Sociologically Relevant Podcasts & Media by Jessica Leveto

Death by a Thousand Cuts

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:41:28 UTC

Professor Ashley Nickels explores how ordinary organizational decisions can accumulate into systemic harm, leading to tragedies like the Flint, Michigan water crisis. She examines how individuals "just doing their jobs" may unknowingly contribute to widespread harm, revealing the dangerous dynamics of organizational structures and decision-making processes. Nickels highlights the systemic failures that led to Flint’s disaster and offers insights into how organizations can prioritize accountability and ethics to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

The Toll of Stereotypes

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:41:51 UTC

Professor Seanna Leath examines the unique challenges Black girls face in schools, where racial discrimination, stigma, and stereotypes intersect with gender biases. She explores how these experiences impact their development, mental health, and opportunities. Leath also addresses the broader stigmas surrounding mental health for Black women, shedding light on systemic issues and cultural barriers. By identifying actionable strategies, she emphasizes the importance of creating supportive educational environments and addressing mental health stigma to improve outcomes for Black girls and women.

Locked Away

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:42:32 UTC

Professor Keramet Reiter traces the rise of solitary confinement in the U.S., a practice once deemed “barbaric” by the Supreme Court in 1890 but now a central feature of punishment. Drawing on her research and book 23/7, Reiter explains how solitary spread, its devastating psychological and social effects, and why reform is urgently needed. The discussion highlights how extreme forms of social control redefine deviance and raise questions about justice, punishment, and human rights.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Social control: solitary confinement as an extreme sanction.
Structural functionalism: punishment as boundary-setting vs. dysfunction.
Conflict theory: power and inequality in prison practices.
Symbolic interactionism: effects of isolation on identity and self-concept.
Human rights and deviance: punishment crossing moral and ethical boundaries.

Pushed out | Reveal

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:42:46 UTC

This episode investigates how Black girls are disproportionately funneled out of schools and into the criminal justice system, a pattern often overshadowed by the focus on boys in youth incarceration reform. Reporter Ko Bragg highlights how bias, stereotypes, and punitive discipline contribute to this pipeline, while also examining researcher-led solutions that emphasize equity and support. The story reveals how intersecting systems of race, gender, and punishment shape the labeling of deviance in education.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Labeling theory: stereotypes framing Black girls as “disruptive” or “criminal.”
Social control: school discipline and the school-to-prison pipeline.
Intersectionality: how race and gender compound marginalization.
Conflict theory: unequal power in educational and legal systems.
Alternatives: restorative justice and supportive interventions.

Development arrested | Reveal

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:43:08 UTC

This Reveal episode follows a Mississippi mother whose 13-year-old son is automatically charged as an adult under Jim Crow–era laws still on the books. Reporter Ko Bragg uncovers how these statutes disproportionately impact Black children, sending them into the adult legal system for certain crimes. The story highlights how outdated policies, systemic racism, and punitive practices criminalize youth, raising urgent questions about justice, age, and the long-term consequences of labeling children as deviant.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Labeling theory: children marked as “adult” criminals.
Social control: laws as mechanisms of racial and age-based discipline.
Conflict theory: structural racism in legal systems.
Deviance and inequality: disproportionate impact on Black youth.
Historical continuity: Jim Crow–era laws shaping contemporary punishment.

Does the time fit the crime? | Reveal

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:43:24 UTC

This Reveal episode explores the U.S. prison system through multiple lenses. It investigates why Oklahoma leads the nation in women’s incarceration, highlighting the policies and cultural factors behind a 700% increase since 1980. It also examines wrongful convictions and the widespread use of plea deals that funnel people into prison, alongside stories of resistance like inmates using typewriters for appeals and art. The episode underscores how punishment, power, and inequality shape the lived reality of deviance and justice.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Gender and deviance: rising incarceration of women and structural inequality.
Labeling theory: wrongful convictions and plea deals shaping deviant identities.
Social control: prisons as formal sanctions and containment.
Conflict theory: systemic power shaping who is punished and how.
Resistance and agency: inmate creativity as a response to control.

Empty Wallets, Empty Stomachs

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:44:05 UTC

This Scholars Strategy Network episode explores the link between poverty and food insecurity. It examines how low-income families struggle to afford adequate nutrition, even while working, due to structural barriers like low wages, rising food prices, and limited access to assistance programs. The discussion highlights how hunger is not simply an individual issue but a systemic problem rooted in inequality, shaping health, dignity, and opportunity for millions of Americans.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Poverty: absolute and relative deprivation in food access.
Life chances: health outcomes shaped by inequality.
Structural inequality: wages, prices, and barriers to aid.
Invisibility of poverty: hidden struggles with hunger in everyday life.
Critique of “culture of poverty”: hunger framed as systemic, not individual failing.

Investing in Families

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:44:28 UTC

This Scholars Strategy Network episode highlights how higher education can break cycles of poverty for low-income women and their families. Professors Luisa DePrez and Lisa Dodson, working with Maine Equal Justice Partners, used research on the benefits of college access to help advance the LIFT 2.0 bill. The law provides support for childcare and tuition, addressing structural barriers that limit mobility and showing how policy can expand opportunities for working parents.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Social mobility: education as a pathway for upward movement.
Structural inequality: childcare and tuition costs as barriers.
Intersectionality: gender, class, and family responsibilities.
Life chances: education’s impact on work, income, and family outcomes.
Policy reform: state interventions to reduce inequality.

Home school | Reveal

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:45:49 UTC

This Reveal episode, Home School, investigates how the American education system perpetuates inequality. Reporters uncover how residential segregation and funding structures privilege wealthy, often white communities, while underfunding schools that serve poor and minority students. The story shows how opportunities are distributed unequally from the start, reinforcing social class divisions. It highlights how education, often seen as a pathway to mobility, can instead reproduce stratification across generations.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Social reproduction: schools reinforcing class divisions.
Intersectionality: class, race, and geography in education inequality.
Life chances: education shaping work, income, and opportunity.
Structural inequality: property taxes and funding disparities.
Myth of meritocracy: the American Dream challenged by unequal education.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:47:04 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:47:20 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:47:56 UTC

The Economy That Slavery Built

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:48:10 UTC

The institution of slavery turned a poor, fledgling nation into a financial powerhouse, and the cotton plantation was America’s first big business. Behind the system, and built into it, was the whip.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:48:25 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:48:39 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:49:03 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:49:18 UTC

Suicide and Black America

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:49:34 UTC

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people in America. And black youth in particular face increasing suicide rates and challenges in accessing mental health services. Scholar and advocate Kimya Dennis dives into the background behind these suicide statistics, what prevents black youth from getting help, and how mental health providers can address this disconnect.

If you or a loved one are experiencing a mental health crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255) any time of day.

The Rise of Anti-LGBT Hate Crimes

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:50:08 UTC

Twenty-one years ago this month, a gay University of Wyoming student by the name of Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered. His story brought national attention to anti-LGBT hate crimes and spurred a popular movement for hate crime legislation. Since then, the LGBT community has won major advances and become more visible than ever - but hateful attacks are on the rise. Professor Eli Coston explores why these crimes keep happening, what they look like in 2019, and what can be done to protect and support the LGBT community in the years to come.

How American Masculinity Creates Lonely Men

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:50:27 UTC

Paul Kugelman had plenty of friends as a kid, but by middle age, his social circle had shrunk, leaving him feeling lonely despite work interactions. His experience mirrors research showing that men often lose friendships as they age—a trend rooted in cultural messages from early adolescence. NYU psychology professor Niobe Way explains that society teaches boys to suppress their emotional side, making vulnerability seem unmanly. This week's Hidden Brain dives into how this message affects half the population.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:50:53 UTC

Polarization in a Pandemic

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:51:45 UTC

We’re in April, as the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic. Today, the U.S. has more reported cases than any other nation on earth - a fact that may in part be due to testing levels, but could also be due to a series of massive public policy mistakes. In the U.S., the federal response has been chaotic, to say the least. And here’s one reason: President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi don’t talk to each other. The intense anger and distrust between Republicans and Democrats could literally be costing our nation lives. Lee Drutman explains how we got into this mess and how we can get out of it.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:52:11 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:52:45 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:53:09 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:53:31 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:53:53 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:54:04 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:54:19 UTC

The Diaper Dilemma

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:54:31 UTC

In this Scholars Strategy Network episode, Professor Jennifer Randles discusses the “diaper dilemma,” where one in three U.S. mothers cannot consistently afford diapers. This basic unmet need creates stress, health risks, and barriers to childcare and employment. Randles highlights how diaper insecurity reflects broader structural inequalities and argues for policy interventions to support families, showing how even everyday necessities reveal the deep effects of poverty and stratification on family life.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Poverty: absolute deprivation and unmet basic needs.
Life chances: childcare, health, and employment limited by resource scarcity.
Structural inequality: gaps in social welfare programs.
Intersectionality: gender, class, and caregiving responsibilities.
Critique of the American Dream: family struggles despite hard work.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:54:51 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:55:18 UTC

Episode 4: How the Bad Blood Started (Published 2019)

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:55:40 UTC

Black Americans were denied access to doctors and hospitals for decades. From the shadows of this exclusion, they pushed to create the nation’s first federal health care programs.

How the Bad Blood Started

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:55:59 UTC

Black Americans were denied access to doctors and hospitals for decades. From the shadows of this exclusion, they pushed to create the nation’s first federal health care programs.

Learning from Ebola

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:56:17 UTC

With governments rushing to put in place policies and guidelines to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, it’s important to look to the past to inform the present. And we don’t have to look far. Just 5 years ago, the world was concerned with a completely different outbreak: ebola. Professor Lily Tsai and Dr. Ben Morse examine how governments at the epicenter of the ebola outbreak responded to the spread of the disease, what the role of trust is in ensuring that people comply with government recommendations, and how leaders can build trust and buy-in both during and before a crisis.

Treating Pain, Treating Addiction

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:56:37 UTC

Americans are more likely to die of an opioid overdose than of a car accident. But even as national attention has shed light on this crisis, opioid addiction remains a difficult problem to solve. Professor Peggy Compton lays out how doctors can help patients suffering from chronic pain without turning to opioids, what treatments actually work for people who do develop an opioid addiction, and how to encourage wider use of these evidence-based practices.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:57:00 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:57:32 UTC

Poisoned, ignored and evicted: The perils of living with lead

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:57:55 UTC

This Reveal episode investigates the enduring dangers of lead exposure, from urban demolition dust to rural contamination in Wyoming. Lead poisoning disproportionately harms low-income families and communities of color, contributing to lifelong health problems and reduced opportunities. Despite well-documented risks, regulatory failures and political neglect leave many vulnerable. The story highlights how environmental hazards are unevenly distributed, showing how stratification shapes who bears the heaviest burdens of toxic living conditions.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Structural inequality: environmental hazards concentrated in poor communities.
Life chances: health and opportunity shaped by toxic exposure.
Intersectionality: race, class, and geography in environmental justice.
Invisibility of poverty: neglect of marginalized communities’ struggles.
Critique of the American Dream: unequal protection under law undermines equality.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:58:16 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:58:42 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:59:09 UTC

Unequal Protection from Pollution

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:59:34 UTC

As Congress and the Trump Administration roll back environmental protections, some communities are especially harmed. But Professor David Konisky explains that unequal protection is nothing new, and lays out a history of failed promises by the government.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 11:59:57 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 12:00:23 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 12:00:49 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 12:01:11 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 12:04:04 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 12:07:32 UTC

Reflections on the gendered impact of COVID-19

jleveto — 2020-07-22 12:17:23 UTC

In this “Reflections” episode, Teri and Michael revisit past discussions on COVID-19’s gendered impact. They highlight episodes that explore topics from decolonizing “sex work” (Episode 96 with Laura Ramirez) and parenting with an abuser during the pandemic (Episode 97 with “Carol”), to misogyny in climate change denial (Episode 99 with Martin Hultman), domestic abuse involving disability (Episode 100 with Nicole Lee), and COVID-19’s effects on domestic violence, pregnancy, and reproductive rights (Episodes 101 and 102), as well as insights from the Feminism in the Age of COVID-19 Conference on domestic violence (Episode 108).

They also discuss resources covering models of prostitution regulation, how masculinity relates to mask-wearing, the threat of the “incel” community, the rise of victim-blaming culture, right-wing extremism (with insights from the Southern Poverty Law Center), research on removing domestic violence perpetrators, allegations in the “Super Smash Brothers” community, laws driving mass incarceration and racial disparities (US vs. UK), the recognition of coercive control in the UK, and interviews on weaponizing pregnancy outcomes and constructing motherhood.

Reflections on the weaponization of motherhood - engendered

jleveto — 2020-07-22 12:21:11 UTC

In this “Reflections” episode, Teri and Michael look back at past discussions on the weaponization of motherhood. They revisit:

Episode 67: Bethany Johnson and Maggie Quinlan on media, mothering, and medical expertise.
Episode 68: Indra Lusero on reproductive justice as a human right.
Episodes 69 & 70: Jessica Ingels’ #SurvivorStories on courts awarding custody to abusers.

The co-hosted reflections help new listeners find themes in earlier episodes. They also discuss extra resources like the film Joker’s take on domestic violence victim-blaming, an interview on No Visible Bruises, The Business of Being Born documentary, discussions on Black mothers’ mortality, Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race, insights on the Equal Rights Amendment via Equal Means Equal, and critiques of the discredited claims in The Bell Curve.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 12:22:16 UTC

Aditi Mayer on sustainability and decolonizing fashion - engendered

jleveto — 2020-07-22 12:25:52 UTC

On this episode of the en(gender)ed podcast, our guest is Aditi Mayer, the creative behind ADIMAY, a sustainable fashion blog exploring the ties between style, sustainability, and social justice. We speak with Aditi today about her work to decolonize fashion and to encourage conscious living so that consumers can make safer, more ethical, and sustainable choices.

Martin Hultman on misogyny and masculinities on climate change denial - engendered

jleveto — 2020-07-22 12:29:59 UTC

On this episode of the en(gender)ed podcast, our guest is Martin Hultman, Associate Professor in Science, Technology and Environmental Studies at the Department of Technology Management & Economics at Chalmers University in Sweden. Martin’s research focuses on the influence of extremist views such as sexism and far-right nationalism on climate change denial. His latest book with Paul M. Pulé, Ecological Masculinities, chronicles the political landscape that has shaped the industrial breadwinner and eco-modern archetypes of masculinity, both fueled by misogyny, and their proposed ecological masculinity as a response that centers science, fact, and reason and a respect for nature. Our conversation with Martin will explore ways in which a response to addressing our climate crisis and, in particular, the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, will require that we, as a society, address how we socialize boys and men if we are to save ourselves and our planet from mutual and guaranteed destruction.

"Modern Manhood: Conversations About the Complicated World of Being a Good Man Today" -

jleveto — 2020-07-22 12:32:05 UTC

In this en(gender)ed episode, our guest Cleo Stiller—an Emmy and Peabody Award-nominated reporter—discusses her new book, Modern Manhood: Conversations About the Complicated World of Being a Good Man Today. We explore how men handle dating, parenting, friendships, and money, aiming to spark dialogue on boundaries, consent, and healthy relationships.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 12:35:12 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 13:06:51 UTC

In many parts of the U.S., public school districts are just minutes apart, but have vastly different racial demographics — and receive vastly different funding. That's in part due to Milliken v. Bradley, a 1974 Supreme Court case that limited a powerful tool for school integration.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 13:07:49 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 13:16:16 UTC

Pop Rocket Goes to USC to Teach the Kids Why Pop Culture Matters | Maximum Fun

jleveto — 2020-07-22 13:58:00 UTC

In the first live episode of Pop Rocket, Professor Karen Tongson leads a discussion on why pop culture matters, focusing on the past decade. The panel explores what cultural moments from the 2010s will endure and what will fade, featuring insights from Karen’s students, including a special jam by Clayton. Margaret talks Out for Blood, Karen discusses Shrill, and Wynter dives into the Fox-Disney merger.

Wakanda Forever with Tavia Nyong'o | Maximum Fun

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:01:33 UTC

This week on Pop Rocket, Karen Tongson hosts alongside special guest Tavia Nyong’o for a deep dive into Black Panther. They discuss the impact of its soundtrack, themes of Afro-futurism and Afro-centrism, and the concept of “double consciousness.” Margaret reflects on Monica Lewinsky, Karen finishes Ugly Delicious, Tavia critiques the Heathers reboot, and Wynter highlights GQ’s article on Brendan Fraser. Producer Christian Dueñas joins with a special announcement and his first jam.

When Athletes Become Activists | Maximum Fun

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:02:39 UTC

This week on Pop Rocket, Louis and the panel explore the intersection of sports and protests, covering iconic moments like the 1968 Olympics, Beyoncé’s Super Bowl performance, and Colin Kaepernick’s activism—even diving into Louis’ high school memories. The gang also discusses the Weinstein scandal, with Louis rediscovering Project Runway, Karen diving into 90’s House, and Alonso indulging in cupcakes. Plus, they share their jams, from Prince to Alt-J.

The Handmaid's Tale | Maximum Fun

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:07:42 UTC

This week on Pop Rocket, it’s an all-women episode hosted by Karen! The team dives into Hulu’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Margaret breaks down differences between the book and show, while the group debates the effectiveness of Offred’s voiceover, the intentionality of the show’s racial makeup, and its reflection of today’s political climate. Margaret celebrates Fox News’ unraveling, Wynter highlights Dear White People, and everyone shares vintage jams to lighten the mood.

Get Out | Maximum Fun

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:08:43 UTC

This week on Pop Rocket, Guy, Wynter, Margaret, and Karen dive into Jordan Peele’s horror masterpiece Get Out. They unpack its racial and political themes, explore the role of Black characters in horror (led by Wynter), and share their favorite scenes (spoilers abound!). The group also shares their weekly obsessions: Karen discusses Trump’s infamous steak habits, Margaret recommends a memoir, Wynter highlights Feud, and Guy gushes over Calypso music. Plus, everyone’s jams, from Phonte to Go West, are added to their Spotify playlist.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:14:49 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:15:51 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:17:43 UTC

Latina Theory hosted a special episode at Irene Fernando's Hype Crew Concert celebrating WOCI in politics in Minnesota.

Tune into our conversations with these four incredible leaders:

Irene Fernando, Hennepin County Commissioner, District 2
Rep. Erin Maye Quade, joined Erin Murphy and ran as LT Governor in 2018 race
Angela Conley, Hennepin County Commissioner, District 2
Rep. Ilhan Omar, Congresswoman, CD5

Get a behind the scenes conversation with each powerful WOC elected officials on the campaign trail; hear the stories of how they got involved in politics and why.

Each of these muxeres is running to make a difference and to show that women of color can and will continue to be a force to be reckoned with.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:22:49 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:24:11 UTC

Sarah Halpern-Meekin on "Social Poverty"

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:25:27 UTC

In this episode, Professor Sarah Halpern-Meekin from UW-Madison’s School of Human Ecology and La Follette School of Public Affairs discusses insights from her 2019 book, Social Poverty. Halpern-Meekin examines how a lack of meaningful relationships and social support can harm individuals as much as financial poverty. She highlights the intersection of social connection, inequality, and public policy, offering valuable perspectives on addressing poverty in both material and social dimensions.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:26:13 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:27:05 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:31:49 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:33:01 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:37:22 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:38:23 UTC

Episode 16: Racism, Rebellion, and the Sport Media Complex with Hemal Jhaveri | The End of Sport Podcast

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:39:31 UTC

In this episode, Derek and Nathan talk with Hemal Jhaveri, editor and columnist at USA Today's For The Win, about how the fight against police violence and white supremacy is impacting sports. They explore athlete and organization statements of solidarity, distinguishing between genuine actions and empty gestures. The discussion shifts to sports media, examining its coverage of the uprising and pandemic, and the influence of structural racism and patriarchy within the industry. Hemal’s related articles provide further insights.

Food Insecurity and College Athletics

jleveto — 2020-07-22 14:47:54 UTC

In this End of Sport episode, Dr. Christine Baker-Smith of the Hope Center discusses her team’s report Hungry to Win: A First Look at Food and Housing Insecurity Among Student-Athletes. The study reveals that many college athletes, including those in high-revenue sports, experience homelessness and food insecurity. Baker-Smith highlights how structural inequalities in higher education and athletics exploit students’ labor while failing to meet basic needs, challenging assumptions about privilege in college sports.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Poverty and deprivation: food and housing insecurity among students.
Structural inequality: exploitation of college athletes within higher education.
Life chances: how insecurity affects education and athletic performance.
Myth of meritocracy: assumptions of privilege vs. realities of struggle.
Intersectionality: class, race, and athletic status shaping opportunity.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 15:17:52 UTC

SOC313 - To Err is Human: A Look at Medical Error

jleveto — 2020-07-22 16:47:39 UTC

Medical error-- defined as unintended or failed plan of actions related to treatments-- is an understudied in medical sociology. Patient harm from medical error can occur at the individual and systemic level however, and it might shock you to learn that it happens more often than not-- it's technically the third leading cause of death in the United States! Listen to our discussion on what societal factors contribute to medical error. Leave us a rating and review if you enjoy our podcast!

