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/9780367684419

Vincent, 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

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 Notes

Philip Cohen on social media

⁠https://bsky.app/profile/philipncohen.com⁠

⁠https://x.com/familyunequal⁠

Cohen, 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-svipnDrOEq

Putnam, Robert (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community

http://bowlingalone.com/

SocArXiv

https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv

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 notes

California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Taskforce

https://wildfiretaskforce.org/

Treatment Dashboard

https://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