Sociology Improv

Sociology Improv episodes:

• 06.14.2012

  What the Hellsevier?

  [1]This week we talk about the sociology and economics of academic journal publishing, the Elsevier boycott [2], and whether the journal system as we know it is necessary anymore. Our decision: everybody can just podcast everything from now on. Starting...

  
• 05.15.2012

  Huffduff This

  [1]This episode we start with a discussion of violent protests prompted by a question from a listener (Which is great! Send more!). We then talk about Twitter, hashtags, Gmail, and passwords before moving on to a discussion about education and...

  
• 04.06.2012

  Erotica Friday

  [1]We have three segments this episode: We talk with Shannon Golden about Kony 2012. Shannon provides some insight into the situation in Uganda while Chris cynically revels in the implosion of Invisible Children. We talk about the Mike Daisey/This American Life fiasco....

  
• 03.12.2012

  He Likes Organic Vegetables

  [1]Autonomous Cars [2], more on stadiums and Mayor KJ [3], and Arturo’s participation in the NorCal AIDS Challenge: Donate here! [4] Other links: Elite Squad [5] Politics and Money [6] Office Hours Drop In #1 [7] This American Life: What Kind of Country [8] The Superego...

  
• 02.16.2012

  Forced by the Elements

  [1]Topics include the sociology of weather in an M Word state, the Super Bowl, stadiums, and guilt over the state of professional sports. Chris tries to get into a screaming match about Occupy Oakland, but Jesse just politely disagrees....

  
• 01.13.2012

  Otherwise Occupied

  [1]After a lengthy break, we’re back! Racism in hockey [2], Work It [3], and The Trap [4] are among our topics this episode. Enjoy! Download Improv #32 [5] [1] https://thesocietypages.org/improv/files/2012/01/album-art-ep32.jpg [2] http://deadspin.com/5873437/a-confusing-nhl-racial-controversy-gets-muddier-as-banana-reference-nets-a-one+game-suspension [3] http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/01/05/can-rupaul-stage-a-protest-the-most-scathing-critiques-of-work-it/ [4] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZt2HhFXB3M [5] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/socimprov32.mp3

  
• 10.15.2011

  The Fascist Hippie Drum Circle

  [1]This week we talk about Occupy Wall Street and other Occupations. Links mentioned in the show: Occupy Wall Street [2] Occupy Minnesota [3] Planet Money on OWS [4] Ballad of a Thin Man [5] The 99 Percent The 53 Percent [6] (About [7] THe 1 Percent [8] Sidney...

  
• 09.21.2011

  Undrunk

  [1]This episode, we fail to talk about Robocop, then we have a discussion about Getting Wasted [2], and then chat a bit about current political events. Download the Big 3-0 [3] [1] https://thesocietypages.org/improv/files/2011/09/album-art-ep30.png [2] http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/08/28/college_drinking_interview [3] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/socimprov30.mp3

  
• 08.26.2011

  The Circle of Life

  [1]After a quick ASA recap from Jesse and Arturo, we talk about the challenges of writing—and academic writing in particular—and whether diversity on television can make a difference. Download Episode #29 [2] [1] https://thesocietypages.org/improv/files/2011/08/album-art-ep29.png [2] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/socimprov29.mp3

  
• 08.16.2011

  We’ve Got Something You Should Read

  [1]Long time, no see. Hope you’re having a nice summer. We’re back with two topics. First, we spend most of the hour talking about barefoot running, the Born to Run [2] crowd, and naturalist (no, not naturist [3]) social movements. Second, we...

  
• 06.18.2011

  We are not happy. We are not cool.

  [1]This episode we talk about a recent paper about happiness [2] (via Graphic Sociology [3]) and whether or not happiness studies actually tell us anything about happiness. After that, we follow-up on an argument Chris made last episode about “being...

  
• 05.24.2011

  The New Consensi

  [1]Two topics this week: First, Arturo jumps off from a recent New Books in Sociology episode [2] to ask whether or not sociology is too set in making repetitive and uncreative arguments. Second, Chris takes us on a tour through...

  
• 04.24.2011

  Call Us Princess

  [1]Two segments this week: First, Chris gives a shout out to Sociological Images for their post on Push Up Bikini Tops at Abercrombie Kids [2], which inspires a discussion about gender and childhood culture. Second, a discussion about Ebooks, Amazon, DRM, and...

  
• 04.08.2011

  Dr. Jesus

  [1]Because Arturo is obsessed with Glenn Beck, conversation begins there, but quickly moves to government shutdowns, the way economists approach social problems, and we return to last episode’s discussion about education. Links from this episode: Freakonomics, the movie [2] (Netflix) Planet Money [3] Office...