SOC118 - Love Struck or Love Sick? (Rerelease)

jleveto — 2020-07-22 16:48:31 UTC

This week’s episode dives into the fascinating topic of love—something we could all use more of! We explore the neuroscience of love, examining what happens in our brains when love strikes. From a sociological perspective, we discuss Charles Cooley and Theodore Kemper’s views on love, including how it functions as a powerful tool of social control. We also unpack Georg Simmel’s concept of the Dyad, highlighting the unique dynamics of two-person relationships. Do you agree with sociology’s take on love? Tune in and join the conversation!

jleveto — 2020-07-22 16:50:05 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 16:50:59 UTC

Politics, politics, politics-- what a fascinating part of our society that feels all-consuming sometimes. This week we’re going to explore politics using a Symbolic Interactionist lens and the fantastic work of Dr. Murray Edelman to make sense of what’s going on in our state and federal governments every day. Is politics an earnest attempt at changing our society for the good? Is it just a spectacle meant to distract us? Or maybe somewhere in between...? Tune in here to learn more and stay healthy out there!

jleveto — 2020-07-22 16:52:26 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 16:55:06 UTC

SOC308 - Grounded Theory: It's Not A Theory

jleveto — 2020-07-22 16:56:40 UTC

This podcast provides a deep dive into Grounded Theory, moving beyond the textbook's standard "Scientific Method" to show how researchers build theories from the bottom up. It reframes qualitative research as a rigorous process where the theory emerges directly from the data, rather than being tested against it.

Connection: This connects to Qualitative Methods and Data Analysis. It highlights the distinction between deductive reasoning (testing a hypothesis) and inductive reasoning (generating theory from observations), demonstrating that qualitative work is a systematic, highly structured "detective" process.

Chapter 2 & Podcast Learning Outcomes

Inductive vs. Deductive: Contrast the traditional scientific method (deductive) with the grounded theory approach (inductive) to building sociological knowledge.
The Coding Process: Identify how researchers use qualitative coding to transform raw field notes or interviews into meaningful categories and patterns.
Theoretical Sampling: Evaluate how researchers choose new participants or settings based on the gaps in their emerging data rather than a pre-set sample.
Data Saturation: Define the concept of "saturation" as the scientific benchmark for knowing when enough data has been collected to support a new theory.
Theory Building: Describe the process of moving from specific, "ground-level" observations to a broader, generalizable sociological explanation.

Thinking Allowed - Marx and Marxism

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:00:29 UTC

Sociological discussion programme. May 2018 sees the 200th anniversary of Karl Marx's birth. Laurie Taylor explores the philosopher's ideas and legacy

Marx at 201: the legacy of Karl Marx for the contemporary study of law, politics and society

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:02:47 UTC

Are we all Marxists now? Which of Marx’s ideas remain relevant, which redundant? Join leading scholars to address Marx’s legacy at 201.

Are we all Marxists now? The question may sound strange but the virtues of the German philosopher are now extolled in the most unlikely of places. If this...

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:03:33 UTC

Ever wonder where fieldwork, quantitative research, participant observation came from? Or who challenged the notion of the ‘armchair theorist’? In recognizing Black History Month, we pay homage to the often ignored, great modern sociologist, W.E.B. Du Bois. Using the book, The Scholar Denied: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology (2015) by Dr. Aldon D. Morris, we discuss the legacy and contribution of Du Bois and retell the story of the origins of modern sociology. While faculty and students are gradually incorporating the work of Du Bois in their research and syllabi, the overall discipline of sociology has not yet fully acknowledged Du Bois’ work and contribution as the father of modern American sociology. Tune in to hear the convo!

Give Theory A Chance (select 1)

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:04:09 UTC

Lengthy and growing list of Theoretical discussions/applications

Seth Abrutyn on Social Distance, Grief, and COVID-19

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:05:27 UTC

In this episode, Seth Abrutyn, an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia, joins us once again to discuss what sociology can potentially contribute to the public conversation about COVID-19. In our conversation, Seth touches on the value of several theorists, including Emile Durkheim, Erving Goffman, and Jaak Panksepp.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:11:56 UTC

Neurosociology (Rengin Firat)

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:14:10 UTC

In this episode, we learn about neurosociology from Rengin Firat of the University of California, Riverside. In her own work, Professor Firat uses brain scans to understand more emotional or visceral dimensions of social class, race, ethnicity, group cohesion, loneliness, agency, and other major concepts of interest to sociologists. She discusses ideas about the role of emotion in social and moral life, and other ways that the human brain’s workings influence how society operates.

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:16:44 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:17:41 UTC

Intro to Popular Culture: "It's all about popular"

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:18:42 UTC

We’re getting light-hearted in these crazy times and introducing you to the sociology of pop culture! In this episode, we use Dr. David Grazian’s work to explore what popular culture is and how it’s different from high culture. Then we make sense of culture’s role in globalization, and show how pop cultural products-- like sitcoms, Taylor Swift songs, and anime-- can act as forms of soft power. Tune in here to hear Penn and Omar nerd out on the intricacies of Naruto and Studio Ghibli, and to understand just how powerful and important pop culture is to our society!

SOC204 - The Spectrum: An Introduction to Sex and Gender

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:19:22 UTC

Gender and sex - they appear to be the same thing, but in reality they aren’t! This week we dive into the differences between gender and sex through the lense of sociology using work from Judith Butler, Simone de Beauvoir and other recent research. How have our notions of gender and sex changed over the years? Where are these two concepts headed? And how do our own identities influence the way we behave, feel, and think? Tune in to find out! (And come back next week for our follow-up discussion on feminism and intersectionality.)

Life is but a Stage: Goffman and Dramaturgy

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:20:21 UTC

“Life is a performance!” Have you ever heard that phrase? Well it’s super dramaturgical! Today we explore the work of Erving Goffman, a micro-sociologists who pioneered the notion that we have front stage and back stage performances (aka dramaturgy). Join us as we discuss what a performance is, the many roles we play, and what happens when your performance is perceived as fraudulent.

The Forgotten Founding Father: W.E.B. Du Bois

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:20:52 UTC

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:21:31 UTC

"This week we go back to the basics by introducing the three schools of sociological thought - conflict theory, structural functionalism, and symbolic interactionism. Knowing these three schools is a must for any aspiring sociologist. Join us as we discuss how Marx theorized the process of social change through conflict, why Durkheim believed society needed religion in order to function, and why people interpret the symbolic significance of guns differently. Which school of thought do you subscribe to?"

Left Handed Devils: The Social Construction of Devianc

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:22:03 UTC

In this Social Breakdown episode, the hosts explore the concepts of deviance and crime, highlighting how society defines and enforces them differently. They examine how norms, laws, and power shape what counts as deviant versus criminal behavior. Using the three major schools of sociological thought — structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism — the episode shows how deviance reveals the functions of social order, the influence of inequality, and the importance of labeling and meaning-making.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Definitions of deviance vs. crime.
Structural functionalism: deviance as necessary for social order.
Conflict theory: power and inequality in defining deviance.
Symbolic interactionism: labeling theory and social meanings.
Social construction of deviance: norms and laws as cultural products.

Christmas Rituals & Traditions: Mariah Carey VS Chipmunks

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:29:56 UTC

Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, it’s hard to avoid it. Not only is it a day of celebration for Christian religions, but it has become commercialized and commodified for the sake of consumption and capitalism. Christmas also has a strong culture associated with it, full of rituals and traditions--from decorating the tree to gift-giving to singing in groups in front of people’s houses. Join us this week as we discuss these rituals, and get some tips from our amazing sociology gift guide!

#BlackLivesMatter Miniseries: Defunding the Police

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:31:24 UTC

In this Social Breakdown episode, the hosts unpack the call to “defund the police” within the #BlackLivesMatter movement. They examine how U.S. spending on policing has ballooned over the past 40 years while communities continue to experience violence and inequality. The discussion clarifies what defunding means — reallocating resources to social services and community care — and addresses concerns about crime, showing how definitions of deviance and safety are socially constructed and politically contested.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Social control: policing as formal regulation of deviance.
Conflict theory: power, inequality, and the criminalization of marginalized groups.
Cultural definitions of safety: competing visions of community well-being.
Resource allocation: punishment vs. prevention.
Deviance and reform: alternatives to carceral approaches.

The Social Construction of Rock n' Roll

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:34:23 UTC

We’ve got a special guest episode featuring Dr. Matthew Smith-Lahrman for you this week! Matt is a rock ‘n roll guru and professor at Dixie State University, and he joins us to talk about the sociology of rock music. Tune in to learn about how rock music has evolved, its role in the social construction of reality, and his favorite band, The Meat Puppets. Also, don’t forget to subscribe and give us a rating if you haven’t already. Mahalo!

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:36:02 UTC

Stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination-- all words we use interchangeably, and consequently, words we sometimes use incorrectly! This week’s show is the first episode of a two-part series where we untangle these three concepts from each other, and get a better sense of when prejudice turns into discrimination. Tune in to learn more, and don’t forget to give us a rating when you’ve got a little time on your hands. Mahalo!

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:36:53 UTC

Andddd we’re back with part two of our series on stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination! In this episode we take a close look at institutional discrimination. First, we explore the sociological concept of the ‘institution’. Next, we dig into how discrimination can plague an institution, and why it is that sometimes we don’t even know that we’re participants in this type of biased behavior. We end the episode with some ways that we faulty human beings can reduce and prevent discrimination. Tune in here to learn more, and don’t forget to subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts!

SOC303 - The "Myth" of Mental Illness

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:38:06 UTC

Join the SB team as we talk about the “myth of mental illness,” a phrase coined by psychiatrist and medical sociologist, Thomas Szasz. Today we will be comparing the ideas of mental health and illness as “problems with living” to the medical model. As sociologists we are not anti-medicine or anti-doctor, but we do feel it necessary to use our perspective breakdown the essence of psychological functioning and how the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is a gatekeeper. Hope you enjoy this lively conversation, and please subscribe and give us a rating!

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:41:03 UTC

This podcast serves as a practical, "behind-the-scenes" guide to the sociological craft. It moves beyond textbook definitions to show how professional researchers navigate the complexities of the scientific method, emphasizing that doing sociology is a skill developed through trial, error, and rigorous practice.

Connection: It bridges the gap between Theory and Research Design. It highlights that the Scientific Method is not just a rigid checklist, but a flexible framework that requires researchers to constantly align their theoretical questions with the most effective tools for Data Collection and Analysis.

Chapter 2 & Podcast Learning Outcomes

Methodological Alignment: Evaluate how to choose between quantitative and qualitative methods based on the specific research question being asked.
The Scientific Process: Outline the iterative steps of the scientific method, emphasizing how the literature review informs the creation of a focused hypothesis.
Operationalizing Variables: Identify the challenges of defining and measuring complex social concepts to ensure research validity.
Ethical Oversight: Analyze the role of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the ASA Code of Ethics in protecting human subjects during the research process.
Research Limitations: Recognize that every research design has inherent strengths and weaknesses, requiring transparency and reflexivity from the researcher.

#NotYourMascot with Jacqueline Keeler | The End of Sport Podcast

jleveto — 2020-07-22 17:49:18 UTC

Derek and Nathan talk with Jacqueline Keeler, a Dine/Yankton Dakota writer, activist, and co-founder of Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry, about the fight against Native mascotry. Keeler discusses the recent moves by teams like Washington, Edmonton, and Cleveland to reconsider their racist names, tying the issue to America’s colonial legacy. She shares her activism journey, how it laid the groundwork for these changes, and connects the struggle against mascotry to Black Lives Matter, crediting the movement for sparking action.

Give Methods A Chance | Select One

jleveto — 2020-07-22 18:03:06 UTC

This collection from The Society Pages features conversations with leading sociologists about the "nuts and bolts" of social inquiry. It moves beyond the textbook by offering a behind-the-scenes look at how scholars choose, execute, and troubleshoot the specific tools they use to study the social world.

Connection: These options connect to the Selecting a Research Design phase of the Scientific Method. Illustrating that there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach; instead, researchers must carefully match their method (surveys, interviews, ethnography, etc.) to the specific question they are trying to solve.

Chapter 2 & Podcast Learning Outcomes

Methodological Choice: Evaluate why a researcher chose a specific method over others to investigate their unique sociological question.
Fieldwork Realities: Identify the "messy" real-world challenges that occur during data collection which are often left out of textbook definitions.
Ethics in Practice: Analyze how the ASA Code of Ethics is applied in specific scenarios to protect participants and maintain professional standards.
From Data to Theory: Describe the process of analyzing data and how researchers move from raw notes or numbers to broader sociological conclusions.
Research Validity: Critique the validity and reliability of the findings based on the limitations and strengths of the chosen research design.

jleveto — 2020-09-05 23:38:44 UTC

Strikes are not easy to pull off. They're confrontational by nature, because they force people to take sides. With no workers to keep things going, businesses grind to a halt. And they're hard on the strikers themselves, who don't get paid while they're striking and risk serious retaliation for walking off the job. And strikers often face lots of backlash; in the case of the NBA, the players came in for condemnation from sports columnists and, unsurprisingly, from the White House. So how do you sustain that level of dedication in the face of that kind of hardship?

The problem with sex testing in sports

jleveto — 2020-09-05 23:42:20 UTC

Recently, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld IAAF rules that restrict female athletes with testosterone levels above 5 nanomoles per liter—a regulation that has repeatedly affected Semenya, a South African runner. Over the past decade, media narratives have often misrepresented her story. This video also reviews historical cases involving athletes like Polish sprinter Ewa Klobukowska and Indian sprinter Dutee Chand, highlighting the persistent challenges in establishing fair and definitive sex testing standards

Diversifying Organizational Leadership

jleveto — 2020-10-21 19:56:57 UTC

Discussions about leadership in organizations have been going on for a long time and we also are starting to see some of those discussions come to the fruition. On this episode, we talk with Kurt Merriweather of The Diversity Movement and Walk West and Tamara Terry, a researcher at RTI International and chair of the new Inclusion and Equity Committee at the American Association for Public Opinion Research. [Note: audio quality is compromised at times on this episode due to remote recording.]

Beer and Racism: How Beer Became White, Why It Matters, and the Movements to Change It

jleveto — 2020-10-21 20:02:01 UTC

This episode explores the cultural and social significance of beer, moving beyond its role as a beverage to examine how it symbolizes identity, community, and belonging. The discussion highlights beer’s place in traditions, rituals, and national cultures, as well as its role in shaping social interaction. It also considers inequalities in the industry and consumption, showing how something as everyday as beer reveals wider cultural values and social structures.

Topics linked to Chapter 3: Culture:

Material culture: beer as a product and symbol.
Symbolic culture: meanings of rituals, identity, and community.
Subculture and counterculture: craft brewing, drinking cultures.
Values and norms: social rules around alcohol use.
Cultural diffusion and globalization of beer.

Economic Growth as a Measure

jleveto — 2020-10-21 20:04:31 UTC

If you do an online search for the phrase “economic growth” you can find millions of website references. We sometimes take the notion of growth as a metric for society for granted. On this episode, we talk with Stevienna de Saille about her new co-authored book, Responsibility Beyond Growth: A Case for Responsible Stagnation.

jleveto — 2020-10-21 20:06:58 UTC

Social scientists attempt to make sense of the lives that human beings live in the world. That often means trying to put individual lives into the larger context of the world beyond daily routines. On this episode of The Measure of Everyday Life, we talk with Jessica Eise of Purdue University, a researcher who confronts macro-level changes as they are affecting agricultural workers and others around the world

jleveto — 2020-10-21 20:10:42 UTC

This week we sat down with Dr. Mary Kate Blake, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminology from Valparaiso University, for a rundown of sociology of education. What is the sociology of education? How is education a structural component of society? Why is it so important to the economy and the labor market? We discuss the impacts of high school counselors, the journey of going to college, and of course, what education is like during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic

jleveto — 2020-10-21 20:11:29 UTC

We’ve talked about femininity, feminism, and feminist criminology, but we have yet to tackle masculinity! So, we have a fabulous guest, Dr. Dan Cassino, a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, with us this episode to explain what hegemonic masculinity is, how there are masculinities (plural!), and how they manifest themselves in our society. Join us for a timely discussion about what it means to be a “man” today, and how masculinity has influenced and continues to influence our politics today

jleveto — 2020-10-21 20:14:07 UTC

Many people have heard the phrase, “take a walk in my shoes,” but what does this really mean? Is it possible to understand what someone is going through without sharing the same experiences? The answers to these questions may seem obvious, but it’s more complicated than you think! So this week, we’re getting into the nitty-gritty of distinguishing empathy from sympathy, and defining the two. As the world is facing unprecedented times and world leaders are contracting COVID-19, perhaps a little bit of empathy is important… or is it not? Join us for another fun dip in social psychology and emotions

jleveto — 2020-10-21 20:16:41 UTC

On this episode, we sit down with psychologist Marisa Franco to explore two aspects of our everyday lives that can bring some joy and solace, namely friendships and reminiscing about the past. Research suggests there are reasons why the loneliness many are experiencing has real consequences and suggests strategies to address unwanted loneliness.

Intro to Popular Culture: “It’s all about popular”

jleveto — 2020-10-21 20:21:31 UTC

In this episode, the hosts introduce the sociology of popular culture, asking what makes culture “popular” and how it reflects and shapes society. They examine distinctions between high, low, and mass culture, and discuss how pop culture both reflects dominant values and provides spaces for resistance. The episode emphasizes the importance of media, consumerism, and everyday practices in understanding how culture influences identity, meaning, and social life.

Topics linked to Chapter 3: Culture:

Symbolic culture: media, music, and consumer goods as meaning-making.
Dominant culture vs. subcultures and countercultures.
Cultural values: taste, status, and consumer identity.
Cultural diffusion and globalization of popular trends.
Ideal vs. real culture: marketed values vs. lived realities.

How Language Shapes Survey Results

jleveto — 2020-10-21 20:23:46 UTC

This podcast explores the precision required in survey design, moving beyond the textbook definition of a questionnaire to show how language choice is a critical "instrument" in itself. It demonstrates that a survey isn't just a list of questions, but a linguistic interaction where a single word can change the entire dataset.

Connection: This connects directly to Surveys and Validity. It highlights that for a survey to be "scientific," the researcher must account for how language shapes respondent behavior, ensuring that the instrument is actually measuring what it claims to measure without unintentionally leading the participant.

Chapter 2 & Podcast Learning Outcomes

Question Wording: Analyze how subtle shifts in word choice or phrasing can introduce bias and drastically impact survey validity.
Respondent Interpretation: Identify the challenges of operationalizing variables when different respondents interpret the same language in different ways.
Quantitative Rigor: Evaluate the importance of pre-testing and "piloting" survey language to ensure reliability across a target population.
Linguistic Context: Discuss how cultural and linguistic nuances affect the generalizability of survey results across diverse social groups.
Technical Design: Recognize the technical skill required to draft closed-ended questions that are neutral, clear, and unambiguous.

SEASON THREE: Seriel

jleveto — 2020-11-01 22:01:13 UTC

(Select any in the series)

Season 3 of Serial takes listeners inside Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County courthouse for a year, revealing how everyday cases illuminate the machinery of American justice. From minor misdemeanors to serious felonies, the podcast shows how discretion, bias, and power shape outcomes. Through stories of bar fights, plea bargains, police encounters, and juvenile justice, Serial uncovers how ordinary people experience the justice system, raising questions about fairness, legitimacy, and systemic inequality.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Social control: policing, courts, and prisons as mechanisms of regulating deviance.
Labeling theory: how ordinary defendants are marked as “deviant” through legal processes.
Power and discretion: judges’ and prosecutors’ authority in defining punishment.
Structural inequality: how race, class, and neighborhood shape legal outcomes.
Formal vs. informal sanctions: consequences both inside and beyond the courtroom.

Seeing White

jleveto — 2021-01-17 04:09:42 UTC

Just what is going on with white people? Police shootings of unarmed African Americans. Acts of domestic terrorism by white supremacists. The renewed embrace of raw, undisguised white-identity politics. Unending racial inequity in schools, housing, criminal justice, and hiring. Some of this feels new, but in truth it’s an old story.

Why? Where did the notion of “whiteness” come from? What does it mean? What is whiteness for?

Scene on Radio host and producer John Biewen took a deep dive into these questions, along with an array of leading scholars and regular guest Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika, in this fourteen-part documentary series, released between February and August 2017. The series editor is Loretta Williams.

Food, Politics, and SocietySocial Theory and the Modern Food System

jleveto — 2021-01-28 17:26:12 UTC

This discussion of Food, Politics, and Society examines how the modern food system is shaped by power, inequality, and cultural values. Drawing on social theory, the authors trace food’s role in global capitalism, from production and distribution to identity and everyday consumption. The book highlights how food connects individuals to social structures, revealing tensions between tradition and modernity, health and profit, and cultural meaning and economic necessity.

Topics linked to Chapter 3: Culture:

Material culture: food systems and production.
Symbolic culture: meanings attached to eating and identity.
Cultural diffusion and globalization of diets.
Values and norms: health, sustainability, and consumption.
Cultural imperialism: dominance of global food corporations.

