The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast Dr. Ted Preston Professor of Philosophy at Rio Hondo College and the Host conclude their discussion of "The Miyagi-verse" and The Karate Kid Franchise. Listen to Part I    Here in Part II: The Host and Dr. Preston discuss the 80's commodification of the series, Terry Silver's embodiment of 80's Cocaine-fueled corporate villainy, and the dep...

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, Dr. Ted Preston, Professor of Philosophy at Rio Hondo College returns for another Franchise deep-dive. This time, our sights are set on The Karate Kid. Here in Part 1, of this two part episode, we catch up with Dr. Preston's teaching/research and take a biographical detour or two as we discuss the Franchise's basics, its contribution to th...

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast Dr. Courtenay Stallings of Pepperdine University returns to discuss Jonathan Glazer's 2023 Harrowingly dramatic period piece, The Zone of Interest. Discussion topics include: 'death thrifting' the banality of evil and historical parallels with the current political climate  Enjoy!   Production Notes:   Intro: (0:00-2:13)   On the Death of D...

On this Month's Episode of  The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast , we tackle the Succession -like satire, Mountainhead. Return guest and friend of the pod Dr. Ellen Meiser and the host discuss masculinity, AI generated dystopias-how these things impact the perception of intellegence and our ability to critically think.     Enjoy!   Production Notes  Intro: 0:00-2:28 Update on Dr. Meiser's Research 2:29-...

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, the Host gives their 2026 "State of Cinema Address". Topics include: AI in Filmmaking, the 2026 Oscar Nominations, and an outlook on the rest of the upcoming 2026 film slate. Enjoy!   Production Notes  Intro: 0:00-1:09 Basics of the Address 1:10-3:32 AI in Filmmaking Analyisis 3:33-31:46 The 2026 Oscar Nominations 31:47-46:27 The rest of t...

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast we are capping off the end of the year with another "best of List." This episode is designed to be a companion piece to my Final essay for 2025 on the blog: The Dojo's Top Ten Films that Encapsulate 2025.  As with the list on the blog, this episode's list is not a list of the films that are the most Sociologically relevent, but rather, the...

  On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast Dr. Rebecca Gibson returns to the podcast to talk about the sapphic, Sci-Fi, Shakespearean, trans-inclusive, time-bending novel: This Is How You Lose The Time War . by Amal El-Mothar and Max Gladstone. Dr. Gibson and the host discuss gender fluid narratives, neurodivergent masculinity, and the cultural impact/importance of reading. Enjoy!...

  On this month's episode of  The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast Dr. Jaime Hartless Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Farmingdale State College returns to discuss the beauty and body horror of Coralie Fargeat's The Substance . The Host and Dr. Hartless talk Cronenberg, The 'Me Too' movement, the imposed shame/horror of the female body by patriarchal systems, and of course, the inter...

       On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, we're going back to school with the John Hughes 80's Classic: The Breakfast Club. Media Scholar Shelley B. Woke joins the host to talk about high school cliques, peer group socialization, the criteria of an 80s teen comedy, "The John Hughes Effect", "The Brat Pack" and a lot more.  It's time to stay after class, because we all have...

On this month's guestless episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, The Host rounds out the 2025 Summer Movie season with the near 20 films they saw in the theater between the begining of May through the beginning of August 2025. Listen, as a raging metaphorical dumpster fire is miraculously saved by three films from Pedro Pascal, and a few hidden gem honorable mentions on select streaming servic...

  On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, Dr. Hattie Earle, Senior Lecturer in English and Creattive Writing at Sheffield Hallam University and the author of the new book: Silence in the Quagmire: The Vietnam War in U.S. Comics joins the host for a frank discussion of Militarism in Comics. Discussion topics include: The importance of comics as a medium, the racialization of "the...

  On This month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, Dr. Ted Preston Philosophy Professor at Rio Hondo College and the Host conclude their two-part discussion on John Rambo and The Rambo Franchise. Listen to Part I    Here in Part II The Host and Dr. Preston conclude their discussion on "The politics of The Rambo Franchise" asking the question "What makes Rambo, Rambo?" Before diving into...

  On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, return guest Dr. Ted Preston, Professor of Philosophy at Rio Hondo College and the host begin their two part discussion of John Rambo and The Rambo franchise. Here in Part 1 , we first get an update on Dr. Preston's research before diving into the films. This first half focuses on their discussion of the basics of the films, franchise tr...

