politics

We start off talking about Charlie Sheen and celebrity (yeah, sorry), and then transition into a discussion about the iPad and music, and technology and qualitative data analysis. We thought we were done then, but we kept on talking about the sad state of rock music today and then NPR versus the right wing. We decided to keep the whole thing.

Links from the episode:

• GarageBand on iPad guided tour
• Alex Skolnick, Goodbye to Romance: Standards For A New Generation
• Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation?
• Siamese Dream Bassist?
• The Nevermind baby all grown up
• Cry Baby Documentary
• Rappers aren’t afraid to be weird
• Peter Dreier on Office Hours
• NPR and Muslim Brotherhood stunt
• NPR CEO Steps Down

Download Episode 22!

Our first episode recorded in 2011 finds Jesse in Iraq once again and our minds on protest and revolution. Enjoy!

Miscellaneous links discussed:

• David Cay Johnston on Public Workers’ Pensions
• Giddens on Gaddafi
• Jonathan Haidt on liberal bias (This is “the psychology guy” we mention in the first minute, but decide not to talk about.)
• Deposed Despot Survivor
• “What’s Gene Simmons done now?”

This podcast is now old enough to drink. Download episode 21!

This episode, we talk about Black Friday mania, Girl Talk, John Stewart, and Wikileaks.

Follow along at home:

• Netflix queues and procrastination
• Atheists Launch Real War on Christmas. With Billboards.
• Girl Talk
• Gimme Shelter Dissected
• John Stewart and Rachel Maddow Interview
• Assange’s philosophy

Download our 19th attempt at Improvisational Sociology.

This week, Eric Plemons joins the conversation and Jose Marichal makes a return visit as well. After introducing the Improv Hotline at 612.242.AGIL, we have a discussion about teaching social theory, the value of reading original texts, and the challenges of tuning out distractions for sustained reading and writing. Our final segment is a lengthy discussion of the impact of the 2010 midterm elections.

By the way, be sure to watch the feed because we’ve got another new episode we recorded last week coming your way in just a few days. Editing is hard.

Download Improv #17

This week, we have two special guests: Gwen Sharp from Sociological Images and Don Waisanen from ThickCulture.

First, we talk about a couple of Gwen’s recent posts on Soc Images regarding whiteness, cowboys, and the Republican’s “Pledge” and the mythology of being a country boy/girl. (Oh, and vajazzling.)

Second, we talk about Stephen Colbert’s Congressional testimony. Don thinks it missed the mark, we compare Colbert and Stewart, and discuss the complexity of satire and irony in politics.

Download Improv #14

This week Jesse, Jon, and Arturo (on location at the Denver airport) talk about What the Tea Party Really Wants by David Brooks and Gail Collins. Topics include: the success of Glenn Beck; morality and the market; the idea that “everybody’s to blame” for the sad state of the economy; and the power of catchy anecdotes against data and experts.

Episode #12…gogetit!

Jon, Arturo, and Chris are joined by Jose Marichal (of ThickCulture) and Alexandre Enkerli. A wide-ranging discussion ensues, and we tackle questions such as:

• Why haven’t we had any women on this podcast?
• Is there anything wrong with Berkeley taking DNA samples from incoming undergraduates?
• And when Eric Schmidt makes the distinction between privacy and anonymity, is he making any sense?

We also manage to start a discussion about pornography on the internet and end up talking about the failure of consensus in the Senate. Try to guess how we get from point A to point B on that one.

Various links referenced in the episode:

• Paula Priesse on Facebook (“Conservative comedy spoofing a well-meaning, young, progressive, and utterly hapless American woman”)
• Is Facebook bigger than porn?
• Facebook Privacy Settings: Who Cares?
• WEIRD biased Psychology studies
• Where People Position the Parties
• Class and location-based web services

Improv Number Ten!

What deep sociological insights about race, nationalism, and culture can be gleaned from the world of competitive hot dog eating? We try really hard — possibly too hard — to provide an answer to that question. Then we turn our attention to Nerdcore hip hop and a discussion about music, race, identity, and authenticity.

So put this on a bun and eat it: episode #8!

Jesse’s in Iraq…but he’s still good for some podcasting! After telling a few tales from his travels, we talk about police in Iraq, Brazil, and the U.S., militarization and culture, and about the strange companionship one feels with one’s fellow countrypeople when abroad. We also learn firsthand how sketchy the electricity, and therefore internet connectivity, can be in Iraq at the moment.

Enjoy Improv #6!

Jesse’s back and ready to tell Arturo and Jon what they got wrong last week about Arizona and right-wing media in the U.S.

The episode concludes with a tribute to the late great Ronnie James Dio and a live bootleg recording of the Dio classic Holy Diver performed by The Talcott Parsons Project in 2009. (That’s Jesse on vocals and Jon on guitar, by the way.)

\m/ DIO \m/

Episode #5…Go!