Essential DadsThe Inequalities and Politics of Fathering

jleveto — 2021-01-28 17:27:58 UTC

In Essential Dads: The Inequalities and Politics of Fathering (University of California Press, 2020), sociologist Jennifer Randles shares the stories of more than 60 marginalized men as they sought to become more engaged parents through a government-supported “responsible” fatherhood program. Dads’ experiences serve as a unique window into long-standing controversies about the importance of fathering, its connection to inequality, and the state’s role in shaping men’s parenting. With a compassionate and hopeful voice, Randles proposes a more equitable political agenda for fatherhood, one that carefully considers the social and economic factors shaping men’s abilities to be involved in their children’s lives and the ideologies that rationalize the necessity of that involvement.

Hyper Education Why Good Schools, Good Grades, and Good Behavior Are Not Enough

jleveto — 2021-01-28 17:29:09 UTC

Pawan Dhingra's new book Hyper Education: Why Good Schools, Good Grades, and Good Behavior Are Not Enough (NYU Press, 2020) is an up-close evaluation of the competitive nature of the United States education system and the extra-curricular and co-curricular activities associated with them. Dhingra reveals the subculture of high-achievement in education and after-school learning centers, spelling bees, and math competitions that have spawned as a result of a competitive markets in higher education and in life. This world is one in which immigrant families compete with Americans to be intellectually high-achieving and expect their children to invest countless hours in studying and testing in order to gain an upper-hand in the believed meritocracy of American public education. This is a world where enrichment centers, like Kumon, are able to capitalize and make profitable gains from parents who enroll their children as early as three years of age. There are even families and teachers who avoid after-school academics that are getting swept up in the competitive nature of this subculture called hyper education. Dr. Dhingra draws from more than 100 in-depth interviews with teachers, tutors, principals, children, and parents for this study. He delves into the narratives that parents of elementary and junior high school provide about this phenomenon and examines the roles played by schools, families, and communities. He moves beyond the “Tiger Mom” caricature that is often given to Asian American and white families who practice hyper education and asks if it makes sense. This book provides a behind-the-scenes look at hyper education from parents who have their children participate in Scripps National Spelling Bee, math competitions, and other national competitions, as well as after school learning centers. Dr. Dhingra shows that parents observe an increasingly competitive market for higher education and perceive good schools, good grades, and good behavior to not be enough for their high-achieving students. Pawan Dhingra, Ph.D. is a Professor of American Studies at Amherst College

Radical Skin, Moderate Masks De-radicalising the Muslim and Racism in Post-racial Societies

jleveto — 2021-01-28 17:30:52 UTC

Muslims living in locations like Australia, Europe, or North America exist within a context dominated by white racial norms and are forced to grapple with those conventions on a daily basis. If they succeed in meeting the presiding criterion of secular liberalism they can be dubbed a “moderate” Muslim by mainstream society. In Radical Skin, Moderate Masks: De-radicalising the Muslim and Racism in Post-racial Societies (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017), Yassir Morsi, Lecturer at La Trobe University, explores these contemporary social dynamics and considers the various ways Muslims don a mask in order to navigate the expectations of the dominant society. Here he offers three paradigms, what he calls the “Fabulous Mask,” the “Militant Mask,” and the “Triumphant Mask,” that represent changing tensions for the “moderate” Muslim. Morsi deconstructs the “radical” vs. “moderate” binary through the forces of racialized structures that shape everyday life and the historical circumstances of Muslims in the “West.” This is achieved through an auto-ethnography that destabilizes traditional scholarship and enables the reader to come to a better understanding of the psychological and material effects of being a Muslim in the times of the “War on Terror” and government funded deradicalization programs. In our conversation we discuss the relationship between religion and race, the category “moderate” Muslim, Frantz Fanon, being a cultural translator, U.S. Muslim scholar Hamza Yusuf, an Islamic art museum exhibit, Australian media personality Waleed Aly & comedian Nazeem Hussain, readings of Edward Said’s Orientalism, British commentator Maajid Nawaz, Friedrich Nietzsche, and confronting the theoretical and practical norms of academic scholarship.

Joel Thiessen and Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme, None of the Above Nonreligious Identity in the US and Canada

jleveto — 2021-01-28 17:31:52 UTC

In recent decades, the number of Americans and Canadians who identify has nonreligious has risen considerably. With nearly one quarter of Canadian and American adults identifying as nonreligious, religious "nones" represent a sizable and growing group within the Canadian and American populations. In their recent book, None of the Above: Nonreligious Identity in the US and Canada (NYU Press, 2020), Joel Thiessen and Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme examine this phenomenon and the implications of the growing religious none population in North America. Joel Thiessen is Professor of Sociology of Ambrose University in Calgary, Alberta. Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Legal Studies at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

James K. Wellman, Jr., Katie E. Corcoran, and Kate J. Stockly High on God How Megachurches Won the Heart of America

jleveto — 2021-01-28 17:33:38 UTC

The number of megachurches in the U.S. skyrocketed from 350 in 1990 to over 1,600 by 2011, with attendance reaching over five million weekly by 2015. High on God: How Megachurches Won the Heart of America (Oxford UP, 2020) by James K. Wellman Jr., Katie E. Corcoran, and Kate J. Stockly explores why these churches dominate the American religious landscape. The book reveals how megachurches satisfy the human craving for meaning and community, challenging skeptics with attendees' experiences.

Humanocracy Creating Organizations As Amazing As the People Inside Them

jleveto — 2021-01-28 17:37:55 UTC

Today I talked with Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini about their book Humanocracy: Creating Organizations As Amazing As the People Inside Them (HBR, 2020). This episode attacks the way bureaucracies are “innovation-phobic” and “soul crushing.” How can motivation, productivity and innovation be radically enhanced? By dismantling traditional power structures within large companies, giving employees the opportunity to become “micropreneurs.” Tying compensation to contribution and enabling true empowerment are the ways to go.

Gary Hamel is on the faculty of the London Business School and has been hailed by the Wall Street Journal as the world’s most influential business thinker. Michele Zanini is, along with Hamel, the cofounder of the Management Lab. An alumnus of McKinsey & Company, Zanini has a degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

jleveto — 2021-01-28 19:27:02 UTC

Sixty years after the Supreme Court declared separate schools for black and white children unconstitutional, school segregation is making a comeback. What’s behind the growing racial divide in American schools — and what’s the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education? In part two, Omarina's Story, FRONTLINE revisits a student who made the most of her "middle school moment".

jleveto — 2021-01-28 19:33:02 UTC

Jocelyn Viterna on Teaching Our Ugly Roots

jleveto — 2021-01-28 19:34:01 UTC

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Jocelyn Viterna, Professor of Sociology and Director of Undergraduate Studies at Harvard University. Jocelyn introduces her approach to teaching sociological theory in a way that is honest about our intellectual roots and engages with the centrality of social evolutionary thought and racist ideology in early disciplinary writings. Jocelyn discusses the work of Herbert Spencer and also guides us through a 1909 book review from Frank Wilson Blackmar, the 9th President of the American Sociological Society (Association).

Remembering Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey: The Mothers of Modern Gynecology

jleveto — 2021-02-18 19:18:20 UTC

The Danger of a Single Story

jleveto — 2021-03-01 14:43:08 UTC

In this talk, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie reflects on how stories shape our perceptions of cultures and people. She warns against the “single story” — the reduction of individuals or groups to one narrow narrative — which fosters stereotypes and misunderstandings. By sharing personal experiences of both misrepresentation and self-discovery, Adichie underscores the power of multiple stories to create empathy, nuance, and more balanced cultural understanding.

Topics linked to Chapter 3: Culture:

Ethnocentrism vs. cultural relativism.
Symbolic culture: language, storytelling, and meaning-making.
Cultural stereotypes and power in shaping narratives.
Dominant culture vs. subcultures.
Globalization and cultural diffusion through literature and media.

Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory

jleveto — 2021-03-09 19:29:48 UTC

Is intersectionality a critical social theory? What must intersectionality do to be both critical and a social theory? Must social justice be a guiding normative principle? And what does or should social justice mean in intersectional theory? Patricia Hills Collins explores these questions, and many more, in Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory (Duke University Press, 2019). Engaging a wide range of thinkers, activists, and traditions, including Classical American Pragmatism, the Frankfurt School, and Ida B. Well-Barnett, Collins helps us to reconsider how we think of intersectionality’s history in order to shape its future.

The Human Behavior Experiments (via YouTube, VIDEO)

jleveto — 2021-05-11 01:49:34 UTC

This video provides a powerful "real-world" look at the most famous—and controversial—experiments in the history of social science. It moves beyond textbook descriptions of the Milgram Obedience Study and the Stanford Prison Experiment to show how these laboratory findings explain actual human tragedies, from the Abu Ghraib prison abuses to fatal fraternity hazing.

Connection: This connects directly to Research Ethics and Experimental Methods. It highlights why modern Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and the ASA Code of Ethics were created: to prevent the psychological harm caused by these classic studies. It also demonstrates the strength of the Experimental Method in isolating how social environments (the independent variable) can radically alter individual behavior (the dependent variable).

Chapter 2 & Video Learning Outcomes

Research Ethics: Analyze how "classic" experiments led to the creation of modern informed consent and protocols to protect participants from harm.
Situational Variables: Identify how the independent variable (the social setting or authority figure) can override personal values in determining human behavior.
Bystander Effect: Evaluate the diffusion of responsibility and how the number of observers (a measurable variable) impacts the likelihood of intervention.
Experimental Validity: Discuss the "real-world" validity of lab results by comparing experimental findings to actual events like Abu Ghraib or the McDonald's hoaxes.
Deception in Research: Critically examine the use of deception in the scientific method and the ethical requirements for debriefing subjects afterward.

Carol Anderson on White Rage and Donald Trump

jleveto — 2021-07-13 23:37:32 UTC

Carol Anderson, a professor at Emory University, authored White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, which originated from her viral 2014 Washington Post op-ed during the Ferguson protests. Anderson argues that while the media focused on Black rage, the real issue was "white rage," a force that operates subtly through courts, legislatures, and bureaucracies to suppress Black advancement. Her work offers a crucial lens for understanding both America's past and its present political climate.

jleveto — 2021-07-13 23:39:11 UTC

Heather McGhee is an expert in economic and social policy, and author of the best-selling book The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. She is the former president of the inequality-focused think tank Demos and now chairs the board of Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. Dr. Kendi sat down with the self-described “policy wonk” to discuss how a racist society hurts everyone. Together they explore how, by investing in each other, we can all achieve better jobs, better health, better democracy, better schools, better neighborhoods for our kids—and so much more. For further reading, resources, and a transcript of this episode, visit pushkin.fm/show/be-antiracist-ibram-kendi.

jleveto — 2021-07-14 13:08:13 UTC

Jim Crow Sociology: The Black and Southern Roots of American Sociology (U Cincinnati Press, 2020) is an extraordinary new volume that examines the origin, development, and significance of Black Sociology through the accomplishments of early African American sociologists at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) such as Atlanta University, Tuskegee Institute, Fisk University, and Howard University. Black Sociology is a concept that weaponizes the discipline for that which is “right and good" and prioritizes scholar-activist inspired research directed at impacting real world conditions of African Americans

The Hinge Civil Society, Group Cultures, and the Power of Local Commitments

jleveto — 2021-07-14 13:09:26 UTC

In The Hinge, Gary Alan Fine explores how people confront moral ambiguity in everyday life. Rather than relying on absolute principles, individuals use “hinges” — cultural resources, stories, and shared understandings — to guide decisions. This sociological perspective highlights how morality is deeply social, shaped by context, interaction, and culture. The book illustrates how cultural frameworks both constrain and enable choices, revealing the fluid, negotiated nature of moral life.

Topics linked to Chapter 3: Culture:

Symbolic culture: shared meanings shaping morality.
Values and norms: how societies define “right” and “wrong.”
Cultural relativism: morality as context-dependent.
Subcultures: different groups’ moral codes.
Ideal vs. real culture: stated principles versus practiced behaviors.

Ashley T. Rubin, "Rocking Qualitative Social Science (Podcast)

jleveto — 2021-07-14 13:12:20 UTC

This podcast offers a robust defense of Qualitative Research, moving beyond the textbook to show that qualitative methods are as rigorous and systematic as quantitative ones. It emphasizes that doing good qualitative work requires discipline, transparency, and a commitment to "rocking" the methodology rather than just stumbling through it.

Connection: This connects to the Scientific Method and Validity. It highlights that while qualitative steps (like coding or field notes) may feel "messy" compared to a lab experiment, they must follow a systematic logic and be transparently reported to count as valid social science.

Chapter 2 & Podcast Learning Outcomes

Qualitative Rigor: Evaluate the scientific nature of qualitative research by identifying how transparency and systematic analysis ensure reliability and validity.
Methodological Realism: Contrast the "neat" steps of the scientific method presented in textbooks with the iterative and often unpredictable reality of qualitative fieldwork.
The Disciplined Instrument: Apply reflexivity to explain how a researcher’s presence and personality function as a disciplined tool for data collection.
Data Depth: Identify the unique strengths of qualitative data in capturing nuances and "why" questions that numerical data often overlook.
Defending Diversity: Analyze the challenges of communicating qualitative findings to audiences or institutions that prioritize quantitative metrics and large-scale generalizations.

jleveto — 2021-07-14 13:19:32 UTC

Rosen spent over a year living in a Park Heights neighborhood, getting to know families, accompanying them on housing searches, spending time on front stoops, and learning about the history of the neighborhood and the homeowners who had settled there decades ago. She examines why, when low-income renters are given the opportunity to afford a home in a more resource-rich neighborhood, they do not relocate to one, observing where they instead end up and other opportunities housing vouchers may offer them.

jleveto — 2021-07-14 13:22:01 UTC

Based on in-depth interviews with individuals on both sides of the divide, this book explores the causes and repercussions of the stark inequity that has become commonplace across the United States. It exposes the mechanisms by which inequality flourishes and by which Americans have come to believe that disparity is acceptable and deserved.

jleveto — 2021-07-14 13:27:18 UTC

This podcast dives deep into the art and science of the Interview, moving beyond the textbook's basic definition to explore the relational "dance" between the researcher and the respondent. It treats the interview not just as a data collection tool, but as a complex social interaction that requires skill, empathy, and critical awareness.

Connection: It expands on the Interviews section of your textbook. It specifically highlights the importance of Rapport and the Target Population, demonstrating that the quality of qualitative data depends entirely on the researcher's ability to build trust and navigate power dynamics during the conversation.

Chapter 2 & Podcast Learning Outcomes

Interview Design: Distinguish between structured, semi-structured, and unstructured interviews and when to apply each.
Building Rapport: Identify strategies for establishing trust and managing power imbalances between the interviewer and the participant.
Sampling Strategy: Evaluate how the selection of a sample from a target population affects the depth and breadth of the interview findings.
Relational Ethics: Analyze the ethical responsibility of the researcher when handling sensitive personal stories and maintaining participant confidentiality.
Beyond the Script: Recognize how non-verbal cues and "silences" in an interview function as critical qualitative data.

jleveto — 2021-07-14 13:29:35 UTC

This podcast explores how traditional fieldwork has evolved into the digital age through Digital Ethnography and Netnography. It moves beyond the textbook’s focus on physical environments to show how researchers study social life, deviance, and community within online spaces and social media platforms.

Connection: It updates the concept of the Research Setting. It demonstrates that the "field" is no longer just a physical location, but a digital one, requiring researchers to adapt Participant Observation to navigate the ethics and complexities of online interactions where the line between public and private is blurred.

Chapter 2 & Podcast Learning Outcomes

Digital Fieldwork: Distinguish between traditional ethnography and netnography, identifying how the "field" is defined in non-physical social spaces.
Online Ethics: Analyze the unique ethical challenges of digital research, such as "lurking" versus active participation and the difficulty of obtaining informed consent online.
Researcher Presence: Evaluate how a researcher’s digital identity (avatars, profiles) functions as a tool for reflexivity and building rapport in virtual communities.
Data Validity: Discuss the challenges of validity when analyzing curated social media data versus face-to-face interactions.
Modernizing Methods: Recognize how the Scientific Method is applied to digital artifacts like posts, hashtags, and threads as primary sociological data.

Hillary Angelo, "How Green Became Good..."

jleveto — 2021-07-30 01:42:31 UTC

As projects like Manhattan's High Line, Chicago's 606, China's eco-cities, and Ethiopia's tree-planting efforts show, cities around the world are devoting serious resources to urban greening. Formerly neglected urban spaces and new high-end developments draw huge crowds thanks to the considerable efforts of city governments. But why are greening projects so widely taken up, and what good do they do? In How Green Became Good: Urbanized Nature and the Making of Cities and Citizens (U Chicago Press, 2021), Hillary Angelo uncovers the origins and meanings of the enduring appeal of urban green space, showing that city planners have long thought that creating green spaces would lead to social improvement. Turning to Germany's Ruhr Valley (a region that, despite its ample open space, was "greened" with the addition of official parks and gardens), Angelo shows that greening is as much a social process as a physical one.

Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption

jleveto — 2021-07-30 01:45:48 UTC

Elite white women have redefined feminism by promising individual empowerment, sexual liberation, LGBTQ inclusion, and racial solidarity—promises that Rafia Zakaria argues are hollow in Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption (2021). Drawing on her experiences as an American Muslim and immigrant rights attorney, Zakaria critiques how white feminists leverage racial privilege and cultural superiority, ultimately advancing a movement that only serves upper middle-class white interests. She calls for a reimagined feminism that centers Black and brown voices, challenging everything from imperialistic savior complexes to reducing empowerment solely to sexual liberation.

jleveto — 2021-07-30 01:47:17 UTC

jleveto — 2021-07-30 01:49:11 UTC

The neurodiversity studies paradigm is one in which autism, ADHD, dyslexia, aphantasia, and other forms of long-term neurological differences are “part of a broader spectrum of human diversity, rather than inescapably associated with deviance, disorder, or impoverished selfhood,” write editors Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, Anna Stenning, and Nick Chown in the Acknowledgements to

Neurodiversity Studies: A New Critical Paradigm (Routledge, 2020). They go on to credit those who have been marginalized in (what can now be called) the neurotypical paradigm as having produced the contours of this alternative paradigm through many years of “ardent campaigning.” The resulting collection of essays function to both identify and center the paradigm of neurodivergence, in the tradition of Feminism, Critical Race Theory, and Queer Studies. As the book description concludes, “at the crossroads between sociology, critical psychology, medical humanities, critical disability studies, and critical autism studies, and sharing theoretical ground with critical race studies and critical queer studies, the proposed new field – neurodiversity studies – will be of interest to people working in all these areas.”

jleveto — 2021-07-30 01:55:14 UTC

We sit with Dr. Deborwah Faulk, a race scholar, to learn more about the impact of anti-black racism on college selection for black families.

jleveto — 2021-07-30 01:56:41 UTC

We have a guest episode for you today with Marta Soligo, who will take us on a tour of the sociology of tourism, the creation of culture, celebrity deaths, dark tourism, and much more. Even though tourism may be for leisure and relaxation, it remains one of the largest money making industry for many economies and cultures that have had to turn to commercialization to survive. COVID-19 brings interesting implications with the sudden immobilization of people, but what does the future hold? Join us to learn more!

Girl Power and the Vampire Slayer

jleveto — 2021-07-30 01:57:55 UTC

Abstract

We’re back with a fun breakaway episode talking about monster artists and girl power! In light of recent revelations about Joss Whedon, we breakdown classic feminist girl power TV show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Is it really about female empowerment? Or is it just a masculinized vision of femininity? Join us to learn more as we rethink our favorite girl power heroines.

Intro to Sociology of Education

jleveto — 2021-07-30 01:59:03 UTC

This episode introduces the sociology of education, exploring how schools are more than sites of learning — they are cultural institutions that reproduce values, norms, and social hierarchies. With guest insights, the hosts discuss education’s role in shaping identity, transmitting culture, and reinforcing or challenging inequality. The conversation highlights how education reflects broader cultural forces while also serving as a key arena where social change and resistance can take root.

Topics linked to Chapter 3: Culture:

Values and norms: what schools teach beyond academics.
Cultural transmission: passing on beliefs and traditions through education.
Dominant culture vs. subcultures in schooling.
Ideal vs. real culture: equality of opportunity vs. structural inequalities.
Cultural capital and power in educational success

jleveto — 2021-07-30 02:07:31 UTC

jleveto — 2021-07-30 02:09:36 UTC

jleveto — 2021-07-30 02:20:53 UTC

Older people are the most vulnerable to COVID-19. That’s a challenge when people in their 60s, 70s and 80s are full time caretakers for grandkids. The opioid epidemic has made more than 2.5 million children nationally part of a ‘Grandfamiliy,’ a household headed by someone over 60. Social distancing isn’t an option when grandparents are tending to diapers, making meals and overseeing homework full time. Some are even essential workers. And COVID has only exacerbated opioid addictions and deaths. Through it all, families are still coming together to give their kids a home

SOC215 – Social Stratification, Capitalism, and Inequality: All the Sad Things

jleveto — 2021-10-03 23:12:57 UTC

In this Social Breakdown episode, the hosts tackle social stratification, capitalism, and inequality. They explain how stratification systems work, why inequality persists, and how capitalism shapes wealth distribution and opportunity. With humor and clarity, they explore the consequences of inequality for health, education, and democracy while critiquing myths like meritocracy and the American Dream. The discussion makes abstract theories concrete, helping listeners connect sociological concepts to everyday realities of class and inequality.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Systems of stratification: slavery, caste, and class.
Social class in the U.S.: upper, middle, working, poor, and underclass.
Theories of class: Marx, Weber, functionalism, and Bourdieu.
Inequality and life chances: education, health, and work.
Ideology of the American Dream: legitimizing stratification.

