The Social Breakdown

We're returning to our first Christmas with you all with this re-release! Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, it's hard to avoid it. Not only is it a day of celebration for Christian religions, but it has become commercialized and commodified for the sake of consumption and capitalism. Christmas also has a strong culture associated with it, full of rituals and traditions--from decorating the tree to gift-giving to singing in groups in front of people's houses. Join us this week as we discuss these rituals, and get some tips from our amazing sociology gift guide!

Me Before You? The Fault in Our Stars? Chicken Soup for the Soul? Popular culture representations of disability and the disabled community have shown us the dramatic sides of the disability status. How can we better understand disability? Guest star future-Dr. Hillary Steinberg joins us today to talk about the sociology of disability as well as her working in a children's hospital. We outline the three conceptual models of disability, critique the popular culture and disability porn representations, and untangle labels such as 'neurodivergent' and 'differently abled'. Join us to learn more about a field of sociology that isn't often talked about!

The music industry is a fascinating setting to understand the power of pop culture AND political economy. (Yup, like that Karl Marx kinda of political economy!) So Dr. David Arditi joins us to explore how power and institutions influence the music we listen to, and the art that musicians create. We discuss self-censorship, Soundcloud, commercialization, Bhad Bhabie, and more! Tune in here, and go check out Dr. Arditi's book 'Getting Signed: Record Contracts, Musicians, and Power in Society'!

Are you a newly minted or almost PhD graduate? Have academic job prospects been stressing you out? Look no further - we may have the solution for you! The academic job market isn't looking too hot right now, so here we are with a PhD's Guide to getting a non-academic job! We draw from our personal experiences of navigating the non-academic job market and give you all the practical deets on what search terms to use, what job sites to scour, how to revamp your CV into a resume that's not 15 pages long, and much more!! Tune in to see if there's a non-academic job in your future!

The way neighborhoods are transformed as investors, capital, and newcomers arrive cannot be understood without talking about cafes, lattes, food security, avocado toast, and race. Dr. Alison Alkon and Dr. Joshua Sbicca join us this week to discuss how food is both a gentrifying force and has been gentrified itself. The conversation was initiated by a new edited volume by our guests (and Dr. Yuki Kato who could not make it) titled, A Recipe for Gentrification! Tune in to learn more about how neighborhood foodscapes change, and how these changes warrant sociological analysis. All you food and environmental justice peeps, this one's for you!

The Social Breakdown Team has been busy the last several weeks and we were able to get a guest interview with Hawai'i Deputy Public Defender Jacquie Esser. Esser recently ran for State Prosecutor and continues to be a key player in the struggle to bring fundamental change to the criminal legal system in Hawai'i and throughout the nation. As we head into the final moments of one of the most important presidential elections in recent memory, the stakes could not be higher in understanding the future impacts of deinstitutionalization, police, and criminalization in U.S. society.

Over the past three years, those of us in higher education have become more and more aware of the role politics play in academia. And on July 6th 2020, things came to a head when the Department of Homeland Security announced that international students who take only online courses in Fall 2020 were required to transfer schools, find in-person classes to take, or leave the country. Roughly a week later, DHS rescinded the order. So, we have our friend and colleague, Nathalie Rita, with us to discuss the role of politics in the academy, the role of the academy in politics, and the precarity of international students in the United States. Tune in to listen to our special pre-election episode, and please GO VOTE!

We're continuing our trek into the world of politics and spectacles a la Murray Edelman this week in preparation for the upcoming election. We review what Edelman means when he says, "politics is a spectacle," and how spectacles can lead us to vote against our own interests. Why is it that people targeted by Trump's policies voted for him in 2016, and may still vote for him in 2020? How do politicians carefully craft (or impulsively create) spectacles that serve their own good? Tune in here to learn more, and be sure to go out and VOTE!

It's election season! So, we've got a rerelease for you all of an episode from May 2020 about politics, politics, politics! 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 on in our state and federal governments every day. Is politics an earnest attempt at changing our society for the good? Is it just a spectacle meant to distract us? Or maybe somewhere in between? Tune in here to learn more, VOTE, and stay healthy out there!

We've talked about femininity, feminism, and feminist criminology, but we have yet to tackle masculinity! So, we have a fabulous guest, Dr. Dan Cassino, a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, with us this episode to explain what hegemonic masculinity is, how there are masculinities (plural!), and how they manifest themselves in our society. Join us for a timely discussion about what it means to be a "man" today, and how masculinity has influenced and continues to influence our politics today.

Many people have heard the phrase, "take a walk in my shoes," but what does this really mean? Is it possible to understand what someone is going through without sharing the same experiences? The answers to these questions may seem obvious, but it's more complicated than you think! So this week, we're getting into the nitty-gritty of distinguishing empathy from sympathy, and defining the two. As the world is facing unprecedented times and world leaders are contracting COVID-19, perhaps a little bit of empathy is important... or is it not? Join us for another fun dip in social psychology and emotions!

