In this video, Dalton Conley discusses the C.W.Mills’ idea that a successful sociologist makes the familiar strange.
Podcasts 
Merry (sociological) Christmas!
As part of the University of Warwick’s mini Christmas lecture series this year, Dr Sam Lyle talks about how women make Christmas happen: See all fascinating and informative mini lectures here!
What does the future hold for ethnography? An interview with Alex Smith
In this interview I talk to Alex Smith (right) about the New Ethnographies book series he edits. I was interested in this series because of its deliberate intention to embrace and ferment the extension and productive growth of this most traditional… Read More ›
The Tweets and the Streets: an interview with Paolo Gerbaudo
In this interview Mark Carrigan talks to Paolo Gerbaudo about his new book Tweets and the Streets. In a fascinating study based on ethnographic fieldwork during the Egyptian revolution, the author deftly charts a course which avoids the extremes that polarise the… Read More ›
The Public Understanding of Science is a Political Issue: an interview with Alex Smith
In this interview Mark Carrigan talks to Alex Smith (right) about his recent fieldwork in Kansas City, part of the larger Making Science Public project, exploring the role that debates about the status of science are having in the unfolding of the… Read More ›
“Ultimately, if I’m honest, I do it because it’s fun”
In this short podcast recorded at a Digital Change GPP discussion event earlier this year, Eleonora Belfiore discusses her experience of using social media as an academic.
Parenting in modern Britain: series of podcasts by the University of Warwick
In September 2012, the University of Warwick held a conference on the ‘Understanding Parenting: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives’. It was supported by The Wellcome Trust and brought together researchers, policy-makers and practitioners to discuss the debates surrounding childlessness, childbearing and childrearing. The… Read More ›
The Sociology of Animals and Why It Matters
In this podcast, originally recorded for Sociology@Warwick, Bob Carter and Nickie Charles discuss their new book Humans and Other Animals. A paper on this subject written by Nickie Charles is available online here.
Foucault, Biopolitics and Critique
In this podcast, originally recorded for Sociology@Warwick, Claire Blencowe talks about her new book Biopolitical Experience: Biopolitical Experience offers an original and comprehensive interpretation of Michel Foucault’s analysis of biopolitics – situating biopolitics in the context of embodied histories of subjectivity, affective investments and… Read More ›
Window on Research: Dave O’Brien on Cultural Consumption in Contemporary Society
This podcast discusses cultural consumption in contemporary British society, exploring who does what and why, against the backdrop of the ethos of creative workers. The cultural ‘omnivore’ thesis is outlined and critiqued, suggesting the importance of expertise, social status and… Read More ›
Mike O’Donnell on “Charles Wright Mills and the (Continuing) Problem of Radical Agency”
This podcast is a recording of Mike O’Donnell’s talk at the C. Wright Mills session from the BSA conference in April 2012. Mike has written for SI on similar themes in the past: Charles Wright Mills’ Sociological Imagination and why we fail to… Read More ›
John Holmwood on “Sociology’s ‘moments’: C. Wright Mills and the critique of professionalism
This podcast is a recording of John Holmwood’s talk at the C. Wright Mills session from the BSA conference in April 2012. The snippet below is from the subsequent q&a session. (main podcast) (snippet)
The Transformation of Academic Practice – Interview with Martin Weller, author of the Digital Scholar
In this podcast I talk to Martin Weller, author of the Digital Scholar, about the changes which digital technology is bringing about within academia and where they might ultimately lead.
How much do you have to lose? Les Back on the riots
In this interview recorded at the BSA conference in April 2012, Les Back reflects upon the significance of last summer’s riots in the UK and what, if anything, has been learnt from them.
Was Aditya Chakrabortty right about Sociology? A work sociologist responds…
In a recent article Aditya Chakrabortty argued that economics has failed us but sociology has been unable to offer any alternatives. In this podcast I talk to Melanie Simms of Warwick Business School, who signed this group letter to the Guardian, about work sociology and its… Read More ›
Public Sociology In an Age of Austerity – Michael Burawoy and John Holmwood in Dialogue
Michael Burawoy is president of the International Sociological Association and John Holmwood was recently elected president of the British Sociological Association from June 2012 onwards. In this dialogue recorded at the BSA conference in April 2012, they explore the challenges faced by public sociology in… Read More ›
Les Back on Sociology’s Promise
In this podcast Les Back discusses the enduring significance of C. Wright Mills to sociology. He mentions a (fantastic) book during his talk which we’ve embedded below. Les Back on Sociology’s Promise
Some resources for academic podcasting
listen to ‘Why podcast?’ on Audioboo The BSA PG Forum podcasting handbook An introduction to academic podcasting Audacity – free audio editor Call recorder for Skype (probably free ones out there but this is great) Tool to convert to or from… Read More ›
Les Back: “is sociology a job or a vocation?”
A question I asked Prof Les Back from Goldsmiths College at the BSA conference last week.
Academia 2.0
Do ‘prestigious’ journals make academics lazy? An unlikely parallel with the art world Training, teaching or empowering people with social media? A case study of a university’s digital strategy Podcast with Martin Eve about Open Source Academic Publishing The ‘prestige’ of journals in… Read More ›
The Facebook Project
* In my Introductory Sociology course, It’s Not Rocket Science, students create faux Facebook profiles of people who are their exact social opposite, then interact with one another for ten weeks, (as well as observe and analyze these interactions), finally… Read More ›
The future of the university
Over the last year Sociological Imagination has published a range of podcasts exploring the future of the university. We thought it might be useful to round them up and post them together in one convenient place: Engaging with the media… Read More ›
Podcast: late capitalism and a/sexual culture
The next sexual revolution…?
Nick Crossley on Relational Sociology
In this podcast Mark Carrigan talks to Nick Crossley about his recent book Towards Relational Sociology. The interview covers relational sociology, interdisciplinary approaches to social theory, the future of social theory and the contested status of quantitative methods. Relational Sociology
Violence, Inequality and UK Riots
In this podcast Mark Carrigan interviews Larry Ray, a professor at Kent University who has done pioneering work on the sociology of violence, about the summer’s riots in the UK, the media coverage and the subsequent political fall out. Larry… Read More ›
Emma Rees interviewed about Can’t…
In this podcast Mark Carrigan talks to Emma Rees about her new book Can’t, which explores the strange and confused representation of the female genitalia in contemporary culture.
The University Project
In this podcast Mark Carrigan talks to Dougald Hine about the University Project. If you’re interested in the project and would like to get involved in something similar in your area of the country, check out our list of radical… Read More ›
How do our brothers and sisters shape who we are?
In this podcast Mark Carrigan talks to Katherine Davies, a researcher in the Morgan Centre at Manchester University, about her work on sibling relationships and personal identity. Despite the obviously somewhat common experience of sibling relationships, it’s an area that has largely been… Read More ›
Deborah Butler at the SI Seminar
In this podcast from the SI Sociology of Sport seminar, Deborah Butler talks about her research on the Horse Racing industry Deborah Butler on Horse Racing
Sam Farooq on Religious Masculinities in Sport
In this talk from SI’s Sociology of Sport seminar on 20 June 2011, Dr Sam Farooq discusses religious masculinities in sport Religious masculinities in youth sport