Digital Sociology Podcast: Huw Davies

jleveto — 2021-10-03 23:15:24 UTC

In this Digital Sociology Podcast episode, Huw Davies shares his research on how social class shapes young people’s use of technology. He finds significant differences in digital engagement, with working-class youth often overlooked by school curricula yet demonstrating entrepreneurial and creative skills online. His work challenges assumptions about class and digital literacy, showing that cultural capital and opportunity—not innate ability—structure how technology is used and valued across social groups.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Cultural capital: class-based differences in digital literacy and valued skills.
Social reproduction: education reinforcing inequalities in digital access.
Life chances: how tech use shapes education and employment opportunities.
Symbolic interactionism: everyday digital practices as class expressions.
Inequality and innovation: entrepreneurial uses of technology in marginalized groups.

Jennifer Richeson on Perceptions of Racial Inequality, Social Science Bites

jleveto — 2021-10-03 23:17:59 UTC

There is inequality in the United States, a fact most people accept and which data certainly bears out. But how bad do you think that inequality is, say, based on comparing the wealth held by the average Black person in America and the average white person?

Jennifer Lee on Asian Americans

jleveto — 2021-10-03 23:18:58 UTC

Columbia University sociologist Jennifer Lee has been answering many of those questions her entire academic career, and across four books, dozens of journal articles and untold media appearances. One of the first questions she answers in this Social Science Bites podcast is who are ‘Asian Americans’? As she tells interviewer David Edmonds, “No one comes to the United States and identifies as an Asian American.” Instead, if asked, they are likely to identify with national origin or ethnicity – say Chinese, or Japanese, or Filipino – rather than with the umbrella construct of Asian American.

Michèle Lamont on Stigma

jleveto — 2021-10-03 23:20:20 UTC

The study of stigma, says Michèle Lamont, is a “booming field.” That assessment can be both sad and hopeful, and in this Social Science Bites podcast the Harvard sociologist explains stigma’s manifestations and ways to combat it, as well as what it takes for a researcher to actually study stigma.

The changing nature of crime and the impact of Covid on criminal opportunity.

jleveto — 2021-10-03 23:22:22 UTC

In this episode, Laurie Taylor speaks with criminologist Richard Hobbs and Tuesday Reitano about the changing face of crime. Hobbs traces “illegal capitalism” from small-scale theft to organized crime, debunking Hollywood stereotypes and exposing the economic logic behind deviance. Reitano explains how COVID-19 blurred boundaries between legal and illegal markets, as criminal networks exploited shortages and shifting attitudes. Together, they reveal how deviance adapts within global systems of power, inequality, and opportunity.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Definitions of deviance: blurred boundaries between legality and illegality.
Conflict theory: crime as embedded in capitalism and inequality.
Social construction: myths vs. realities of organized crime.
Globalization: transnational networks of deviance (drugs, trafficking).
Adaptability of deviance: how crises (like COVID-19) reshape opportunities.

The Handshake - Social Interaction

jleveto — 2021-10-03 23:23:21 UTC

The handshake & social interaction. Laurie Taylor explores the history and meaning of a commonplace ritual which has played a role in everything from meetings with uncontacted tribes to political assassinations. He's joined by the paleoanthropologist, Ella Al-Shamahi, who asks what this everyday, friendly gesture can tell us about the enduring power of human contact. They're joined by Steven Shapin, Franklin L. Ford Research Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University, & author of a recent article which considers the way in which social distancing and self isolating have put us 'out of touch' with each other. As he says, COVID is a social disease, a pathological experiment on the nature of our social relations. Will it irrevocably change the way we interact with other human beings? Thinking Allowed is produced in partnership with the Open University.

The Rich

jleveto — 2021-10-03 23:25:00 UTC

In this Thinking Allowed episode, Laurie Taylor speaks with Rowland Atkinson about his study of London as an “Alpha City,” where concentrations of global wealth reshape urban life, catering to elites while marginalizing ordinary residents. Historian-sociologist Rainer Zitelmann joins to discuss international attitudes toward the rich, highlighting differences in how societies view wealth, inequality, and envy. Together, the discussion explores how extreme concentrations of privilege affect cities, democracy, and perceptions of fairness.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Wealth concentration: global elites and urban inequality.
Structural inequality: cities designed around the rich vs. the majority.
Social class and ideology: cultural attitudes toward wealth and privilege.
Life chances: how inequality shapes housing and urban life.
Global stratification: comparing class perceptions across nations.

Fashion & VIP Parties

jleveto — 2021-10-03 23:26:12 UTC

In this Thinking Allowed episode, Laurie Taylor examines inequality in glamorous industries. Giulia Mensitieri exposes the hidden exploitation in the fashion world, where precarious labor sustains wealth and luxury for a few. Ashley Mears describes the elite global party circuit, highlighting how ostentatious consumption and exclusivity reinforce privilege. Together, they reveal how culture industries both mask and magnify inequality, turning glamour into a powerful marker of social stratification.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Social inequality: exploitation hidden beneath luxury industries.
Cultural capital and distinction: fashion and nightlife as class markers.
Structural inequality: precarious labor vs. elite consumption.
Symbolic interactionism: status display in exclusive spaces.
Wealth concentration: global elites and conspicuous consumption.

Smart Cities

jleveto — 2021-10-03 23:29:03 UTC

Smart Cities: Laurie Taylor presents a special edition of Thinking Allowed which was recorded at the Open University in Milton Keynes. He was joined by Sophie Watson, Professor of Sociology at the Open University, Oliver Zanetti, Visiting Fellow at the Open University and Gillian Rose, Professor of Human Geography at Oxford University.

White Privilege - Racial Ambiguity

jleveto — 2021-10-03 23:30:51 UTC

Racial ambiguity in America: Lisa Kingstone, Senior Teaching Fellow in Race and Identity at Kings College, London, asks what happens to a country that was built on race when the boundaries of black and white have started to fade. She’s joined by the writer, Bidisha. Also, what is meant by white privilege? Kalwant Bhopal, Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, discusses her new study.

White Power Movement in US - Rise of Racist Right in Europe

jleveto — 2021-10-03 23:32:31 UTC

The White Power Movement in the US: Laurie Taylor talks to Kathleen Belew, Assistant Professor of US History at the University of Chicago, and author of a new book which traces the origins and development of the racist far right. They're joined by Liz Fekete, Director of the Institute of Race Relations, who discusses her study of similar (and different) forces in Europe.

The Meaning of Work

jleveto — 2021-10-03 23:35:01 UTC

The anthropologist, James Suzman, explores the shifting meaning of work, and argues that for 95% of our species' history, it held a radically different importance – it did not determine social status, mould our values or dictate how we spent most of our time. How did it become the central organisational principle of our societies and is it time for a dramatic re-think?

Culture & privilege

jleveto — 2021-10-03 23:36:23 UTC

This Thinking Allowed episode examines inequality in cultural participation and creative work. Orian Brook discusses how structural barriers in the arts disproportionately exclude women, people of color, and those from working-class backgrounds, limiting both access to jobs and advancement opportunities. Despite claims that culture unites, data show most people rarely engage with galleries, theatre, or opera. The episode highlights how privilege, class, and exclusion shape who gets to produce and enjoy cultural life.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Social inequality: exclusion from cultural industries by race, class, and gender.
Cultural capital (Bourdieu): access to and familiarity with high-status culture.
Life chances: stratification shaping opportunities in creative work.
Structural inequality: barriers to mobility in elite cultural occupations.
Ideology vs. reality: claims of inclusivity vs. patterns of exclusion.

Deviance Management Insiders, Outsiders, Hiders, and Drifters

jleveto — 2021-10-08 00:28:38 UTC

In Deviance Management: Insiders, Outsiders, Hiders, and Drifters (2019), Christopher Bader and Joseph Baker examine how individuals and groups cope with being labeled deviant. Drawing on diverse cases — from high-tension religious groups and white power movements to paranormal enthusiasts, LGBTQ communities, and recreational drug users — they identify strategies people use to resist, hide, or normalize stigma. The book expands deviance studies beyond crime, showing how culture, identity, and social movements shape responses to labeling.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Labeling theory: stigma and responses to being labeled deviant.
Types of deviance: criminal, social, and noncriminal.
Subcultures: meaning-making in marginalized groups.
Normalization movements: strategies to destigmatize identities/behaviors.
Methods in deviance research: mixed-methods and access to stigmatized communities.

THE TOLL OF STEREOTYPES

jleveto — 2021-10-08 00:48:34 UTC

America’s schools are supposed to treat all students fairly. But we know that all too often, black students face racial discrimination, stigma, and stereotypes in their schools. And for black girls in particular, that can be compounded by their gender as well. Professor Seanna Leath explains how do these experiences affect the lives and development of black girls, what broader stereotypes and stigmas exist around mental health for black women, and what can be done to improve the situation.

THE TOLL OF STEREOTYPES

jleveto — 2021-10-08 00:48:48 UTC

THE MASK YOU LIVE IN

jleveto — 2022-01-26 23:52:56 UTC

THE MASK YOU LIVE IN follows boys and young men as they struggle to stay true to themselves while negotiating America's narrow definition of masculinity.

Pressured by the media, their peer group, and even the adults in their lives, our protagonists confront messages encouraging them to disconnect from their emotions, devalue authentic friendships, objectify and degrade women, and resolve conflicts through violence. These gender stereotypes interconnect with race, class, and circumstance, creating a maze of identity issues boys and young men must navigate to become "real" men.

MISS REPRESENTATION

jleveto — 2022-01-26 23:53:11 UTC

Like drawing back a curtain to let bright light stream in, MISS REPRESENTATION uncovers a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see. Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the film exposes how mainstream media contributes to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film challenges the media's limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself.

jleveto — 2022-09-16 21:47:36 UTC

Ridgeway is a sociologist and professor emerita at Stanford who has spent her career studying what she calls the “deep story” of status. Her 2019 book “Status: Why Is It Everywhere? Why Does It Matter?” is the culmination of decades of research into what status is, how it actually works, and the myriad ways it shapes our world.

jleveto — 2022-09-16 21:53:06 UTC

How should we process and understand this moment in gender? Kathryn Bond Stockton is a distinguished professor of English focusing on gender studies at the University of Utah and the author of the book “Gender(s).” She is incredibly skilled at explaining the fundamentals — and complexities — of what gender means and how people, including Stockton herself, have wrestled with it.

jleveto — 2022-09-16 21:57:34 UTC

Eve Ewing’s work as a sociologist, poet, visual artist, podcaster and comic book writer manages to do two things that are often in tension: it gives us a clear picture of how race, power and education work in America right now, and envisions a world that could work radically differently.

“Dreaming and imagination and possibility are very much key words for the kind of work I want to do,” Ewing says. She’s a sociologist at the University of Chicago who focuses on race and public education, and her book “Ghosts in the Schoolyard” brilliantly examines the closing of several Chicago public schools around 2013 and what they meant to the communities they served.

jleveto — 2022-09-16 22:04:52 UTC

The decades-long childcare crisis in America -- worsened by the pandemic -- continues to deepen: parents all across the nation have been facing immense challenges in finding quality, affordable childcare, all while childcare providers continue to deal with poor working conditions and cripplingly low wages. This month, we spoke to labor economist Mary King, who focuses on the public provision of high quality preschool and childcare. During our conversation, Dr. King offered a detailed examination of the crisis and explained the many advantages of creating a universal preschool program.

jleveto — 2022-09-16 22:05:53 UTC

The 2020 presidential election brought disinformation – defined as false information with the intent to mislead – to the forefront of public conversation. Subsequent events, such as the January 6 riot, reveal the serious danger disinformation can pose to democracy. To learn more about the far-reaching consequences of digital disinformation, we spoke with nationally recognized election law expert Rick Hasen, a Professor of Law and Political Science at University of California, Irvine. During the conversation, Professor Hasen shared tangible solutions to combat the rise of disinformation campaigns during US elections.

jleveto — 2022-09-16 22:09:40 UTC

Why They Hate Us: How Racist Rhetoric Impacts Education (Teachers College Press, 2021) examines how racist political rhetoric has created damaging and dangerous conditions for Students of Color in schools and higher education institutions throughout the United States. The authors show how the election of the 45th president has resulted in a defining moment in U.S. history where racist discourses, reinforced by ideologies of white supremacy, have affected the educational experiences of our most vulnerable students.

jleveto — 2022-09-16 22:09:59 UTC

The Sociology of BullyingPower, Status, and Aggression Among Adolescents

jleveto — 2022-09-16 22:12:35 UTC

This conversation explores bullying as a sociological phenomenon rooted in culture, power, and social organization. Rather than viewing bullying as isolated acts between individuals, the discussion situates it within broader cultural expectations, institutional practices, and social hierarchies. Schools, workplaces, and communities become key arenas where values, norms, and sanctions around aggression and belonging are enacted, showing how culture both permits and resists bullying.

Topics linked to Chapter 3: Culture:

Norms and sanctions: how social rules define acceptable behavior.
Values: cultural emphasis on competition, conformity, or dominance.
Symbolic culture: meanings of status, identity, and power.
Subcultures: peer groups and their role in reinforcing bullying.
Ideal vs. real culture: stated commitments to inclusion vs. lived experiences of exclusion.

Why Sociology matters

jleveto — 2022-09-16 22:16:18 UTC

Laurie Taylor explores the meaning and purpose of public sociology with Michael Burawoy, Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley and author of a new book which describes his own contribution to reshaping the theory and practice of sociology across the Western world. He argues that social scientists should engage with the world they inhabit, rather than refusing to take positions on the most pressing issues of the twenty-first century. They're joined by Celine-Marie Pascale, Professor of Sociology at the American University, Washington, whose research advocates for, as well as describes, the daily lives of people in communities marked by poverty, racism, violence and misogyny. From Appalachia to the Standing Rock and Wind River Reservations and Oakland, California, she spoke to the self described 'struggling class'. She suggests that their stories can't be reduced to individual experience but illustrate a nation's deep economic and moral crisis and the collusion between governments and corporations that prioritise profits over people and the environment.

SKILL

jleveto — 2022-09-16 22:19:15 UTC

SKILL: Laurie Taylor explores the social construction of skilled and unskilled work. Far from being objective categories, Chris Warhurst, Professor & Director of the Institute for Employment Research at the University of Warwick, suggests a more complex history, one which has favoured male workers. They're joined by Natasha Iskander, Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Public Service at NYU, whose new study takes us into Qatar’s booming construction industry in the lead-up to the 2022 World Cup. She argues that the experiences of migrant workers reveals the way in which the distinction between the “skilled” and “unskilled” is used to limit freedom and personhood. Does skill make us human

Prison Protest

jleveto — 2022-09-16 22:21:07 UTC

Prison protest: Laurie Taylor explores the way in which prisoners have sought to transform the conditions of their imprisonment and have their voices heard. Nayan Shah, Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity and History at the University of Southern California, considers the global history of hunger strikes from suffragists in the US and UK to Republican prisoners in Northern Ireland and anti apartheid campaigners in South Africa. What is the meaning and impact of the refusal to eat? They’re joined by Philippa Tomczak, Director of the Prisons, Health and Societies Research Group at the University of Nottingham, and author of a study which examines the way in which the 1990 riots at HMP Strangeways helped to re-shape imprisonment. Was the change lasting or significant?

jleveto — 2022-09-17 00:58:11 UTC

This program examines the cultural meanings of food in shaping identity, community, and national belonging. Paul Freedman highlights food’s links to selfhood, inequality, and environmental issues, while Joy Fraser explores how Scottish identity has been stereotyped through cuisine, from haggis to the deep-fried Mars bar. Together, they reveal how food is more than sustenance — it is a powerful symbol of culture, heritage, and the politics of belonging.

Topics linked to Chapter 3: Culture:

Material culture: food as a cultural artifact.
Symbolic culture: meanings of national dishes and stereotypes.
Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism in food judgments.
Values and norms: traditions around eating and identity.
Culture and inequality: food, class, and environmental concerns.

Equal PartnersImproving Gender Equality at Home

jleveto — 2022-09-17 01:38:06 UTC

From gender expert and professional facilitator Kate Mangino comes Equal Partners: Improving Gender Equality at Home (St. Martin’s Press, 2022), an informed guide about how we can all collectively work to undo harmful gender norms and create greater household equity.

What is a Tomboy?A Discussion with Lisa Selin Davis

jleveto — 2022-09-17 01:40:23 UTC

How journalist Lisa Selin Davis became interested in tomboys.
The questions that arise when we say the word “gender.”
The supposed freedoms and limits of being a tomboy.
Why manufacturers insist that clothing and toys and décor are “gendered.”
A discussion of the book Tomboy: The Surprising History and Future of Girls Who Dare to be Different.

Today’s book is: Tomboy: The Surprising History and Future of Girls Who Dare to be Different, which journalist Lisa Selin Davis was inspired to write when her six-year-old daughter first called herself a "tomboy.”

Hijacking the AgendaEconomic Power and Political Influence

jleveto — 2022-09-17 01:47:16 UTC

How do competing interests shape public policy? Why are the economic interests and priorities of lower-, working-, and middle-class Americans often neglected while the interests and priorities of wealthier Americans are often front and center for the U.S. Congress? Previous work in political science has highlighted income disparity or the importance of agenda setting but Hijacking the Agenda: Economic Power and Political Influence (Russell Sage Foundation, 2021) unpacks HOW business interests and wealthy individuals shape public policy to their benefit by “hijacking the agenda” away from the interests of average Americans. Witko, Morgan, Kelly, and Enns focus on the speech of elected representatives as recorded in the Congressional Record.

Rough Draft of HistoryA Century of US Social Movements in the News

jleveto — 2022-09-17 01:52:11 UTC

Rough Draft of History: A Century of US Social Movements in the News (Princeton UP, 2022) offers a new view of U.S. social movement history across the twentieth century by examining how movement organizations were covered in major national newspapers. The book analyzes U.S. social movements--ranging from temperance to women's suffrage to the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street--in a broad comparative fashion. Drawing on the full set of digitized newspapers from the twentieth-century (a task that as little as twenty years ago was considered impossible for researchers), the book offers both an institutional history of news--why the media covered what they covered, and to what effect--and also shows the influence of news coverage on a range of social movements, from the well-known to the obscure.

Reimagining Sustainable Cities Strategies for Designing Greener, Healthier, More Equitable Communities

jleveto — 2022-09-21 00:56:23 UTC

What would it take to make urban places greener, more affordable, more equitable, and healthier for everyone? In recent years, cities have stepped up efforts to address climate and sustainability crises. But progress has not been fast enough or gone deep enough. If communities are to thrive in the future, we need to quickly imagine and implement an entirely new approach to urban development: one that is centered on equity and rethinks social, political, and economic systems as well as urban designs. With attention to this need for structural change, Reimagining Sustainable Cities advocates for a community-informed model of racially, economically, and socially just cities and regions. The book aims to rethink urban sustainability for a new era.

Vulnerable CommunitiesResearch, Policy, and Practice in Small Cities

jleveto — 2022-09-21 00:57:36 UTC

Vulnerable Communities: Research, Policy, and Practice in Small Cities (Cornell UP, 2022) examines the struggles of smaller cities in the United States, those with populations between 20,000 and 200,000. Like many larger metropolitan centers, these places are confronting change within a globalized economic and cultural order. Many of them have lost their identities as industrial or commercial centers and face a complex and distinctive mix of economic, social, and civic challenges. Small cities have not only fewer resources but different strengths and weaknesses, all of which differentiate their experiences from those of larger communities.

Where Research BeginsChoosing a Research Project That Matters to You (and the World)

jleveto — 2022-09-21 01:02:46 UTC

This podcast focuses on the very first—and often most difficult—step of the scientific method: choosing a research question. It moves beyond the textbook's "recipe" for research to show how to transform a broad interest into a specific, answerable sociological problem.

Connection: It bridges the gap between Theory and Problem-Solving. It specifically addresses the Scientific Method, highlighting that a strong Hypothesis is impossible without first narrowing a vague "topic" into a focused "research problem" that actually matters to both the researcher and society.

Chapter 2 & Podcast Learning Outcomes

Topic vs. Problem: Distinguish between a broad "area of interest" and a specific, researchable sociological problem.
The Scientific Method: Evaluate how the clarity of the initial research question determines the success of the entire data collection process.
Literature Review: Recognize how engaging with existing knowledge allows researchers to move past common-sense assumptions to find original questions.
Operationalization: Identify how the phrasing of a research question directly impacts the ability to operationalize variables later in the study.
Personal vs. Social Relevance: Analyze the relationship between a researcher's personal values and the objective requirements of the scientific method.

Whose Vote Counts, Explained

jleveto — 2022-11-03 14:18:53 UTC

Why is the right to vote in America still a fight? From voter suppression to disenfranchisement, see the roadblocks that stop voices from being heard.

People Like Us (documentary)

jleveto — 2023-02-28 00:10:24 UTC

**Must be logged in with Kent Proxy via Kent Kanopy to watch**

It's the 800-pound gorilla in American life that most Americans don't think about: how do income, family background, education, attitudes, aspirations, and even appearance mark someone as a member of a particular social class?

