In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss launch the third season of their podcast by unpacking one of Karl Marx's most resonant and influential ideas in the field of sociology, his theory of estranged/alienated labour. Eric somehow manages to call Marx an 'emo' in this episode, while Louis admits that his ideal work situation is to play video games and travel a lot. Music and sound effects for this episode come from various sources and is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License, the...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss look to unpack a chapter in the Disability Studies Reader by the noted disability researcher, Tom Shakespeare. This work considers considers the  strengths and limitations of the social model of disability, which powerfully conceptualises disability as a socially constructed phenomenon.  In the second half of the episode, Eric and Louis welcome onto the show Caroline Ellison,  who is a noted developmental educator and an Associate Professor of...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss have a discussion about Zygmunt Bauman's noted work, Wasted Lives (2003), which explores how the process of modernisation inevitably produces waste.  In discussing what it means to live in a disposable society, Eric and Louis imagine what it must have been like to have once worked in a fax machine factory. Listeners wanting to send Eric and Louis a fax are advised to send them a telegram instead. Music and sound effects for this episode come from...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss take time out of their somewhat busy schedules to talk about Hartmut Rosa's noted theory of 'social acceleration'. Rosa's (2003) article in the journal, Constellations, helps us make better sense of what it means to live in a high-speed society. Eric at one point in this episode recounts the time he gave a (hurried) presentation to Bob Hawke, the late former Labour party Prime Minister of Australia, and Louis admits that the new ordering system at...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss explore Immanuel Wallerstein's influential and innovative approach to theorizing inequalities at a global level, which regards capitalism as a 'world-system' that is directly linked with colonialism. They also welcome onto the program a guest who you can either thank or blame for Eric having an academic career in sociology, Emeritus Professor Charles Lemert. Having previously co-authored a work with Wallerstein, Charles tells Eric and Louis what...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss entertain the possibility that one of the previous episodes they did wasted everyone's time. They have a chat about Justin Rosenberg's polemical argument that scholars are paying too much attention to the concept of globalization. Not only is it being used in theoretically problematic ways, perhaps it actually does not say all that much. Eric and Louis consider responses to this argument, and as always they end up talking about a lot of strange...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss examine a sociological theory that some scholars believe is vital to understanding the social implications of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the hazards posed by anthropogenic global climate change: Ulrich Beck's noted theory of 'risk society'. Eric asks Louis in this episode if 'danger' is his middle name and Louis thinks the intro segments Eric is devising for this podcast are getting weirder and weirder. Music and sound effects for this...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss discuss how biometric technologies and cultures are transforming how borders are constituted and being experienced in the contemporary era. The text their discussion revolves around is Louise Amoore's (2006) article in Political Geography, titled, 'Biometric borders: Governing mobilities in the war on terror'. Eric and Louis talk at varying points in this episode about how Louis sometimes gets mistakenly called 'Louise Veruss' in personal...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss pay yet another visit to their dear friend, Emile Durkheim. They have a chat about his noted work, the Division of Labour in Society, which advances thought-provoking ideas of how social order is maintained in the modern world.  Eric laments something about this episode. He wishes he could have slipped in the line, 'if you can't beet them, join them', when he and Louis repeatedly talk about beets to illustrate one of Durkheim's points. Music and...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss discuss how some sociologists have come to theorize the phenomenon of globalization. They do so by examining what’s come to be known as the ‘Great Globalization Debate’, as described by David Held et al.’s highly influential work, Global Transformations. Eric and Louis believe fans of the cult television show, the Sopranos, will especially enjoy this episode, as they probably spend too much of it doing a bad impersonation of the deplorable Sopranos...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss have a chat about David Beer's article in New Media & Society, titled, 'Power through the Algorithm'. Beer draws our attention to the various ways our lives have come to be dominated by digitally networked technologies. To understand what is consequential about this development, he focuses on how digital algorithms factor into our experience in covert ways and what implications this has on our understanding of power. Music and sound effects for...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss explore sociological understandings of race by examining Matthew Desmond and Mustafa Emirbayer's article on 'What is Racial Domination'? Desmond and Emirbayer articulate how race structures and affects people’s experience and they theorize how race informs power relations. Music and sound effects for this episode come from various sources and is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License/the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 or is...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss try to have an in-depth chat about Shoshana's Zuboff's theory of 'surveillance capitalism', which describes how a new variant of capitalism has emerged that is based on a distinct logic of accumulation. Zuboff's (2015) article in the Journal of Information Technology articulates many insights, and Eric and Louis do their best to cover what her work brings into focus about how information technologies have intersected with capitalism in a myriad of...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss consider Ritzer and Jurgenson's theory of prosumer capitalism. Ritzer and Jurgenson investigate how there might be something novel and unique about prosumption in the digital world, which signals a shift in the way capitalism operates. Music and sound effects for this episode come from various sources and is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License/the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 or is covered by a SFX (Multi-Use) License. Tracks...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss examine the concept of 'philanthrocapitalism' by considering a sociological critique of it by Linsey McGoey. Philanthrocapitalism is a portmanteau of philanthropy and capitalism and it describes how the these two phenomena are thought to be increasingly linked to good effect in the contemporary era. McGoey provides us with an interesting way to understand what is or is not novel about philanthrocapitalism and what about philanthrocapitalism we...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss discuss the ambiguous legacy of Thomas Kuhn's work in the field of sociology by unpacking an article by Zaheer Baber in the Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society. Some sociologists have used Kuhn's concepts to advance a social constructionist view of science. But Baber cautions us from wholly embracing this interpretation of Kuhn's work. Louis claims in this episode, without a hint of sarcasm, that everyone has universally accepted and...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss discuss Thomas Kuhn's noted work, the Structure of Scientific Revolutions.  Kuhn puts forward a provocative theory of how scientific knowledge develops. While Eric and Louis ditch their old cheaply assembled recording setup for new microphones and an upgraded soundmixer, they try to preserve the essence of their sociology podcast by laughing too hard at their own jokes and and by continuing to do bad celebrity impersonations. Music and sound effects...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss have a conversation about Patricia Hill Collins's work, Black Feminist Thought, which makes a notable contribution to standpoint theory. Through concepts like the' matrix of domination' and the 'interlocking nature of oppression', Collins sensitizes readers to the importance of considering other social variables, in addition to gender. Collins develops a theoretical framework to understand how various forms of oppression intersect and relate to one...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss examine Dorothy Smith's account of feminist standpoint theory. Smith's work problematizes the view that sociological forms of knowledge are uncritically objective, preferring instead to highlight the ways in which knowledge is situated and unevenly produced. At one point of the episode, Eric and Louis confuse 'entomology', the study of insects, with 'etymology, the study of the history of linguistic forms. The mistake should bug them more, but...

