This Week in Sociological Perspective

This week we discuss the report that 96% of people aged 27-45 are very concerned or extremely concerned about climate change. And, I recently spoke with Professor Charles Seguin of Pennsylvania State University his recent paper titled "The stability of androgynous names: Dynamics of gendered naming practices in the United States 1880-2016." The paper is to be published in Poetics, and is co-authored by Chris Julien and Yongjun Zhang.

Segment 1 -- Charles Seguin on "The stability of androgynous names: Dynamics of gendered naming practices in the United States 1880-2016"

Segment 2 -- Does anyone want kids anymore? The scourge of headline findings based on questionable social science methods.

This week we discuss the threat of a famine of "biblical proportions" owing to COVID-19. And, I recently spoke with Professor Alyssa Goldman of Boston College about her recent paper titled "The Early-Life Origins of Later-Life Networks." The paper is to be published in Social Problems, and is sole-authored.

Segment 1 -- Alyssa Goldman on "The Early-Life Origins of Later-Life Networks."

Segment 2 -- The threat of COVID-caused famine and its basis in climate change: Does this foreshadow the future?

This week we discuss the claim that pre-election polls failed during the 2020 election. And, I recently spoke with Professor Kevin Estep of Creighton University about his recent paper titled "Opting Out: Individualism and Vaccine Refusal in Pockets of Socioeconomic Homogeneity." The paper is to be published in the American Sociological Review, and is co-authored by Pierce Greenberg.

Segment 1 -- Kevin Estep on "Opting Out: Individualism and Vaccine Refusal in Pockets of Socioeconomic Homogeneity."

Segment 2 -- The failure of polling in the 2020 election, and questions about the danger of polling for sustaining democracy.

This week we discuss California Proposition 22, the Uber- & Lyft-sponsored proposition to allow them to classify drivers as contractors instead of employees. And, I recently spoke with Professors Andrew Kim and ChangHwan Kim of the University of Kansas, about their recent paper titled "COVID-19 and the Decline in Asian American Employment." The paper is to be published in Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, and is co-authored by Scott Tuttle and Yurong Zhang.

Segment 1 -- Andrew Kim and ChangHwan Kim on "COVID-19 and the Decline in Asian American Employment"

Segment 2 -- Prop 22, Earnings, Identity, and the Gig Economy

This week we discuss the presidential election. And I recently spoke with Ms. Tabitha Wilbur, doctoral candidate in sociology at Indiana University, about her recent paper titled "Stressed but not Depressed: A Longitudinal Analysis of First-Generation College Students, Stress, and Depressive Symptoms." The paper is to be published in Social Forces, and is sole-authored.

Segment 1 -- Tabitha Wilbur on "Stressed but not Depressed: A Longitudinal Analysis of First-Generation College Students, Stress, and Depressive Symptoms"

Segment 2 – What Might Have Been: Covid-19 crisis response and the unbeatable, national unity candidacy of the incumbent, Donald Trump

Keywords: Crisis, election, approval, unity, stress, resilience

This week we discuss some southern California hospitals' refusal to accept transfers of COVID-19 patients from overcrowded hospitals because the patients lacked insurance. And, I recently spoke with Professor Dustin Stoltz of Lehigh University about his recent paper titled "The Changing Valuation of Dogs." The paper is to be published in Sociological Forum, and is co-authored by Justin Van Ness and Mette Evelyn Bjerre.

Segment 1 -- Dustin Stoltz on "The Changing Valuation of Dogs"

Segment 2 -- Some southern California hospitals reject and delay transfer requests for COVID-19 patients in overcrowded hospitals.

This week we discuss Delta Airlines' expectation of a return of business travel in 2 years. And, I recently spoke with Professor Ryan Finnigan of the University of California-Davis about his recent paper titled "Rainbow-Collar Jobs? Occupational Segregation by Sexual Orientation in the United States." The paper is to be published in Socius, and is sole-authored.

Segment 1 -- Ryan Finnigan on "Rainbow-Collar Jobs? Occupational Segregation by Sexual Orientation in the United States"

Segment 2 -- Delta Airlines, business travel, and airlines' business model in a post-COVID world

This week we use differences in medical treatment for COVID-19 patients to consider a long-standing sociological challenge. And, I recently spoke with Professor Gregory Sharp of Dartmouth University about his recent paper titled "Tapped Out? Racial Disparities in Extra-Household Kin Resources and the Loss of Homeownership." The paper is to be published in Demography, and is co-authored by Ellen Whitehead and Matthew Hall.

Segment 1 -- Gregory Sharp on "Tapped Out? Racial Disparities in Extra-Household Kin Resources and the Loss of Homeownership."

Segment 2 -- The fraying bond between the people and the powerful in the United States.

This week I am joined by a panel of experts to discuss the possibility of the dissolution or fracture of the United States–its attendant social psychological, economic, political, and organizational bases or lack thereof, as well as its likely implication for justice and freedom.

Panelists: Nina Eliasoph, Professor of Sociology, University of Southern California Margaret Somers, Emerita Professor of History and Sociology, University of Michigan Stephanie Mudge, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of California-Davis

This week we discuss a revealing escalation in political conflict in the United States. And, I recently spoke with Professor Yader Lanuza of the University of California-Santa Barbara about his recent paper titled "Giving (Money) Back To Parents: Racial/Ethnic and Immigrant-Native Variation in Monetary Exchanges During the Transition to Adulthood." The paper is to be published in Sociological Forum, and is sole-authored.

Segment 1 -- Yader Lanuza on "Giving (Money) Back To Parents: Racial/Ethnic and Immigrant-Native Variation in Monetary Exchanges During the Transition to Adulthood"

Segment 2 -- An escalating political conflict reveals raw power to be the only operating principle of some U.S. officials