Class can be harder to spot than racial or ethnic differences, yet in many ways it's the most important predictor of what kind of financial and educational opportunities someone will have in life. But class is a hard subject to talk about in a society like ours, where the idea that all people are created equal and that a poor child can become President is enshrined in national legend.

PEOPLE LIKE US is the classic film that has spawned thousands of conversations about class in America.

Poor Kids (documentary)

jleveto — 2023-02-28 00:12:29 UTC

PBS Frontline’s Poor Kids follows the lives of children growing up in poverty in the U.S., offering an intimate view of the daily struggles families face with housing, food insecurity, and unstable work. Through the children’s voices, the documentary shows how poverty shapes childhood, limits opportunities, and creates long-term barriers. It also underscores the invisibility of poverty to much of society, making inequality deeply personal and highlighting the stakes of social stratification for future generations.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Poverty: absolute vs. relative deprivation in daily life.
Invisibility of poverty: hidden struggles of children and families.
Life chances: education, health, and opportunity constrained by class.
Social reproduction: how poverty is passed across generations.
Critique of the American Dream: children’s futures shaped more by structure than effort.

THE DIVIDE (documentary)

jleveto — 2023-02-28 00:16:45 UTC

** Must be logged into Kent Proxy***

The Divide (Kanopy) traces the human impact of growing inequality in the U.S. and U.K., where the top 0.1% owns as much wealth as the bottom 90%. Through the lives of workers, professionals, and families, the film reveals how wealth gaps shape aspirations, communities, and daily struggles. Expert commentary, including Noam Chomsky, underscores how stratification influences health, relationships, and democracy itself. Inspired by Wilkinson and Pickett’s The Spirit Level, it argues inequality affects everyone.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Wealth inequality: concentration of resources in the hands of elites.
Social class hierarchy: lived realities of upper, middle, and working classes.
Structural inequality: systemic barriers across work, housing, and community life.
Social reproduction: persistence of class status across generations.
Life chances: how stratification impacts health, relationships, and opportunity.

THE MASK YOU LIVE IN (Documentary)

jleveto — 2023-02-28 00:18:27 UTC

**Requires Kent Proxy to View**

THE MASK YOU LIVE IN follows boys and young men as they struggle to stay true to themselves while negotiating America’s narrow definition of masculinity.

Experts in neuroscience, psychology, sociology, sports, education, and media also weigh in, offering empirical evidence of the “boy crisis” and tactics to combat it. The Mask You Live In ultimately illustrates how we, as a society, can raise a healthier generation of boys and young men.

MISS REPRESENTATION (Documentary)

jleveto — 2023-02-28 00:20:31 UTC

**Requires KSU Proxy to view***

Like drawing back a curtain to let bright light stream in, MISS REPRESENTATION uncovers a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see. Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the film exposes how mainstream media contributes to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film challenges the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself.

In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader. While women have made great strides in leadership over the past few decades, the United States is still 90th in the world for women in national legislatures, women hold only 3% of clout positions in mainstream media, and 65% of women and girls have disordered eating behaviors.

Race - The Power of an Illusion: The House We Live In (documentary)

jleveto — 2023-02-28 00:24:38 UTC

https://www.kanopy.com/en/kent/watch/video/66397/66481

*Requires KSU Proxy**
Episode 3: The House We Live In
The division of the world's peoples into distinct groups - "red," "black," "white" or "yellow" peoples - has became so deeply imbedded in our psyches, so widely accepted, many would promptly dismiss as crazy any suggestion of its falsity. Yet, that's exactly what this provocative, new three-hour series by California Newsreel claims. RACE - THE POWER OF ILLUSION questions the very idea of race as innate biology, suggesting that a belief in inborn racial difference is no more sound than believing that the sun revolves around the earth.

Yet race still matters. Just because race doesn't exist in biology doesn't mean it isn't very real, helping shape life chances and opportunities.

Nested Ecologies: A Multilayered Ethnography of Functional Medicine

jleveto — 2023-03-27 16:43:22 UTC

Each body is a system within a system—an ecology within the larger context of social, political, economic, cultural, and environmental factors. This is one of the lessons of epigenetics, whereby structural inequalities are literally encoded in our genes. But our ecological embeddedness extends beyond DNA, for each body also teems with trillions of bacteria, yeast, and fungi, all of them imprints of our individual milieus. Nested Ecologies: A Multilayered Ethnography of Functional Medicine (U Texas Press, 2023) asks what it would mean to take seriously our microbial being, given that our internal ecologies are shaped by inequalities embedded in our physical and social environments.

Further, Rosalynn Vega argues that health practices focused on patients’ unique biology inadvertently reiterate systemic inequities. In particular, functional medicine—which attempts to heal chronic disease by leveraging epigenetic science and treating individual microbiomes—reduces illness to problems of “lifestyle,” principally diet, while neglecting the inability of poor people to access nutrition. Functional medicine thus undermines its own critique of the economics of health care. Drawing on novel digital ethnographies and reflecting on her own experience of chronic illness, Vega challenges us to rethink not only the determinants of well-being but also what it is to be human.

Siblings and Sociology

jleveto — 2023-03-27 16:44:13 UTC

Katherine Davies' book Siblings and Sociology (Manchester UP, 2023) draws upon innovative qualitative data sources to explore the significance of siblings throughout the life course, demonstrating why sociologists ought to pay attention to siblingship. Focussing on four themes central to the discipline of sociology - self, relationality, imagination and time - the book shows why siblings matter. Grounded in theories of relatedness but spanning theoretical work on generation, life course, emotion, sensory worlds, normativity and identity, Siblings and Sociology explores the importance of siblings in everyday life and how they inform wider social processes: the relational construction of identity, the inculcation of capital, experiences of institutions like schools and the meanings of relatedness. Siblings tap into profound questions about who we are and who we can become. This book shows how the intrigue of siblingship renders them an important lens through which to think in new ways about familiar sociological ideas.

Siblings and Sociology demonstrates why siblings are a fascinating subject for sociologists: a relationship that can influence all aspects of life, as well as an object of scrutiny capable of firing the sociological imagination and directing the analytical gaze.

Unequal Cities: Overcoming Anti-Urban Bias to Reduce Inequality in the United States

jleveto — 2023-03-27 16:45:34 UTC

Cities are central to prosperity: they are hubs of innovation and growth. However, the economic vitality of wealthy cities is marred by persistent and pervasive inequality—and deeply entrenched anti-urban policies and politics limit the options to address it. Structural racism, suburban subsidies, regional government fragmentation, the hostility of state legislatures, and federal policy all contribute to an unequal status quo that underfunds cities while preventing them from pursuing fairer outcomes.

Economist Richard McGahey explores how cities can foster equitable economic growth despite the obstacles in their way. Drawing on economic and historical analysis as well as his extensive experience in government and philanthropy, he examines the failures of public policy and conventional economic wisdom that have led to the neglect of American cities and highlights opportunities for reform. Unequal Cities: Overcoming Anti-Urban Bias to Reduce Inequality in the United States (Columbia UP, 2023) features detailed case studies of New York, Detroit, and Los Angeles, tracing how their attempts to achieve greater equity foundered because of the fiscal and political constraints imposed on them. McGahey identifies key lessons about the political coalitions that can overcome anti-urban biases, arguing that alliances among unions, environmentalists, and communities of color can help cities thrive. But he warns that cities cannot solve inequality on their own: political action at state and federal levels is necessary to achieve systemic change. Shedding light on the forces that produced today’s dysfunction and disparities, Unequal Cities provides timely policy prescriptions to promote both growth and equity.

Embodied Injustice: Race, Disability, and Health

jleveto — 2023-03-27 16:46:30 UTC

Black people and people with disabilities in the United States are distinctively disadvantaged in their encounters with the health care system. These groups also share harsh histories of medical experimentation, eugenic sterilizations, and health care discrimination. Yet the similarities in inequities experienced by Black people and disabled people and the harms endured by people who are both Black and disabled have been largely unexplored. To fill this gap, Embodied Injustice: Race, Disability, and Health (Cambridge UP, 2022) uses an interdisciplinary approach, weaving health research with social science, critical approaches, and personal stories to portray the devastating effects of health injustice in America.

Author Mary Crossley takes stock of the sometimes-vexed relationship between racial justice and disability rights advocates and interrogates how higher disability prevalence among Black Americans reflects unjust social structures. By suggesting reforms to advance health equity for disabled people, Black people, and disabled Black people, this book lays a crucial foundation for intersectional, cross-movement advocacy to advance health justice in America.

The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media

jleveto — 2023-03-27 16:48:14 UTC

Before there were Instagram likes, Twitter hashtags, or TikTok trends, there were bloggers who seemed to have the passion and authenticity that traditional media lacked. The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media (Princeton UP, 2023) tells the story of how early digital creators scrambling for work amid the Great Recession gave rise to the multibillion-dollar industry that has fundamentally reshaped culture, the flow of information, and the way we relate to ourselves and each other.

Indentured Students: How Government-Guaranteed Loans Left Generations Drowning in Debt

jleveto — 2023-03-27 16:53:38 UTC

Elizabeth Tandy Shermer, an associate professor of history at Loyola University Chicago, talks about her book, Indentured Students: How Government-Guaranteed Loans Left Generations Drowning in Debt, with Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel. Indentured Students examines the long history of student loans in the United States, including important turning points in the 1960s. Shermer argues that elected officials have preferred student loans as an answer to an important social problem, the perceived-need for college education, over more structural solutions. Shermer and Vinsel also talk about what this legacy of debt means today as well as what recent public discussions about student debt might portend for the future.

Private opulence, public squalor: How the U.S. helps the rich and hurts the poor

jleveto — 2023-03-27 17:01:06 UTC

In this NPR interview, Matthew Desmond discusses his book Poverty, By America, exploring why poverty is so prevalent in the world’s richest nation. He points to structural forces—housing segregation, predatory lending, declining unions, and tax policies that favor the wealthy—as key drivers of inequality. Desmond emphasizes that poverty persists not by accident but by design, urging Americans to recognize how privilege is subsidized and to work collectively toward poverty abolition.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Structural inequality: institutional forces sustaining poverty.
Economic stratification: housing, labor, and taxation.
Power and privilege: policies benefiting the affluent.
Critique of the “culture of poverty”: systemic vs. individual explanations.
American Dream ideology: how myths obscure inequality.

Sociologist Matthew Desmond on why poverty persists in America

jleveto — 2023-03-27 17:04:40 UTC

In this On Point interview, sociologist Matthew Desmond discusses his book Poverty, By America. He argues that poverty in the U.S. persists not because of individual failings but because many Americans benefit from systems that subsidize affluence while neglecting the poor. Desmond calls for “poverty abolition,” urging society to reallocate resources, expand choice for the poor, and confront structural inequality as essential steps toward ending poverty in the richest nation on earth.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Structural inequality: policies that reinforce poverty and privilege.
Critique of the “culture of poverty”: shifting blame from individuals to systems.
Social welfare: myths vs. realities of subsidies and support.
American Dream ideology: legitimizing inequality.
Poverty and power: who benefits from economic stratification.

Food Insecurity on College Campuses

jleveto — 2023-03-27 17:08:06 UTC

Every fall in the U.S., students across the country head off to college. What you might not know is that some of them aren’t sure if they are going to have enough to eat when they are there. On this episode, we talk with two people trying to address that: Katharine Broton of the University of Iowa and Kathleen O’Neill of Bunker Hill Community College in Boston.

Invisible Barriers in STEM Education

jleveto — 2023-04-07 15:37:04 UTC

In the American school system, math and science are considered essential building blocks of a good education. But for many students, those building blocks can topple over somewhere along the way. We spoke to Professor Lara Perez-Felkner, who laid out invisible barriers faced by racially minoritized and economically disadvantaged students pursuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). Perez-Felkner discussed ways that school administrators, policymakers, and families can come together to remove these barriers and increase opportunity – all the way from kindergarten classrooms to college laboratories.

Avoiding a Cyber Catastrophe

jleveto — 2023-04-07 15:38:13 UTC

Gone are the days of file cabinets, wall calendars and phone books, as advances in technology have made storing information easier than ever. But given a slew of high-profile data breaches in recent years – both at governmental agencies and private companies – cybersecurity is quickly becoming one of the most pressing issues facing our country. How can our government better protect against increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks? And how might these data breaches impact the lives of everyday Americans? Professor Jeremy Straub answered these questions and more, emphasizing what needs to happen to prevent a truly catastrophic data breach – and what such a breach could mean for the world.

Prison Cell or Recovery Center?

jleveto — 2023-04-07 15:38:59 UTC

According to the CDC, more than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021. And a record-breaking 627 of those deaths occurred in the state of Maine. Substance use disorder is seen as a public health emergency by the medical community – but drug arrests continue to increase all over the country. In light of these developments, professor of political science Rob Glover, alongside his colleague Karyn Sporer (professor of sociology), set out to discover Mainers’ attitudes about current drug policy in their state and what reforms they favor. Professor Glover shared these eye-opening findings with us – as well as its policy implications.

In Search of a Home

jleveto — 2023-04-07 15:39:51 UTC

With rent prices and mortgage rates continuing to skyrocket, finding and keeping stable housing is getting increasingly challenging for many Americans. But according to sociology professor Prentiss Dantzler, those challenges are amplified for members of marginalized groups, such as Black Americans. Professor Dantzler spoke to us about the ways racial discrimination persists in the housing market, despite laws - such as the Fair Housing Act of 1968 - that were put into place decades ago to prevent it. He emphasized that having a home should not be viewed as a privilege, but rather a human right, and offered policy solutions to help achieve that vision.

Falling Through the Social Safety Net

jleveto — 2023-04-07 15:40:41 UTC

This Scholars Strategy Network episode features public policy professor Chris Howard on the U.S. social safety net. He explains programs like Medicaid, food stamps, and unemployment insurance, asking how effectively they prevent poverty and hardship. Howard highlights the many people who still “fall through the cracks,” showing gaps in coverage and accessibility. He also offers proposals for strengthening the safety net to provide more equitable relief, revealing how policy shapes inequality and opportunity.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Social welfare: scope and limitations of U.S. programs.
Structural inequality: who benefits and who is excluded.
Poverty: systemic barriers vs. individual blame.
Life chances: health, housing, and food shaped by access to aid.
Critique of the American Dream: gaps in safety nets undermine equal opportunity.

The Real Culprits of Climate Change

jleveto — 2023-04-07 15:42:04 UTC

Conversations around climate change often focus on the consumption habits of everyday people: the cars we drive, the food we eat, our electricity bills. But according to geography professor Matt Huber, the carbon footprints of consumers are not what we should be so concerned about, despite all the rhetoric. During the conversation, Professor Huber focused on what (and who) he argues are largely responsible for our alarmingly high rate of carbon emissions – and offered solutions.

Broken Promises for Native American Healthcare

jleveto — 2023-04-07 15:43:57 UTC

Tribal communities are entitled to federally funded healthcare under treaties signed with the U.S. government. And yet, Native Americans often struggle to access quality healthcare, creating health disparities that take a tremendous toll on their lives. In this episode, research scientist Dr. Emily Haozous explains what those health disparities have looked like over the past few decades, where they stand now, and what needs to be done to better meet the health needs of tribal communities.

The Epidemic: Addiction and Deindustrialization (film will require KSU login through proxy)

jleveto — 2024-02-27 00:10:44 UTC

The Epidemic investigates the devastating rise of “deaths of despair” — suicides, drug overdoses, and alcohol-related deaths — in working-class white America. Set in Dayton, Ohio, the film examines how deindustrialization, job loss, and growing inequality have eroded middle-class stability and fueled addiction. Through personal stories and structural analysis, the documentary highlights how economic and cultural dislocation intersect with deviance, stigma, and public health crises, raising urgent questions about inequality and social control. https://www.kanopy.com/en/kent/watch/video/1319334

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Definitions of deviance: addiction and self-harm as social and moral issues.
Structural strain theory: how economic dislocation fuels deviant outcomes.
Social disorganization: community breakdown and rising mortality.
Stigma and labeling: addiction as moral failure vs. health issue.
Inequality and deviance: how class and economics shape vulnerability.

Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools (2019) (Film)

jleveto — 2024-02-27 00:23:18 UTC

Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools exposes how cultural beliefs, discriminatory policies, and punitive practices disrupt the education of Black girls. The film shows how bias and stereotyping label Black girls as “disruptive” or “deviant,” pushing them out of classrooms and into the school-to-prison pipeline. By centering their voices, the documentary highlights how institutional practices criminalize identity and limit opportunities, while also pointing toward more supportive, equity-centered approaches.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Labeling theory: how stereotypes frame Black girls as “deviant.”
Social control: school discipline as a mechanism of formal and informal punishment.
Structural inequality: intersections of race, gender, and education.
Deviance and power: whose behavior is criminalized and why.
Alternatives: restorative justice and culturally responsive education

PEOPLE LIKE US (Film via KSU Kanopy)

jleveto — 2024-02-27 00:24:09 UTC

People Like Us is a landmark documentary that explores how class operates in the United States, shaping opportunity, identity, and everyday life. Through personal stories, interviews, and cultural analysis, the film reveals how income, family background, education, attitudes, and even appearance signal class position. It challenges the myth of equal opportunity embedded in the American Dream, showing how class boundaries persist even in a society that celebrates mobility and equality.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Social class hierarchy: how class is signaled and maintained.
Cultural capital (Bourdieu): tastes, habits, and appearance as class markers.
Ideology of the American Dream: myth vs. structural reality.
Social reproduction: persistence of class across generations.
Life chances: education and opportunity constrained by class background.

13th (Netflix)

jleveto — 2024-02-27 00:27:21 UTC

Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th examines how the 13th Amendment’s exception clause enabled the continuation of slavery through the criminal justice system. Through archival footage and expert testimony, the film traces the historical roots of mass incarceration, linking racialized criminalization to political strategy, economic exploitation, and systemic inequality. It reveals how the prison-industrial complex perpetuates deviance labels, social control, and oppression, offering a searing critique of U.S. punishment and its enduring racial legacy.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Historical roots of deviance: slavery, convict leasing, and mass incarceration.
Labeling theory: racialized construction of “criminality.”
Conflict theory: punishment as a tool of racial and political power.
Social control: prisons as mechanisms of discipline and subordination.
Structural inequality: the prison-industrial complex and systemic racism.

Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy (Netflix)

jleveto — 2024-02-27 00:28:27 UTC

Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy traces the rise of crack cocaine in the 1980s and the devastating effects it had on urban communities. The film situates the epidemic within a broader context of recession, racialized moral panic, and government policy. It reveals how punitive laws, discriminatory policing, and systemic neglect turned a public health crisis into mass incarceration, entrenching long-lasting inequalities that continue to marginalize Black and Brown communities today.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Moral panic: media and political narratives about drugs and crime.
Conflict theory: racial and class inequality in defining deviance.
Labeling theory: stigmatization of crack users vs. powder cocaine users.
Social control: punitive policing and the war on drugs.
Legacy of deviance: long-term impact on families, communities, and incarceration rates.

Who’s Afraid of Gender?”

jleveto — 2024-04-17 01:08:00 UTC

Why have attacks on gender become so pervasive, especially within right-wing movements? Our guest this week points out that “the question of gender is fundamentally linked with the future of our democratic world.” Judith Butler is a philosopher, gender theorist and cultural critic. They are also a distinguished professor in the graduate school at the University of California at Berkeley. Butler is the author of numerous books, including their latest, “Who’s Afraid of Gender?” They join WITHpod to discuss their seminal work, thinking beyond gender binaries, the obsession with gender as a tool to further authoritarian movements and more.

The Deep Conflict Between Our Work and Parenting Ideals

jleveto — 2024-04-17 14:18:42 UTC

Caitlyn Collins is a sociology professor at Washington University in St. Louis and the author of “Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving.” To understand how family policies affect the experience of child-rearing, she interviewed over a hundred middle-class mothers across four countries with different parenting cultures and levels of social support for families: the United States, Sweden, Italy and Germany. And what she finds is that policies can greatly relieve parents’ stress, but cultural norms like “intensive parenting” remain consistent.

Birthrates Are Plummeting Worldwide. Why?

jleveto — 2024-04-17 14:20:46 UTC

Money makes life easier. We can give our kids better lives than our ancestors could have imagined. We don’t expect to bear the grief of burying a child. For a long time, a big, boisterous family has been associated with a joyful, fulfilled life. So why are most of us now choosing to have small ones?

The Year of Strikes

jleveto — 2024-04-17 14:25:23 UTC

From healthcare strikes to auto workers strikes to the Writers Guild and Hollywood actors strikes, 2023 was an eventful year for union activity. Professor Nathan Wilmers examined the implications of that activity and what it may mean for the future of the labor movement as employees fight for fair wages, equality, and protection in the workplace. Importantly, Professor Wilmers highlighted the history of the labor movement over the past few decades – as it may provide some answers for the future.