In this episode. Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss examine some key ideas from Michel Foucault's text, Discipline and Punish, which provides an innovative account of how power has come to be covertly expressed in the modern world.  To illustrate one of Foucault's ideas, Louis admits that he occasionally watches silly Youtube clips at work when he thinks no one is watching him. Our guest this week is Dr Katrina Jaworski, Senior Lecturer in Cultural Studies in the Justice & Society Academic Unit...

In this episode. Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss have a conversation about Michel Foucault’s unique theoretical understanding of power, which tries to unsettle how it is normally thought about. Eric and Louis explore how Foucault’s account of power highlights how it can be subtly expressed and how it can emanate from a multitude of different points.   Music and sound effects for this episode come from various sources and is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License/the Creative Commons...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss discuss Emile Durkheim's sociological study of suicide. In a conversation about a somber topic, Eric somehow manages to slip in a bad impersonation of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Louis does not follow suit and bizarrely refrains from performing impressions of any ageing Hollywood action stars. Music and sound effects for this episode come from various sources and is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License/the Creative Commons Attribution License...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss unpack one of Emile Durkheim's most important contributions to the field of sociology, his concept of 'social facts'. This leads Eric and Louis to talk about a lot bizarre topics. Eric goes on a mini-rant about how he disapproves of people who lie on their beds with their shoes on. And Louis wants everyone to know that his marriage to wife, Sarah, was not the result of any coercion (even if Durkheim's theory of 'social facts' might say...

In this episode, Eric Hsu and Louis Everuss explore whether or not bureaucracies unfairly get a bum rap in sociology. This leads them to discuss Paul du Gay's thoughtprovoking argument about the virtues of bureaucracies in the contemporary modern world. Louis gets the opportunity in this episode to talk passionately about Australian politics, which normally makes him a very popular person to be around at large family gatherings. Music and sound effects for this episode comes from various...