The Social Breakdown

By socbreakdown

Society & Culture Education Social Sciences

What's The Social Breakdown about?

The sociology podcast nobody wants, but everybody needs! Come join us as we break down the complex social world one topic at a time using our sociological imagination.

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SOC402 - Intro to Sociology...

09.23.2020

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? ...

The Social Breakdown episodes:

09.23.2020 SOC402 - Intro to Sociology of Education (Guest Edition) 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? ...
09.11.2020 SOC401 - "You're all sociologists!" Part 3: Don't get senioritis! Welcome to senior year! It's Fall 2020 and we are off to a great start with part 3 of our "You're all sociologists!" series. What does being a sociologist mean during this time of social unrest and political turmoil? How ...
07.29.2020 SOC107 - Who You Gonna Call? The Crimebusters! (Rerelease) We have another throwback episode for you, and this time it's about crime! Sociologists are good at mythbusting-- social mythbusting that is! Our first topic to bust: Crime. Citizens of any society have preconceived notions of crime, and these ideas ...
07.22.2020 SOC118 - Love Struck or Love Sick? (Rerelease) We have another rerelease for you this week! Love- something we need more of nowadays- is the topic of this week's episode! So let's explore what happens in our brains when we are struck with love, how sociologists like Charles ...
07.15.2020 SOC112 - (Neo)liberalism and its Discontents (Rerelease) Since we're on summer vacay, we're releasing some of our favorite episodes. So, here's one of Ellen's faves: Looking back at its historical origins, the crew talks about liberalism and its manifestations in our contemporary world. What is “new” about ...
07.01.2020 Breakaway Episode 10 - Inequality at Bon Appétit Penn and Ellen are avid fans of Bon Appetit’s YouTube channel. ‘Gourmet Makes,’ ‘Back to Back Chef,’ that one where Chris recreates dishes blind-folded-- WE LOVE THEM ALL. But at the start of June, shocking inequality at Bon Appetit was ...
06.19.2020 #BlackLivesMatter Miniseries: Defunding the Police We’re continuing our #BlackLivesMatter miniseries and exploring what it means when people demand that we defund the police. Annually the U.S. spends around $115 billion on police departments-- an amount that has tripled over the past 40 years. So supporters ...
06.17.2020 #BlackLivesMatter Miniseries: Vive la Resistance! For our miniseries on #BlackLivesMatter we were planning on doing an episode on tools of resistance-- the ways organizers act to create social change. But then we were like, "Wait a minute! We already did an episode on that!" So, ...
06.15.2020 #BlackLivesMatter Miniseries: What is #BLM? The #BlackLivesMatter social movement has been gaining momentum after the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota on May 25, and protests have been seen around the world and in every state in the U.S. We here at the Social Breakdown ...
06.03.2020 SOC316 - PhD's Guide to Teaching There’s a lotta roles grad students play in the university, and one of them is being a teacher. So, we have a PhD’s Guide to Teaching today to help all of you newbies prepare for teaching in higher education. How ...
05.20.2020 SOC315 - The Political Spectacle: Symbols in Politics 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 ...
05.06.2020 SOC314 - Family Demography and Intergenerational Solidarity Theory (Guest Edition) Sociology is obviously concerned about connecting private troubles to public issues, as C. Wright Mills once said. Sociologists are also deeply interested in the relationships between people, and the intimate relationships we have with family members. This week, we have ...
04.22.2020 SOC313 - To Err is Human: A Look at Medical Error 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 ...
04.15.2020 (Don't) Ask a Sociologist Episode 1: What is Society? We're starting a new mini-series on our podcast called "(Don't) Ask a Sociologist"! We'll be answering questions from our listeners in ways probably more complicated than necessary, because we're sociologists, after all. This week's question - what the heck is ...
04.01.2020 SOC312 - Zen and the White Male Savior in Film (Guest Edition) We’re building off of last week’s episode on pop culture today with a deep dive into film analysis with a special guest, Prof. Brian Brutlag from The Sociologist’s Dojo! Brian talks with us about two seemingly unconnected concepts-- Zen Buddhism ...
03.25.2020 SOC311 - Intro to Popular Culture: "It's all about popular" 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 ...
