Reality TV shapes and reflects how we see ourselves, and what we regard as normal. Professor Danielle J. Lindemann watched thousands of hours of reality tv to decode its influence on society. She joins us to discuss her book True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us (FSG, 2022).
Danielle J. Lindemann is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Lehigh Universi ... Show More
Apr 25
Jonathan Gray and Daphne Gershon, "Reading Media: How to Do Textual Analysis" (NYU Press, 2026)
Reading Media: How to do Textual Analysis reinvigorates one of media and cultural studies’ most foundational methods at a moment when it is most needed, showing its continuing vitality by adapting it to new media environments, cultural objects, and scholarly questions.The volume ... Show More
44m 46s
Apr 23
Laura Horak, "Trans Cinema: Making Communities, Identities, and Worlds" (U California Press, 2026)
Since the 1990s, a largely underground upwelling of trans creativity has helped new trans identities, communities, and political movements come together. In Trans Cinema: Making Communities, Identities, and Worlds (University of California Press, 2026), Dr. Laura Horak provides a ... Show More
36m 6s
Jan 2023
Sociology Ruins Reality TV
What if I told you reality TV says a lot about the world around us? I'm sure you're skeptical, but hopefully, this episode will convince you that reality TV is worth paying attention to, especially for social scientists. Joining me are Danielle Lindemann, Associate Professor of S ... Show More
31m 35s
Mar 2023
How Have You Changed Reality TV As We Know It? with Fenton Bailey
This week, we’re celebrating the small screen with a TV legend: World of Wonder’s Fenton Bailey! Fenton is one of the creative forces behind RuPaul’s Drag Race and other groundbreaking TV shows and films.
Fenton and Jonathan discuss how infomercials, public access stations, ... Show More
1h 1m
Dec 2023
This is the Best Statement of the Simulation Hypothesis We've Seen
It’s the UConn PopCast, and in this episode we discuss Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1973 movie World on a Wire, shown on West German television over two nights, and then lost for decades. When it was restored and re-released nearly 40 years later, the movie quickly gained acclaim a ... Show More
1h 28m