Best Sociology Podcasts (2024)

1
Genetic Screening to Save Lives 29:34

2d ago29:34

29:34

We have seen recent innovations in our efforts to detect medical conditions in infants through genetic screening, including a program called Early Check based in North Carolina. The service now provides parents in North Carolina including a free scan and review of a baby’s entire genetic blueprint to look for hundreds of conditions. On this episode…

1
Coffee Culture 27:54

3d ago27:54

27:54

Urban baristas in a US city and Chinese managed coffee bars in Italy. Laurie Taylor talks to Geoffrey Moss, Professor of Instruction in the Department of Sociology, Temple University, about the subcultural lives of hipsters who are employed in Philadelphia. Such young people have taken low-wage service sector jobs, despite their middle-class origin…

1
How People Judge the Identities of Others 30:00

9d ago30:00

30:00

Each of us has a sense of our own identity. Sometimes, though, people make judgements about what another person’s racial or ethnic identity is. How do people make those appraisals? On this episode, we talk with Raj Ghoshal of Elon University about his nationwide survey research.

1
Daron Acemoglu on Artificial Intelligence 27:33

9d ago27:33

27:33

Listening to the ongoing debate about artificial intelligence, one could be forgiven for assuming that the technology is either a bogeyman or a savior, with little ground in between. But that’s not the stance of economist Daron Acemoglu, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the author, with Simon Johnson, of the new book Power…

1
The British Elite 28:18

10d ago28:18

28:18

Do today's power brokers correspond to the familiar caricatures of old? Laurie Taylor talks to Aaron Reeves, Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Oxford, who has delved into the profiles and careers of over 125,000 members of the British elite from the late 1890s to today, as well as interviewing over 200 leading figures fr…

1
Life after Adoption from Foster Care 29:30

17d ago29:30

29:30

What happens to children who have been adopted from foster care as they become adults? On this episode, we talk with Rose Domanico and Heather Ringeisen of RTI International and Nancy Rolock of Case Western Reserve University about the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being Adoption Follow-Up Study and additional analysis funded by RTI …

1
Talking about Protection from Violence 29:36

24d ago29:36

29:36

Although the threat of gun violence is common for some Americans, how exactly court officials, law enforcement professionals, and survivors each tend to talk about weapons is not something we often read about in news headlines. On this episode, we talk with two researchers who study how domestic violence survivors and law professionals talk about w…

1
Data After Death 29:38

1M ago29:38

29:38

What happens to a person’s online data after they die is something we may not spend much time thinking about, and yet there is much potential for that data to echo into the future. On this episode, we talk with Dr. Carl Ohman of Uppsala University in Sweden, author of The Afterlife of Data: What Happens to Your Information When You Die and Why You …

1
Iris Berent on the Innate in Human Nature 16:48

1M ago16:48

16:48

How much of our understanding of the world comes built-in? More than you’d expect. That’s the conclusion that Iris Berent, a professor of psychology at Northeastern University and head of the Language and Mind Lab there, has come to after years of research. She notes that her students, for example, are “astonished” at how much of human behavior and…

1
Power Plants and Child Wellbeing 29:33

2M ago29:33

29:33

Generating electrical power is vital for our current way of life and yet the process can have direct effects on human health. On this episode, we talk with Sarah Komisarow of Duke University and Emily Pakhtigian of Penn State University about their innovative research to assess the effects of power plants on human health.…

1
Healing Mental Suffering Across History 29:46

2M ago29:46

29:46

How can we improve our mental wellbeing by supporting our caregivers and healers? Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has many ideas which have come to her in part from her own remarkable life. Time magazine has called her a "Hero of Medicine." She's also an award-winning author. On this episode, we talk with her…

1
adrienne maree brown — On Radical Imagination and Moving Towards Life 1:20:13

2M ago1:20:13

1:20:13

The wonderful civil rights elder Vincent Harding liked to look around the world for what he called "live human signposts" — human beings who embody ways of seeing and becoming and who point the way forward to the world we want to inhabit. And adrienne maree brown, who has inspired worlds of social creativity with her notions of "pleasure activism" …

1
Friendship and Our Health in Later Life 29:46

2M ago29:46

29:46

Most people generally understand what friendship is and yet the roles it plays in our wellbeing have yet to be fully explored. On this episode, we talk with psychology researcher William Chopik of Michigan State University about new work on the value of friendship for health and what we can to do encourage better friendship in our lives.…

1
Megan Stevenson on Why Interventions in the Criminal Justice System Don’t Work 21:23

3M ago21:23

21:23

Do policies built around social and behavioral science research actually work? That’s a big, and contentious, question. It’s also almost an existential question for the disciplines involved. It’s also a question that Megan Stevenson, a professor of law and of economics at the University of Virginia School of Law, grapples with as she explores how w…

1
“The End of Poetry” by Ada Limón 1:43

3M ago1:43

1:43

An impassioned plea, a yearning for connection — the poem U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón wrote when she says all language failed her. Take in Ada's reading of her piece, “The End of Poetry” — and hear her read more of her work in the On Being episode, “To Be Made Whole.” Ada Limón is the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. She’s written six book…

1
Atul Gawande — On Mortality and Meaning 1:02:48

3M ago1:02:48

1:02:48

We are strange creatures. It is hard for us to speak about, or let in, the reality of frailty and death — the elemental fact of mortality itself. In this century, western medicine has gradually moved away from its understanding of death as a failure — where care stops with a terminal diagnosis. Hospice has moved, from something rare to something ex…

1
Teacher Work Experiences During the Pandemic 29:53

3M ago29:53

29:53

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges for many different people, but one of those groups whose story hasn’t been sufficiently told yet is teachers. On this episode, we talk with Erin Thomsen and Erin Dunlop Velez of RTI International about their work to tell that story.

