On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, return guest Dr. Courtenay Stallings of Pepperdine University and I tackle the spiritual horror classic: The Exorcist. In this episode we go over the impact of 70's social and political strife and its effect on filmmaking; especially on white male gazey Hollywood and those "Mavericks" of the time. Stick around for a discussion of science, belief, and religion through the context of the Sociology. It is a fun existential romp through the world of Pazuzu. Sadly, Poncho was cut for time.

Basics: (1:10-24:40)

• Dr. Stallings' Horror Flavor of Pop Culture
• Basics of The Exorcist
• Discussion of Director's/Extended Cuts
• Production Trivia (IMDB)

Historical Context: (24:55-58:29)

• Dr. Stallings' Biographical Context
• Brian coming to The Exorcist through parody
• White Male Gaze
• The Importance of the 70's
  • Roe v. Wade
  • 70's Social Research
• Anomie
• Parallel between Directors and Researchers

Social Analysis (58:43-86:30)

• The Sociology of Religion
  • Power of Belief and Faith
  • Science and Belief
  • Power of Religion is people
• Mental Illness
• Motherhood

Outtro 86:31-90:57

• The Other Exorcists
• Plugs and Social media

Links

Look for Dr. Stallings and her work:

Twitter @CourtenayCal

Book: Laura's Ghost: Women Speak about Twin Peaks

Episode 8: Mulholland Drive

Follow the blog and Podcast on Twitter @thesociologistS

Blog: The Sociologist's Dojo

All episodes of the Podcast can be found here

All clips used are under Fair Use.

February Episode: Dr. Liz W. Faber returns to talk the Sarah Conner Terminator Trilogy

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast we look to the stars as we analyze the acclaimed 2004 series Battlestar Galactica with Dr. Leigh McKagen of Virginia Tech University. We colonialism, Body rights, masculinity, Epic Heroism vs. Everyday Heroism, and of course, the dangers of Capitalism.

Basics: (1:08-22:09)

• Dr. McKagen's Background, Research, and what she 'Stans' for in Pop Culture
• Plot breakdown of the series and the brilliance of the Pilot episode "33"
• Trivia from IMDB

Historical Context (22:24-62:21)

• Franchise Timeline
• How 'Battlestar' Captivated Dr. McKagen
• Discussion of Dr. McKagen's articles about 'Battlestar'

Social Analysis (62:35-83:59)

• 'Battlestar' on Abortion
• Intersectional Marginalized Populations
• Masculine, Pro-Capitalism Colonialist Storytelling

Outro (84:00-89:59)

• Recommended watching order
• Dr. McKagen's Upcoming work

Stick around for:

• Brian wanting to show the beginning of 'Battlestar' to Amazon workers
• Dr. McKagen suddenly becoming the Host

Links:

• Dr. McKagen's Battlestar articles Here and Here
• Follow Dr. McKagen on Twitter @LeighMcKagen
• Action Chicks edited by Sherrie Innes
• The Computer's Voice by Dr. Liz W. Faber

January's Episode: Dr. Courtenay Stallings returns to talk about The Exorcist

On this Bonus Episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast Dr. Rebecca Gibson is back on the Pod to talk about Ann Leckie's 2013 Hugo and Nebula Award winning novel Ancillary Justice. We talk a lot about Gendered Pronouns, Consciousness and Colonialism. Later, we both engage in "delighted Flailing" as we geek out over the first trailer for The Matrix: Resurrections trying to understand what it all means before the film is released Dec 21st.

Production Notes

Basics of Ancillary Justice (2:13-22:35)

• First in a trilogy
• Award winning
• Plot
• Challenging your imagination
• 'Taking Gender out of the equation'

Historical Context (22:50-46:02)

• Dr. Gibson's Love of the Trilogy
• Sexism in Sci-Fi Publishing
• The use of Initials
• Adaptation Possibilities

Social Analysis: (46:16-71:28)

• Consciousness and the Self
• Pronouns, Androgyny and Trans visibility
• Space Colonialism

Matrix: Resurrections Trailer Discussion (72:13-91:58)

• David Mitchel
• Dr. Gibson's New Book Proposal
• Alice Through the Looking Glass
• Meta Analysis
• Cornell West

Outtro 92:23-94:08

All clips used under fair use.