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? Why is it so important to the economy and the labor market? We discuss the impacts of high school counselors, the journey of going to college, and of course, what education is like during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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. For this premiere episode, we catch up on what the gang has been up to after summer vacation and we discuss how to take sociology to the next level. What does being a sociologist mean during this time of social unrest and political turmoil? How can we use the sociological imagination to help us understand the current social issues? Grab your thinking hat and join us for a new semester of advanced sociology!

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 can tell us something about the dominant social order, morality, and normative behavior. So, let's discuss! Are we living in the most violent time? Trump wants to blame everything on "undocumented criminals," but are undocumented immigrants accountable for a large portion of crime? Oh-- and prison/jail, that's the same thing, right?

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 Cooley and Theodore Kemper see love, and how love can be used as a tool of social control. To better understand this intense emotion, we also discuss Georg Simmel's important concept of the Dyad. Do you agree with sociology's view of love? Tune in to hear our discussion!

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 social breakdown crew talks about liberalism and its manifestations in our contemporary world. What is "new" about neoliberalism? John Locke--a British philosopher enshrined in American legal and political doctrine--talks a lot about freedom and liberty, but for whom? To what end? What can be said about conservatism and liberalism as it relates to our sense of self and political affiliations? Join our discussion on neoliberalism and its discontents--we're not too happy about it either.

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 revealed: white chefs appearing in videos were being paid for their time, while chefs of color were not, and leadership was engaging in other racist practices. So, we had to get together and talk about this drama, and how the culinary industry is rife with inequality. Tune in here!

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 of #BLM are calling for divestment from police as one way to combat police violence and aggression. What does defunding look like? How would it happen? And wait, wait, wait, with less police won't crime go up?! Tune in here to learn more.

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 have an episode on that!" So, we are re-releasing our episode on resistance, where we ask, what exactly is resistance? What does it mean to resist and to struggle? How can we resist? What are some strategies or ways to resist? Many social issues are now at the forefront of the global conversation, especially with Trump's presidency, from racism to sexual harassment, to basic human decency. Resistance is a difficult and long-drawn out process – it's not for us, it's for our children. It's not for today, but for tomorrow. Change can't happen without resistance, so join us this week to learn more!

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 have been trying to figure out how we can do our part in the movement, and this miniseries is one of the results. So, the first episode of our #BlackLivesMatter miniseries is about the BLM movement itself. Who created it? How is it organized? What is BLM calling for? And why should you not say, "But, but, don't All Lives Matter??" Tune in here to learn more.

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 do you format an in-person class vs. an online class? How long does a new course take to plan (HINT: A lot longer that you think!)? And why should you NOT friend your students on Pokemon Go? Tune in here to hear our 10 tips for teaching, and please stay safe and healthy out there!

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 on in our state and federal governments every day. Is politics an earnest attempt at changing our society for the good? Is it just a spectacle meant to distract us? Or maybe somewhere in between...? Tune in here to learn more and stay healthy out there!

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 a fantastic guest, Dr. Sarah Patterson, who is helping us make sense of these connections. Sarah will be talking with us about families, family demography, and Intergenerational Solidarity Theory. What makes families work or struggle through their interactions? And do families promote positive social solidarity among all its members? Come join us for the conversation!

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 that it happens more often than not-- it's technically the third leading cause of death in the United States! Listen to our discussion on what societal factors contribute to medical error. Leave us a rating and review if you enjoy our podcast!

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 society? What do people mean when they say 'society'? While it's a word we like to throw around, we might actually be talking about something else! Tune in to learn more!

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 and the White Male Savior Complex-- and how they're now being used together in film narratives. Tune in here to learn more about how we can use sociology to make sense of film trends and stories, and also how we can use it to analyze cinematic flaws. You can check out Brian's blog at thesociologistsdojo.blogspot.com, and you know where to find us!

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 make sense of culture's role in globalization, and show how pop cultural products-- like sitcoms, Taylor Swift songs, and anime-- can act as forms of soft power. Tune in here to hear Penn and Omar nerd out on the intricacies of Naruto and Studio Ghibli, and to understand just how powerful and important pop culture is to our society!

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 the hysteria and facts into sociological context as we discuss infectious diseases, quarantining, politics, stress, and public health. And share with us your thoughts, comments, and concerns. Be safe out there and wash your hands!

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 $100 textbook? It's difficult to manage for both sides but don't sweat it - we have the perfect PhD's Guide to BOOK$ for you. Here at The Social Breakdown, we are all about accessibility! In this episode, we discuss cost saving ways for both teachers and students to navigate textbook assignments in college. There are cheap and FREE ways you can get a lot of your textbooks. Listen to the episode and then go visit your local library to check out a book!

"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 Simmel's concept of dyads!") to how some women don't want to be called "female." Tune in here to learn more, and find out which Spice Girl Penn and Ellen wanted to be growing up. Also, send us a rating when you have time, and be sure to subscribe!