03.20.2020 (out)Breakaway Episode 9 - "It's not just the 'flu'" COVID-19 (Coronavirus) is rapidly developing around the world and so are our thoughts, emotions, and of course, our sociological perspectives! We have an unplanned, talk story episode on this topic for you today. Join us as we try to put ...
03.11.2020 SOC310 - PhD's Guide to BOOK$ Have you ever taken a class and been forced to buy a $100 textbook? Have you ever been a teacher and was forced to assign a $100 textbook? It’s difficult to manage for both sides but don’t sweat it - ...
02.26.2020 Breakaway Episode 8 - Girl Power and the #Girlboss Movement “If you wanna be my lover, you have got to--” listen to this breakaway episode! Today, Penn and Ellen get together to talk about all things girl power, from the #Girlboss movement to feuds between celebrity women (which scream, “Georg ...
02.12.2020 SOC309 - PhD's Guide to Relationships It’s almost the most romantic day of the year - good ol’ V-Day. While the gang has looked at family and romantic relationships from a sociological perspective, we’re taking an inner deep dive into ourselves this week with a PhD’s ...
01.29.2020 SOC308 - Grounded Theory: It's Not A Theory Ever heard of a theory that wasn’t a theory? This week the gang tackles a difficult qualitative methodological approach called Grounded Theory, put forth by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss. By doing a deep dive into textual and descriptive data, ...
01.15.2020 SOC307 - The Social Construction of Rock n’ Roll 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 ...
12.18.2019 SOC306 - Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination (pt. 2): "I don't see color" And 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 ...
12.04.2019 SOC305 - Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination (pt. 1): "Can I call you 'Mulan'?" 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 ...
11.20.2019 SOC304 - PhD's Guide to Money in Grad School If you hang around grad students, you’ll discover we love to talk about money. We’re usually grumbling about funding, side gigs, scholarships that we don’t get, and how we wish we had enough money to afford living alone. So in ...
11.06.2019 SOC303 - The "Myth" of Mental Illness 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 ...
10.23.2019 Breakaway Episode 7 - Monster Artists: When something you love is created by a monster We tackle an interesting dilemma that has come into the spotlight in the wake of the #MeToo movement - what are we supposed to do when we find out that the art we love was created by monster artists? From ...
10.09.2019 SOC302 - Podcasting w/ The Annex (Guest Edition) There’s a few sociology podcasts out there and this week we’re lucky enough to have Dr. Joseph Cohen, host of one of our favorites, The Annex Sociology Podcast, on to talk shop! What inspired him to start The Annex? How ...
09.25.2019 SOC301 - Intro to Sociology of Emotions: Did you cry at Avengers: Endgame? We’re back y’all!! And we’re starting off our third season with a deep dive into the field of the Sociology of Emotions, a relatively young but uber fascinating subfield. What exactly are emotions? How are some emotions more social than ...
05.15.2019 SOC216 - Feminist & Critical Criminology: Problematizing the State (Guest Edition) Feminism has a bad rep, but it’s an important social movement fighting for equality across sex, gender, race in our society. Right on the heels of Alabama and Georgia passing restrictive abortion laws, this week’s episode features a guest expert, ...
05.01.2019 SOC215 - Social Stratification, Capitalism, and Inequality: All the Sad Things This week we’re introducing the alliterative and uber important concept of social stratification: how people are sorted into different hierarchical groups based on the intersections of class, race, gender, wealth, etc. Using the perspectives of Karl Marx and Max Weber, ...
04.17.2019 Breakaway 6 - "JPOP, KPOP, and Boy Bands" A Rant by Dr. Penn Why is J-Pop and K-Pop so globally popular? What’s the difference between American, Japanese, and Korean boybands anyway? K-Pop is known for their perfectly choreographed and intricate dancing with pitch perfect singing; while J-Pop aims to be your boyband next ...
04.03.2019 SOC 214 - Reproductive Politics: The Body as a Site of Political Struggle The team tackles one of the most sensitive topics within current social discussions - reproductive politics. Using Rickie Solinger’s seminal book Reproductive Politics, we discuss how the women’s bodies have become a site of public political struggle, thereby, determining the ...
03.20.2019 SOC213 - Doulas and Midwives and Women's Health, Oh My! (Guest Edition) The Social Breakdown Team is at it again with another really important topic--Women’s Health! On this week’s show Omar and Ellen will be having a discussion with Alexandra, a current University of Hawai’i at Manoa PhD Student, medical sociologist, and ...
