Nude strangers. Icy roads. Brain rot. True love. Class warfare. Queer visibility. Scripted ad libs. Sociologist, professor, author of the book “True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us,” and straight up Reality TV Sociologist, Dr. Danielle Lindemann studies human behavior through the lens of pop culture and reality TV. Dr. Lindemann lays out the history of the medium, the complexities of why we watch, the effect on society at large, who signs up to be on these shows, how our reactions change to it over time, political consequences of reality TV, and what these shows can teach us about ourselves and each other. Also: the Jackie & Shadow show.
Visit Dr. Lindemann’s website and follow her on Bluesky
Buy her books including True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us on Bookshop.org or Amazon
A donation went to the Pedro Zamora Scholarship
More episode sources and links
Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes
Other episodes you may enjoy: FIELD TRIP: A Hollywood Visit to the Writers Guild Strike Line, Phonology (LINGUISTICS), Kalology (BEAUTY STANDARDS), Matrimoniology (MARRIAGE), Ethnocynology (HUMANS & DOGS THROUGH TIME), Fanthropology (FANDOMS)
Transcripts and bleeped episodes
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Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee
Managing Director: Susan Hale
Scheduling Producer: Noel Dilworth
Transcripts by Aveline Malek
Website by Kelly R. Dwyer
Theme song by Nick Thorburn