master of placing everyday life in the context of global and historical forces. Our own Erik Kojola asks Michael about his vision for the future of social movement research, as well as the mounting problems that face public universities today.

Download Office Hours #99

Ken Kolb on Moral Wages

Matt Gunther — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 16:42:35 +0000

In today’s episode, Furman University professor Ken Kolb joins us to discuss his new book Moral Wages: The Emotional Dilemmas of Victim Advocacy and Counseling. Ken explains a rich case study, in which he finds workers motivated by emotional rewards rather than money or status. We discuss the strengths and drawbacks of a public service sector that relies heavily on moral reinforcement.

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Belinda Wheaton on The Cultural Politics of Lifestyle Sports

Kyle Green — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 21:50:12 +0000

Today we are joined by Belinda Wheaton. Belinda is a Principle Research Fellow in Sport and Leisure Cultures at the University of Brighton, UK. Belinda has published extensively on informal sports including articles, multiple edited volumes, and the recently published The Cultural Politics of Lifestyle Sports. We discuss why lifestyle sports are worthy of academic interest, race and California surf culture, and acts of political resistance.

Download Office Hours #97

Chad Lavin on Eating Anxiety

Matt Gunther — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 23:39:33 +0000

In this episode, political scientist Chad Lavin discusses his new book, Eating Anxiety: The Perils of Food Politics. Chad’s work explores how our experiences with food shape popular ideas about identity, authenticity, and responsibility. He speaks with us about the political meanings of diet in a globalized society, and some limitations of the local food movement. Chad is a professor at Virginia Tech, where he teaches in the political science department and at ASPECT – the Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought.

Download Office Hours #95

Tristan Bridges on Hybrid Masculinities and Sexual Aesthetics

Kyle Green — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 03:50:22 +0000

Today we are joined by Tristan Bridges. Tristan is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at The College at Brockport, State University of New York. Tristan researches and blogs on issues related to gender, sexuality, inequality, and space at Inequality by (Interior) Design and Feminist Reflections, the newest Community Page at The Society Pages. We discuss Tristan’s recently published article “A Very ”Gay” Straight?: Hybrid Masculinities, Sexual Aesthetics, and the Changing Relationship between Masculinity and Homophobia,” that is part of his larger book project tentatively entitled “Othering Other Men: Transformations in Gender and Politics among Men.”

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John Skrentny on Racial Realism and Civil Rights

Sarah Esther Lageson — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 13:55:54 +0000

In this episode, we talk with John D. Skrentny, Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies (CCIS) at UC-San Diego. His work focuses on public policy, law and inequality. Today we discuss his recent book After Civil Rights: Racial Realism in the New American Workplace.

Download Office Hours #94

Peter McGraw and Joel Warner on Humor

Richie LeDonne — Mon, 19 May 2014 21:37:13 +0000

In this episode, guest host Richie LeDonne speaks with Peter McGraw, a marketing and psychology professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, and journalist Joel Warner on their new book, The Humor Code. We talk about their travels around the world in search of what makes things funny, how comedians create humor, and how laughs are used to cope with tragedy and wield political power.

Download Office Hours #93

Osagie Obasogie on Race and (Color)Blindness

Sarah Esther Lageson — Mon, 12 May 2014 16:35:32 +0000

In this episode we talk with Osagie Obasogie, Professor of Law at University of California – Hastings. We talk about his book Blinded by Sight: Seeing Race Through the Eyes of the Blind. In this book he asks: how do blind people understand race? By engaging in qualitative research with individuals who have been totally blind since birth, this project provides an empirical basis from which to rethink core assumptions embedded in social and legal approaches to race and discrimination.

