inequality

This episode we talk with Eszter Hargittai, from the Communication Studies department at Northwestern University. Popular myth has it that the youth of today are calm, competent masters of the internet, but Hargittai’s research points to significant gaps and inequalities in the level of internet skills possesed by so-called digital natives. What skills are lacking, why does this matter, and what should we do about it?

Download Office Hours #12

Hilary Levey talks to Jesse and Arturo about her Spring 2010 Contexts feature, Balloon Boy Plus Ei8ht? Children and Reality Television.

Download episode #39 now!

Also: check out Levey’s editorial in USA Today on the topic of Reality TV kids.

And if you don’t watch as much television as you know you should (it’s ok—we don’t judge), here are a few clips referenced in the interview:

Jon & Kate Plus 8

Cute Kids. (TLC disabled embedding).

The Breakup:

Kid Nation

NYC Prep

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBA-StyktEU

Do schools reproduce or challenge inequality? And how can we know one way or another? Douglas Downey calls into the Contexts Podcast to help us answer these questions. Be sure to check out Downey’s Spring 2010 Contexts feature How Schools Really Matter!

Also: Jon shares a discovery about gender and software development from last month’s JITP conference on The Politics of Open Source by Hanna Wallach and the FLOSSPOLS project.

Download episode #37 now!

Syed Ali talks with Jon about his Spring 2010 Contexts feature about Dubai, Permanent Impermanence. (Which you can read online for free, by the way.) What’s it like in a country where over 90% of the population are expatriates? What’s it like to do research in such a place? Listen in and find out!

Also Sarah shares a discovery: Morality and Health: News Media Constructions of Overweight and Eating Disorders

Download episode #36 now!

This episode we sit down with Walt Jacobs to discuss his Winter 2010 Contexts feature 30 Years of Black Presidents. During the interview, Walt and Sarah listen in on comic sketches by Richard Pryor and Dave Chapelle. If you prefer your audio/visual materials to include video as well as audio, you can watch the clips below!

But first, we have a discovery on segregation and crime presented by Arturo!

Download episode #32 now!

Videos in the Podcast

John Mayer skit from Tom on Vimeo.

Videos Discussed in the Article

This week’s guest is Stephen Scanlan, author of the Winter 2010 Contexts feature, The Scarcity Fallacy. We discuss the problems with existing food aid practices, the root causes of world hunger and what can be done to eliminate it.

Also, Jon shares a discovery on the downsides of flexible work, at least in some occupations.

Download episode #30 now!

This episode, Julie Artis discusses her Fall 2009 Contexts article, Breastfeed at your own Risk — which you can read online at thesocietypages.org for free, by the way! Artis discusses the history of breastfeeding, and what breastfeeding can tell us about motherhood, gender and culture. She also addresses the reaction to her article and it’s title.

But first, Jeremy Minyard shares a discovery about socioeconomic differences in college transfer.

Download episode #24 now!