THE LONG HISTORY OF CONSERVATORSHIPS

jleveto — 2024-04-17 14:26:02 UTC

While news over Britney Spears’s 13-year conservatorship turned what was a largely unfamiliar term into one most Americans now know, involuntary care over adults with certain types of disabilities or severe mental illness is nothing new in the United States. In fact, the contentious battle between civil rights and health care needs goes back decades. Professor Alex V. Barnard explained the history of conservatorships in the state of California, examined the government’s role in overseeing involuntary care, and proposed ways the conservatorship system can be improved for those it seeks to help.

Segregation in our Schools

jleveto — 2024-04-17 14:27:07 UTC

According to a recent federal report, while racial diversity is at an all time high in the K-12 public school system, racial inequality and segregation on school campuses persists, and continues to increase. Professor Erica Frankenberg broke down what racial segregation has looked like for marginalized students over the past few decades, what needs to be done to combat ongoing segregation, and how the recent Supreme Court decision on college admissions directly impacts this pressing issue.

UNHOUSED AND UNDERSERVED

jleveto — 2024-04-17 14:28:46 UTC

In this Scholars Strategy Network episode, Professor Megan Welsh Carroll discusses homelessness in the U.S., where over half a million people were unhoused on a single night in 2022. She highlights how racial discrimination, criminalization, and rising housing costs sustain this crisis, while inadequate public services—especially restrooms—create severe health risks. As director of San Diego State’s Project for Sanitation Justice, she describes how local solutions can address structural inequality and serve as models nationwide.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Poverty and deprivation: homelessness as absolute and relative deprivation.
Invisibility of poverty: residential segregation and lack of services.
Structural inequality: housing costs, racial discrimination, and criminalization.
Social stratification and life chances: health, dignity, and opportunity.
Critique of the “culture of poverty”: focusing on systemic barriers.

Falling Through the Social Safety Net

jleveto — 2024-04-17 14:29:44 UTC

Millions of Americans are poor, food insecure, housing cost-burdened, or medically uninsured. This is where the U.S. social safety net comes in – with programs like Medicaid, food stamps, and unemployment insurance – to catch their fall. But how many experience a smooth landing? And how can society provide tangible relief to those who miss the net entirely? We sought answers from professor of public policy Chris Howard, who broke down what’s included when we talk about the “social safety net” and proposed ways to mend the holes.

jleveto — 2024-04-23 03:07:32 UTC

Nice is not enough: Inequality and the Limits of Kindness at American High (University of California Press, 2023) by Dr. C. J. Pascoe is a provocative story of contemporary high school that argues that a shallow culture of kindness can do more lasting harm than good.

Based on two years of research, Nice Is Not Enough shares striking dispatches from one high school's "regime of kindness" to underline how the culture operates as a band-aid on persistent inequalities. Through incisive storytelling and thoughtful engagement with students, this brilliant study by Dr. Pascoe exposes uncomfortable truths about American politics and our reliance on individual solutions instead of profound systemic change.

Nice Is Not Enough brings readers into American High, a middle- and working-class high school characterized by acceptance, connection, and kindness—a place where, a prominent sign states, "there is no room for hate." Here, inequality is narrowly understood as a problem of individual merit, meanness, effort, or emotion rather than a structural issue requiring deeper intervention. Surface-level sensitivity allows American High to avoid "political" topics related to social inequality based on race, sex, gender, or class. Being nice to each other, Dr. Pascoe reveals, does not serve these students or solve the broader issues we face; however, a true politics of care just might.

jleveto — 2024-04-23 03:11:31 UTC

Deana A. Rohlinger has just written Abortion Politics, Mass Media, and Social Movements in America(Cambridge University Press, 2015). Rohlinger is associate professor of sociology at Florida State University.

In the last several weeks, the podcast has featured a variety of political scientists who study interest groups and social movements. This week, Deana Rohlinger brings her perspective as a sociologist to the subject. She examines the way four policy organizations with an interest in abortion policy (National Right to Life Committee, National Organization of Women, Planned Parenthood Federation, and Concerned Women for America) interact with the media. Rohlinger finds quite different strategies for how to court the media, but also in how each organization responds to crises. She uses interviews with organizational leaders to deepen what we know about how social movements and interest groups employ a media strategy

Where Truth Lies

jleveto — 2024-08-14 09:23:46 UTC

This podcast explores the psychological and social mechanisms of deception and how we perceive "the truth." It moves beyond the textbook by showing how the very subjects sociologists study (people) often obscure the truth from others—and themselves—to navigate social life.

Connection: This connects to Validity and Social Desirability Bias. It highlights a major challenge in sociological research: the gap between what people say they do (in surveys or interviews) and what they actually do, complicating our ability to collect accurate data.

Chapter 2 & Podcast Learning Outcomes

Social Desirability Bias: Identify how the human tendency to lie or "perform" for others can distort the validity of self-reported survey and interview data.
Ethics of Deception: Analyze the Ethical Dilemmas of using deception in experimental research and why transparency is a core pillar of the ASA Code of Ethics.
Subjective vs. Objective: Evaluate the difference between subjective truth (how people feel) and objective reality (empirical facts) in social science.
Researcher Bias: Apply Reflexivity to recognize how a researcher’s own desire for a specific "truth" might lead to bias in data interpretation.
Social Construction: Discuss how self-deception functions as a social survival mechanism, complicating the "scientific" measurement of human behavior.

jleveto — 2024-08-14 20:28:03 UTC

How do unequal societies function? In Holding It Together: How Women Became America's Safety Net (Portfolio, 2024), Jesscia Calarco, an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, examines how America’s DIY society depends on the labour of mothers and excludes the sorts of social supports present in other countries. This dependence has hugely negative social and individual consequences, as demonstrated by the rich qualitiative and quantitative data examined in the book. Alongside the analysis of the problems and consequences of women’s role in the US, the book also thinks through solutions, demonstrating how much political discourse is far from the collective action that is likely to be effective for social change. An outstanding contribution to social science and contemporary politics, the book is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary social inequalities.

jleveto — 2024-08-14 20:28:24 UTC

America’s Student Attendance Problem

jleveto — 2024-08-18 10:48:39 UTC

During the COVID-19 pandemic, students and parents faced a lot of disruptions in their education experience, but student attendance has been a longstanding issue, especially in some urban areas. Factors like poverty, housing instability, and transportation issues contribute to high absenteeism rates. Professor Sarah Winchell Lenhoff discusses why some students miss so much school, the ways in which the pandemic has intensified these challenges, and shares some innovative strategies that are being implemented to address them.

Exposing America’s Mental Health Care Inequities

jleveto — 2024-08-18 10:49:33 UTC

The dual challenges of mental illness and lack of affordable housing are pressing issues in this election year. In March, California voters narrowly approved Proposition 1, which allocates $6.4 billion to construct new housing and treatment facilities for people with mental illness statewide. But will this measure truly benefit this vulnerable population? Professor Neil Gong delves into the history of mental health treatment in the U.S. and how it has shaped our current system and policy conversations. He tells stories of people he met through his research to highlight the stark differences between mental health care available to the wealthy and the poor, and explores potential policy changes to address the intertwined challenges of homelessness and mental health.

Countering the Spread of Misinformation

jleveto — 2024-08-18 10:50:55 UTC

Misinformation seems to be everywhere. From falsehoods about the coronavirus to lies being spread by political leaders and their followers, in recent years it feels like it’s getting harder and harder to discern fact from fiction. And with social media and AI permeating our lives, new technologies only seem to be making the situation worse. Professor Ray Block dives into the world of misinformation, sharing lessons from his new position as the Michael D. Rich Distinguished Chair for Countering Truth Decay at the RAND Corporation about what’s behind the problem and what can be done to address it.

MLK's Contested Legacy

jleveto — 2024-08-18 10:52:01 UTC

Martin Luther King Jr. holds a special place in the American consciousness and is one of the few people to have a federal holiday celebrating his legacy. But what exactly is MLK’s legacy? From immigrants rights groups to gun rights activists to politicians, the history of the civil rights movement and MLK’s work and words have long been used, and contested, by many different people. Drawing from her new book, Professor Hajar Yazdiha explained why MLK holds such a prominent place in our shared memory, how politicians and social movements have used his legacy for their own causes, and how all this has impacted policy decisions

The Year of Strikes

jleveto — 2024-08-18 10:53:01 UTC

Ignoring Women’s Pain

jleveto — 2024-08-18 10:55:49 UTC

With abortion bans passing in states all over the country since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, women experiencing miscarriages have been turned away from hospitals because doctors deemed that they weren’t in enough clear danger to receive abortion care. Meanwhile, many women experiencing fibromyalgia continue to have their social security disability claims denied because they are not able to provide concrete evidence that their condition severely disrupts their quality of life. According to Professor Dara Purvis, what links these two examples is that many doctors do not believe women who say they are in pain. She explained the role that courts can play on this issue and laid out what needs to happen so women’s pain does not continue to be ignored.

The Ballot Boogeymen

jleveto — 2024-08-18 11:11:13 UTC

The Ballot Boogeymen While there was no proof of anything resembling widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, there is one way in which elections are shaped: gerrymandering. Mother Jones senior reporter Ari Berman delves into how Republicans redrew voting maps in Wisconsin, helping them cement control of the state Legislature. Republicans’ strong hold on power has allowed them to keep in place deeply unpopular laws like an abortion ban that dates back to 1849. But this isn’t about just state politics: It’s also about the next election for president in 2024.

Not All Votes Are Created Equal

jleveto — 2024-08-18 11:14:15 UTC

U.S. elections are based on the principle of "one person, one vote," but this ideal has not always been a reality. Enslaved Black Americans, Native Americans, and poor White people were historically excluded from voting, and women only gained the right in 1919. This episode of Reveal explores how political institutions, like the Electoral College and U.S. Senate, were designed to limit majority power and how modern tactics like voter suppression and gerrymandering continue to entrench minority rule.

Locked Up: The Prison Labor That Built Business Empires

jleveto — 2024-08-18 11:19:10 UTC

This Reveal episode investigates the convict leasing system that emerged in the U.S. South after the Civil War, when Black men and children were imprisoned for minor offenses and leased to private companies, including Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad (later U.S. Steel). Archeologist Camille Westmont’s excavation of the Lone Rock stockade uncovers the brutal realities of this practice, exposing how the criminal justice system became a tool of racialized social control and economic exploitation for over 60 years.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Historical social control: convict leasing as a system of racial domination.
Power and inequality: punishment reinforcing white supremacy and capitalism.
Labeling theory: criminalizing Black men for minor “offenses.”
Conflict theory: economic interests shaping definitions of deviance.
Legacy of deviance: connections between past and present mass incarceration.

"The Micro-Sociology of Peace and Conflict"

jleveto — 2024-08-18 11:35:11 UTC

This podcast offers a "real-world" application of Micro-Sociology and Qualitative Fieldwork. While the textbook often focuses on large-scale social patterns (macro), this podcast explores the "ground-level" interactions of peace and conflict, showing how researchers document the emotional and physical nuances of face-to-face encounters.

Connection: It highlights the importance of Level of Analysis and Participant Observation. It demonstrates that to understand global issues like conflict, researchers must often zoom in to the micro-level to observe how individual interactions and emotions build into larger social phenomena.

Chapter 2 & Podcast Learning Outcomes

Micro-Level Analysis: Differentiate between macro and micro-sociological research designs and when to use each to study social conflict.
Observational Nuance: Apply participant observation to identify how non-verbal cues and emotions function as data in high-stakes environments.
Fieldwork Safety & Ethics: Evaluate the unique ethical challenges and physical risks of conducting research in unstable or violent settings.
Qualitative Validity: Analyze how micro-level data captures the "hidden" human experiences that large-scale quantitative surveys often miss.
Interactionist Research: Connect the principles of Symbolic Interactionism to the practical gathering of field notes in a conflict zone.

"The Micro-Sociology of Peace and Conflict"

jleveto — 2024-08-18 11:35:24 UTC

How do micro-interactions of resistance, fighting and dialogue shape larger patterns of peace and conflict? How can nonviolent resistance, conflict transformation and diplomacy be analysed in micro-detail? Exploring these questions in The Micro-Sociology of Peace and Conflict (Cambridge University Press, 2023), Dr. Isabel Bramsen introduces micro-sociology to Peace Research and International Relations.

Breaking new methodological, empirical and theoretical ground, Bramsen develops a novel theoretical and analytical framework for analysing micro-dynamics of peace and conflict. The book features chapters on the methods of micro-sociology (including Video Data Analysis) as well as analytical chapters on violence, nonviolence, conflict transformation, peace talks and international meetings. It is at once broad and specific, analysing a wide variety of phenomena and cases, while also introducing very specific lenses to analysing peace and conflict.

Class DismissedWhen Colleges Ignore Inequality and Students Pay the Price

jleveto — 2024-08-18 11:36:35 UTC

Elite colleges boast record diversity, with some admitting their first majority-minority classes. However, when COVID-19 and racial unrest hit, these schools were unprepared to support disadvantaged students, leaving them to struggle alone. In Class Dismissed: When Colleges Ignore Inequality and Students Pay the Price (Princeton UP, 2024), Anthony Abraham Jack reveals how the pandemic worsened existing inequalities, sharing students' stories of navigating these challenges on campuses that failed to address their needs.

White Supremacy and Racism in Progressive America Race, Place, and Space

jleveto — 2024-08-18 11:37:59 UTC

White Supremacy and Racism in Progressive America: Race, Place, and Space (Policy Press, 2024) examines the connections between race, place, and space, and sheds light on how they contribute and maintain racial hierarchies.

Dr. Miguel Montalva Barba focuses on the White residents of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, which, according to the Cooks Political Report Partisan Voting Index, is the most liberal district in the state and 15th in the United States of America. The book uses settler colonialism and critical race theory to explore how self-identified progressive White residents perceive their gentrifying neighborhood and how they make sense of their positionality

The End of Love A Sociology of Negative Relations

jleveto — 2024-08-18 11:40:43 UTC

In The End of Love: A Sociology of Negative Relations (Oxford UP, 2019), Eva Illouz documents the multifarious ways in which relationships end. She argues that if modern love was once marked by the freedom to enter sexual and emotional bonds according to one's will and choice, contemporary love has now become characterized by practices of non-choice, the freedom to withdraw from relationships. Illouz dubs this process by which relationships fade, evaporate, dissolve, and break down "unloving." While sociology has classically focused on the formation of social bonds, The End of Love makes a powerful case for studying why and how social bonds collapse and dissolve.

Particularly striking is the role that capitalism plays in practices of non-choice and "unloving." The unmaking of social bonds, she argues, is connected to contemporary capitalism that is characterized by practices of non-commitment and non-choice, practices that enable the quick withdrawal from a transaction and the quick realignment of prices and the breaking of loyalties. Unloving and non-choice have in turn a profound impact on society and economics as they explain why people may be having fewer children, increasingly living alone, and having less sex.

What Work Means Beyond the Puritan Work Ethic

jleveto — 2024-08-18 11:42:03 UTC

What Work Means: Beyond the Puritan Work Ethic (ILR Press, 2024) goes beyond the stereotypes and captures the diverse ways Americans view work as a part of a good life.

Dispelling the notion of Americans as mere workaholics, Claudia Strauss presents a more nuanced perspective. While some live to work, others prefer a diligent 9-to-5 work ethic that is conscientious but preserves time for other interests. Her participants often enjoyed their jobs without making work the focus of their life. These findings challenge laborist views of waged work as central to a good life as well as post-work theories that treat work solely as exploitative and soul-crushing.

Drawing upon the evocative stories of unemployed Americans from a wide range of occupations, from day laborers to corporate managers, both immigrant and native-born, Strauss explores how diverse Americans think about the place of work in a good life, gendered meanings of breadwinning, accepting financial support from family, friends, and the state, and what the ever-elusive American dream means to them. By considering how post-Fordist unemployment experiences diverge from joblessness earlier, What Work Means paves the way for a historically and culturally informed discussion of work meanings in a future of teleworking, greater automation, and increasing nonstandard employment.

Following Similar Paths What American Jews and Muslims Can Learn from One Another

jleveto — 2024-08-18 11:43:21 UTC

Two academics, one Jewish and one Muslim, come together to show how much their faiths have in common—particularly in America.

Heilman and Bilici immerse readers in three layers of discussion for each religious group: historical evolution, sociological transformation, and a comparative understanding of certain parallel beliefs and practices, each of which is used as a window onto the lived reality of these communities.

The Profit Paradox

jleveto — 2024-08-18 11:47:02 UTC

How Thriving Firms Threaten the Future of Work In The Profit Paradox: How Thriving Firms Threaten the Future of Work, Jan Eeckhout argues that while successful companies are often seen as beneficial to the economy, their dominance can harm the broader market. A few powerful firms gain tremendous market power through mechanisms like price manipulation and outsourcing, leading to inefficient markets and widening economic inequality. This excessive success prioritizes profits over the well-being of society, leaving many struggling to compete or maintain their standard of living.

The Responsible Methodologist Inquiry, Truth-Telling, and Social Justice

jleveto — 2024-08-18 11:55:35 UTC

This podcast introduces the concept of the "responsible methodologist," moving beyond the textbook’s mechanical view of research steps. It explores how inquiry isn't just about following a recipe, but about a researcher's moral commitment to truth-telling and social justice.

Connection: This connects to the Issues in Sociological Research section, specifically Values, Objectivity, and Ethics. It challenges the traditional idea of Value-Free Sociology (Weber), arguing that methodology is a political act and that researchers have a responsibility to use their work to challenge inequality.

Chapter 2 & Podcast Learning Outcomes

The Responsible Methodologist: Evaluate the researcher’s role as an ethically accountable participant who must balance technical skill with a commitment to social justice.
Objectivity vs. Advocacy: Contrast the ideal of value-free sociology with "truth-telling" research designed to address systemic social problems.
Methodology as Action: Identify how the choice of research design (qualitative or quantitative) can be a tool for either maintaining the status quo or advocating for change.
Ethical Accountability: Analyze the ASA Code of Ethics through a lens of "responsibility," focusing on the researcher's impact on the community being studied.
Applied Inquiry: Recognize how sociological inquiry is used for nonacademic purposes to empower marginalized groups and influence social policy.

The Biggest Political Divide Is Not Left vs. Right

jleveto — 2024-08-18 14:08:41 UTC

The biggest divide in politics isn’t between Democrats and Republicans, but between those who follow politics closely and those who don’t. Many disengaged voters rarely discuss or follow political news, yet they care about issues and often vote. As the 2024 election approaches, this bloc is crucial, with a recent poll showing Donald Trump leading among these voters by 26 points. Yanna Krupnikov’s book, The Other Divide, explores this disengaged voter group and its impact on American politics.

Why Are Latinxs Converting to Islam?

jleveto — 2024-08-18 14:10:21 UTC

Nuestra gente, Latinxs are one of the fastest growing groups within Islam in the US — nearly 250,000 Latinxs Muslims are part of the our community and it’s growing. We had no idea until now, and we want to know, why?

Join us as we explore the answer to this question with Lara Fernandez, producer of VICE’s Minority Reports latest episode called, Why are Latinos Converting to Islam? We also talk to Diana Cruz, a xingona and a Latina Muslim. T

jleveto — 2024-08-18 14:12:02 UTC

In this episode we talk with Dr. Ramos who has been on the frontlines working against COIVD-19 in New York City.

Dr. Ramos is a bilingual invasive cardiologist and assistant professor at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center with an interest and emphasis on preventive cardiology. Dr. Ramos is both a cardiologist and a nutritionist and has also been a spokesperson for heart healthy lifestyles. She founded a Bronx WomenHeart support group for women of color who are survivors of heart disease. Her clinical focus has been in the under-served community of Inwood and Washington Heights since 2011. Her research interests have been in decreasing health disparities in women’s cardiovascular health through cross discipline collaborations

How Air-Conditioning Conquered America

jleveto — 2024-08-18 14:16:54 UTC

Air-conditioning has become both our answer to a warming planet and a major obstacle to actually confronting it.

Emily Badger, who covers cities and urban policy for The Times, explains the increasingly dangerous paradox of trying to control the temperature.

The ‘Quiet Catastrophe’ Brewing in Our Social Lives (Published 2023)

jleveto — 2024-08-18 14:21:09 UTC

The U.S. has a serious loneliness problem. A 2018 Kaiser Family Foundation report found that 22% of adults—nearly 60 million Americans—often felt lonely or socially isolated, a figure from before the COVID-19 pandemic. Loneliness has increased over time, with a 25-point drop in Americans reporting five or more close friends from 1990 to 2021. Sheila Liming’s book, Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time, explores how our social structures contribute to this "quiet catastrophe" and how we might rebuild connections.

The Deep Conflict Between Our Work and Parenting Ideals

jleveto — 2024-08-18 14:22:32 UTC

American policy is notably unfriendly to families, offering minimal support compared to other wealthy nations. While countries like Sweden provide generous work-family policies, their fertility rate, at 1.67 children per woman, is similar to the U.S. Caitlyn Collins, in Making Motherhood Work, examines how family policies impact parenting across the U.S., Sweden, Italy, and Germany. She finds that while supportive policies reduce stress, cultural norms like “intensive parenting” persist regardless of policy differences.

We Build Civilizations on Status. But We Barely Understand It.

jleveto — 2024-08-18 14:24:32 UTC

Cecilia Ridgeway argues that status permeates every aspect of social life, from our possessions to our interpersonal interactions, often without our awareness. In her 2019 book, Status: Why Is It Everywhere? Why Does It Matter?, Ridgeway, a Stanford sociologist, explores how status shapes our world, influencing our neighborhoods, careers, and friendships. She contends that status, far from being limited to elites, is a fundamental social technology that drives both innovation and deep inequalities.

