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Sociology Ruins Everything: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Matt Sedlar
The sociological imagination is great, but really, it ruins all your favorite things. This podcast, hosted by Matt Sedlar, takes a topic each month and explores it from a sociological perspective.
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The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- Apr 27, 202640 min
Data Science
This month's episode dives into the origins and definitions of the "sexiest job of the 21st century": Data science. I look at the most recent data to uncover how and why it emerged, and how it organized as a profession in a way that's completely different from our understanding of how professions are created. Joining me in this discussion is Philipp Brandt, assistant professor of sociology at SciencesPo and Centre for the Sociology of Organisations, who wrote the book, Inside Data Science: Hackers and the Making of a New Profession.Show NotesBrandt, P. (2026). Inside data science: Hackers and the making of a new profession. Columbia University Press. https://cup.columbia.edu/book/inside-data-science/9780231560184/
- Mar 1, 202615 min
Legend Tripping
What exactly is legend tripping? Is it truly about finding ghosts and cryptids, or is it a ritual designed to create unbreakable social bonds? This month's episode dives into the three-part structure of a legend trip—from the initial tale to the retrospective reflection—and reveals how "expectation produces experience" to create the perfect legend.Show notesDebies-Carl, Jeffrey (2023). If You Should Go at Midnight. (2023). University Press of Mississippi https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/I/If-You-Should-Go-at-MidnightMcNeill, L. S., & Tucker, E. (2018). Legend Tripping: A Contemporary Legend Casebook. University Press of Colorado. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1vbd1whMiles, Tiya (2017). Tales from the Haunted South: Dark Tourism and Memories of Slavery from the Civil War era. University of North Carolina Press. https://uncpress.org/9781469636146/tales-from-the-haunted-south/"On the job with a ghost walk tour guide." The Canadian Press, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTYZv0JTrP0
- Jan 1, 20261h 4m
Trust
Happy New Year, listeners! This month's episode deals with trust. When we think of trust, we tend to place this issue within the realm of psychology. It’s often seen as a complicated construct in our relationships that determines whether we believe those we know will act reliably, honestly, and supportively. But in sociology, we might think of trust in terms of social networks and ties. We might even think about trust in institutions. Can you trust an institution?Dana Williams, a sociology professor at California State University, Chico and author of Who Do We Trust?, joins me to unpack issues around trust and how we can practice radical trust in 2026.Show NotesWilliams, Dana. Who Do We Trust? - Pluto Press. (2025, December 23). Pluto Press. https://www.plutobooks.com/product/who-do-we-trust/Cook, K. S., & Santana, J. J. (2020). Trust: Perspectives in Sociology. Routledge EBooks, 189–204. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315542294-15Eileen, A., & Rosemary, B. (2020, September 9). Working Paper: Financialization in Health Care: The Transformation of US Hospital Systems. Center for Economic and Policy Research. https://cepr.net/publications/working-paper-financialization-in-health-care-the-transformation-of-us-hospital-systems/Media clipshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX3C2A9bck0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FegvO38Qa44https://www.tiktok.com/@cbsnews/video/7568308533385596174
- May 9, 202554 min
Social Robots
The season finale of Sociology Ruins Everything explores the intersection of robotics and reproductive labor, highlighting the potential risks of deploying technology without considering societal implications. This episode, likely the geekiest to date, examines these themes through the lens of popular culture. Colette Searls, author of A Galaxy of Things: The Power of Puppets and Masks in Star Wars and Beyond, joins the discussion.Show Notes:Searls, C. (2023). A galaxy of things: The power of puppets and masks in star wars and beyond. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/A-Galaxy-of-Things-The-Power-of-Puppets-and-Masks-in-Star-Wars-and-Beyond/Searls/p/book/9780367684419Vincent, J., Taipale, S., Sapio, B., Fortunati, L., & Lugano, G. (Eds.). (2015). Social Robots from a Human Perspective (2015th ed.). Springer International Publishing. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-15672-9
