Deep Dive: Reality TV Sociology 101 with Danielle J. Lindemann

Sociologist Danielle J. Lindemann joined the pod to talk about her book, “True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us.” Reality TV is a cultural product, and just like any other cultural product, it can tell us so much about ourselves, our social roles and expectations, our values, and the narratives we tell about ourselves and each other. We try to watch these shows critically, and there are a lot of ways to do that. But one way, which we wanted to explore in depth this week, is a sociological lens, which helps us see what these shows, in all their messy glory, reflect and reveal about our society.