The Social Breakdown

We're building off of last week's episode on pop culture today with a deep dive into film analysis with a special guest, Prof. Brian Brutlag from The Sociologist's Dojo! Brian talks with us about two seemingly unconnected concepts-- Zen Buddhism and the White Male Savior Complex-- and how they're now being used together in film narratives. Tune in here to learn more about how we can use sociology...

We're getting light-hearted in these crazy times and introducing you to the sociology of pop culture! In this episode, we use Dr. David Grazian's work to explore what popular culture is and how it's different from high culture. Then we make sense of culture's role in globalization, and show how pop cultural products-- like sitcoms, Taylor Swift songs, and anime-- can act as forms of soft power. Tu...

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) is rapidly developing around the world and so are our thoughts, emotions, and of course, our sociological perspectives! We have an unplanned, talk story episode on this topic for you today. Join us as we try to put the hysteria and facts into sociological context as we discuss infectious diseases, quarantining, politics, stress, and public health. And share with us your thou...

Have you ever taken a class and been forced to buy a $100 textbook? Have you ever been a teacher and was forced to assign a $100 textbook? It's difficult to manage for both sides but don't sweat it - we have the perfect PhD's Guide to BOOK$ for you. Here at The Social Breakdown, we are all about accessibility! In this episode, we discuss cost saving ways for both teachers and students to navigate...

" If you wanna be my lover, you have got to-- " listen to this breakaway episode! Today, Penn and Ellen get together to talk about all things girl power, from the #Girlboss movement to feuds between celebrity women (which scream, "Georg Simmel's concept of dyads!") to how some women don't want to be called "female." Tune in here to learn more, and find out which Spice Girl Penn and Ellen wanted to...

It's almost the most romantic day of the year - good ol' V-Day. While the gang has looked at family and romantic relationships from a sociological perspective, we're taking an inner deep dive into ourselves this week with a PhD's Guide to Relationships! Graduate school is a weirdly autonomous yet lonely time, so this week we discuss our experiences with managing romantic and platonic relationships...

Ever heard of a theory that wasn't a theory? This week the gang tackles a difficult qualitative methodological approach called Grounded Theory, put forth by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss. By doing a deep dive into textual and descriptive data, the goal of this approach is to analyze data without letting previous knowledge, biases, or assumptions cloud the analysis. If you ever wondered what it...

We've got a special guest episode featuring Dr. Matthew Smith-Lahrman for you this week! Matt is a rock 'n roll guru and professor at Dixie State University, and he joins us to talk about the sociology of rock music. Tune in to learn about how rock music has evolved, its role in the social construction of reality, and his favorite band, The Meat Puppets. Also, don't forget to subscribe and give us...

Andddd we're back with part two of our series on stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination! In this episode we take a close look at institutional discrimination. First, we explore the sociological concept of the 'institution'. Next, we dig into how discrimination can plague an institution, and why it is that sometimes we don't even know that we're participants in this type of biased behavior. We...

Stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination-- all words we use interchangeably, and consequently, words we sometimes use incorrectly! This week's show is the first episode of a two-part series where we untangle these three concepts from each other, and get a better sense of when prejudice turns into discrimination. Tune in to learn more, and don't forget to give us a rating when you've got a little tim...

If you hang around grad students, you'll discover one of our favorite topics to discuss is money. We're usually grumbling about funding, side gigs, constantly filling out applications for scholarships that we don't get, and how we wiiiiiiish we had enough money to not have to live with roommates anymore. So in this PhD's Guide, we're gonna explore this topic by looking at the typical jobs availabl...

Join the SB team as we talk about the "myth of mental illness," a phrase coined by psychiatrist and medical sociologist, Thomas Szasz. Today we will be comparing the ideas of mental health and illness as "problems with living" to the medical model. As sociologists we are not anti-medicine or anti-doctor, but we do feel it necessary to use our perspective breakdown the essence of psychological func...

