Super excited that Ellen’s book, ‘Making It: Success in the Commercial Kitchen’ is out today! It’s her ode to chefs, cooks, and the restaurant business. Check it out here or find it on Amazon!
You can get 30% off via Rutgers by using code “RUSA30”!
2024 Updates & Ellen’s New Book, “Making It”!
Abstract
My oh my, it’s been a while since we last chatted with you all– sorry for the extended “hiatus,” listeners! But, we are BACK! And we are back with some updates on what we’ve been up, as well as to discuss and exciting new development: Ellen’s new book, Making It: Success in the Commercial Kitchen, which’ll be published October 11, 2024 by Rutgers University Press. Take a listen to catch up with us, talk crap, and hear about the book publishing process!
Keywords: academia, publishing, updates, books
Sources
Find Ellen’s book here. You can use code “RUSA30” to get 30% off with Rutgers University Press. You can also purchase the book through Amazon or Target.
Mahalo nui for your support!!
If you’d like her to come and talk to your students/class/department/organization about the culinary industry and her research, just reach out to us at socbreakdown@gmail.com.
- If you’re curious what to do when attacked by a swarm of bees, you can check out this article from Scientific American.
- Read about Trump’s false claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets here.
- We mentioned politics as a spectacle, too, which is an idea that comes from Murray Edelman.
- Penn also talks about “lifies” which is a concept from Neal Gabler’s book “Life: The Movie.”
- You can check out Ryan Murphy’s new show about NFL athlete Aaron Hernandez, “American Sports Story” here.
The Social Breakdown is on hiatus for the remainder of 2023!
Aloha! Thanks so so much for checking in and listening to our show. We are always grateful knowing that some use (and hopefully laughter) is coming from this labor of love.
2023 has been packed with an overwhelming amount of obligations, priorities, and adulting for us– all things that get in the way of doing fun things, like this podcast. There just ain’t enough time in the day! So, unfortunately, we will be on hiatus for the remainder of this year. Our goal is to get back to producing and running in 2024, perhaps with a new show format…? We shall see!
Anyways, mahalo nui loa again for being here, looking at this page. It means the world to us knowing that people like you are aware of our show and you hopefully enjoy it.
Much love,
The Social Breakdown crew
SOC606 – Culture and Systems: An Intro to Food Studies
Abstract
If you’re like us, you’re probably snacking on something right now trying to get through your day. It goes without saying how important food is to our survival, but beyond the biological needs, there is a whole system surrounding food. This episode is an introduction to food studies from a sociological perspective. We look at the intermingling of culture and food, the stories and legends we pass down about food, as well as the system of food, including production, processing, and distribution. We hope you’re hungry to learn!
Keywords: Food, culture, food systems, production, distribution
Transcript
Looking for a transcript of this episode? Well, look no further! Click here. And bit thanks to Jody Sauer for transcribing this episode!
Sources
- SOC408 Gentrification Through Food (with Alison Alkon and Joshua Sbicca)
- Breakaway Ep 10 – Inequality at Bon Appetit
- SOC 501 – “You’re a donkey!”: Food Media and Violence in Kitchens
- SOC514 – The Senses of Stuffs: Introduction to Material Culture
- Food and Society, by Amy Guptill, Denise Copelton and Betsy Lucal
- Fewer Farmers Are Growing Hawaii’s ‘Miracle Food’ Taro Despite Growing Demand
- Poi: Hawaii’s Recipe For Revitalizing Island Culture
- The Gift of Kū: A Hawaiian Story about ‘Ulu (Breadfruit)
- Thanksgiving: The annual genocide whitewash
- The dark origins of Valentine’s Day
- The Historical Reason We Associate Apple Pie With the Fourth of July
- COVID-19 Brief: Impact on Food Security
- “Whole Foods, Gentrification and the Erasure of Black Harlem” from The Root
- McCarthy elected House speaker after days of painstaking negotiations and failed votes
SOC605 – Comedy, Humor, and ‘The Souls of White Jokes’ (Guest Edition)
Abstract
What is “humor” and what is “comedy”? Do these terms mean the same thing? Today we answer these questions with the help of Dr. Raul Perez, author of ‘The Souls of White Jokes’ and scholar of what exactly “funny” is and “funny” does. Tune in to learn about the purposes that humor serves in society, stretching back to feudal times to the current Cancel Culture era. And don’t forget to grab a copy of his book!