Prison & Police Abolition: Finding True Safety

jleveto — 2024-08-18 14:30:48 UTC

In this Be Antiracist episode, Mariame Kaba joins Ibram X. Kendi to challenge the idea that policing, surveillance, punishment, and incarceration produce safety. Drawing from abolitionist organizing, Kaba argues that true safety arises from community care, investment, and social support rather than carceral control. Their discussion highlights the cultural, political, and structural forces that sustain mass incarceration while pointing toward transformative justice models that center equity, healing, and collective responsibility.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Social control: carceral vs. community-based approaches.
Conflict theory: how power and inequality shape definitions of deviance.
Labeling theory: stigmatization through criminalization.
Alternatives to punishment: restorative and transformative justice.
Cultural change: shifting ideas of what safety means.

Let’s fix child care together

jleveto — 2024-08-18 16:29:44 UTC

America is in the midst of a child care crisis. The cost of child care has skyrocketed to the point where, in some states, caring for kids in pre-k is more expensive than college tuition or a home mortgage. According to economist Kathryn Anne Edwards, it’s a market failure. So how do we fix it? That’s in today’s installment of our series exploring economic fanfiction and the stories we should be covering this election year.

How racism ages Black people

jleveto — 2024-08-18 16:30:45 UTC

There are a host of health disparities across the racial divide. Black people are more likely to develop chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. Black people are also more likely to be diagnosed with fibroids or die from pregnancy complications. One of the factors in these disparities could be a phenomenon known as weathering — the stress of racism literally aging Black people’s bodies at a faster rate. Host Jonquilyn Hill discusses this with Dr. Uché Blackstock, the founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity and the author of Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine.

How racism ages Black people

jleveto — 2024-08-18 16:30:52 UTC

What Is Racial Capitalism?

jleveto — 2024-08-24 21:39:00 UTC

Max is joined by Whitney Pirtle, PhD, assistant professor of sociology at the University of California Merced. They discuss her recent writing on racial capitalism in the context of COVID-19, the corporate response to Anti Black racism, and her thoughts on the future of pre-health education.

Opioids in Black and White Pt II

jleveto — 2024-08-24 21:41:51 UTC

Max discusses with Ayana Jordan, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor in psychiatry and addiction specialist at Yale School of Medicine (and friendly-rival Hampton Pirate) about the manifestations of the current opioid epidemic specifically as it regards the Black community, disparities in coverage and funding for treatment, as well as her faith-based interventions to address substance use disorders in Black and Latinx churches (Imani and Imani Rompiendo) in Connecticut.

Opioids in Black and White

jleveto — 2024-08-24 21:43:02 UTC

Max talks with Dr. Helena Hansen, a psychiatrist and anthropologist at NYU, about opioids and other addictive substances: drug marketing, federal and state policies, overdose epidemics, public reaction and the racialization of it all, having led to the creation of a 2-tiered system when it comes to addiction interventions, primarily on the basis of race. They take a deeper dive into elements of harm reduction, and the barriers some patients in her clinical practice face due to race and class.

Culture and Social Class

jleveto — 2024-08-25 16:51:30 UTC

In this episode, Jessi Streib (Duke University) discusses her research on social class, culture, and mobility. Drawing from her book The Power of the Past, she examines how cross-class marriages highlight enduring differences in habits, expectations, and resources between partners from working-class and middle-class backgrounds. Streib also reflects on her article “The Unbalanced Theoretical Toolkit,” urging scholars to more fully theorize the cultural dimensions of class inequality and social reproduction.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Cultural capital (Bourdieu): habits, tastes, and expectations tied to class.
Social reproduction: persistence of class boundaries across generations.
Marriage and family: sites where class differences are negotiated.
Intersection of culture and mobility: how background shapes opportunities.
Symbolic interactionism: class identity expressed in everyday practices.

What the Study of Leisure Teaches Us About Families

jleveto — 2024-08-25 16:53:13 UTC

Today, we meet Marybeth Stalp, whose recent work on the sociology quilting explores the intersection of leisure, gender, and family.

Our guest today is Marybeth Stalp from the University of Northern Iowa. We are also joined by special guest host Sarah Patterson from the University of Michigan.

Fallacies of Racism

jleveto — 2024-08-25 17:01:48 UTC

Jennifer Patrice Sims, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Alabama in Huntsville sits down with Dan Morrison to discuss her 2024 Polity Press book The Fallacies of Racism: Understanding How Common Perceptions Uphold White Supremacy. The book addresses twelve commonly-held, but faulty, ideas about race and racism. We discuss the book, several examples, and how these fallacies function to reinforce white racial dominance in the United States. Her next book, The Inequality of Racial Perception, will appear in 2025 with Oxford University Press. Dr. Sims studies racial construction, perception, and identity in the US and UK. Sims is co-author of the award-winning book Mixed-Race in the US and UK: Comparing the Past, Present, and Futurewith Chinelo L. Njaka (2019, Emerald), and editor of The Sociology of Harry Potter: 22 Enchanting Essays on the Wizarding World (2012, Zossima Press).

Nurse Practitioners

jleveto — 2024-08-25 17:03:12 UTC

A discussion with LaTonya Trotter (University of Washington) on nurse practitioners and the important role that they play in maintaining community health. Prof. Trotter is the author of More than Medicine: Nurse Practitioners and the Problems they Solve for Patients, Health Care Organizations, and the State

Interview by Daniel Morrison of Abilene Christian University.

Reflexivity in Intersectional Qualitative Research Practices

jleveto — 2024-08-28 23:49:50 UTC

This podcast series, "Between the Data," serves as a contemporary look at the Qualitative and Mixed Methods sections of your textbook. While the textbook provides the foundational definitions of these methods, the podcast features active researchers discussing how they use tools like NVivo and ATLAS.ti to organize complex social data and transform personal stories into sociological insights.

Connection: It bridges the gap between Raw Data and Interpretation. It highlights that sociological research isn't just about "counting" people (quantitative), but about "understanding" them (qualitative). It emphasizes how technology assists in the Coding and Analysis of data to find patterns in human behavior that numbers might miss.

Chapter 2 & Podcast Learning Outcomes

Qualitative Power: Explain how qualitative research captures the "lived experience" and positively impacts the communities being studied.
Mixed Methods Integration: Identify the benefits of combining quantitative and qualitative data to provide a more holistic view of social issues.
Technological Application: Recognize how Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) software helps researchers manage, code, and analyze large volumes of unstructured data (interviews, field notes).
Researcher Insight: Describe the role of the researcher in interpreting data and the importance of narrative analysis in sociological storytelling.
Methodological Innovation: Analyze how modern researchers adapt traditional methods to address contemporary social problems and diverse populations.

Exposing America’s Mental Health Care Inequities

jleveto — 2024-09-23 12:33:45 UTC

The Past and Future of Big Tech

jleveto — 2024-09-23 12:34:45 UTC

In March, the Justice Department filed a major antitrust complaint against Apple accusing the tech giant of maintaining a monopoly over the smartphone market. This is just the latest action the government has taken against Big Tech in recent years, marking a clear shift from the cozy relationship the industry long had with Washington. What’s behind the love/hate relationship between Big Tech and our government? And what can Silicon Valley’s past reveal about the way this might all play out going forward? In this archive episode, originally recorded in September 2021, Professor Margaret O’Mara digs into the history of Silicon Valley – from its early beginnings to the days of the internet boom – to explain the Valley’s ever-present intersection with US politics and make sense of the recent shift.

Supporting the Needs of Refugees

jleveto — 2024-09-23 12:36:17 UTC

With border crossings at historic levels, cities like Chicago and New York are struggling to provide services, while the immigration system faces funding shortages and a backlog of asylum applications. For those granted refugee status, resettlement agencies play a crucial role in providing food, shelter, and job placement. However, sociologist Dr. Nicole Kreisberg critiques their approach to job placement, which prioritizes immediate, low-wage work over sustainable, long-term employment. In this archive episode from August 2022, Kreisberg discusses the flaws in the current system and offers insights into how we can better support refugees for lasting success.

Prison Cell or Recovery Center?

jleveto — 2024-09-23 12:39:13 UTC

Rob Glover and Karyn Sporer explore Mainers’ attitudes toward drug use, overdose, and policy reform in the context of a worsening opioid crisis. Despite record overdose deaths, drug arrests continue to rise, revealing tensions between a public health framing of substance use disorder and a punitive criminal justice response. Their findings shed light on how communities view deviance, punishment, and treatment, while pointing to the cultural and policy shifts needed to address substance use effectively.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Definitions of deviance: drug use as crime vs. public health issue.
Social control: punitive sanctions (arrests) vs. rehabilitative approaches (treatment).
Stigma and labeling: how people with substance use disorder are socially marked.
Power and inequality: who is most affected by drug policy enforcement.
Cultural change: shifting attitudes toward drug reform and harm reduction.

America’s Student Attendance Problem

jleveto — 2024-09-23 12:40:27 UTC

Everything All At Once

jleveto — 2025-01-22 21:32:53 UTC

Podcast Description: "Everything All At Once"
This thought-provoking podcast dives into the pressing challenges of our era—wars, pandemics, climate change, neoliberalism, authoritarianism, and white supremacy—through a sociological lens. Host and sociologist engages fellow experts to explore critical questions: How can sociology shape collective and individual responses to these crises? How have these turbulent times transformed their work? And what sparks hope for meaningful change?

The inaugural episode features Joya Misra, President-Elect of the American Sociological Association and a prominent voice on social inequality. Together, they discuss sociology’s role in addressing contemporary challenges, the discipline's history, public engagement possibilities, and transformative policy solutions like U.S. childcare reform.

Over Work Transforming the Daily Grind in the Quest for a Better Life

jleveto — 2025-01-22 21:43:47 UTC

In Over Work: Transforming the Daily Grind in the Quest for a Better Life, Brigid Schulte investigates the roots of America's work-related quality-of-life crisis, marked by burnout, gender inequality, and declining well-being. Tracing this systemic failure from pre-1980s work-life balance to today’s relentless grind, Schulte explores innovative solutions like four-day workweeks, legal protections for family time, and humane workplace reforms. Combining deep research with vivid storytelling, this compelling book offers a hopeful vision for reimagining work to prioritize leisure, joy, and equity. Schulte is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author of Overwhelmed.

White Poverty How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy

jleveto — 2025-01-22 21:51:33 UTC

In this interview, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove discusses White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy, coauthored with Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II. The book dismantles the persistent myth that equates Blackness with poverty, showing how poor white Americans actually outnumber poor Black Americans. Tracing the historical and political roots of this misconception, the authors argue for a “moral fusion movement” that unites marginalized groups to confront systemic inequality and reimagine democracy.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Myths of race and poverty: challenging cultural stereotypes.
Intersectionality: race, class, and inequality in the U.S.
Social stratification: how class divisions persist across racial groups.
Invisibility of poverty: poor whites as overlooked in public discourse.
Ideology of the American Dream: how myths sustain inequality.

Finding God in All the Black Places Sacred Imaginings in Black Popular Culture

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:10:36 UTC

In Finding God in All the Black Places: Sacred Imaginings in Black Popular Culture (Rutgers UP, 2024), Beretta E. Smith-Shomade explores the profound influence of Black spirituality and Black church traditions on Black popular culture. She highlights how spirituality and religiosity shape Black television, film, music, and digital media by analyzing artists like Mary J. Blige, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, and cultural icons such as Spike Lee and Oprah Winfrey. The book argues that understanding these spiritual foundations illuminates cultural resilience and offers pathways for renewal and progress within the Black community.

Unsettled: American Jews and the Movement for Justice in Palestine

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:17:07 UTC

Unsettled: American Jews and the Movement for Justice in Palestine (NYU Press, 2024) examines young Jewish Americans advocating for Palestinian solidarity and challenging mainstream Jewish pro-Israel stances. Author Oren Kroll-Zeldin highlights their strategies: confronting Jewish institutions, engaging in co-resistance in Palestine/Israel, and supporting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Rooted in Jewish values, these activists redefine twenty-first-century Jewish identity through social justice efforts. Amid tensions over Israeli-Palestinian peace, the book offers hope for shifting political discourse toward a more balanced and inclusive perspective.

Handbook of Research Methods and Applications for Social Movements

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:18:59 UTC

This podcast provides a "real-world" look at how Research Methods are applied to the study of power, resistance, and social change. It expands on the textbook's definitions by showing how researchers choose specific tools to document movements that are often ignored by mainstream history.

Connection: It explores the tension between Objectivity and Advocacy. It highlights that while the Scientific Method provides the framework, studying social movements often requires "activist-scholarship," where research is used for both academic and nonacademic purposes to create social change.

Chapter 2 & Podcast Learning Outcomes

Engaged Research: Contrast Weber's Value-Free Sociology ideal with "engaged scholarship" designed to support social movements.
Methodological Pluralism: Identify how Global Southern and Indigenous perspectives provide necessary alternatives to classical Western research methods.
Access & Trust: Analyze the power dynamics involved in gaining access to activist communities and building trust with suspicious gatekeepers.
Applied Sociology: Recognize how research is applied in nonacademic settings, specifically for movement strategizing and community organizing.
Ethical Stewardship: Evaluate the Code of Ethics when researching resistance, focusing on the protection of vulnerable activists and sensitive data.

Understanding Well-being Data Improving Social and Cultural Policy, Practice and Research

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:21:13 UTC

This podcast explores the "social life of data." It moves beyond the textbook definitions of quantitative research to show how data on "well-being" is actually produced, contested, and used in the real world of policy and practice.

Connection: It focuses on Operationalization and Objectivity. It demonstrates that data is never neutral; how we choose to define and measure an abstract concept like "well-being" is a social and political act that determines who gets resources and how social problems are addressed.

Chapter 2 & Podcast Learning Outcomes

Operationalization: Explain how researchers define and measure abstract concepts (like "well-being") and the social consequences of those definitions.
Quantitative Limits: Identify the limitations of using quantitative data alone to represent complex human experiences in social and cultural policy.
Data Ethics: Analyze the ethical implications of data collection, focusing on how "official" data can be used to monitor or exclude certain populations.
Applied Research: Recognize the role of applied sociology in government and non-profit sectors to evaluate and improve social programs.
Validity & Context: Discuss how social and political contexts influence the validity of data, challenging the idea of purely objective measurement.

Separated Family and Community in the Aftermath of an Immigration Raid

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:23:25 UTC

Separated: Family & Community in the Aftermath of an Immigration Raid (Johns Hopkins UP, 2019) by William D. Lopez examines the profound impact of immigration raids on families and communities. Using ethnographic methods and interviews, Lopez shares personal stories of those affected, explores relevant policies like the REAL ID Act, and connects these issues to broader social movements like Black Lives Matter. With accessible writing and robust discussion of research reflexivity, this book is essential for students and readers interested in immigration, policy, race, and family dynamics, offering a compelling look at the human toll of enforcement practices.

Separated Family and Community in the Aftermath of an Immigration Raid

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:23:37 UTC

Alex Edmans on Confirmation Bias - Social Science Space

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:34:57 UTC

In this Social Science Bites podcast, finance professor Alex Edmans explores the pervasive influence of confirmation bias and how it shapes our acceptance or rejection of information. Drawing insights from his new book, May Contain Lies: How Stories, Statistics, and Studies Exploit Our Biases – And What We Can Do About It, Edmans explains that the amygdala, associated with fight-or-flight responses, activates when we encounter information that challenges our beliefs.

Edmans highlights the tendency to uncritically accept agreeable findings while nitpicking contrary ones, even among experts. Despite increased awareness, he notes that the information overload and polarization of today's world intensify confirmation bias. Drawing from his expertise on social responsibility and critical thinking, Edmans underscores the selective application of intelligence in processing information and offers reflections on addressing these biases.

Dimitris Xygalatas on Ritual

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:36:28 UTC

In this interview, anthropologist Dimitris Xygalatas explores the role of ritual in human societies, from religious ceremonies to everyday practices. He emphasizes how rituals foster social cohesion, transmit cultural values, and help individuals cope with uncertainty. Drawing on cross-cultural research, Xygalatas shows that rituals are not just symbolic displays but powerful tools shaping behavior, identity, and belonging, offering insights into why culture depends on shared practices and meaning.

Topics linked to Chapter 3: Culture:

Symbolic culture: rituals as carriers of meaning.
Values and norms: cultural rules embedded in ritual practices.
Cultural relativism: understanding diverse rituals on their own terms.
Social cohesion: rituals binding individuals to groups.
Ideal vs. real culture: ritual ideals vs. lived practice.

Carsten de Dreu on Why People Fight

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:38:08 UTC

In this Social Science Bites podcast, Carsten de Dreu, a social psychologist at Leiden University, explores the interplay between conflict, violence, and human cooperation. He distinguishes conflict (a situation) from violence (a behavior), noting that while conflict is inevitable, violence is not. Drawing on interdisciplinary insights, de Dreu highlights how in-group bonding, resource competition, and ideological clashes drive violence, particularly within groups. He warns of leaders exploiting these tensions for personal gain but underscores that shared values are essential for societal cohesion. Ending on an optimistic note, de Dreu emphasizes humanity’s capacity to break cycles of violence and foster cooperation.

Nick Camp on Trust in the Criminal Justice System

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:41:45 UTC

In this episode, Nick Camp explores how everyday police-citizen encounters affect trust, legitimacy, and cooperation. Drawing on body camera footage and traffic stop data, he uncovers racial disparities, particularly for African Americans, that reveal how authority is exercised unequally. These patterns highlight how definitions of deviance and enforcement practices are socially constructed, shaped by power and inequality, while also pointing to reforms and training that could promote fairer treatment.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Social control: policing as a mechanism for enforcing norms.
Labeling theory: how groups are marked as “deviant.”
Power and inequality: racial disparities in defining/enforcing deviance.
Formal vs. informal sanctions: police encounters as formal control.
Legitimacy and deviance: how unequal enforcement erodes institutional trust.

Melanie Simms on Work

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:44:19 UTC

In this Social Science Bites podcast, Melanie Simms, professor of work and employment at the University of Glasgow, explores how COVID-19 has transformed employment. Simms highlights two key narratives: the rise of remote work, largely visible among academics and journalists, and the significant departure of workers, particularly women and older individuals, from the labor market. Focusing on the UK, Simms examines challenges like childcare, aging workforces, de-industrialization, and the gig economy, offering insights into how these trends have reshaped employment. She emphasizes that understanding these shifts requires considering historical, regulatory, and cultural contexts specific to each region.

Risks of Trump’s Plans to Overhaul the Government

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:47:12 UTC

Former President Donald Trump's proposed plans for a potential second term include significant cuts to the federal workforce, reduced federal spending on key programs, and replacing tens of thousands of federal workers with political appointees. While these initiatives aim to "drain the swamp," they also pose risks to the essential services millions of Americans depend on. In this discussion, Professor Donald Moynihan examines the feasibility and practicality of these sweeping changes, exploring their potential impact on the country’s bureaucracy, governance, and the everyday lives of citizens.

The Evolving Role of Fatherhood

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:48:23 UTC

With the holiday season encouraging family connections, Dr. Alvin Thomas explores the evolving role of fatherhood, particularly for Black fathers navigating unique cultural, economic, and social challenges. He highlights the crucial impact of involved fathers on children’s well-being and how traditional notions of masculinity are being redefined to embrace vulnerability and emotional connection. Dr. Thomas also advocates for cultural and policy shifts to provide better support for fathers, enabling them to fully engage with their families and create meaningful, lasting relationships.

America’s Student Attendance Problem

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:49:19 UTC

Countering the Spread of Misinformation

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:50:02 UTC

Casey Jakubowski on Rural Education

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:56:09 UTC

In this conversation, Dr. Casey Jakubowski, a scholar with a PhD in Educational Policy and Leadership from SUNY Albany, shares his expertise on rural schooling, conflict in educational environments, and the unique challenges rural educators and school leaders face. As an author, consultant, and leadership coach, Dr. Jakubowski discusses strategies for navigating the complexities of rural education, fostering collaboration, and addressing systemic issues that impact both students and educators in these communities. His insights shed light on the critical need for support and innovation in rural education.

Lauren Olsen on Curricular Injustice

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:57:34 UTC

In this interview, Lauren D. Olsen, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Temple University, discusses her book Curricular Injustice: How U.S. Medical Schools Reproduce Inequalities (Columbia University Press, 2024). Drawing on her expertise in the sociology of medicine, education, and social inequalities, Olsen examines the fraught process of designing medical school curricula. Her work highlights how efforts to integrate social sciences and humanities into medical education often result in their marginalization, ultimately perpetuating systemic inequalities within the profession. The book provides a critical lens on the intersection of knowledge, power, and medical training.