Download Office Hours #92

Lane Kenworthy on Inequality and Social Policy

Evan Stewart — Mon, 05 May 2014 16:32:30 +0000

This week we talk with Lane Kenworthy, Professor of Sociology and Political Science at the University of Arizona. Lane studies causes and consequences of poverty, inequality, economic growth, and social policy in the United States and other affluent countries, and recently published Social Democratic America, a look at the current state of inequality in the U.S. and what can be done to fix it. We touch on a number of hot policy issues and discuss the role of the sociologist in producing relevant research and writing for public audiences.

Download Office Hours #91

Discussing the Civic Imagination

Arturo Baiocchi — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 19:29:07 +0000

Three sociologists, an anthropologist and a political scientist walk into a bar…and the result is a new book on the state, and emerging new forms, of civic participation in contemporary America. While we seem to be living an age marked by political apathy and growing distrust for government and political institutions, there also seems to be a growing set of opportunities for Americans to “get involved” and “make a difference” in society. From new forms of grass roots activism, to the increasing importance that social media plays in organizing political movements, the ways Americans participate in social change have dramatically evolved even while pessimism toward politics has reached new historical lows.

In the new book The Civic Imagination a group of ethnographers provide a detailed, account of how civically active Americans understand, talk and act on their different visions for social change. Reporting on the ways that organizers envision their impacts on society, but also how they feel they have innovated new forms of participating, this multi-site ethnography challenges assertions that we live in a political age driven American apathy. At the same time, this book reminds us of the limitations, if not blinders, of these new forms of political involvement, particularly revolving issues of inequality. So before you download that new Social Justice mobile app, or organize your next Occupy event at the public library, take a listen to our interview with the authors of the Civic Imagination: Making a Difference in American Political Life

Gianpaolo Baiocchi is an Associate Professor of Sociology at New York University

Elizabeth A. Bennett is assistant Professor of International Affairs at Lewis & Clark College

Alissa Cordner is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Whitman College.

Peter Taylor Klein is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Environmental and Urban Studies at Bard College.

Stephanie Savell is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at Brown University.

Download Office Hours #90

Matt Wray on the ‘Suicide Belt’

Scott Demuth — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 18:38:07 +0000

This week we are joined by Matt Wray, a professor at Temple University, where he teaches sociology of race, culture, and health. Matt has researched suicide rates in Las Vegas, the city with the highest metropolitan suicide rate in the U.S. He is currently at work on a book about the “Suicide Belt” in the American West. In addition to his work on suicide, Matt has written extensively on the topic of whiteness and white identity. We discuss Matt’s current work on the Suicide Belt and explore the contributions sociologists can make to the study of suicide.

Download Office Hours #89

Samira Kawash on Candy

Kyle Green — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 03:44:32 +0000

This week we are joined by Samira Kawash to discuss her book Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure. Samira is a professor emerita at Rutgers University. During our conversation we discuss the important but ignored place candy has occupied in the American conscious, the many shifting meanings attached to the sugary treats, and what can be learned from the increasingly blurred line between food and candy. You can read more of Samira’s work at www.CandyProfessor.com.

Download Office Hours #88

Colter Ellis on the Boundary Labor of Beef Production

Sarah Esther Lageson — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 17:15:56 +0000

In this episode, we talk with Colter Ellis, Assistant Professor of Sociology and the Center for Rural Studies at Sam Houston University. Professor Ellis recently published a piece in The Sociological Quarterly that examines cattle producers’ work in conventional U.S. beef production. We talk through his ethnographic project into how cattle producers express emotional connection to cattle, but also treat cattle as economic assets.

Download Office Hours #87

Kathryn Henne on Sport, Sex Testing, and Fairplay

Kyle Green — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 02:37:22 +0000

Today we are joined by Kathryn Henne. Kathryn is a Research Fellow at the Regulatory Institutions Network, a research center housed at the Australian National University and also a fellow of the Research School of Asia and the Pacific. Kathryn joins us to talk about her article “The ‘Science’ of Fair Play in Sport: Gender and the Politics of Testing”, which will appear in the forthcoming issue of Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. We discuss the shifting models of sex testing used by the International Olympic Committee, efforts to enforce the male female binary, and assumptions about fair play and the natural body.

