Office Hours

In this episode, we talk with University of Pittsburgh School of Law Professor David Harris [1] about his new book Failed Evidence: Why Law Enforcement Resists Science [2]. We discuss the cultural and organizational resistance to adopting scientific techniques into police and prosecutorial practices, and what social scientists can do about it. Download Office Hours #62 [3]. [1] http://law.pitt.edu/people/full-time-faculty/david-a-harris [2] http://failedevidence.wordpress.com/ [3] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH62_Harris.mp3

This week we talk with Shehzad Nadeem [1], author of Dead Ringers: How Outsourcing is Changing the Way Indians Understand Themselves [2]. We discuss what it’s like to work at a call center in India, what Indians think about outsourcing, and the social and cultural challenges faced by both labor and management in outsourcing firms. Download Office Hours #61 [3]. [1] http://nadeem.commons.gc.cuny.edu/ [2] http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9341.html [3] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH61_Nadeem.mp3

In this episode we talk with Michael Schudson [1], author of The Sociology of News [2], recently released in its second edition. Schudson is the author of seven books and co-editor of three others concerning the history and sociology of the American news media, advertising, popular culture, Watergate and cultural memory. We discuss the changing nature of journalism, the effect of emerging technology on traditional news practices, and his new research on transparency as American value and policy. Download Office Hours #60 [3]. [1] http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/profile/62-michael-schudson/10 [2] http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=23170 [3] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH60_Schudson.mp3

This episode we speak with Natalie Boero [1] and C.J. Pascoe [2] about their co-authored article, Pro-Anorexia Communities and Online Interaction: Bringing the Pro-ana Body Online [3]. We discuss what a pro-anorexia community is, how members establish authenticity within online groups, and the importance of moving beyond the individual in understanding anorexia. Download Office Hours #59 [4] [1] http://www.sjsu.edu/people/natalie.boero/ [2] http://www.coloradocollege.edu/academics/dept/sociology/people/profile.dot?person=pascoe_cheri_j [3] http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1357034X12440827 [4] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH59_Boero_Pascoe.mp3

This episode we talk with Jay Gabler [1], sociologist, journalist, and creator of the play, Ivory Tower Burning [2]. The play imagines a meeting between Talcott Parsons and C. Wright Mills where an intense debate about social theory and human nature ensues. We discuss bringing sociology to the theater and the role of sociology in the broader culture. You can watch a preview clip on YouTube [3] and see the entire play live August 4-11 at the Minnesota Fringe festival [4]. Download Office Hours #58 [5] [1] http://www.jaygabler.com/ [2] http://www.fringefestival.org/2012/show/?id=2322 [3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxnH_W2bOU8 [4] http://www.fringefestival.org/2012/show/?id=2322 [5] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH58_Gabler.mp3

Our guest this episode is Katherine S. Newman [1], and our topic is her new book, The Accordion Family: Boomerang Kids, Anxious Parents, and the Private Toll of Global Competition [2]. In the world’s wealthiest countries, an increasing number of adults in their twenties and thirties are moving back in with Mom and Dad. What’s driving this trend, and what are the consequences? Listen in to find out. Download Office Hours #57 [3] [1] http://krieger.jhu.edu/about/leadership/newman.html [2] http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=2241 [3] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH57_Newman.mp3

This episode, we talk with Jennifer Lena about her book, Banding Together [1]. Lena explores the developmental patterns that different musical genres take—from rap and bluegrass to death metal and South Texas Polka. Why do some genres become massively popularly while others thrive in small niches? Listen in to find out. Also, our host for the week, Sarah Lageson, recently produced a documentary for KFAI [2] radio on the bluegrass revival in the Twin Cities. If you enjoy this interview with Jennifer Lena, you’ll enjoy Sarah’s documentary, too. KFAI describes it as: For the last several years, a bluegrass revival has been taking place in and around the Twin Cities. KFAI producer Sarah Lageson talks to musicians Quillan Roe of the Roe Family Singers, Kevin Kniebel of Pert Near Sandstone, radio host Phil Nusbaum, and banjo player Liz Olds. This documentary examines the local bluegrass resurgence, what it means for musicians and fans, and the divide between purists and progressives. Go on, check it out [3]! Download Office Hours #56 [4] [1] http://jenniferclena.wordpress.com/banding-together/ [2] http://kfai.org [3] http://www.ampers.org/pieces/minnesotas-bluegrass-revival?s=music [4] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH56_Lena.mp3