Ali Meghi on DuBoisian Sociology DuBois

jleveto — 2025-01-22 22:59:31 UTC

Dr. Ali Meghji, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Cambridge, joins Dan Morrison to discuss his forthcoming Sociological Forum article, “Du Boisian Sociology after Du Bois: Frazier, St. Clair Drake, and the Global and Comparative Study of Race and Empire.” This article, part of Meghji’s larger project on the unpublished works of pivotal Black sociologists, explores global racialization and racism through critical race theory and postcolonial sociology. A prolific author, Meghji has published extensively, including A Secret Synergy: Race, Decoloniality, and World Crises (2023) and The Racialized Social System (2022). As co-editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Sociology and Sociology Compass, Meghji is a leading voice in decolonial and critical race sociology.

Alexandrea Ravenelle on Side Hustle Safety Net

jleveto — 2025-01-22 23:01:49 UTC

Dr. Alexandrea Ravenelle, Assistant Professor of Sociology at UNC Chapel Hill, joins Dan Morrison to discuss her 2023 book, Side Hustle Safety Net: How Vulnerable Workers Survive Precarious Times (University of California Press). Ravenelle examines the struggles of low-income workers during the pandemic, highlighting how gig work and precarious employment exposed systemic weaknesses in the economy. Through in-depth research, the book provides a powerful critique of economic structures and explores the resilience of workers navigating these challenges in uncertain times.

Richard Ocejo on Gentrification and Race in a Small American City

jleveto — 2025-01-22 23:03:52 UTC

Dan Morrison and guest co-host Jeffrey N. Parker, an urban sociologist from the University of New Orleans, interview Dr. Ricard Ocejo, professor of sociology at John Jay College and the CUNY Graduate Center. Ocejo, editor of City & Community and host of the sociology channel on the New Books Network, is a leading scholar in urban and cultural sociology, community studies, and work. The discussion centers on his latest book, Sixty Miles Upriver: Gentrification and Race in a Small American City (Princeton University Press, 2023), which explores the complex dynamics of gentrification, race, and community in smaller urban settings.

Ethnography Abroad (Beaman, Magbouleh & Inglis)

jleveto — 2025-01-22 23:06:07 UTC

This podcast serves as a "real-world" application of the Qualitative/Ethnographic section of your textbook. While the textbook provides the definitions, this podcast explores the application and the "messiness" of those methods.

Connection: It bridges the gap between Theory (The Scientific Method) and Praxis (Actual Fieldwork). It specifically highlights that "Objective" research is difficult in ethnography because the researcher is the instrument of data collection

Reflexivity: Identify how a researcher’s positionality (gender, status, nationality) shapes data collection in foreign settings.
Ethical Adaptability: Analyze the challenges of applying ASA/IRB standards in diverse cultural contexts where "consent" varies.
Research Barriers: Compare local and global obstacles regarding gatekeeper access and building rapport in unfamiliar cultures.
Observation Limits: Discuss how language and cultural translation impact the validity of qualitative field notes.
Theory vs. Practice: Connect textbook participant observation to the podcast’s "insider vs. outsider" research dynamics.

Elizabeth Seale on Understanding Poverty

jleveto — 2025-01-22 23:08:02 UTC

In this episode, Dr. Elizabeth Seale discusses her book Understanding Poverty: A Relational Approach (2023), highlighting how poverty is shaped not just by material deprivation but also by social relationships and cultural dynamics. Drawing on research in rural communities, she explores how inequality is reproduced through everyday interactions and institutional structures. Her insights show how poverty is socially constructed and sustained, offering fresh perspectives for addressing inequality beyond traditional economic measures.

Topics linked to Chapter 7: Social Stratification:

Poverty: relative vs. absolute deprivation.
Social inequality: rural contexts and community relationships.
Cultural capital: how class-related habits and resources shape opportunities.
Critique of “culture of poverty”: shifting focus to relational and structural factors.
Invisibility of poverty: rural isolation and political marginalization.

Anna S. Mueller and Seth Abrutyn on Life Under Pressure

jleveto — 2025-01-22 23:10:23 UTC

Anna S. Mueller and Seth Abrutyn join Dan Morrison to discuss their forthcoming book, Life Under Pressure: The Social Roots of Youth Suicide and What to Do About Them (Oxford University Press, 2024). Drawing from their invitation to study a seemingly idyllic American community that experienced a series of youth suicides, the book explores the phenomenon of youth suicide clusters. Mueller and Abrutyn examine the social and environmental forces that contribute to psychological distress, offering critical insights and actionable solutions to address this urgent issue.

Michelle S. Phelps on The Minneapolis Reckoning

jleveto — 2025-01-22 23:12:06 UTC

In this Sociocast interview, sociologist Michelle Phelps discusses her book The Minneapolis Reckoning: Race, Violence, and the Politics of Policing in America. She traces efforts to reform policing before and after the 2020 murder of George Floyd, highlighting the tensions between calls for safety, demands for accountability, and the persistence of punitive approaches. Phelps situates Minneapolis within the broader history of U.S. criminal justice, showing how race, violence, and politics shape debates about policing and punishment.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Social control: policing as a key mechanism of regulating deviance.
Power and inequality: racialized dimensions of policing and punishment.
Conflict theory: competing interests shaping justice policies.
Reform vs. abolition: tensions in responses to crime and safety.

Antar Tichavakunda on Black Campus Life

jleveto — 2025-01-22 23:14:07 UTC

Dan Morrison interviews Dr. Antar Tichavakunda, Assistant Professor of Race and Higher Education at UC Santa Barbara, about his book Black Campus Life: The Worlds Black Students Make at a Historically White Institution (SUNY Press, 2021). The book explores the experiences and cultural worlds created by Black students navigating predominantly white campuses. Tichavakunda also discusses his chapter, “Critical Race Theory in Higher Education: Where We Are and Where We Want to Go,” from Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, reflecting on the role of critical race theory in shaping the future of higher education research and practice.

Catherine Tan: Spaces on the Spectrum

jleveto — 2025-01-22 23:16:16 UTC

Catherine Tan, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Vassar College, joins Dan Morrison to discuss her forthcoming book, Spaces on the Spectrum: How Autism Movements Resist Experts and Create Knowledge (Columbia University Press, 2024). The book examines the alternative biomedical and autistic rights communities, exploring how they challenge and often reject mainstream expert knowledge about autism. Tan highlights the ways these movements create their own forms of knowledge and advocacy, reshaping understandings of autism and resisting dominant narratives.

Daniel Menchik on Managing Medical Authority

jleveto — 2025-01-22 23:17:29 UTC

Daniel Menchik, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Arizona, joins Dan Morrison to discuss his 2021 book, Managing Medical Authority: How Doctors Compete for Status and Create Knowledge (Princeton University Press). The book examines how physicians negotiate authority, compete for professional status, and shape medical knowledge. Menchik and Morrison also explore the current state of medical sociology and share their appreciation for Dr. Charles Bosk, a trailblazer in the discipline.

Garden Utopias

jleveto — 2025-01-22 23:47:17 UTC

This program explores the cultural significance of British gardens and allotments, tracing their evolution from symbols of suburban conformity to arenas of social progress and creative expression. Michael Gilson examines how private gardens once embodied utopian ideals of beauty and community, while JC Niala highlights allotments and guerrilla gardening as spaces where urban residents reimagine society, foster resilience, and cultivate hopeful futures amidst changing urban landscapes.

Topics linked to Chapter 3: Culture:

Material culture: gardens, allotments, and landscapes as cultural artifacts.
Symbolic culture: meanings of beauty, community, and progress tied to gardening.
Subculture and counterculture: allotment gardeners and guerrilla gardening.
Cultural values: individualism vs. collectivism in land use.
Ideal vs. real culture: utopian dreams versus practical gardening realities.

Woke

jleveto — 2025-01-22 23:52:03 UTC

Laurie Taylor speaks with Susan Neiman, philosopher and director of the Einstein Forum, about her provocative analysis of the concept of "woke." Neiman challenges the assumption that "woke" aligns with leftist ideals, arguing instead that it undermines progressive, universal values rooted in the Enlightenment. Joining the discussion, Huw Davies, lecturer in digital education at the University of Edinburgh, examines the British "war on woke." He describes it as an ideological campaign leveraging reactionary tropes to shape mainstream political discourse in the UK. Together, they unpack the complexities and implications of this cultural and political battleground.

God's Waiting Room Racial Reckoning at Life's End

jleveto — 2025-01-23 12:41:03 UTC

Casey Golomski’s God's Waiting Room: Racial Reckoning at Life's End (Rutgers University Press, 2024) explores race, ageism, and care in a South African nursing home decades after apartheid. Narrated as a one-day tour, the book shares intimate, witty conversations with white residents and Black caregivers, including Nelson Mandela’s Robben Island prison nurse. Golomski examines how racism, sexism, and ageism intersect in health care, while highlighting moments of unexpected grace. The book offers universal lessons about reconciliation and humanity, drawing parallels to U.S. health care dynamics.

Jonathan Coley on LGBTQ Activism on Christian College Campuses

jleveto — 2025-01-23 12:43:22 UTC

On today’s Annex, Daniel Morrison interviews Jonathan Coley about his 2018 book, Gay on God’s Campus: Mobilizing for LGBT Equality at Christian Colleges and Universities (University of North Carolina Press). The book examines how LGBT students navigate and advocate for equality within the often-restrictive environments of Christian colleges, offering insights into the challenges and successes of activism in religious educational settings. Coley’s work sheds light on the intersection of faith, sexuality, and social change.

Living Undocumented (Netflix, select 1)

jleveto — 2025-01-23 12:50:51 UTC

(select and watch 1) Living Undocumented is a Netflix docuseries that provides an intimate and powerful look at the lives of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Through personal stories, the series highlights the challenges, fears, and hopes of families navigating a complex immigration system under constant threat of deportation. Featuring raw and emotional footage, it explores themes of resilience, family, and justice, offering a humanized perspective on one of the most polarizing issues in America today. Students will need a Netflix account to watch.

Will & Harper (Netflix)

jleveto — 2025-01-23 12:54:12 UTC

Will & Harper is a compelling Netflix series that follows two childhood friends as they navigate the complexities of adulthood, relationships, and self-discovery. Through its nuanced storytelling, the show explores themes of identity, love, and societal expectations, offering rich opportunities to connect with discussions on gender and sexuality. The series highlights how personal relationships and social norms shape individual experiences, making it an engaging complement to classroom discussions on these topics. Students will need a Netflix account to access the series

Stamped from the Beginning (Netflix)

jleveto — 2025-01-23 12:56:26 UTC

Stamped from the Beginning is a Netflix documentary based on Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning work, exploring the history of racist ideas in America and their lasting impact on society. Through engaging visuals and in-depth storytelling, the film traces how these ideas evolved, were challenged, and continue to shape systemic inequalities today. With its thought-provoking analysis, the documentary provides valuable context for discussions on race and ethnicity, making it an excellent resource for deeper understanding. Rated TV-MA for mature content, students will need a Netflix account to watch.

Explained: The Right to Vote (Netflix)

jleveto — 2025-01-23 12:59:22 UTC

Explained: The Right to Vote is a Netflix documentary episode that explores the history and challenges surrounding voting rights in the United States. It examines critical milestones in the fight for suffrage and ongoing issues such as voter suppression and disenfranchisement. The episode offers a concise, engaging look at the complexities of democracy and political participation. Rated TV-PG, students will need a Netflix account to access this resource.

Tags: Politics and Government, Social Inequality, Race and Ethnicity, Social Change

CNN Presents: Scream Bloody Murder

jleveto — 2025-09-22 22:30:45 UTC

Christiane Amanpour’s CNN documentary Scream Bloody Murder investigates the history of genocide in the post–World War II era. From Cambodia to Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur, the film reveals the recurring patterns of mass violence and the global community’s frequent failure to intervene. Through survivor testimonies and historical analysis, it frames genocide as the ultimate form of deviance—systematic violations of human rights that expose how power, ideology, and silence enable atrocities to unfold.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Deviance on a global scale: genocide as extreme violation of norms.
Power and inequality: political elites defining groups as disposable.
Labeling theory: how entire populations are marked as “other” or “enemy.”
Social control: state violence and repression as tools of domination.
Moral responsibility: global responses (or lack thereof) to mass atrocities.

On Dehumanization and Genocide: Interview with Aliza Luft

jleveto — 2025-09-22 22:41:39 UTC

In this interview, sociologist Aliza Luft explores how ordinary people come to commit genocide. Drawing on research in Rwanda and the Holocaust, she examines the role of dehumanization, moral agency, and group dynamics in fostering mass violence. Luft highlights how political and religious leaders can either incite atrocities or intervene to stop them. Her work underscores that genocide is not inevitable, but a socially constructed form of deviance enabled by culture, power, and ideology.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Deviance at the collective level: genocide as systemic norm violation.
Dehumanization: labeling entire groups as less than human.
Moral agency: individual choices within oppressive systems.
Power and authority: leaders’ influence in sanctioning or preventing violence.
Social construction of deviance: how mass violence becomes normalized.

Gang Policing: The Truth Revealed

jleveto — 2025-09-22 22:48:05 UTC

This Justice Above All episode challenges the idea that gang policing is an effective crime prevention strategy. Instead, it reveals how these practices racially target Black and Latinx youth, labeling them as “gang members” without evidence. The hosts explain how gang policing expands surveillance, criminalizes marginalized communities, and reinforces systemic inequality. By unpacking myths versus realities, the episode highlights the deep harms caused when law enforcement uses deviance labels to justify discriminatory policing.

Topics linked to Chapter 6: Deviance:

Labeling theory: the impact of being falsely marked as a “gang member.”
Conflict theory: policing as a tool of racial and class domination.
Social control: surveillance and criminalization of marginalized groups.
Power and inequality: disproportionate impact on Black and Latinx youth.
Moral panic: public narratives that justify repressive policing practices.

The New Reality of College Debt

jleveto — 2025-09-25 01:15:37 UTC

Student loans are shaping the college experience more than ever. As tuition rises and financial aid rules keep changing, more students are taking on college debt. Professor Monnica Chan explains what’s happening with student loans, Pell Grants, and repayment plans, and how these choices affect students long after graduation. She discusses the real impact of debt on college affordability, career decisions, and family life—and what solutions could make paying for college less stressful.

How Maps Decide Elections

jleveto — 2025-09-25 01:16:24 UTC

Political maps decide who has a voice in government, and who doesn’t. And right now, big legal battles in Texas and California are putting redistricting in the spotlight. Professor Michael Latner breaks down the difference between redistricting and gerrymandering, why unfair maps weaken voters’ voices, and what today’s gerrymandering fights mean for the future of American democracy.

How Taxes Can Save Lives

jleveto — 2025-09-25 01:18:09 UTC

Congress is in the middle of a high-stakes budget debate that includes fighting over tax policy and funding for many vital public programs. But what’s often missing from that budget debate is a focus on the people these decisions affect, especially kids. Professor Jean Junior explains how tax policy choices made on Capitol Hill directly affect health and well-being, and why taxes can be a powerful tool to improve health outcomes for everyone. Drawing from her experience as a pediatrician, Professor Junior challenges us to see policy choices through the eyes of a doctor by putting people’s well-being first.

Born Poor 2025 Update

jleveto — 2025-10-09 11:23:29 UTC

This documentary, based on Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed, follows her undercover investigation into America’s low-wage labor force. Taking jobs as a waitress, maid, and retail worker, she exposes how difficult it is to survive on minimum wage despite full-time work. The film reveals the daily realities of the working poor, challenging the myth of meritocracy and exposing how structural inequality, low pay, and limited mobility trap millions in poverty.

Connections to Chapter 7: Social Class:

Working poor: illustrates class divisions and economic insecurity.
Life chances: limited access to health care, housing, and education.
Structural inequality: systems that keep low-wage workers trapped.
Culture of poverty critique: poverty as structural, not individual failure.
American Dream ideology: myths of upward mobility despite systemic barriers.

Decolonizing Methodologies (video, 60min)

jleveto — 2026-01-26 00:58:34 UTC

This video features Linda Tuhiwai Smith reflecting on her landmark work, Decolonizing Methodologies. It moves beyond the textbook by exposing how research has historically been used as a tool of colonialism to dehumanize indigenous peoples, steal land, and delegitimize native knowledge.

Connection: This connects to the Scientific Method and Research Ethics. It challenges the idea that "science" is always neutral or objective, demonstrating how historical research (including scientific racism and eugenics) was used to justify empire. It highlights that for many communities, "research" is a dirty word, requiring a complete shift in how we approach ethics and power dynamics in the field.

Chapter 2 & Video Learning Outcomes

Decolonizing Knowledge: Evaluate how the scientific method has historically functioned as a colonial tool of dehumanization and dispossession.
Relational Ethics: Compare Western IRB standards with indigenous ethical protocols based on relationality, permission, and gratitude.
Academic Gatekeeping: Identify how institutional "border patrols" in sociology can exclude indigenous ways of knowing and diverse scholars.
Research Responsibility: Analyze the ethical accountability of the researcher to protect and advocate for their community within the academy.
Systemic Transformation: Recognize decolonizing research as an ongoing process of reclaiming self-determination and cultural identity.

Sociologically Relevant Podcasts & Media by Jessica Leveto

Death by a Thousand Cuts

The Toll of Stereotypes

Locked Away

Pushed out | Reveal

Development arrested | Reveal

Does the time fit the crime? | Reveal

Empty Wallets, Empty Stomachs

Investing in Families

Home school | Reveal

The Economy That Slavery Built

Suicide and Black America

The Rise of Anti-LGBT Hate Crimes

How American Masculinity Creates Lonely Men

Polarization in a Pandemic

The Diaper Dilemma

Episode 4: How the Bad Blood Started (Published 2019)

How the Bad Blood Started

Learning from Ebola

Treating Pain, Treating Addiction

Poisoned, ignored and evicted: The perils of living with lead

Unequal Protection from Pollution

Reflections on the gendered impact of COVID-19

Reflections on the weaponization of motherhood - engendered

Aditi Mayer on sustainability and decolonizing fashion - engendered

Martin Hultman on misogyny and masculinities on climate change denial - engendered

"Modern Manhood: Conversations About the Complicated World of Being a Good Man Today" -

Pop Rocket Goes to USC to Teach the Kids Why Pop Culture Matters | Maximum Fun

Wakanda Forever with Tavia Nyong'o | Maximum Fun

When Athletes Become Activists | Maximum Fun

The Handmaid's Tale | Maximum Fun

Get Out | Maximum Fun

Sarah Halpern-Meekin on "Social Poverty"

Episode 16: Racism, Rebellion, and the Sport Media Complex with Hemal Jhaveri | The End of Sport Podcast

Food Insecurity and College Athletics

SOC313 - To Err is Human: A Look at Medical Error

SOC118 - Love Struck or Love Sick? (Rerelease)

SOC308 - Grounded Theory: It's Not A Theory

Thinking Allowed - Marx and Marxism

Marx at 201: the legacy of Karl Marx for the contemporary study of law, politics and society

Are we all Marxists now? Which of Marx’s ideas remain relevant, which redundant? Join leading scholars to address Marx’s legacy at 201.Are we all Marxists now? The question may sound strange but the virtues of the German philosopher are now extolled in the most unlikely of places. If this...

Give Theory A Chance (select 1)

Seth Abrutyn on Social Distance, Grief, and COVID-19

Neurosociology (Rengin Firat)

Intro to Popular Culture: "It's all about popular"

SOC204 - The Spectrum: An Introduction to Sex and Gender

Life is but a Stage: Goffman and Dramaturgy

The Forgotten Founding Father: W.E.B. Du Bois

Left Handed Devils: The Social Construction of Devianc

Christmas Rituals & Traditions: Mariah Carey VS Chipmunks

#BlackLivesMatter Miniseries: Defunding the Police

The Social Construction of Rock n' Roll

SOC303 - The "Myth" of Mental Illness

#NotYourMascot with Jacqueline Keeler | The End of Sport Podcast

Give Methods A Chance | Select One

The problem with sex testing in sports

Diversifying Organizational Leadership

Beer and Racism: How Beer Became White, Why It Matters, and the Movements to Change It

Economic Growth as a Measure

Intro to Popular Culture: “It’s all about popular”

How Language Shapes Survey Results

SEASON THREE: Seriel

Seeing White

Food, Politics, and SocietySocial Theory and the Modern Food System

Essential DadsThe Inequalities and Politics of Fathering

Hyper Education Why Good Schools, Good Grades, and Good Behavior Are Not Enough

Radical Skin, Moderate Masks De-radicalising the Muslim and Racism in Post-racial Societies

Joel Thiessen and Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme, None of the Above Nonreligious Identity in the US and Canada

James K. Wellman, Jr., Katie E. Corcoran, and Kate J. Stockly High on God How Megachurches Won the Heart of America

Humanocracy Creating Organizations As Amazing As the People Inside Them

Jocelyn Viterna on Teaching Our Ugly Roots

Remembering Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey: The Mothers of Modern Gynecology

The Danger of a Single Story

Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory

The Human Behavior Experiments (via YouTube, VIDEO)

Carol Anderson on White Rage and Donald Trump

The Hinge Civil Society, Group Cultures, and the Power of Local Commitments

Ashley T. Rubin, "Rocking Qualitative Social Science (Podcast)

Hillary Angelo, "How Green Became Good..."

Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption

Are we all Marxists now? Which of Marx’s ideas remain relevant, which redundant? Join leading scholars to address Marx’s legacy at 201.

Are we all Marxists now? The question may sound strange but the virtues of the German philosopher are now extolled in the most unlikely of places. If this...