This episode we talk with Robert Sampson about his new book, Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect. In the face of globalization and the widespread belief that the “world is flat,” Sampson shows how the world is actually very uneven, and that local communities make a great difference in how people live their lives across a wide range of phenomenon, from homicide and child health, to leadership networks, teenage pregnancy, altruism, and home foreclosures.
American Exceptionalism with Gregory Hooks and Brian McQueen
This episode we catch up with Gregory Hooks and Brian McQueen about their article, American Exceptionalism Revisited, winner of the ASA Political Sociology section Best Article award. Our conversation touches upon racial migration, defense spending, and how the post-World War II era was a critical juncture in the American social welfare state.
Eric Klinenberg on Going Solo
This week we talk with Eric Klinenberg about his new book, Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone. Also be sure to check out Klinenberg’s New York Times article, One’s a Crowd.
Amy Finnegan on Uganda and Kony 2012
This week we talk with Amy Finnegan about Uganda and Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 campaign. For the past dozen years, Finnegan has been teaching and doing research in Uganda. In particular, Finnegan has studied the relationship between outside groups like Invisible Children and local Ugandan activists. How are campaigns like Kony 2012 received in Uganda? And do they help or hurt the cause of indigenous Ugandan activists? Listen up to find out.
UPDATE: Since recording this interview, Finnegan and other academics have gone the extra mile to get information out to the public about the context and current events in Uganda—as well as how to talk, teach, and do something about it—at their new website, MakingSenseofKony.org. Please do check it out!
Douglas Arnold on the Elsevier Boycott
This episode we talk with Douglas Arnold, McKnight Presidential Professor of Mathematics at the University of Minnesota. Professor Arnold is active in the movement to boycott Elsevier for charging exorbitantly high prices, supporting measures such as SOPA, PIPA, and until last week, the Research Works Act, as well as for the publisher’s many ethical lapses. We discuss the start of the movement, the movement’s tactics, why this movement took hold in mathematics, in particular, and why those in other fields—such as the social sciences—should pay attention and join in.
Links discussed in the episode:
© 2012 Office Hours