It's just Omar and Penn this week but we tackle an interesting dilemma that has come into the spotlight in the wake of the #MeToo movement - what are we supposed to do when we find out that the art we love was created by monster artists? From Johnny Depp to Michael Jackson to Louis CK, we discuss the various ways in which we can deal with this dilemma. As consumers, what is our responsibility to d...

There's a few sociology podcasts out there and this week we're lucky enough to have Dr. Joseph Cohen, host of one of our favorites, The Annex Sociology Podcast, on to talk shop! What inspired him to start The Annex? How has he incorporated podcasting into his research? And which episodes of The Annex should you check out? Tune in here to listen to our fun conversation and be sure to check out The...

We're back y'all!! And we're starting off our third season with a deep dive into the field of the Sociology of Emotions, a relatively young but uber fascinating subfield. What exactly are emotions? How are some emotions more social than others? And why is it that Ellen cried twice watching Avengers: Endgame, while Penn was frustrated and Omar was just a little sad? Tune in to learn more! And remem...

Feminism - it has a bad rep, but it's actually an important social movement fighting for equality across sex, gender, race, and all the other categories of stratification in our society. Right on the heels of Alabama and Georgia passing some of the most restrictive abortion laws that criminalize mothers and doctors who perform abortions, this week's episode features a guest expert, Dr. Nicholas Ch...

This week we're introducing the alliterative and uber important concept of social stratification: how people are sorted into different hierarchical groups based on the intersections of class, race, gender, wealth, etc. Using the perspectives of Karl Marx and Max Weber, we discuss capitalism's role in this hot unequal mess. Take a listen to the episode, as we break it down the current state of ineq...

We do a quick breakaway this week on a fun topic - boybands! Why is J-Pop and K-Pop so globally popular? What's the difference between American, Japanese, and Korean boybands anyway? K-Pop is known for their perfectly choreographed and intricate dancing with pitch perfect singing; while J-Pop aims to be your boyband next door. But you might be surprised to learn that they arose out of very differe...

In this episode, the team tackles one of the most sensitive topics within current social discussions - reproductive politics. Using Rickie Solinger's seminal book Reproductive Politics , we discuss how the women's bodies have become a site of public political struggle, thereby, determining the level of personal autonomy and privacy available to women. We highlight an aspect of Solinger's work on f...

The Social Breakdown Team is at it again with another really important topic--Women's Health! On this week's show Omar and Ellen will be having a discussion with Alexandra, a current University of Hawai'i at Manoa PhD Student, medical sociologist, and a practicing doula! What is a doula? What is midwifery? Join us for the conversation as Alex gives us a brief but important tour of women's health,...

This week, we have a guest speaker on to give an introduction to migration studies. This topic has a lot to do with current events such as DACA, The Wall, and various other immigration policies. Tune in to learn more about how Sociology approaches these issues, and how we are all living in an imagined community - a concept put forth by Benedict Anderson to highlight the ideological project of 'cul...

We're getting theoretical this week and tackling Orientalism, a concept and book by the fantastic Dr. Edward Said. If you're taking a higher-level sociology, anthropology, history, or poli sci class, chances are you're gonna hear "orientalism" thrown around! What is heck is it? (Hint: It ain't a rug, a fast-food take out place, or the way to describe how someone looks!) What is its connection to i...

This week, we're bringing the PhD's Guide series back to cover research ethics! Nowadays, researchers must carefully balance the potential knowledge a study can collect with the potential harm it may cause to the people participating in studies. But that definitely hasn't always been the case! The treatment of Henrietta Lacks and studies like The Tearoom Trade are perfect examples of research ethi...

Aloha! We're coming back--we promise! This week we've a little update for you on our new set up for Spring semester. Take a quick listen and get your ears ready for next week's new release.

It is that time of year! Time to wind down, take a break, and enjoy the holidays. It's also time for the Social Breakdown Team to collect our thoughts so we can get ready for our return in January. We all hope you enjoyed the first half of Year 2. Join us for our mini episode where we discuss some good holiday gifts to give that grad student in your life. (Parents and friends, take a listen!) Have...