Download Office Hours #86

Knowledge Production and Public Engagement (a Panel Discussion)

Kyle Green — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 16:40:40 +0000

Nicholas Kristof’s recent critique of sociology, political science, and the humanities for effectively isolating themselves from larger and more public discussions of social issues has resulted in a myriad of academic responses. In this episode of the office hours we share the audio of a recent panel of faculty at the University of Minnesota including co-founder of the The Society Pages’ Doug Hartmann, responding to Kristof’s essay.

*If you are interested in hearing the question and answer session that followed this discussion, please follow this link to the Humphrey School of Public Affairs website.

Download Office Hours #85

David Schalliol on Sociologically Informed Urban Photography

Kyle Green — Sun, 09 Mar 2014 22:15:38 +0000

Today we are joined by David Schalliol. David is currently in the sociology program at the University of Chicago. His work focuses on the processes that facilitate social organization and disorganization in urban context. David is the author of the photography book Isolated Building Studies. His recently published, photography filled essay “Debt and Darkness in Detroit” can be found on The Society Pages. David joins us today to talk about the relationship between sociology and photography, and his use of both to understand the built environment.

Download Office Hours #84

Brian Southwell on Social Networks and Popular Understanding of Science and Health

Sarah Esther Lageson — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 14:27:47 +0000

In this episode, we talk with Brian Southwell about his new book, Social Networks and Popular Understanding of Science and Health: Sharing Disparities. Dr. Southwell is a Senior Research Scientist at the nonprofit research institute RTI International. He is also a faculty member at both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University. He writes about human engagement with electronic information, especially with regard to science and health, and is interested the constraints of memory and the amplifying effects of social networks.

Download Office Hours #83

Jennifer Rutherford on Zombies and a Cultural Obsession That Simply Won’t Die

Kyle Green — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 14:00:29 +0000

Zombies have taken a special place in our cultural imaginary—appearing in countless cult classics, B-grade horror movies, best selling literary novels (and retellings of best-selling literary novels), record breaking television shows, and are the inspiration for themed parades and pub crawls around the globe. In this episode, Jennifer Rutherford, sociologist, literary scholar, and Deputy Director of the Hawke Research Institute at the University of Southern Australia, helps us understand what can be learned from the cultural obsession. We discuss the power of the zombie as metaphor, the unrestrained drive of the undead, and the allure of becoming zombie at gatherings and celebrations.

Download Office Hours #82

Fleury-Steiner and Longazel on the The Pains of Mass Imprisonment

Sarah Esther Lageson — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 13:30:54 +0000

In this episode we talk with Benjamin Fleury-Steiner and Jamie Longazel about their new book, The Pains of Mass Imprisonmen t. Benjamin Fleury-Steiner is Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware. For more than a decade, he has taught graduate and undergraduate courses on inequality, mass imprisonment, and the death penalty. Jamie Longazel is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at the University of Dayton. He teaches and conducts research in the areas of crime and punishment, law and inequality, and immigration. In this episode. we talk about how the authors emphasize the magnitude of mass imprisonment in the United States, especially of people of color by the voices and lived experiences of individuals.

Download Office Hours #81

Emily Baxter on “We Are All Criminals”

Sarah Esther Lageson — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 00:37:24 +0000

In this episode, we talk with Emily Baxter, creator of the documentary project “We Are All Criminals,” where participants recall crimes they committed for which they were never caught. Emily is also the Director of Public Policy and Advocacy at the Council on Crime and Justice. In her work, she is responsible for development and implementation of the organizations’ public policy agenda, services for individuals with criminal records, and education of employers to promote the hiring of individuals with criminal records. She is also the Fall 2013 Robina Institute Visiting Fellow at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Download Office Hours #80

Lucia Trimbur on the Boxing Gym

Kyle Green — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 22:15:54 +0000

In this episode, we talk with Lucia Trimbur about her excellent new book Come Out Swinging: The Changing World of Boxing in Gleason’s Gym. Lucia is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at John Jay College, the City University of New York (CUNY) and Doctoral Faculty in Criminal Justice at CUNY’s Graduate Center. Her work has been featured in journals such as Qualitative Sociology, Ethnography, and the Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare. During our conversation, Lucia takes us inside the gym, discussing the shifting political economy of the boxing gym, the growing number of women practicing the sweet science, and the rise of white collar clients.