Keywords
Humor, comedy, race, racism, discrimination, historical
Sources
- Follow Dr. Raul Perez on Twitter here.
- Check out his book from Stanford University Press, ‘The Souls of White Jokes.’
- Raul mentioned M. Alison Kibbler’s “Censoring Racial Ridicule”
- One example of racial humor is Black Minstrelsy, which you can read about here.
- Comedy surrounding the death of Queen Elizabeth II was controversial, with some outlets censoring jokes about the late Queen.
- Elon Musk’s Twitter Blue spurred a host of parody accounts. Some of which were amazing.
- And on this note, Doja Cat is the ultimate troll
- And on this note, Doja Cat is the ultimate troll
- We discussed Roxane Gay’s “Jada Pinkett Smith Shouldn’t Have to ‘Take a Joke.’ Neither Should You” from the NY Times, which discussed the Will Smith-Chris Rock incident.
- Raul recommended Matt Sienckiewicz and Nick Marx’s “That’s Not Funny: How the Right Makes Comedy Work for Them”
SOC604 – The Functions of Workplace Violence
Abstract
It’s strange to say that workplace violence has any place in society. It doesn’t. But workplace violence does exist, and so today we are going to take a functionalist approach to talk about the functions of workplace violence, particularly in academia. Workplace violence can serve as a tool for those in power to reinforce hierarchies in the workplace, advance their own careers, increase work productivity, and more. Don’t listen to this episode if it will be triggering or uncomfortable for you!
Keywords
Workplace violence, academia, functionalism, bullying, abuse
Sources
Relevant episodes:
- SOC501 – You’re a Donkey: Food Media and Violence in Kitchens
- SOC100 – Violence: nature Vs. Nurture
- SOC206 – Intention vs. Perception: On Human Aggression
- SOC207 – Three Schools of Thought: Conflict Theory, Structural Functionalism, and Symbolic Interactionism
- How bullying becomes a career tool, by Susanne Tauber and Morteza Mahmoudi (2022)
- Einarsen S, Hoel H, Zapf D, Cooper CL. The concept of bullying and harassment at work: the European tradition. In: Einarsen S, Hoel H, Zapf D, Cooper CL, editors. Bullying and harassment in the workplace developments in theory, research, and practice. 2. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2011.
- Disparate mortality rates among black mothers
- Deadly Indonesia football stampede caused by tear gas
- The We Society Podcast
- America’s most violent jobs, in 5 charts
- A Pocket Guide to Academic Ranks
- 38 Hawaiian and Pidgin Phrases Every Visitor Needs to Know
- College Dining Workers Seize the Moment
- Elon Musk Fires Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, An Executive “Escorted Out”
- Twitter sued in class action lawsuit over mass layoffs without proper legal notice
- Hundreds of employees say no to being part of Elon Musk’s ‘extremely hardcore’ Twitter
SOC603 – The Peaks and Valleys of Service Learning (Guest Edition)
Abstract
More and more today’s educators are encouraged to set up service learning and community-based projects for their students. These are projects that take students out of the traditional classroom, and into the community to ideally be helpful. But, are these efforts as positive as we imagine they are? We are joined this week by our friend and wonderful guest, Dr. Colleen Rost-Banik, to discuss the pros and pitfalls of service-learning, how to do it well, and how to reimagine what some of the education buzzwords, like “civic engagement” really are. Tune in here to learn more!
