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.
Studs Terkel and Public Sociology
Harvey Pekar and Paul Buhle sit down with Jesse to chat about their graphic adaptation of Studs Terkel’s Working and about the sociological side of Studs, and also Harvey’s, work.
Arturo also shares a discovery about gender and the health benefits of education.
Carr Talk
This week’s guest is Deborah Carr, Associate Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University, and the Trends Editor for Contexts. First, Jesse and Sarah talk with Dr. Carr about how she identifies and writes about social trends, then we broadcast part of a recent lecture Dr. Carr gave on end of life decision making.
But before this double feature, Arturo shares a discovery about healthcare! One correction: Arturo forgets to identify the article by name (and Jon forgets to ask him)! The article is called Similar Pressures, Different Contexts: Public Attitudes toward Government Intervention in Health Care for 21 Nations, by Saeko Kikuzawa, Sigrun Olafsdottir, and Bernice A. Pescosolido. Sorry about that!
(Apologies also for the humming sound in the background during Carr’s talk. We couldn’t remove it without also making Professor Carr sound like an alien, which we decided was a bad idea.)
Depression, Culture and Genetics
This episode we return to our ongoing series on genetic research and sociology inspired by our Summer 2009 feature article on the topic (take a listen to our interview with Thomas Bouchard to hear our first discussion). This time we engage with a slightly different “socio-cultural” perspective and invited sociologist Allan Horwitz to give us his take on how this new science of the gene may medicalize new syndromes. Horwitz also talks about his new controversial book The Loss of Sadness, an examination of the medicalization of depression.
Also in this episode, Jeremy Minyard shares a discovery on corporate deviance and legitimacy.
Council of Social Science Advisors
This episode, we speak with Barbara Risman about her call for a Council of Social Science Advisors featured in her Spring 2009 One Thing I Know column for Contexts. We talk about how policy might be different if social scientists played a greater role and also about sociology and socialism.
If you’re interested in the idea of a Council for Social Science Advisors, and you’re heading to San Francisco for the ASA’s this weekend, be sure to attend Open Forum: Does the Obama Administration Need a Social Science Scholars Council? A Public Forum, Saturday August 8 at 2:30 pm.
This episode also includes a discussion of a discovery on health & unemployment.
Also: let us know what you think of the podcast so far by taking our survey! It’s very short & your feedback will help us figure out what’s working, what’s not working & how we can best steer the Contexts Podcast Juggernaut into the Future!
© 2012 Office Hours