Download Office Hours #79

Lisa Wade on Sociological Images

Kyle Green — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 12:30:54 +0000

Sociological Images has achieved remarkable success by virtually any metric. Not only is it the most viewed Community Page on The Society Pages, but the website also receives around 500,000 visits every month, is ‘liked’ by almost 30,000 people on Facebook, followed by over 15,000 on Twitter, and has had work appear in notable news sites including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, TIME, the Guardian, Mother Jones, the National Review, and the Atlantic,. In this episode, Lisa Wade, Associate Professor at Occidental College and editor of Sociological Images, stops by to talk about her work. We discuss some of her favorite and most popular posts on the site, her work writing sociologically for other popular outlets, and finding time to produce research and write recently completed Sociology of Gender textbook all while managing the site.

Download Office Hours #78.

Abigail Saguy on What’s Wrong with Fat?

Kyle Green — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 12:00:54 +0000

In this episode, Dr. Abigail C. Saguy joins us to talk about her excellent new book What’s Wrong with Fat? Abigail is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles and the Chair of the ASA Section on the Sociology of the Body and Embodiment. We discuss the difficulty of talking about fatness, the way being fat is framed as a problem, the potential for removing the stigma, and what can be learned from coverage of Chris Christie’s lap band surgery.

Download Office Hours #77.

Holly Thorpe on Snowboarding Bodies

Kyle Green — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 12:36:01 +0000

In this episode, we talk with Holly Thorpe about her excellent book Snowboarding Bodies in Theory and Practice. We discuss the use of theory to study physical practice, the rapid growth of the sport, gender relations, marketing, the snowboarding body, and writing about sports for different audiences.

Download Office Hours #76

Natan Sznaider on Compassion

Shannon Golden — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 13:00:52 +0000

This episode we talk with Natan Sznaider about the Holocaust, memory, and human rights. He is the author of Jewish Memory and the Cosmopolitan Order and The Compassionate Temperament. We discuss his work on the relationship between modernity, capitalism, and the development compassion.

Download Office Hours #75

Michelle Alexander on The New Jim Crow

Kia Heise — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 13:00:13 +0000

Michelle Alexander made a shocking claim in her 2010 book The New Jim Crow: In the wake of the civil rights era, she argues, criminal punishment has come to succeed slavery and legal discrimination as a powerful and comprehensive system of racial control in the United States. As a civil rights lawyer and law professor, Dr. Alexander assembled decades of social science evidence in building a strong and convincing case for her provocative claim. The book quickly became a best-seller, inspiring students, prisoners, policy makers, and readers from all walks of life. We spoke with Alexander about exposing—and pushing back against—carceral control, as well as spreading social science beyond academia.

Download Office Hours #74

Colin Jerolmack on The Global Pigeon

Kyle Green — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 12:15:12 +0000

This episode we talk with Colin Jerolmack about his new book, The Global Pigeon. We discuss the social meaning attached to animals, how nature shapes our lives, efforts to control the wild, and the professionalization of pigeon racing.

Download Office Hours #73

Jessica Holden Sherwood on Country Clubs

Kyle Green — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 12:00:58 +0000

This episode we talk with Jessica Holden Sherwood about her book, Wealth, Whiteness, and the Matrix of Privilege: The View from the Country Club. We learn about how country clubs work, the various mechanisms of exclusion utilized by members, and how this relates to larger discourses of privilege.

