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Story Archives of 'Sociology'
The Truly Smart City
By Laura Sheeter on Monday, November 2, 2009.
For urban dwellers, the question of how well you know your city is quickly being replaced with the question of how well does your city know you? Transportation systems can track your comings and goings, utility companies know your usage patterns and banks know what you spend and when. Does that make for a city of dreams, or a nightmare?
Obama's Blaccent
By Derek John on Tuesday, October 27, 2009.
Sarah Jones is a Tony Award-winning playwright and performer. Her shows, like "Bridge and Tunnel" feature multiple characters - black, white and other races and ethnicities - all played by Jones herself. So she thinks about nuances in language and voice a lot.
Refusing to Join Facebook
By Virginia Prescott on Monday, October 26, 2009.
While it seems like everyone and your grandma is on Facebook at this point, there are some holdouts. Even people in their 20s and 30s are refusing to join the ranks of the social networking site’s 300 million members. As the Washington Post reports, these so-called Facebook refuseniks cite privacy and data ownership among their concerns, but avoiding Facebook can lead to real social alienation.
We're joined by Washington Post staff writer Ian Shapira, and by Mary Flanagan, the chair of digital humanities at Dartmouth College.
The Washington Post: In a Generation That Friends and Tweets, They Don't
(Photo by Laughing Squid via Flickr/Creative Commons)
Skeptics vs. Conspiracy Theorists
By Virginia Prescott on Wednesday, October 21, 2009.
From President Obama’s birth certificate to the 9/11 attacks, conspiracy theorists flock to the internet to compare notes and rally against the status quo. While long-relegated to the darker and more obscure corners of the web, conspiracy theories are growing in popularity.
Now, a group of skeptics are taking it upon themselves to organize and fight back against unfounded rumors using science and reason. They convened in London earlier this month to plot their attack. Freelance writer Arran Frood was there for BBC News Online and joins us to discuss the conspiracy backlash.
BBC News Magazine: When Skeptics Fight Back
(Photo by bruno bollaert via Flickr/Creative Commons)
The Culture of Rudeness
By Virginia Prescott on Wednesday, October 21, 2009.
It’s flu season. I’ve noticed – and maybe you have too – how people’s behavior changes when they’re afraid of getting sick. They shake fewer hands. No hugs. They keep their distance. It makes sense. After all, we’ve survived as a species to avoid disease. Think of the Black Plague, which killed 30 to 60 percent of Europe’s population in the 14th century, or the fictional Motaba virus of the 1995 action thriller Outbreak.
A group of biologists see our germ-o-phobia as a key to understanding cultural differences, including why some cultures are ruder than others, even why religious diversity fluorishes in places more prone to disease. To break the theory down for us is Corey Fincher, biologist at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and one of the authors of several high-profile papers on how disease shapes who we are and how we behave.
Smithsonian: The Culture of Being Rude
(Photo by pinkangelbabe via Flickr/Creative Commons)
Can You Raise A Gender-Neutral Child?
By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, October 15, 2009.
Popular science loves to extol the differences between male and female brains. Remember the study that made headlines back in the '80s about women being better at holistic thinking? It was based on a single study suggesting that the fibers connecting womens' right and left brains are larger. More recent research suggests that boys’ brains are hard-wired for aggression and girls brains’ for communication.
Neuroscientist Lise Eliot took a long, hard look at these studies and hundreds of others. She found that there are, in fact, very few structural differences between the brains of boys and girls. Instead, she argues, it’s the way that parents and teachers respond to slight behavioral differences that encourage boys and girls to pursue different interests and develop different abilities.
Dr. Lise Eliot joins us now from Chicago where she’s a professor at Rosalind Franklin University. She’s also a mother of three and author of the new book Pink Brain, Blue Brain.
The Washington Post: The Tiny Differences in the Littlest Brains
Newsweek: Pink Brain, Blue Brain: Claims of sex differences fall apart.
Salon: Good luck raising that gender-neutral child
Scientific American: Girl Brain, Boy Brain?
(Photo by EraPhernalia Vintage via Flickr/Creative Commons)
The Happy Protesters
By Martha Poole on Wednesday, October 14, 2009.
From outspoken opponents of healthcare reform to anarchists rallying against the G20 summit - protesters get a rap for being extreme and angry people. So you might not have guessed the results of a recent study. A survey of college students found that those who were politically active were actually happier than students who weren’t trumpeting a cause.
New Hampshire Grapples with a Senseless Murder
By Laura Knoy on Thursday, October 8, 2009.Earlier this week, the small town of Mont Vernon was turned upside down by the killing of a local mother and vicious attack on her daughter. The four teenagers charged are said to have picked their victims at random. We’ll ask the questions many are asking as the state copes with an inexplicable tragedy.
Guests
- Charles Putnam, co-director of Justiceworks, a research institute at the University of New Hampshire, and a Research Associate Professor of Political Science at UNH
- William Pollack, Associate Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School’s Psychology Department, author of REAL BOYS: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood, and director of the Center For Men at McLean Hospital
We'll also hear from
- Paul Apple, member of the Board of Selectmen in Mont Vernon
- TBA
The City As Playing Field
By Martha Poole on Thursday, October 1, 2009.
Maybe you’ve heard of parkour, in which practitioners climb, jump and flip over walls, fences and stairs, turning the city into an obstacle course. Such unconventional sports are taking off in Germany, according to Der Spiegel.
Economists Measure Happiness
By Todd Bookman on Tuesday, September 29, 2009.
Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, is the main measure of economic performance. But some, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, are searching for a more comprehensive reading of how people are actually faring – a sort of gross national satisfaction index.