1
Shopping 28:42

3M ago28:42

28:42

In 1986 in Gateshead the MetroCentre opened on the site of a former power station. Laurie Taylor talks to Emma Casey, Reader in Sociology at the University of York about a new study which charts the history and the impact of this mall which created space for more than 300 shops. They're joined by Katie Appleford, Senior Lecturer in Consumer Behavio…

1
“Ars Poetica #100: I Believe” by Elizabeth Alexander 1:17

3M ago1:17

1:17

Today, a poem with a poignant question to live: “...and are we not of interest to each other?” Carry Elizabeth Alexander’s reading of her poem “Ars Poetica #100: I Believe” with you — and hear Elizabeth read more of her poetry in the On Being episode, “Words That Shimmer.” Elizabeth Alexander is a poet, author, and educator. Since 2018, she has ser…

1
Luis Alberto Urrea — On Our Belonging to Each Other 59:10

3M ago59:10

59:10

We humans have this drive to erect barriers between ourselves and others, Luis Alberto Urrea says, and yet this makes us a little crazy. He is an exuberant, wise, and refreshing companion into the deep meaning and the problem of borders — what they are really about, what we do with them, and what they do to us. The Mexican-American border was as cl…

1
The swimming pool 27:55

3M ago27:55

27:55

The swimming pool: Laurie Taylor explores its iconic role in our culture, as well as its unspoken rules, routines and rituals. Piotr Florczyk, forming swimming champion and Assistant Professor of Global Literary Studies at the University of Washington, considers the allure of an azure pool and its place in our cultural imagination, from the Hollywo…

1
Ross Gay — On the Insistence of Joy 59:05

3M ago59:05

59:05

In our world of so much suffering, it can feel hard or wrong to invoke the word "joy." Yet joy has been one of the most insistent, recurrent rallying cries in almost every life-giving conversation that Krista has had across recent months and years, even and especially with people on the front lines of humanity's struggles. Ross Gay helps illuminate…

1
How to Engage Communities in Crisis 29:41

3M ago29:41

29:41

Communities sometimes emerge into the public spotlight at moments of crisis, such as when there is a dangerous train derailment or catastrophic damage to a water system. When we try to help those communities, though, how can we do that in a respectful and useful way that reflects history. On this episode, we talk about doing community-engaged resea…

1
The politics of the body 29:00

3M ago29:00

29:00

The politics of the body: movement and posture. Laurie Taylor talks to Matthew Beaumont, Professor in English Literature at UCL, about how race, class, and politics influence the way we move: You can tell a lot about people by how they walk. Through a series of dialogues with thinkers and walkers, his book explores the relationship between freedom …

1
Janine Benyus and Azita Ardakani Walton — On Nature's Wisdom for Humanity 1:16:20

3M ago1:16:20

1:16:20

In this all-new episode, Krista engages biomimicry pioneer Janine Benyus in a second, urgent conversation, alongside creative biomimicry practitioner Azita Ardakani Walton. Together they trace precise guidance and applied wisdom from the natural world for the civilizational callings before us now. What does nature have to teach us about healing fro…

1
Coping with Workplace Conflict 29:41

3M ago29:41

29:41

If you are hoping for a vacation this summer, it might reflect your frustrations with co-workers. Conflict in the workplace can be an important source of stress and can undermine team functioning. On this episode, we talk about how to cope with conflict with Jessica Jameson of North Carolina State University, author of Communication for Constructiv…

1
Opioids 29:41

3M ago29:41

29:41

Opioids in the US and UK; Laurie Taylor explores the changing nature of opioid use, from street heroin to synthetic prescription drugs. Helena Hansen Professor of Psychiatry and Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles, reveals the surprisingly white “new face” of the US opioid crisis. Although Black Americans are no more likely th…

6M ago25:11

25:11

1
How Fatal Use of Force Affects Communities 29:33

7M ago29:33

29:33

We sometimes hear about fatal use of force by police officers and yet we tend to not talk about the potential long-term effects of those tragedies on community members who were not directly involved. On this episode, we talk with Kevin Strom and Sean Wire of the Center of Justice at RTI International about new research which investigates community …

1
Anonymity - Self-creation 29:09

7M ago29:09

29:09

Anonymity and self creation: Laurie Taylor talks to Thomas DeGloma, Associate Professor of Sociology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, about hidden identities and how and why we use anonymity, for good or ill. He explores a wide range of historical and contemporary cases, from the Ku Klux Klan to 'Dr H' the psy…

1
Capitalism 28:47

7M ago28:47

28:47

Capitalism – what's the story behind the word and a cross cultural survey of peoples attitudes to it. Laurie Taylor talks to Michael Sonenscher, Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge about the evolution of a word which was first coined in France in the early 19th century. How has its meaning changed over time and how can a historical analysis shed lig…

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