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Voyeur (2017)

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Voyeur (2017)

The documentary Voyeur (2017) has two subjects. The first is Gerald Foos, a voyeur who secretly observed guests at his motel. Foos built an observation platform above the motel’s rooms and spent decades spying on guests through fake ceiling air vents. In violating the privacy of his guests, Foos witnesses their unmanaged backstage selves in addition to sexual acts, heated arguments, and even a murder. Even more intriguing, Foos considers this to be his “research”

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Icarus (2017)

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Icarus (2017)

In Icarus (2017, we learn how the deception of Olympic officials was accomplished, how the Russian government directly sponsored the illegal doping program, and how far the government was willing to go in their attempts to cover up the mess—denials, lies, and assassinations. Revelations made in this film implicate all levels of the Russian state bureaucracy, nearly every Russian athlete, and the International Olympic Committee which turned a blind eye for years. The film makes us question the fairness of modern athletics and whether steroid-free sports are still possible.  

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The Florida Project (2017)

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The Florida Project (2017)

While any brief description of The Florida Project (2017) may paint the setting and characters as delinquents engaged in a destructive lifestyle, what makes this film beautiful are the extraordinary acts of kindness, love, and mutual support. For example, arguments between characters often later give way to sharing cigarettes and other small acts of compassion. This demonstration of empathy is evident in director Sean Baker’s other films as well, most notably Tangerine (2015).  

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Obit (2016)

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Obit (2016)

Who gets an obituary in the New York Times? Obit (2016) gives us a glimpse inside the most prestigious obituary outlet in modern day America. Editors and writers tell us what makes for a good obituary as well as the types of people they profile in these widely-read life histories. We also learn about the history of obits such as how old obits used to avoid words like “death” or “died”. Moreover, did you know many obituaries of famous people are written well before they die? These are called “advances” and are often composed when notable individuals become ill or pass a certain age.

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Hail Satan? (2019)

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Hail Satan? (2019)

Hail Satan? (2019) is an exciting documentary that focuses on non-theistic satanism as a means to maintain a secular democracy. The film presents The Satanic Temple as a religious and political organization where satanism functions as a socio-political counter myth. They don’t see themselves as anti-Christianity but rather post-Christianity, and they advocate for religious pluralism. It is very intersectional, too!

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Cooked: Survival by Zip Code (2019)

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Cooked: Survival by Zip Code (2019)

Cooked: Survival by Zipcode (2019) tells the story of the tragic 1995 Chicago heatwave, the most traumatic in U.S. history, in which 739 citizens died over the course of just a single week, most of them poor, elderly, and African American. This is a story about life, death, and the politics of crisis in an American city that asks the questions: What if we approached poverty through the lens of disaster management?

Credit Card Rewards & Inequality

Credit Card Rewards & Inequality

The New York Times, 2023, 5:21… The enticements for credit card rewards programs promise fantasies. And for the privileged members who can convert taps of plastic into points, and those points into luxury, the process can feel like digital alchemy, or at least a delightful refutation of that adage about a free lunch. But as the Opinion Video above explains, that lunch — or that points-purchased round-trip ticket to the Seychelles — isn’t really free. Which raises the question: Who’s paying for it? Well, we all are.

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The Most Unequal Place in America

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The Most Unequal Place in America

CBS Sunday Morning, 2023, 6:10… Teton County in Wyoming is home to the widest income divide in America, with a median house price of more than $5 million and an average income of $318,000. Correspondent Ben Tracy looks at how the wealthy, drawn to the state's picture-perfect settings, have been squeezing out the middle class – the very people needed to keep the community running.

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The Culture Industry Prevented a Recession

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The Culture Industry Prevented a Recession

Inside Edition, 2023, 1:48… Taylor Swift's sold-out Eras tour added $4.6 billion to the local economies of the cities she performed in. Her impact on the economy is being called "Swiftonomics." Many of her fans traveled long distances to spend lots of money to make her concert a night to remember. The so-called “Taylor Swift tourists” spend an average of $1,300 per person. Those purchases include tickets, hotels, car rentals, restaurants, merchandise and hair stylists.

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Credit Scores & Social Inequalities

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Credit Scores & Social Inequalities

Vox, 2023, 12:37… When credit scores were invented just a few decades ago, they were hailed as a way to democratize lending. Today, they’ve become so essential that not having one can essentially lock you out of daily life. Having a low score can make life challenging, too.

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Men and Falling Behind

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Men and Falling Behind

CBS Sunday Morning, 2023, 8:44… In 1972, when Title IX was passed to help improve gender equality on campus, men were 13% more likely to get an undergraduate degree than women. Today, it's women who are 15% more likely to get a BA than men. That's just one of the startling statistics revealing how millions of young men today are struggling to understand how or where they fit in.

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Repatriating Museum Artifacts Looted from West Africa

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Repatriating Museum Artifacts Looted from West Africa 
PBS NewsHour, 2022, 8:10... As a debate over how and when to repatriate art continues to roil, one clear-cut case of looting in the 19th century has art leaders taking strong stands now. Jeffrey Brown went to look at a museum that is confronting the controversial origins of its collection

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Intersex and De-medicalization

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Intersex and De-medicalization

CBS Sunday Morning, 2023, 8:38… According to statistics cited by the U.N., .05 to 1.7 percent of the world's population is intersex, defined as having external or internal sexual organs that are not clearly male or female. As a matter of course, doctors in the past performed surgery on babies, ostensibly so that they would live a "normal" life.

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Is Meritocracy a Myth?

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Is Meritocracy a Myth?

Vox, 2021, 20:01… Education in the United States is supposed to be meritocratic, meaning a student’s achievement is measured solely by their efforts. But how do class and privilege affect opportunity, and does everyone really get the same shot? Glad You Asked host Fabiola Cineas explores how the myth of meritocracy perpetuates racism while keeping the American dream achievable only for a privileged few.

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Hillbilly (2018)

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Hillbilly (2018)

Hillbilly (2018) examines the history and continuation of disempowering rural stereotypes. Though the film is based around the 2016 election of Donald Trump, the content extends far beyond our current political landscape. It is also engaging to watch as it masterfully integrates media stereotypes from popular shows and movies. Some prominent sociological concepts evident in the film include othering, codeswitching, and cultural appropriation as hillbilly may have become the new hipster..

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Pop Culture at the Smithsonian

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Pop Culture at the Smithsonian

CBS Sunday Morning, 2022, 4:59… "Entertainment Nation/Nación del espectáculo," a new exhibition at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., features artifacts from 150 years of music, sports and moving images. CBS News' John Dickerson gets a tour, and looks at how Prince, "The Wizard of Oz" and "Star Wars" helped define our national character.