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 Guide to Relationships! Graduate school is a weirdly autonomous yet lonely time, so this week we discuss our experiences with managing romantic and platonic relationships while balancing a full course load, TA/GAships, and of course, writing a dissertation. Tune in to see how we do it and remember, you're not alone!

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, the goal of this approach is to analyze data without letting previous knowledge, biases, or assumptions cloud the analysis. If you ever wondered what it was like to do hands on sociological research, then this episode is for you!

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 in to learn about how rock music has evolved, its role in the social construction of reality, and his favorite band, The Meat Puppets. Also, don't forget to subscribe and give us a rating if you haven't already. Mahalo!

Andddd 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 can plague an institution, and why it is that sometimes we don't even know that we're participants in this type of biased behavior. We end the episode with some ways that we faulty human beings can reduce and prevent discrimination. Tune in here to learn more, and don't forget to subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts!

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 of when prejudice turns into discrimination. Tune in to learn more, and don't forget to give us a rating when you've got a little time on your hands. Mahalo!

If you hang around grad students, you'll discover one of our favorite topics to discuss is money. We're usually grumbling about funding, side gigs, constantly filling out applications for scholarships that we don't get, and how we wiiiiiiish we had enough money to not have to live with roommates anymore. So in this PhD's Guide, we're gonna explore this topic by looking at the typical jobs available in grad school (including average stipend pay), what you should expect funding-wise from your department, and some academic job opportunities you can find to supplement your TA stipend. Tune in here to learn more about the precariousness of being a grad student!

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 the medical model. As sociologists we are not anti-medicine or anti-doctor, but we do feel it necessary to use our perspective breakdown the essence of psychological functioning and how the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is a gatekeeper. Hope you enjoy this lively conversation, and please subscribe and give us a rating!

It's just Omar and Penn this week but 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 Johnny Depp to Michael Jackson to Louis CK, we discuss the various ways in which we can deal with this dilemma. As consumers, what is our responsibility to deal with these monster artists, and is that even the right question to ask? Read the Vox article we discuss before listening to the episode so you can follow along on our website at thesocialbreakdown.com!

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 has he incorporated podcasting into his research? And which episodes of The Annex should you check out? Tune in here to listen to our fun conversation and be sure to check out The Annex (and Joe's other exciting shows) at www.sociocast.org.

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 others? And why is it that Ellen cried twice watching Avengers: Endgame, while Penn was frustrated and Omar was just a little sad? Tune in to learn more! And remember to give us a rating and subscribe if you haven't already.

Feminism - it has a bad rep, but it's actually an important social movement fighting for equality across sex, gender, race, and all the other categories of stratification in our society. Right on the heels of Alabama and Georgia passing some of the most restrictive abortion laws that criminalize mothers and doctors who perform abortions, this week's episode features a guest expert, Dr. Nicholas Chagnon, who helps us untangle the perspectives of critical feminism and feminist criminology. Learn how these perspectives analyze women's reproductive rights, as well as how they approach criminology from a female-centered perspective.

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, we discuss capitalism's role in this hot unequal mess. Take a listen to the episode, as we break it down the current state of inequality in the world. And don't forget to give us a rating and review after you listen! Mahalooooo!

We do a quick breakaway this week on a fun topic - boybands! 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 door. But you might be surprised to learn that they arose out of very different sociopolitical contexts! Each genre has quite an interesting history in relation to trade, economy, and globalization. We discuss the idea of soft power, and how various industries use their cultural products to become a cultural force around the world.

In this episode, 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 level of personal autonomy and privacy available to women. We highlight an aspect of Solinger's work on fetal personhood, and how the rights of the fetus have been constructed, in some ways, in conflict with the mother's rights.

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 a practicing doula! What is a doula? What is midwifery? Join us for the conversation as Alex gives us a brief but important tour of women's health, mythbusting the differences between being a doula and a midwife, and much more.

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 about how Sociology approaches these issues, and how we are all living in an imagined community - a concept put forth by Benedict Anderson to highlight the ideological project of 'culture.'

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 sociology, anthropology, history, or poli sci class, chances are you're gonna hear "orientalism" thrown around! What is heck is it? (Hint: It ain't a rug, a fast-food take out place, or the way to describe how someone looks!) What is its connection to imperialism and colonialism? And how has it influenced scholarship and research in the past and present? Tune in to learn more and be sure to give us a rating!

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 the people participating in studies. But that definitely hasn't always been the case! The treatment of Henrietta Lacks and studies like The Tearoom Trade are perfect examples of research ethics gone wrong. Tune in to learn more, and check out our website (thesocialbreakdown.com) to read about the various studies we discussed in the episode.

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.

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 all hope you enjoyed the first half of Year 2. Join us for our mini episode where we discuss some good holiday gifts to give that grad student in your life. (Parents and friends, take a listen!) Have a wonderful end to 2018 everybody, and we'll see you next year!