Links

Dr. Gibson's First episode: Episode 7: Cloud Atlas

All of Dr. Gibson's Brilliant books

Birds of Prey Review on the Blog

The Matrix Resurrections Trailer 1

Dr. Gibson on Twitter @RGibsongirl

The Sociologist's Dojo on Twitter @ThesociologistS

The Sociologist's Dojo blog

On this month's Episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast I am covering the synergistic punk rock, sci-fi satire Repo Man with Guest Dr. Brian Cogan Professor in the Dept. of Communications at Molloy College and author of the book The Encyclopedia of Punk After we get to know Dr. Cogan, we dive into the film's production, the history of Punk, Anti-Reaganite Capitalism, and the Marginalization of Movements. Get ready to embrace the anti-establishment and jump into the pit. This film takes you for a ride...literally.

*Note: There were some audio issues with this recording so please forgive the quality. It is fixed in future episodes

Production Notes:

Basics of Dr. Cogan (1:34- 17:40)

• Grew up in the Punk scene
• Became a PA on Ang Lee's First Film
• Work with Dr. Cogan, You'll go far!
• Using Pop Culture as Social Critique
• The Traveling Academic
• The Encyclopedia of Punk

Basics of Repo Man (17:44-29:51)

• Production
• Cinematography
• Plot
• Trivia

Historical Context (30:06-48:25)

• Three Waves of Punk
• Punk's Not Dead
• The DIY of Punk
• Carter, Reagan and Punk
• Black History of Punk and Rock and Roll
• Corporatization of 70's Filmmakers
• " A Commodified Rebellion"

Social Analysis (48:41-77:39)

• Punk and the Neo-Nazi's
• Punk as a slur
• Generic Brands and Anti-Capitalism
• The Inclusiveness of Punk
• Satire of Religion
• Repo Men are Capitalists

Outtro (77:41-79:38)

• Projects and Plugs

Stick around for:

• A CRT Aside
• A Kurosawa Aside
• The Repo Man Code
• Circle Jerks

All Clips used under faire Use

Links

All of Dr. Cogan's Books

@TheBrianCogan

The Sociologist's Dojo Blog

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, we are wading into the waters of The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise with Historian Dr. Jamie L.H. Goodall author of the incredible book Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay: From the Colonial Era to the Oyster Wars. The episode first dives into Dr. Goodall's educational background and her fantastic book before tackling the Johnny Depp led Maritime Franchise. Along the way we talk Corporatization, Gender politics, and why we need to understand Pirate Etymology. Get ready to talk like a Pirate. "Drink up, Me Hearties Yo Ho!"

Production Notes:

Intro (0:00-2:04)

Basics of Dr. Goodall (2:05-22:55)

• New Job
• Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay Discussion (5:40-20:40)
• Representations of Pirates on Film

Basics of the Films (23:11-28:36)

• Production
• Small Zack Snyder Rant
• Trivia from IMDB

Historical Context (28:50-46:05)

• The Films' Historical Accuracy
• Female Representation of Piracy
• Importance of the Mid 1700's
• Nitpicking ;)
• Bush Administration and "At World's End"
• History of the Golden age of Pirate Films
• Dr. Goodall on Blackbeard
• "Sparrowificaion" of the Genre

Social Analysis (46:20-62:13)

• Anti- Corporation Rant
• Gender politics of the Films

Ranking the Films and Artistic Musings (62:15-71:30)

• Dr. Goodall's Rankings
• The Black Pearl's Perfect ending
• Table setting of Dead Man's Chest
• Dessert of At World's End
• The Fourth film is a Dumpster Fire
• The Fifth film at least "feels" like a 'Pirates' movie
• Could a Sixth Film work ?

Outro: 71:31-73:33

• Get The Beer
• Read the NatGeo Book-a-zine
• Follow Dr. Goodall on Twitter @L_historienne
• Follow The Sociologist's Dojo @TheSociologistS
• Follow The Sociologist's Dojo Blog

Stick Around For Discussions of :

• Sea Shanties
• Maritime Romance Novels
• How much Brian HATES 'On Stranger Tides'

All Clips used under fair use.

On This Month's Episode, we are talking to Dr. David Arditi Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas Arlington, and author of Streaming Culture: Subscription Platforms and the Unending Consumption of Culture This episode not only dives into Dr. Arditi's fantastic book, we also discuss the ways various forms of content have been altered by the rising 'stream', leading us back to the common problem of Capitalism.