Download Office Hours #72

G. William Domhoff on Pension Fund Capitalism

Rahsaan Mahadeo — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:02:42 +0000

This episode we speak with G. William Domhoff. Domhoff is author of sociology bestseller, Who Rules America?, and is co-author, with recent Office Hours guest Richard L. Zweigenhaft, of The New CEOs. Today we’re talking with Domhoff about his most article, Pension Fund Capitalism or Wall Street Bonanza? A Critique of the Claim That Pension Funds Can Influence Corporations.

Download Office Hours #71

David Leonard on Jason Collins

Kyle Green — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:20:13 +0000

This week we are joined by David J. Leonard, professor of Critical Culture, Gender, & Race Studies at Washington State University and author of After Artest: The NBA and the Assault on Blackness. We discuss the significance of Jason Collins’s article in Sports Illustrated announcing that he is gay, the media’s reaction to him coming out, and sport as a site key site for the performance of gender and sexuality.

Download Office Hours #70

Catherine Squires on Race and the Media

Rahsaan Mahadeo — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:00:52 +0000

This week we talk with Catherine Squires about her September 2012 article in American Quarterly, Coloring in the Bubble: Perspectives from Black-Oriented Media on the (Latest) Economic Disaster.

Download Office Hours #69

Shai Dromi on Beggars and Morality

Kyle Green — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 13:25:50 +0000

This episode we talk with Shai Dromi about his recent article, Penny for your Thoughts: Beggars and the Exercise of Morality in Daily Life . Dromi argues that past studies of the city have mischaracterized interactions between people passing by and people asking for money due to the focus on risk, fear, and crime. Instead, for many people in Shai’s study, homeless people’s requests for money provided a dimension of moral reflection to the urban landscape.

Download Office Hours #68

William Alexander on Fantasy and Social Theory

Kyle Green — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 13:30:55 +0000

In this episode, we have a conversation with William Alexander. He is slightly different type of social theorist than we normally have on the podcast. Will teaches in the English Department at the Minnesota College of Arts and Design and last November he won the prestigious national book award for his first novel Goblin Secrets and the Earphones Award for narrating his book. Today Will is joining us to discuss the powers and politics of fantasy, and the relationship between fiction and the social world.

Download Office Hours #67

Mary Joyce on Digital Activism

Kyle Green — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:30:46 +0000

This week we continue our investigation into the world of online politics by talking with Mary Joyce about digital activism. We discuss what qualifies as digital activism, the value of research that focuses on the big picture, and the relationship between these new technologies and more traditional forms of social organizing.

Download Office Hours #66

Gabriella Coleman on Anonymous

Kyle Green — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:00:10 +0000

This week we talk with Gabriella Coleman about her current research on Anonymous and her recently published book, Coding Freedom: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Hacking, which you can download for free under a Creative Commons license. We discuss the rise of Anonymous, how to research a web-based collective whose members hide their identity, the art of “trolling”, and the political significance of the group.

The Society Pages’ Community Page Cyborgology has also written a review of Coding Freedom, which can be read here.

Download Office Hours #65

Joshua Newman and Michael Giardina on NASCAR Nation

Kyle Green — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 15:00:50 +0000

This week we talk with Joshua I. Newman and Michael Giardina about their recent book [Sport, Spectacle, and NASCAR Nation: Consumption and the Cultural Politics of Neoliberalism]. Our conversation covers topics including the whiteness of stock car racing, religion and rebellion at the race track, and the production and consumption of Southern identity. We also discuss the value of researching NASCAR, sports, and other popular culture activities.

Download Office Hours #64

Shadd Maruna and Fergus McNeill on The Road From Crime

Sarah Esther Lageson — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 11:30:21 +0000

This week we talk with Shadd Maruna and Fergus McNeill about their documentary project, The Road From Crime. This documentary was produced as part of the larger Discovering Desistance Project, which aims to share knowledge and improve understanding of why people desist from crime. First, we hear a clip from the opening sequence of the film, then we talk with Shadd and Fergus themselves as they describe the process of producing this project.

