Sociologists
in the news
This is a compilation of media appearances by sociologists. Most are
NPR radio
programs. More recent links are at the top.
Sara McLanahan (and others) on young, unmarried mothers
Hans-Peter Kohler
(and others) on declining
fertility in Europe
Brad
Wilcox on delayed parenting
Eric
Klinenberg: guest reporter on This American Life
Listen to Act 1. Plot Without a Story (starting about 4 minutes into
the program).
Jerry
Jacobs
on how we spend our weekends and on the 40 hour
work week
Eric Klinenberg on media consolidation
"Three years ago, a train derailment released a poisonous gas over Minot, North Dakota. But when police tried to alert citizens through the local commercial radio stations—all 6 of which were owned by Clear Channel--no one answered. One person died, and thousands of injuries were reported. In Fighting for Air, Eric Klinenberg argues that what happened in Minot points to the dangers of a growing trend toward empty television news stations, preprogrammed radio shows, and copycat newspapers” (from the web site).
Sudhir Venkatesh on the underground economy
“If you're on the upside of the American economy, life is pay stubs and 401K accounts, mortgage, taxes -- and if you're really scoring, yachts and the ski lodge. If you're on the downside -- the real, gritty, ghetto downside -- it's a crazy, hustling, off-the-books, get-it-done world out there” (from the web site).
Kathleen Carley on online networking
Lynn Smith-Lovin on social isolation
“Debbie Elliott speaks with sociology professor Lynn Smith-Lovin of Duke University about a new survey documenting what seems to be Americans' growing social isolation. Back in 1985, respondents reported, on average, that they had three people in their lives who were close confidantes. They now report having two people with whom they can discuss important personal topics” (from the web site). And here’s Smith-Lovin again on a longer call-in program, and here she is again.
Eviatar Zerubavel on conspiracies of silence
Zerubavel talks about his new book, The Elephant in the Room.
Richard Sennett on the culture of capitalism
Kathy Newman (and others) on young adults living with their parents
Annette Lareau on class and child-rearing
“Sociologist Annette Lareau spent years parked in
the
middle of the intimate family lives of American families -- upper
middle class,
working class, and poor. […]
What she found were large and consequential class distinctions in
styles of
child rearing. Entitled middle class kids were scheduled to the max and
taught
to question authority. Free and easy-going poor and working class kids
were
taught to love their families - and obey. Each made sense, but the
advantages
flowing to the more affluent style, she says, are huge” (from the web
site).
“A group of Columbia researchers argue they've uncovered the science of pop songs. And, the man who oversees the Billboard's music charts” (from the web site).
Claude Fischer on the telephone
"The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina came as a shock but it wasn't a surprise, at least not to Lee Clarke, an associate professor of sociology at Rutgers University at New Brunswick. In Worst Cases: Terror and Catastrophe in the Popular Imagination (University of Chicago Press, forthcoming in November), he lays out what could happen if New Orleans were hit by a major hurricane" (from the web site).
Sociologists
of
disaster on Katrina
From the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Andrew
Arato
on revolutions
"First there was the 'Rose Revolution' in Georgia. Next, the 'Orange
Revolution' in Ukraine, followed soon after by the 'Cedar Revolution'
in
Lebanon. Dean asks New School University professor of political and
social
theory Andrew Arato if these social movements can properly call
themselves
revolutions" (from the web site).
Bearman on the abstinence pledge
"A kind of anti-sexual revolution is growing in the U.S. Teens across
the country
are pledging to be abstinent until marriage. Whether it's working
depends on
who you ask, and how you define success. Inside Out tracks the latest
tactical
maneuver in the war against the teen libido" (from the web site).
Bearman on doormen
In The
New Yorker
On NPR
Calvin
Morrill, Mitch Duneier: Office politics
"Stories of high drama from our nation's workplaces. They turn out to
be
surprising, emotional places, with all the greed, jealousy, and
ambition of
real politics" (from the web site). Aired 3/15/02 (search by date).
Conley on sibling inequality
In The Pecking Order: Which Siblings Succeed and Why, Dalton
Conley
writes that "the family is not a haven in a harsh world. It is part and
parcel of that world, rat race and all. Inequality, after all, starts
at
home" (from the web site).
Katherine Newmann on poor
"This, is the Census Bureau's new tally of America's poor: 34.6 million
people at or below the poverty line in 2002" (from the web site).
Laumann on sex and marriage
"A new survey from the University of Chicago finds that average,
single,
city dwellers spends most of their adult lives unmarried and the study
goes on
to identify the marketplaces where singles search for various sorts of
companionship, from true love to something less lasting" (from the web
site).
Lee on
racial
tensions in the city
"Sociologist Jennifer Lee disputes the assumption that racial tensions
define relationships between inner city merchants and customers. She
claims
that day-to-day interactions are actually quite civil and harmonious, Civility
in the City: Blacks, Jews, and Koreans in Urban America" (from the
web
site).
Patterson on the concept of freedom
"In his inaugural address President Bush mentioned it no less than 27
times. But just what does Bush mean, when he speaks of freedom?" (from
the
web site)
Pepper Schwartz and internet dating
"After years at the margins, web-based matchmaking services have gone
mainstream. They're pulling in hundreds of millions of dollars and
bringing
together millions of American singles. Sociologists now say internet
dating is
changing American courtship, and promises to change it more" (from the
WBUR web site).
Quadagno on health care
"One in eight, or approximately 43 million, Americans are uninsured. In
One Nation Uninsured, Jill Quadagno looks at why attempts to create a
national
health insurance program have failed in the US" (from the web site).
Sampson on "broken window theory"
"For 20 years, something called the 'broken windows' theory has guided
some social policy and many city police departments. The theory holds
that
disorder in urban neighborhoods leads people to be disorderly. New
research
shows that people's perceptions of disorder don't always match the
actual
disorder in their neighborhoods." (from the web site)
Stevens on
home
schooling
In the early 1980s, only a few thousand American families homeschooled
their
kids. Now, an estimated million and a half children in the US are
schooled at
home, and as many as two-thirds of these children are evangelical (from
the web
site).
Wellman on cell phones
"You can take it with you after all. New rules are in effect that allow
you to switch your phone carrier and keep your phone number. Dialing
digits 'on
the go' is now how America works and plays. Staying in touch has never
been
easier, but it comes with hard choices about how Americans live their
lives" (from the web page).
Watts on social networks
The "small world" math behind "six degrees of separation."