This episode, we talk with Enid Logan [1] about her book, “At This Defining Moment”: Barack Obama’s Presidential Candidacy and the New Politics of Race [2]. Logan reflects back on race and gender in the 2008 campaign and also looks at how things have, and have not, changed for the current 2012 campaign. Download Office Hours #55 [3] [1] http://www.soc.umn.edu/people/logan_e.html [2] http://nyupress.org/books/book-details.aspx?bookId=6392 [3] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH55_Logan.mp3

This episode we speak with Richard L. Zweigenhaft [1] about his research, with G. William Domhoff [2], on diversity in the power elite [3] and their new book, The New CEOs: Women, African American, Latino, and Asian American Leaders of Fortune 500 Companies [4]. While Fortune 500 CEOs are still predominantly white males, a growing number of women and people of color have become CEOs in the past two decades. What has caused this increased diversity and what impact has it had? What does this tell us about gender, race, ethnicity, and class in American politics? Listen in to find out. Download Office Hours #54 [5] [1] http://www.guilford.edu/academics/academic-programs/academic-departments/psychology/psychology-faculty/richard-l-zweigenhaft/ [2] http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/about.html [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_Elite [4] http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/new_ceos_book.html [5] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH54_Zweigenhaft.mp3

This week, we talk with Lisa Wade [1] and Gwen Sharp [2], co-editors of Sociological Images [3]. Gwen and Lisa were in Minneapolis to receive the Public Sociology Award [4] at the University of Minnesota Sociology Department’s annual Sociology Research Institute. Download Office Hours #53 [5] [1] http://lisa-wade.com/ [2] http://gwensharp.com/ [3] https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/ [4] https://thesocietypages.org/editors/2012/04/20/congratulating-sociological-images/ [5] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH53_Sharp_Wade.mp3

This is a special edition of Office Hours: we're cross-posting the first interview from the all new Contexts Podcast [1]. In this interview, Jessica Streeter speaks with Henry H. Brownstein [2] and Timothy M. Mulcahy [3], co-authors of the Winter 2012 Contexts feature, Home Cooking: Marketing Meth [4]. If you like Office Hours, you probably already love Contexts magazine and now you've got another great podcast to subscribe to with the Contexts Podcast [1]. So head over to contexts.org [6] to subscribe and while you're there, check out the new Spring 2012 issue of Contexts! Download Office Hours #52 [7]! [1] http://contexts.org/episodes/ [2] http://www.norc.org/Experts/Pages/henry-brownstein.aspx [3] http://www.norc.org/Experts/Pages/timothy-mulcahy.aspx [4] http://contexts.org/articles/winter-2012/home-cooking-marketing-meth/ [5] http://contexts.org/episodes/ [6] http://contexts.org [7] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH52_Contexts_Podcast.mp3

This episode with talk with David Grusky [1] about the social and economic effects of the great recession and what every citizen should know about inequality in the United States. Download Office Hours #51 [2] [1] http://sociology.stanford.edu/people/dgrusky/index.html [2] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH51_Grusky.mp3

This episode we talk to Joel Best [1], author of popular, accessible sociology books such as Damned Lies and Statistics [2], Everyone’s a Winner [3], and hot off the presses, a brand new Social Problems textbook from W.W. Norton [4]. Download Office Hours #50 [5]. [1] http://www.udel.edu/soc/faculty/best/best.htm [2] http://www.amazon.com/Damned-Lies-Statistics-Untangling-Politicians/dp/0520219783 [3] http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520267169 [4] http://wwnorton.com/soc [5] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH50_Best.mp3

This week we talk with David Garland [1] about his new book, Peculiar Institution: America’s Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition [2]. Garland discusses why capital punishment persists in the US while it does not in other Western countries, from the structure of our political system to the role of public opinion [3]. Our Teaching TSP team has also written up a series of classroom questions and exercises to be used alongside this interview. You can check them out here [4]. Download Office Hours #49 [5] [1] http://sociology.as.nyu.edu/object/davidgarland [2] http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674057234 [3] http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/research/analysis/public-opinion-on-sentencing-and-corrections-policy-in-america-85899380361 [4] https://thesocietypages.org/teaching/2012/05/01/death-penalty-in-america/ [5] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH49_Garland.mp3

This episode we talk with Suzanne Mettler [1] about her new book, The Submerged State: How Invisible Government Policies Undermine American Democracy [2]. Mettler explains how indirect incentives, subsidies, and tax breaks have come to dominate US social policy, but remain unseen and underappreciated by most Americans. Download Office Hours #48 [3]. [1] http://government.arts.cornell.edu/faculty/mettler/ [2] http://www.amazon.com/Submerged-State-Invisible-Government-Undermine/dp/0226521656/ [3] http://files.thesocietypages.org/downloads/OH48_Mettler.mp3