Download Office Hours #63.

Law Enforcement and Science with David Harris

Sarah Esther Lageson — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 13:31:29 +0000

In this episode, we talk with University of Pittsburgh School of Law Professor David Harris about his new book Failed Evidence: Why Law Enforcement Resists Science. We discuss the cultural and organizational resistance to adopting scientific techniques into police and prosecutorial practices, and what social scientists can do about it.

Download Office Hours #62.

Shehzad Nadeem on Outsourcing in India

Jon Smajda — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:00:31 +0000

This week we talk with Shehzad Nadeem, author of Dead Ringers: How Outsourcing is Changing the Way Indians Understand Themselves. We discuss what it’s like to work at a call center in India, what Indians think about outsourcing, and the social and cultural challenges faced by both labor and management in outsourcing firms.

Download Office Hours #61.

Michael Schudson on The Sociology of News

Sarah Esther Lageson — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 12:00:20 +0000

In this episode we talk with Michael Schudson, author of The Sociology of News, recently released in its second edition. Schudson is the author of seven books and co-editor of three others concerning the history and sociology of the American news media, advertising, popular culture, Watergate and cultural memory. We discuss the changing nature of journalism, the effect of emerging technology on traditional news practices, and his new research on transparency as American value and policy.

Download Office Hours #60.

Natalie Boero and C.J. Pascoe on Pro-Anorexia Communities

Kyle Green — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:00:10 +0000

This episode we speak with Natalie Boero and C.J. Pascoe about their co-authored article, Pro-Anorexia Communities and Online Interaction: Bringing the Pro-ana Body Online. We discuss what a pro-anorexia community is, how members establish authenticity within online groups, and the importance of moving beyond the individual in understanding anorexia.

Download Office Hours #59

Jay Gabler on Ivory Tower Burning

Sarah Esther Lageson — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:04:35 +0000

This episode we talk with Jay Gabler, sociologist, journalist, and creator of the play, Ivory Tower Burning. The play imagines a meeting between Talcott Parsons and C. Wright Mills where an intense debate about social theory and human nature ensues. We discuss bringing sociology to the theater and the role of sociology in the broader culture.

You can watch a preview clip on YouTube and see the entire play live August 4-11 at the Minnesota Fringe festival.

Download Office Hours #58

Katherine Newman and The Accordion Family

Kia Heise and Lisa Gulya — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 12:00:02 +0000

Our guest this episode is Katherine S. Newman, and our topic is her new book, The Accordion Family: Boomerang Kids, Anxious Parents, and the Private Toll of Global Competition. In the world’s wealthiest countries, an increasing number of adults in their twenties and thirties are moving back in with Mom and Dad. What’s driving this trend, and what are the consequences? Listen in to find out.

Download Office Hours #57

Jennifer Lena on Banding Together

Sarah Esther Lageson — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 16:55:29 +0000

This episode, we talk with Jennifer Lena about her book, Banding Together. Lena explores the developmental patterns that different musical genres take—from rap and bluegrass to death metal and South Texas Polka. Why do some genres become massively popularly while others thrive in small niches? Listen in to find out.

Also, our host for the week, Sarah Lageson, recently produced a documentary for KFAI radio on the bluegrass revival in the Twin Cities. If you enjoy this interview with Jennifer Lena, you’ll enjoy Sarah’s documentary, too. KFAI describes it as:

For the last several years, a bluegrass revival has been taking place in and around the Twin Cities. KFAI producer Sarah Lageson talks to musicians Quillan Roe of the Roe Family Singers, Kevin Kniebel of Pert Near Sandstone, radio host Phil Nusbaum, and banjo player Liz Olds. This documentary examines the local bluegrass resurgence, what it means for musicians and fans, and the divide between purists and progressives.

Go on, check it out!