Production Notes:

Basics of Dr. Arditi (2:13-7:23)

• Ph.D in Cultural Studies
• Avid Musician
• Discussion of his other Published work
• The Myth of Revenue decline due to file sharing

Basics of 'Streaming Culture'(7:24-17:45)

• Dr. Arditi's Methodology
• Why Streaming Culture matters and its relationship to Capitalism
• Defining Terms: Culture Industry, Mass Culture and Unending Consumption

Historical Context: (18:03-49.28)

• Expansion of the Means of Consumption
• The Album Replacement Cycle
• Cultural Lag and Backwards Compatibility
• Digital vs. Physical Media
• Data Mining Capitalism
• Collaboration to increase profits

Social Analysis: (49:40-85:13)

• Unending Consumption and the Devaluing of Content
• Paradox of Choice and Content Satisfaction
• Content Volume and the Labor to produce it
• Exploited Labor through the "Independent Contractor " Model
• Solutions and Subversions

Outtro: (85:14-87:31)

• Plugs
• Next Episode

Social Media Links:

Dr. Arditi @david_arditi

The Sociologist's Dojo @theSociologistS

The Blog: The Sociologist's Dojo

All Audio Links Covered under Fair Use:

Victor Wooten

Sour Deluxe

Aria 'Blackbird' Cover

Lupin Theme

Jimmy Carter Speech

Akala: Bullshit

On this Month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, we are tackling Frances Ford Coppola The Godfather Saga with return guest, Dr. Ellen Meiser of The Social Breakdown Podcast. We talk about her recent publication in the Journal of Interpersonal violence titled "The Normalization of Violence in Commercial Kitchens through Food Media." with her Co-host Penn Pantumsinchi before going through each film of Coppola's Magnum Opus. We go through a lot of trivia, analysis of film culture, and a variety of historical events to answer the question whether or not this 'Saga' is a true trilogy, or more like a duology + an epilogue. Stick around for a variety of rants and a Sneek Peek at Dr. Meiser's Next Episode!

Production Notes:

Intro: (0:00- 2:14)

Basics of Dr. Meiser (2:15-11:00)

• The Newly Minted "Dr. Ellen"
• Discussion of Ellen's recent article

The Godfather Basics: (11:03-16:28)

• Production
• Awards
• Trivia
• Plot

The Godfather Historical Context: (16:32-27:26)

• 1970's New Wave of Film
• "Which Pacino, is YOUR Pacino?"

The Godfather Social Analysis (27:36-38:19)

• Version of King Lear
• Masculine Bible for Agro-Douche Bags
• Italian Immigration Representation

The Godfather II Basics: (38:37-43:27)

• Production
• Trivia
• Awards
• Plot

The Godfather II Historical Context: (43:42-55:03)

• McCarthy Hearing Parallel
• Short-term Historical Memory
• Reforming Political Monsters
• The Mob and Vegas

The Godfather II Social Analysis: (55:18-63:05)

• Solidifying the Italian American Stereotype
• Film becomes Aspirational Masculinity
• Do Creator's have the Burden of Interpretation?
• Celebrities and Alcohol

The Godfather III Basics: (63:20-75:15)

• Production
• Trivia
• Plot
• "Grape Squisher Scheme"
• "Don't You Remember me? I'm your Cousin."

The Godfather III Historical Context: (75:30-79:21)

• Pop Culture's Shaping of our Perceptions of History

The Godfather III Social Analysis: ( 79:39-89:03)

• "Pop Culture is Soft Power" Refresh
• "The Roshomon Effect"

Outro: (89:04-93:56)

• Ellen's Rankings
• Plugs

Links:

The Social Breakdown Podcast

@Socbreakdown

@TheSociologistS

Ted Cruz and Watchmen

NYC Cops Teach ' RoadHouse'

Scalia and '24'

All Audio clips used under "Fair Use"

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo we go a little off format to talk about Nostalgia and the TV Reboot Culture with Alisha Kirchoff Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology at Indiana University. We talk about the political, social and economic motivations behind this trend, its overall impact on history and our (mis)perceptions of it. This Podcast may indeed create a few "spin offs" of its own by episode's end.

Time Codes:

Basics of Alisha: (2:03-28.44)

• Discussing her Upcoming Interview published in Context Magazine
• Alisha's Pop Culture Flavor: The Sitcom
• TV Geek Camera talk
• Alisha's Sociology Course on TV

Historical Context (28:59-59:16)

• Defining Terms
• What's "New" is not "Different"
• The Spectre of History
• Representing the time period, while subverting the norms
• Cherry Picking History
• Manufacturing perceptions of History

Social Analysis(59:32-1:15:27)

• The Monetization of Childhood Pop Culture Consumption
• Age Group Demographics and Ad Revenue
• What's Worth Revisiting?