  
• 03.26.2011

  The Sociology Improv: Part II

  [1]Podcasting and procrastination, nuclear power and scientific knowledge, the problem with high schools, and the situation in Libya. Links: New Books Network [2] New Books in Sociology [3] Tom on global warming [4] George Monbiot on nuclear power [5] Glenn Greenwald on Libya [6] Benjamin Barber...

  
• 03.13.2011

  The Weak Board of Weakness

  [1]We start off talking about Charlie Sheen and celebrity (yeah, sorry), and then transition into a discussion about the iPad and music, and technology and qualitative data analysis. We thought we were done then, but we kept on talking about...

  
• 02.27.2011

  Tyrants

  [1]Our first episode recorded in 2011 finds Jesse in Iraq once again [2] and our minds on protest and revolution. Enjoy! Miscellaneous links discussed: David Cay Johnston on Public Workers' Pensions [3] Giddens on Gaddafi [4] Jonathan Haidt on liberal bias [5] (This is...

  
• 02.10.2011

  Science

  [1]Remember that big stink over anthropology and science [2] in December? We invited anthropologist Eric Plemons [3] back on the show to talk about science, anthropology, and sociology. We had a fun, lively, & at times heated discussion about the...

  
• 12.07.2010

  We Are Not DJs

  [1]This episode, we talk about Black Friday mania, Girl Talk, John Stewart, and Wikileaks. Follow along at home: Netflix queues and procrastination [2] Atheists Launch Real War on Christmas. With Billboards. [3] Girl Talk [4] Gimme Shelter Dissected [5] John Stewart and Rachel Maddow Interview [6] Assange’s...

  
• 11.15.2010

  Party in the Back

  [1]On October 27, Jeremy Freese [2] taped a laptop to his face and Skyped into the Soc Improv for a discussion of the NRC rankings. After Jeremy left, we solved the culture of poverty. Or something like that. Unfortunately, due to...

  
• 11.11.2010

  Putting the AGIL in Agile

  [1]This week, Eric Plemons [2] joins the conversation and Jose Marichal [3] makes a return visit as well. After introducing the Improv Hotline at 612.242.AGIL, we have a discussion about teaching social theory, the value of reading original texts, and...

  
• 10.19.2010

  Monkey Uncaged

  [1]This week, John Sides [2] from The Monkey Cage [3] joins us for a discussion about podcasting, blogging, and political blogs. The show is split into four segments: A discussion of podcasting and public social science inspired by John's post...

  
• 10.13.2010

  In the Classical Way

  [1]David Phillippi from Mind of Modernity [2] joins the conversation this week. We kick things off with a discussion of liberal professors [3] and political bias in sociology. Arturo unleashes his inner radical, pleading with us to "be the counter-narrative",...

  
• 09.30.2010

  Cowboys and Comedy

  [1]This week, we have two special guests: Gwen Sharp [2] from Sociological Images [3] and Don Waisanen [4] from ThickCulture [5]. First, we talk about a couple of Gwen's recent posts on Soc Images regarding whiteness, cowboys, and the Republican's "Pledge"...

  
• 09.23.2010

  The Tragedy of the Creative Commons

  [1]Three topics this week*: Arturo talks about his journey into the world of online discussion forums and blog comments Phil Davison [2], who has a bachelor's degree in Sociology, a bachelor's degree in History, a master's degree in Public Administration…and a...

  
• 09.02.2010

  Engirding Capitalism

  [1]This week Jesse, Jon, and Arturo (on location at the Denver airport) talk about What the Tea Party Really Wants [2] by David Brooks and Gail Collins. Topics include: the success of Glenn Beck; morality and the market; the idea...

  
• 08.26.2010

  Man-Children Ahead of The Times

  [1]This week we talk about two articles: What Is It About 20-Somethings? [2] Stop Admitting Ph.D. Students [3] Download and Enjoy! [4] [1] https://thesocietypages.org/improv/files/2010/08/album-art-ep11.png [2] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/magazine/22Adulthood-t.html?_r=2&sq=emerging%20adulthood&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=all [3] http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2010/08/18/harris [4] http://mediamill.cla.umn.edu/mediamill/download.php.mp3?orig=60999.mp3

  
• 08.13.2010

  An Anthropologist, a Political Scientist, and 3 Sociologists Walk Into a Bar

  [1]Jon, Arturo, and Chris are joined by Jose Marichal [2] (of ThickCulture [3]) and Alexandre Enkerli [4]. A wide-ranging discussion ensues, and we tackle questions such as: Why haven't we had any women on this podcast? Is there anything wrong...

  
• 08.07.2010

  Navel Gazing

  [1]This episode we talk about ourselves. First, Jon and Arturo gaze at our podcasting navels. We discuss The Society Pages [2], our plans for Office Hours [3], and discuss what we've learned about producing podcasts and conducting interviews. Second, at about 42...