Download Office Hours #56

Enid Logan on The New Politics of Race

Kia Heise and Lisa Gulya — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 12:30:55 +0000

This episode, we talk with Enid Logan about her book, “At This Defining Moment”: Barack Obama’s Presidential Candidacy and the New Politics of Race. Logan reflects back on race and gender in the 2008 campaign and also looks at how things have, and have not, changed for the current 2012 campaign.

Download Office Hours #55

Richard L. Zweigenhaft on The New CEOs

Rahsaan Mahadeo — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 19:35:51 +0000

This episode we speak with Richard L. Zweigenhaft about his research, with G. William Domhoff, on diversity in the power elite and their new book, The New CEOs: Women, African American, Latino, and Asian American Leaders of Fortune 500 Companies. While Fortune 500 CEOs are still predominantly white males, a growing number of women and people of color have become CEOs in the past two decades. What has caused this increased diversity and what impact has it had? What does this tell us about gender, race, ethnicity, and class in American politics? Listen in to find out.

Download Office Hours #54

Lisa Wade and Gwen Sharp on Public Sociology

Sarah Esther Lageson — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 18:40:59 +0000

This week, we talk with Lisa Wade and Gwen Sharp, co-editors of Sociological Images. Gwen and Lisa were in Minneapolis to receive the Public Sociology Award at the University of Minnesota Sociology Department’s annual Sociology Research Institute.

Download Office Hours #53

Marketing Meth with Henry Brownstein and Timothy Mulcahy

Jessica Streeter — Sun, 20 May 2012 23:49:14 +0000

This is a special edition of Office Hours: we’re cross-posting the first interview from the all new Contexts Podcast. In this interview, Jessica Streeter speaks with Henry H. Brownstein and Timothy M. Mulcahy, co-authors of the Winter 2012 Contexts feature, Home Cooking: Marketing Meth.

If you like Office Hours, you probably already love Contexts magazine and now you’ve got another great podcast to subscribe to with the Contexts Podcast. So head over to contexts.org to subscribe and while you’re there, check out the new Spring 2012 issue of Contexts!

Download Office Hours #52!

David Grusky on the Great Recession

Sarah Shannon — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:05 +0000

This episode with talk with David Grusky about the social and economic effects of the great recession and what every citizen should know about inequality in the United States.

Download Office Hours #51

Joel Best on Social Problems

Sarah Esther Lageson — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:23:12 +0000

This episode we talk to Joel Best, author of popular, accessible sociology books such as Damned Lies and Statistics, Everyone’s a Winner, and hot off the presses, a brand new Social Problems textbook from W.W. Norton.

Download Office Hours #50.

David Garland on the Death Penalty

Sarah Esther Lageson — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:34:53 +0000

This week we talk with David Garland about his new book, Peculiar Institution: America’s Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition. Garland discusses why capital punishment persists in the US while it does not in other Western countries, from the structure of our political system to the role of public opinion.

Our Teaching TSP team has also written up a series of classroom questions and exercises to be used alongside this interview. You can check them out here.

Download Office Hours #49

Suzanne Mettler on The Submerged State

Sarah Shannon — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:25:35 +0000

This episode we talk with Suzanne Mettler about her new book, The Submerged State: How Invisible Government Policies Undermine American Democracy. Mettler explains how indirect incentives, subsidies, and tax breaks have come to dominate US social policy, but remain unseen and underappreciated by most Americans.

Download Office Hours #48.

Robert Sampson on The Neighborhood Effect

Sarah Shannon — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:51:33 +0000

This episode we talk with Robert Sampson about his new book, Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect. In the face of globalization and the widespread belief that the “world is flat,” Sampson shows how the world is actually very uneven, and that local communities make a great difference in how people live their lives across a wide range of phenomenon, from homicide and child health, to leadership networks, teenage pregnancy, altruism, and home foreclosures.

Download Office Hours #47.

