Give Theory A Chance

In this episode we are joined by Chris Conner, Assistant Professor of Sociology at University of Missouri-Columbia. Chris discusses his research on the electronic music scene and gay dating apps and life lessons that can be taken from the respective projects. *This conversation is part of the Spring 2026 Sociological Life Lessons class led by […]

In this episode we are joined once again by Dr. Christopher R. Matthews from the School of Science and Technology at Nottingham Trent University. In this wide-ranging conversation Christopher discusses the co-production of knowledge, radical honesty in the methods section, finding inspiration in the work of Simone Weil , and conceiving of research as sacred.

In this episode we are joined by Alicia M. Walker, Associate Professor of Sociology at Missouri State and Arielle Kuperberg, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Alicia and Arielle discuss their co-authored book Bound by BDSM: Unexpected Lessons in Building a Happier Life, reflect on some of the methodological and […]

In this episode we are joined by Stefano Bloch, Associate Professor in the School of Geography & Development at the University of Arizona and author of Going All City: Struggle and Survival in LA’s Graffiti Subculture. Stefano discusses and shares some lessons from his recently published article “Crime as Relational Concept in Political Geography”.

Daniel Chambliss joins us to discuss The Mundanity of Excellence: An Ethnographic Report on the Stratification of Swimmers, first published in Sociological Theory in 1989. This episode is the debut of a new format in which guests share life lessons that can be taken from their favorite social theory, or in this case, their own […]

In this episode, Dr. Seth Abrutyn, Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia, co-author of Life under Pressure: The Social Roots of Youth Suicide and What to Do About Them, and 2024 winner of the Lewis A. Coser Award for Theoretical Agenda Setting returns to the podcast to discuss Daniel Chambliss’s “The Mundanity of […]

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Rahsaan Mahadeo, Assistant Professor in African American and African Studies at the University of Minnesota and  author of Funk the Clock: Transgressing Time While Young, Perceptive, and Black. In our conversation, Rahsaan introduces us to the ideas of Denise Ferreira da Silva and helps us understand the […]

In this episode we are joined by Jonathan Wynn, Professor of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Jon joins us to discuss The Set Up, his debut work of fiction that both thrills and educates. Jon shares his experience writing a work of fiction, reflects on how theorists including W.E.B. Du Bois and Erving Goffman […]

In this episode, Dr. Daniel Silver, Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto Scarborough and author of Scenescapes: how qualities of place shape social life (2020), joins us to discuss and read from Talcott Parsons’ On Institutions and Social Evolution, edited by Leon H. Mayhew. In our conversation, Dan helps me understand the logic […]

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Neil McLaughlin, Professor of Sociology at McMaster University and author of Erich Fromm and the Global Public Sociology (2023). In our conversation, Neil discusses the rise, fall, and potential resurgence of the writings of Erich Fromm. Neil reflects on the value of Fromm’s work in this current political […]

In this episode, Dr. Daniel Silver, Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto Scarborough and author of Scenescapes: how qualities of place shape social life (2020), joins us to discuss and read from Georg Simmel’s Sociology: Inquiries into the Construction of Social Forms (first published in 1908). Be sure to check out Dan’s co-authored […]

In this episode, guest hosted by Jabez Turner, Dr. Andrea S. Boyles, Associate Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies at Tulane University joins us to read from Patricia Hill Collins’ Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (1990). In addition, Dr. Boyles also reflects on the impact the work has had on […]

In this episode, Jabez Turner interviews Dr. William Turner, Assistant Professor of African & African-American Studies at SUNY Brockport, about W.E.B. Du Bois. Dr. Turner reflects on the importance of Du Bois in his own intellectual development, discusses the marginalization of Du Bois within sociology, and explains how the rigor and depth of Du Bois’s […]

Dr. Christine Goding-Doty, Assistant Professor in Digital Media in the department of Culture and Media at the New School, introduces us to Aimé Césaire and reads from his foundational essay “Discourse on Colonialism” (1950). Follow along HERE. -Kyle-

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Amanda McMillan Lequieu, Associate Professor of Sociology at Drexel University and author of Who We Are Is Where We Are: Making home in the American Rust Belt (2024). Amanda returns to the podcast to discuss foundational humanistic geographer  Yi-Fu Tuan and his influence on her own research and […]

In this episode, Dr. Daniel Silver, Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto Scarborough and author of Scenescapes: how qualities of place shape social life (2020), joins us to discuss Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776).

In this episode, we are joined by Mary Peterson, PhD student in philosophy at the University of Hamburg.   Mary joins us for a guided reading of Iris Marion Young’s 1980 essay “Throwing like a Girl: A Phenomenology of Feminine Body Comportment Motility and Spatiality.” Mary helps us understand Young’s contribution to understanding the embodied experience […]

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Jacqui Frost, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Purdue University and Faculty Research Fellow in the Religion and Public Life Program at Rice University and a Center Affiliate in the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at University of Notre Dame. In our conversation, Jacqui discusses […]

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Hannah McCann, Senior Lecturer in Cultural Studies at the University of Melbourne, author of Queering Femininity: Sexuality, Feminism and the Politics of Presentation, and co-author of Queer Theory Now (which we discussed on an earlier episode of the podcast). In our conversation, Hannah introduces us to the […]

In this episode we are joined by Ugo Corte, Professor of Sociology at the University of Stavanger, author of Dangerous Fun: The Social Lives of Big Wave Surfers (2022 University of Chicago Press), and winner of the 2023 Charles Horton Cooley Award from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction. Ugo introduces us to the […]

In this episode, Dr. Kelly Underman, Associate Professor in Sociology at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and author of Feeling Medicine: How the Pelvic Exam Shapes Medical Training (2020), joins us to read from the first chapter of Lauren Berlant’s Cruel Optimism (2011). Follow along HERE. -Kyle-

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Kelly Underman, Associate Professor in Sociology at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and author of Feeling Medicine: How the Pelvic Exam Shapes Medical Training (2020). In our conversation, Kelly introduces us to the work of Lauren Berlant, reflects on her experience finding their work as a graduate […]

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Amanda McMillan Lequieu, Assistant Professor in Sociology at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and author of the forthcoming book Who we are is where we are: Making home in the American Rust Belt. Amanda joins us to discuss Kai Erikson’s Everything in its Path: Destruction of Community […]

In this episode, Dr. Andrew McCumber joins us to discuss Raymond Williams’s ‘Ideas of Nature’ from Problems in Materialism and Culture (1980). Andy introduces us to Willams’s overview of our changing understanding of nature and the natural and why it matters. Andy also discusses the influence of the essay on his dissertation research and current book […]

In this episode we are joined by Dr. Christopher R. Matthews; a social scientist and epistemologist who specializes in the use of immersive research to understand ideas, people and society. Chris is the author of Doing Immersive Research Vol.1: Using Social Science to Understand the Human World and runs an impressive website with hours of […]