- Apr 7, 202541 min
Civic Engagement
You pay your taxes, you vote, and you follow the laws. Does that make you a good citizen? If you said yes, according to a 2019 Pew Center Research survey, most Americans agree with you. However, do these things make you civically engaged? This episode explores what it means to be a civically engaged social scientist and how we now need engaged researchers more than ever.Show NotesPhilip Cohen on social mediahttps://bsky.app/profile/philipncohen.comhttps://x.com/familyunequalCohen, Philip (2025). Citizen Scholar: Public Engagement for Social Scientists.https://cup.columbia.edu/book/citizen-scholar/9780231204194/Lynd, Robert (2016). Knowledge for what: The Place of Social Science in American Culture.https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691648088/knowledge-for-what?srsltid=AfmBOooZ52chxPtWIMMbwPgf9X8f6qHRJd5S_3CajC0cA-svipnDrOEqPutnam, Robert (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Communityhttp://bowlingalone.com/SocArXivhttps://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv
- Mar 3, 202521 min
Wildfires
What can a sociology podcast say about fire? This episode delves into the social and cultural dimensions of fire and the institutions that have changed our relationship with it. While it touches on climate change, this episode is more about the power dynamics, social inequalities, and cultural values that influence decision-making and resource allocation in fire and forest management. Today's wildfires are a tragedy in the making, going back over 100 years. Patrick Wright, the director of the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Taskforce, joins me as we talk about the vital next steps in protecting communities.Show notesCalifornia Wildfire and Forest Resilience Taskforcehttps://wildfiretaskforce.org/Treatment Dashboardhttps://wildfiretaskforce.org/treatment-dashboard/Sedlar, Matthew. Living with Disaster: Risk, Housing Instability, and Post-Disaster Migration. N.p., 2022. Print.https://mars.gmu.edu/items/bd414407-1351-4220-8bc2-a9db39dbe89a
- Jan 16, 202529 min
Puppetry
This month, I want to tell you a story about Concord Park, a suburb of Philadelphia. Concord Park was intentionally designed to combat the systemic forces that fostered segregation and inequality in postwar American cities. So when more and more people were being separated, Concord Park brought people together. But geography, or putting people in homes next to each other, isn’t enough. Communities are built on interaction, shared interests, and experiences. In the case of Concord Park, it was through the Wonderland Puppet Theater. That’s right. This month, we’re talking about puppets. But also housing, inequality, and community. This is a sociology podcast, after all. Paulette Richards joins the podcast as we talk about how art can bring community together. Show Notes Richards, P. (2024). Object performance in the Black Atlantic: The United States. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Object-Performance-in-the-Black-Atlantic-The-United-States/Richards/p/book/9781032054865 Patterson, Orlando. Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1982. https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674986909 Piggot, W. Benjamin and W. Benjamin Pigott. “The ‘Problem’ of the Black Middle Class: Morris Milgram's Concord Park and Residential Integration in Philadelphia's Postwar Suburbs” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Apr., 2008, Vol. 132, No. 2 (Apr., 2008), pp. 173-190 https://www.jstor.org/stable/20093996
- Dec 5, 202442 min
Unaccompanied Migrant Youth
Sociologist Stephanie Canizales joins the podcast to discuss the complex realities unaccompanied migrant youth face, the factors that lead them to embark on such journeys, the risks they encounter, and the challenges they face in adapting to new surroundings. The episode also discusses how communities and organizations can provide support and opportunities for these vulnerable youth. Show notes Canizales, Stephanie. 2024. Sin Padres, Ni Papeles: Unaccompanied Migrant Youth Coming of Age in the United States https://www.ucpress.edu/books/sin-padres-ni-papeles/paper
About Sociology Ruins Everything
The sociological imagination is great, but really, it ruins all your favorite things. This podcast, hosted by Matt Sedlar, takes a topic each month and explores it from a sociological perspective.
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