The Social Eye Podcast

The Social Eye Podcast

by Wynn, Winona, and Michelle
Season 1
On automation and "The AI Con" with Dr. Alex Hanna
Almost every institution is pushing AI, but what does that word actually refer too? Dr. Alex Hanna joins us to discuss her and Emily M. Bender's book, "The AI Con," and the many forms of automation that fall under the marketing term "artificial intelligence." We explore their many social consequences, and what can be done about them. The Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR) https://dair-institute.org/ Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 https://dair-institute.org/maiht3k/ The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want by Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna https://thecon.ai/ Luddite Lab https://labor.dair-institute.org/ Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass by Mary Gray and Siddharth Suri https://marylgray.org/bio/on-demand/ Data Workers Inquiry Project https://data-workers.org/ The first signs of burnout are coming from the people who embrace AI the most by Connie Loizos https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/09/the-first-signs-of-burnout-are-coming-from-the-people-who-embrace-ai-the-most/ What Does AI Do? University management and technologies of crisis by Daniel Green https://www.aaup.org/issue/spring-2026/what-does-ai-do Masheika Allgood of AllAI Consulting, LLC https://www.allai-us.com/about The AI Resist List https://airesistlist.org/
On community-engaged research and racial capitalism with Dr. Yasi Shaker
In this episode, Wynn, Winona, and Michelle speak with Dr. Yasi Shaker about their community-engaged dissertation research on practical processes that combat racial capitalism. See also: what brings us hope among the current catastrophe, healing injustices in our socioecological communities, and turning sociological concepts into tattoos. Find Dr. Shaker's work here: https://yasishaker.com/ https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=iIao3JMAAAAJ&hl=en https://mobilemooncoop.org/ https://www.undertheumbrellabookstore.com/product/oracle-deck-garden-comrades-yasi-shaker/12650
On Activism & Shared Humanity with Judi Hill
In this episode, we chat with Akron NAACP chapter President Judi Hill about her education and activist work in and around Akron, OH as well as our shared humanity. Akron NAACP: https://www.naacpakron.org/
Ep. 3: On Male Supremacist Online Spaces with Dr. Rina James
Wynn, Winona, and Michelle talk with Rina James, who since this episode completed their PhD in Sociology at University of Arizona! Rina explores gender, digital culture, and far-right politics, as their dissertation maps user trajectories across male supremacist communities on Reddit, identifying individual, community, and platform-level factors that drive differential participation and radicalization in far-right extremist movements.
On imagining the impossible with Dr. Arthur Scarritt
Listen along as we chat with Michelle’s first academic mentor, Dr. Arthur Scarritt, about his research and publications, modern sociopolitical dynamics, and imagining the impossible. "Koch Brothers Exposed" documentary link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N8y2SVerW8 Link to Scarritt et al.'s 2025 "Why Conservatives Embrace Social Democracy": https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15365042251318674
Ep. 2: On Community
Welcome to the “The Social Eye Pod” where sociologists Winona, Wynn, Michelle, and Iris talk with guests about the complex relationships between the personal and the political. Using sociology to explore big ideas. Exploring the taken for granted in everyday life. Breaking down the complexity of institutionalized issues and inequality through lived experiences. In this episode, we discuss the sociology of community, inspired by Miranda Joseph's 2002 book Against The Romance Of Community, which you can find here: https://www.upress.umn.edu/9780816637966/against-the-romance-of-community/ Join us monthly for a new conversation. #community #socialeyepod #complexconversations #authenticconnection #decommodifyrelationships
The Social Eye Pod: An Introduction
Welcome to the “The Social Eye Pod” where sociologists Winona, Wynn, Michelle, and Iris talk with guests about the complex relationships between the personal and the political. But first! In this episode you will get to know us! We share what drew us to sociology, our interests, our teaching philosophies, and what motivated us to make this podcast. Also, lore! Book recommendations: Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Freire, Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes by L. S. Vygotsky Thoughts and suggestions? Email us at: thesocialeyepod@gmail.com