Outro: 115:52-1:17:16

Stick Around For:

• A Discussion of replacing TV Characters with Muppets
• Feeling the Love for the Golden Girls
• Alisha Contemplating a Law and Order Podcast
• Brian becoming unhinged by the chaos of Netflix's "Play Anything" button

Production Notes:

Racism, Donald Trump and the Price of Nostalgia - The Sociologist's Dojo blog

36 Dramatic situations

All clips used under the protection of Fair Use

Follow Alisha @alkirchoff

Follow The Sociologist's Dojo @TheSociologistS

Read the latest essay at The Sociologist's Dojo Blog

On This Month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast we are diving into the work of David Lynch, and his 2001 Neo Noir Mulholland Drive with guest Dr. Courtenay Stallings of Pepperdine University and author of the book Laura's Ghost: Women Speak about Twin Peaks . Together, we are not only going to piece together the winding Lynchian narrative of the film, but we also interrogate a lot of Lynch's other work. At the end of the episode will have you saying: "This is the girl."

Production Notes:

Basics: Dr. Stallings (1:07-35:22)

• Marrying Academic work with Pop Culture Interests
• Gushing over Laura's Ghost
• Stumping for Qualitative Research
• Research based questions (11:21-18:38)

Basics: Mulholland Drive (35:57-48:33)

• Trivia
• Plot Synopsis

Historical Context: (48:47-102:22)

• How 9/11 Effected the Box Office Sales
• The Cultural Lag of "Lynchian" Appreciation
• The critical praise and accessibility of Mulholland Drive
• Lynch's Career Timeline

Social Analysis: (1:02:36-1:19:24)

• Analysis of Sexual Violence in Lynch's work
• Queer Representation and The Male Gaze
• Metaphors for Women in Hollywood
• "Lynchian" gaps

Conclusion: (1:19:39-1:24:29)

• Brian's Final Thoughts
• Courtenay's Final Thoughts
• Plugs

Stick Around For:

• Brian's Neophyte Reactions
• Spontaneous topic of "Monster Artists"
• Rebekah Del Rio Clips
• "A Special Guest"

Contacts:

Follow Dr. Stallings on Twitter @CourtenayCal

Follow The Sociologist's Dojo on Twitter @TheSociologistS

The Blog: The Sociologist's Dojo

Email: [email protected]

On this Month's Episode of The Sociologist's Dojo we are discussing Cloud Atlas and the work of Lana and Lilly Wachowski; as my guest Dr. Rebecca Gibson author of The Corseted Skeleton: a Bioarchaeology of Binding, takes me through one of her favorite films. We talk the Myths of Corsets, Trans representation, The work of David Mitchell, and the complexities of the fight for social justice. You may not have heard the episode yet, "but you know, you know it"

Production Notes:

Basics: Dr. Gibson ( 1:52-8:30)

• Dr. Gibson's Books and Articles
• Research Interests
• Pop Culture Flavor

Basics: The Corseted Skeleton Discussion (8:31-18:33)

• Foundation
• Myths vs. Reality
• Political Weapon
• Toxicity of clothing

Basics: The Film (18:34-49:03)

• Trans representation in Credits
• The Writer David Mitchell
• Fantastic Editing
• Dr. Gibson running down the plot
• Trivia from IMDB

Historical Context: (49:18-1:02:56)

• What was Happening in 2012
• Dr. Gibson's relationship with Cloud Atlas
• Reiteration of Pop culture as Soft Power
• Brian Admitting to his Cloud Atlas Skepticism

Social Analysis: (1:03:10- 1:21:36)

• Explaining the fight for Social Justice
• The Academic nature of Cloud Atlas
• Contradictions in Academia
• "Yellow-face" controversy explained
• "Disclaimers" and "Intermissions"

Conclusion: (1:21:50-1:30:36)

• Cohesive Brilliance of Cloud Atlas
• Karma, Energy, and Eternal Recurrence

Stick around for:

• Dr. Gibson talking about the impact of working with the Dead
• Brian Squealing over Older Romance Stories
• A special silent guest at the end

References:

• Buy and Read all of Dr. Gibson's Books
• The work of David Mitchell
• Accumulated Histories and Disposable people in Cloud Atlas
• Pop Culture is soft Power: Police using Roadhouse as a training tool

Follow us:

Dr Gibson @RGibsongirl

The Sociologist's Dojo: @ThesociologistS

[email protected]