On this Month's Episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast Dr. Ellen Meiser, friend of the pod, Co-host of The Social Breakdown Podcast , Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and author of the new book: Making it: Success in Comercial Kitchens  joins the host in discussing the dismal Dakota Johnson duology of 2015's  Fifty Shades of Grey and 2024's Madame Web.  We ta...

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, the Host gives their 2025 "State of Cinema Address". Topics include: The recinding of "The Paramount Decree" and its effect on the film industry, the 2025 Oscar Nominations, and an outlook into what listerners can expect through the rest of 2025. Enjoy!   Production Notes  Intro: 0:00-2:33 The New Studio System 2:34-25:12 The 2025 Oscar No...

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast we are capping off the end of the year with another "best of List." This episode is designed to be a companion piece to my Final essay for 2024 on the blog: The Films that Encapsulate 2024.  As with the list on the blog, this episode's list is not a list of the films that are the most Sociologically relevent, but rather, the films that I sa...

On this Month's Episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Delamarter, Associate Professor and Chair of the Education Department at Saint Martin's University, joins the host to discuss the representation of teachers in film. They discuss the differences between "effective" and "affective" teaching, how teachers are conditioned to exploit themselves through it's origin in religious doctr...

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, return guest, Dr. Rebecca Gibson and I analyze Ana lily Amirpour's debut film: the goth girl German expressionist Iranian vampire spaghetti western A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. We talk about fangs, feminism and bloody fun (with more than a few tangents) Enjoy! Happy Halloween! Production Notes: Intro: 0:00-3:03   Catch-up with Dr. Gib...

On this Month's Episode of the Sociologist's Dojo Dr. Brittany Friedman Assistant Professor of Sociology at USC and the author of the forthcoming book: Carceral Apartheid: How Lies and White Supremacists Run Our Prisons discuss the 2023 Biopic  Rustin.  After a brief discussion of their upcoming work, Dr. Friedman and your Host dive into Rustin as an organizing film and whether or not we consider...

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast , Horror Scholar Dr. Jaime Hartless returns to talk about the 2022 film Barbarian. Topics that we discuss include: COVID filmmaking, the dangers of Reganite Capitalism, problems of police power and A LOT about The Rape Culture. Never share a rental property with a stranger, and never go into the basement. Enjoy!   Production Notes: Intro: 0...

On this Month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, Dr. Maricio Quilpatay, Teaching and Curriculum Officer in the School of Languages and Culture at the University of Syndey and I are driving down the Fury Road to discuss George Miller's 2015 chaotic, chrome encrusted, cinematic cacophony Mad Max: Fury Road. Our conversation covers the topics of political allegories, masculinity, capitalist...

On this bonus episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, frequent guest, Dr. Rebecca Gibson comes back on the Podcast to discuss the upcoming 9th Annual Love and Sex with Robots Conference being held at the University of Quebec at Montreal on August 24-25th 2024. Enjoy!  Production Notes: Intro: 0:00-1:08 The Conference Discussion 1:09-19:51 Synopsis, Goals and Expectations  'Her' Reference  Inter...

On this Month's Episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, Dr. Candace Korasick Adjunct Professor of Sociology at Texasd A+M University: Central Texas and I discuss the 1967 Disney Docudrama "Charlie the Lonesome Cougar" Join us as we talk about animal selfhood, Disney's need to control nature and the white rapping styles of Rex Allen. Enjoy!   Production Notes: Intro: 0:00-2:06   Basics of Dr. Ko...

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo, The Bruce Lee Trilogy with Dr. Ted Preston of Rio Hondo College concludes with a discussion of the differences between eastern and western fight choreography, before diving into the various sociologically relevant themes in Bruce Lee's filmography.    Enjoy! Don't forget to Listen to: Part I Part II Production Notes: Intro: (0:00-2:05) Previously...

On this month's episode of The Sociologist's Dojo Podcast, Dr. Ted Preston, Professor of Philosophy at Rio Hondo College and I continue our lengthy discussion about Bruce Lee. In Part II of this trilogy, we finish up our converstation on Lee's philisophical motivations and then spend much of the episode placing Lee in historical context through looking at his image, icon status and legacy Enjoy!  ...