We sit down with Hans Rosling for a discussion about how visual graphics can unveil the underlying beauty of data. Highlights include a discussion of the history behind Rosling’s gapminder, who is leading the pack on adopting a “fact-based worldview,” the work that goes into Rosling’s famous TED Talks, and the historical relationship between Sweden and the US (and Minnesota, in particular).
A special thanks goes to the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment. Rosling spoke at Minnesota as part of their Momentum 2011 series and they were kind enough to allow us to interview him as well.
For this episode, Sarah met up with Charis Kubrin at the 2010 American Society of Criminology meetings, where they talked about about public criminology, culture, and measurement strategies.
This episode, Jesse visits with Robert M. Groves, Director of the United States Census Bureau. Topics include why our census takes a full sample and how we pull it off, how we count tough populations like undocumented migrants and the homeless, and controversies over racial identification and the role of the state in the census.
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 Marchialtakes on Malcolm Gladwell’s take on Social Networking and Social Movements.
