This episode on Office Hours, we talk with Megan Comfort about her book, Doing Time Together: Love and Family in the Shadow of the Prison. The book is the outcome of her ethnographic research at San Quentin Prison, studying how intimate relationships are sustained while male partners are incarcerated.
Janet Hankin on 50 Years of Medical Sociology
This episode we talk with Janet Hankin, co-editor of the special issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, “What Do We Know? Key Findings from 50 Years of Medical Sociology”. We discuss the contributions and insights sociologists have made in the areas of health, illness, and the medical establishment. Topics include the transformation of the health care system in the United States over the past 50 years, and the distinction between the sociology in medicine and the sociology of medicine.
Jeremy Freese on Sociology and Genetics
This week, we talk with Jeremy Freese about sociology and genetics. Topics include: why sociology and behavioral genetics need one another, why sociologists have been too hesitant to participate in interdisciplinary research, and how the complexities of gene-environment interdependence are stretching our imaginations as scientists and changing the way we think about causation.
If you like what you hear in this episode, this interview is part of an ongoing series on genetics, health, and sociology here at Office Hours. Past guests include Allan Horwitz, Peter Conrad, and Thomas Bouchard, with more on the way!
And the Society Page of the Week: ThickCulture’s Jose Marchial takes on Malcolm Gladwell’s take on Social Networking and Social Movements.
Peter Conrad on the Medicalization of Everything
We are now Office Hours! Listen in for an explanation behind the name change. (If you’ve already subscribed to our old contexts.org RSS feed or in iTunes, don’t worry: you will still get the new episodes. As of right now we’re still listed as “Contexts Podcast” in iTunes, but we’re working on changing that.)
This episode features a discussion with Peter Conrad, author of the Spring 2010 Contexts book review, Pills and the Pursuit of Normalcy, which reviews Happy Pills and Normal At Any Cost. Arturo and Peter start off talking about these books, but the conversation turns into a fascinating, wide-ranging discussion of the medicalization of everything from happiness to height. Other books referenced include The Loss of Sadness and The Medicalization of Society.
Grassroots, Astroturf, and Industry Activism
Edward Walker talks about his Spring 2010 feature Industry-driven activism. Topics include the role of industry in shaping the health care debate and the state of social movements in the age of the internet and astroturfing.
© 2012 Office Hours