American Exceptionalism with Gregory Hooks and Brian McQueen

Jesse Wozniak — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:26:59 +0000

This episode we catch up with Gregory Hooks and Brian McQueen about their article, American Exceptionalism Revisited, winner of the ASA Political Sociology section Best Article award. Our conversation touches upon racial migration, defense spending, and how the post-World War II era was a critical juncture in the American social welfare state.

Download Office Hours #46

Eric Klinenberg on Going Solo

Arturo — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 20:28:22 +0000

This week we talk with Eric Klinenberg about his new book, Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone. Also be sure to check out Klinenberg’s New York Times article, One’s a Crowd.

Download Office Hours #45

Amy Finnegan on Uganda and Kony 2012

Shannon Golden — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:27:05 +0000

This week we talk with Amy Finnegan about Uganda and Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 campaign. For the past dozen years, Finnegan has been teaching and doing research in Uganda. In particular, Finnegan has studied the relationship between outside groups like Invisible Children and local Ugandan activists. How are campaigns like Kony 2012 received in Uganda? And do they help or hurt the cause of indigenous Ugandan activists? Listen up to find out.

UPDATE: Since recording this interview, Finnegan and other academics have gone the extra mile to get information out to the public about the context and current events in Uganda—as well as how to talk, teach, and do something about it—at their new website, MakingSenseofKony.org. Please do check it out!

Download Office Hours #44

Douglas Arnold on the Elsevier Boycott

Jon Smajda — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:47:21 +0000

This episode we talk with Douglas Arnold, McKnight Presidential Professor of Mathematics at the University of Minnesota. Professor Arnold is active in the movement to boycott Elsevier for charging exorbitantly high prices, supporting measures such as SOPA, PIPA, and until last week, the Research Works Act, as well as for the publisher’s many ethical lapses. We discuss the start of the movement, the movement’s tactics, why this movement took hold in mathematics, in particular, and why those in other fields—such as the social sciences—should pay attention and join in.

Links discussed in the episode:

Download Office Hours #43.

Drop In: Matt Snodgrass on Prison and Reoffenders

Jesse Wozniak — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 05:35:13 +0000

This episode is the first Drop In: a new, shorter style of Office Hours episodes that we’ll be mixing into the podcast every so often alongside our longer episodes. Our first Drop In guest, Matt Snodgrass, discusses his recent Criminology article, Does the Time Cause the Crime?

Download Office Hours #42

Neal Caren and Sarah Gaby on the Occupy Movement

Kyle Green — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:13:41 +0000

In this epsiode, we talk with Neal Caren and Sarah Gaby about their research on the Occupy Movement’s presence on social networking sites. Topics include the methodological promises and challenges of studying popular sites like Facebook as well as the potential of online social networking for fostering social change. This conversation was part of a Roundtable discussion on The Society Pages on social scientists studying social movements.

Download Office Hours #41.

Heather LaMarre on Politics and Humor

Sarah Esther Lageson — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:29:48 +0000

In this episode we discuss the social science of political humor with Heather LaMarre. This conversation is part of our latest Roundtable.

Download Office Hours #40.

Robert Agnew on Crime and Climate Change

Sarah Shannon — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:32:54 +0000

This episode we talk with Robert Agnew about his new article, Dire forecast: A theoretical model of the impact of climate change on crime. Professor Agnew argues that climate change may become one of the biggest drivers behind rising crime rates in the 21st century.

Download Office Hours #39.

Theda Skocpol on Civic Participation

Jon Smajda — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:47:16 +0000

This week we thought we’d dig back into the Office Hours archives a bit and revisit an interview we did with Theda Skocpol from 2009 on media, the Internet, and civic participation in the 2008 election. A few years later, we’reright in the middle of another election cycle and questions about the impact of traditional media and online social media are as pertinent as ever, so we thought it’d be a good time to think back to a time when a younger Barack Obama was striding into office with the promise of a new post-partisan era of American political engagement…

If you’re interested in what Skocpol has been up to in the time since this interview, check out her new book, The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism.

Download Office Hours #38