The sociological imagination is great, but really, it ruins all your favorite things. This podcast, hosted by Matt Sedlar, takes a topic each month and explores it from a sociological perspective.
I know what you might be thinking: Sociology and sports? Remember this podcast is called Sociology Ruins Everything, not Sociology Ruins Some Things. But to be fair, some people might not be familiar with how sociologists study sports. Don’t racquet your brain. In this month’s episode, I’ll present the briefest overview before talking to Danielle Thomas, a sociology professor at Louisiana State University, who has thought a lot about sports, particularly youth sports, and how they tie into the community.
Show notes:
Giulianotti, R. (2015). Routledge handbook of the sociology of sport (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203404065 (https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203404065)
Tomlinson, A. (2004). Pierre Bourdieu and the Sociological Study of Sport: Habitus, Capital and Field. In: Giulianotti, R. (eds) Sport and Modern Social Theorists. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230523180_11 (https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230523180_11)
27 Apr 2026
Data Science
This month's episode dives into the origins and definitions of the "sexiest job of the 21st century": Data science. I look at the most recent data to uncover how and why it emerged, and how it organized as a profession in a way that's completely different from our understanding of how professions are created. Joining me in this discussion is Philipp Brandt, assistant professor of sociology at SciencesPo and Centre for the Sociology of Organisations, who wrote the book, Inside Data Science: Hackers and the Making of a New Profession.
Show Notes
Brandt, P. (2026). Inside data science: Hackers and the making of a new profession. Columbia University Press. https://cup.columbia.edu/book/inside-data-science/9780231560184/ (https://cup.columbia.edu/book/inside-data-science/9780231560184/)
1 Mar 2026
Legend Tripping
What exactly is legend tripping? Is it truly about finding ghosts and cryptids, or is it a ritual designed to create unbreakable social bonds? This month's episode dives into the three-part structure of a legend trip—from the initial tale to the retrospective reflection—and reveals how "expectation produces experience" to create the perfect legend.
Show notes
Debies-Carl, Jeffrey (2023). If You Should Go at Midnight. (2023). University Press of Mississippi https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/I/If-You-Should-Go-at-Midnight (https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/I/If-You-Should-Go-at-Midnight)
McNeill, L. S., & Tucker, E. (2018). Legend Tripping: A Contemporary Legend Casebook. University Press of Colorado. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1vbd1wh (https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1vbd1wh)
Miles, Tiya (2017). Tales from the Haunted South: Dark Tourism and Memories of Slavery from the Civil War era. University of North Carolina Press. https://uncpress.org/9781469636146/tales-from-the-haunted-south/ (https://uncpress.org/9781469636146/tales-from-the-haunted-south/)
"On the job with a ghost walk tour guide." The Canadian Press, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTYZv0JTrP0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTYZv0JTrP0)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Spotify
4.8 / 5
60 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 33 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
45
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
51
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