03.06.2019 SOC 212 - Our Imagined Communities: Intro to Migration Studies (Guest Edition) This week, we have a guest speaker on to give an introduction to migration studies. This topic has a lot to do with current events such as DACA, The Wall, and various other immigration policies. Tune in to learn more ...
02.20.2019 SOC211 - "It Ain't a Rug!": Edward Said's Orientalism We’re getting theoretical this week and tackling Orientalism, a concept and book by the fantastic Dr. Edward Said. If you’re taking a higher-level soc, anthro, history, or poli sci class, chances are you’re gonna hear “orientalism” thrown around! What is ...
02.06.2019 SOC210 - PhD's Guide to Research Ethics This week, we’re bringing the PhD’s Guide series back to cover research ethics! Nowadays, researchers must carefully balance the potential knowledge a study can collect with the potential harm it may cause to participants of the studies. But that definitely ...
01.30.2019 Intro to Spring Semester Aloha! We’re coming back--we promise! This week we’ve a little update for you on our new set up for Spring semester. Take a quick listen and get your ears ready for next week’s new release.
12.19.2018 SOC209 - Winter Mini-Ep: Gifts for Grad Students It is that time of year! Time to wind down, take a break, and enjoy the holidays. It’s also time for the Social Breakdown Team to collect our thoughts so we can get ready for our return in January. We ...
12.12.2018 SOC208 - Left Handed Devils: The Social Construction of Deviance We’re using our understanding of the three schools of sociological theory to breakdown deviance and crime this week. What is deviance? What is crime? How are they different? How does society create the definitions of what is a deviant behavior ...
12.05.2018 Breakaway 5 - Black Friday and Holiday Shopping Are you Black Friday shopper, like Penn? Or are you ambivalent, like Ellen? This week, the ladies of the Social Breakdown get together for a breakaway episode on the history of Black Friday and the many sociological purposes of holiday ...
11.28.2018 SOC207 - Three Schools of Thought: Conflict Theory, Structural Functionalism, and Symbolic Interactionism We're going back to the basics by introducing the three schools of sociological thought - conflict theory, structural functionalism, and symbolic interactionism. Knowing these is a must for any aspiring sociologist. Join us as we discuss how Marx theorized the ...
11.07.2018 Breakaway Episode 4: Context Collapse This week, we breakdown an interesting phenomenon that occurs often on social media - context collapse - when various segments of your social network (friends, family, acquaintances, employers, and complete strangers) are muddled together into one big audience. How does ...
10.31.2018 SOC206 - Intention vs. Perception: On Human Aggression For our Halloween spooktacular, we present to you an episode on human aggression! AhhHHHH! This week we’re defining what aggression is, how it is different from violence, and where aggression stems from. Is it an innate trait, as Freud believed, ...
10.24.2018 SOC205 - The Matrices of Oppression: An Introduction to Intersectionality We're building off of last week's episode on sex and gender and breaking down the more complex ideas of intersectionality and feminist thought. How do you define intersectionality? What is feminist thought? And how can you apply these concepts to ...
10.17.2018 SOC204 - The Spectrum: An Introduction to Sex and Gender 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 ...
10.10.2018 SOC203 - PhD's Guide to Grad School Applications We’re back with another PhD’s Guide on an important and timely topic: the graduate school application process! This week, we’re talking 'bout do’s and do not’s when trying to impress those higher education programs to accept you as a worthy ...
10.03.2018 SOC202 - #FreeTheGenitals: Why Japanese Porn is Blurred Finally, we are answering one of life’s greatest mysteries. Remember the first episode we did? We mentioned a little question: Why the heck is Japanese porn blurred? More specifically, why is genitalia blurred? We tackle this hairy question first with ...
09.26.2018 SOC201 - PhD's Guide to Time Management We are back for year 2, and we’re starting off with some useful tips on time management for the Fall semester. Curious about how to keep up with all of that reading? Interested in some tips to stay on track ...
06.06.2018 SOC131 - How We Do It (Behind the Scenes) For our last show of our 1st academic year, we’re giving you a behind the scenes look into The Social Breakdown. We talk about the podcast’s origins, our recording and editing set up, how we prepare for each episode, and ...

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