Pop Culture Sociologist

Bonus Q&A Episode

For this special episode listeners submitted questions and the host answered them in a live, unscripted recording. Questions included everything from the writing process

Is there a right way to write a matriarchy?

When's the last time you read a story set in a matriarchy? Did you enjoy it? What are the common tropes to writing matriarchies and who do they serve? In this episode you

Who gets to be the hero in historical narratives?

How accurate does historical fiction have to be to enhance our understanding of the past rather than harm it? In the age of historical retellings/reimagenings like Hamilt

Does Jemisin's "The Fifth Season" solve the "X-Men Problem"?

The X-Men universe popularized a unique set of tropes common to fantasy worldbuilding: people with superpowers who are feared and persecuted by society. This trope is eve

The Best Queer Pairing You'll Never Watch: Root/Shaw on Person of Interest

Sometimes TV shows give us amazing queer pairings but end up not treating them right. In this special episode of Pop Culture Sociologist I'm going to give you all the bes

Lyanna Stark and how "Game of Thrones" was almost a brilliant social critique

What does Lyanna Stark's portrayal on Game of Thrones have to do with women in the real world being written out of history? The show has been both praised and criticized

Why "Hannibal" is the best screen adaptation of "Lolita"

Why is Bryan Fuller's "Hannibal", a horror show about a cannibal and an FBI profiler, a more accurate adaptation of "Lolita" than the two official film adaptations of the

Pop Culture Sociologist: A New Podcast About Media

Welcome to Pop Culture Sociologist! I'm media critic Marina Berlin and I'm starting a podcast about movies, TV shows and books, through a sociological lens. In season one