Keywords
Education, learning, teaching, service learning, activism, civic engagement
Sources
- Learn more about Colleen’s research here.
- We discussed some Hawai’i-specific events and happenings throughout the episode. Including:
- Tending the Lo’i (taro) patch as a form of indigenous education.
- The 30-meter telescope proposed for Mauna Kea.
- The Malama I Na Ahupua’a (MINA) project.
- Check out Colleen’s work here:
- “Weeding for Social Justice” by Colleen and Ulla Hasager in the book “Pursuit of Liberation”
- “Educating for Social Justice through Activist-Oriented Sites” (2020) in Social Justice
- And she recommended “Liberating Service Learning and the Rest of Higher Education Civic Engagement” by Randy Stoecker for those interested in rethinking forms of education.
- Also, Liz Truss and the lettuce…
SOC602 – The War on Drugs (Guest Edition)
Abstract
Drugs. Alotta us do them and alotta us are scared of them! There are a ton of topics to cover within the world of sociology, and we have yet to talk about how the discipline discusses drugs, as well as the pivotal event, the War on Drugs. So, tune in to listen to our conversation with Dr. Kevin Revier, where we chat about his research on the social impact of the War on Drugs, perceptions of drugs, drug addiction, and more!
Keywords
Cannabis, crack, drugs, illegal, marijuana, narcotics, nixon, opioid, sociological, sociology
Resources
- Check out Dr. Kevin Revier’s webpage at Arcadia University.
- “Without Drug Court, You’ll End Up in Prison or Dead” a qualitative/participant observation study by Kevin.
- The ‘worst of the worst‘: punitive justice frames in criminal sentencing clips on YouTube.
- Another one by Kevin is… Figuring Things Out: Contemplating Drug Addiction and Disclosure In and Out of the Field.
- White jail incarceration rates are on the rise, and fast, according to the Vera Institute.
- Here is information about current drug policy and today’s fentanyl crisis.
- Here’s Ingrid Walker’s High, which discusses drugs and desire, as drugs make people feel good, too.
- Another classic book to check out that Kevin mentioned is Howard Becker’s Outsiders.
- Omar mentioned a Netflix documentary on the science of psychedelics by Michael Pollan, but here’s the book instead!
- Professor Carl Hart is a heroin-using Professor changing the way we think about drugs.
- The New Jim Crow and one of it’s most famous critiques.
- Ellen also recommends this book by Bruce Jacobs, Dealing Crack, if you’re interested in the processes of drug dealing.
- Would you eat a 3D food printed steak???
[CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS] SOCIOLOGY MASTER CLASS
ABSTRACT
Do you want to be a better Public Scientist? Do you want to enhance your skills in sociological analysis within and outside the academy? Do you want a place to discuss, vent, study, and analyze “graduate school stress” and what to do about it? Do you want high level research engagement and turning your wonderful ideas into digestible content for the public? Do you need professional development skills or just someone/group of people to just help you THINK?! Join the Social Breakdowns first ever SOCIOLOGY MASTER CLASS hosted by Omar Bird.
Please see the Google Form link below to sign up! First 10 people to sign up will be included in the first round! More information about scheduling will follow!
SIGN UP CLICK HERE
Check your boobs: it’s breast cancer awareness month
Abstract
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, the time when everything turns pink! We here at The Social Breakdown wanted to remind everyone with breasts (pssst– we ALL have ‘em!) to do all the needed check ups: self-exams, ultrasounds, and mammograms! So, here is a re-released episode from last year (2021), where we discussed how our team was especially hit hard by breast cancer. (Ellen is still in remission! Yay!) So, for us and for you, please get yourself checked out and remind your loved ones to do so, too!
Keywords
Boobs, moobs, breasts, cancer, health
Sources
- Breast cancer is insanely common! There is a 1 in 8 chance that a woman in America will develop breast cancer.
- Here’s how to do a breast self-exam!