Levitt had some advice last week for our friend Sudhir Venkatesh, who went on The Colbert Report to talk about his book, Gang Leader for a Day. Sudhir sure seemed to take the advice to heart, especially the smiling part. He did great, and Colbert was no slouch either. In case you missed it, here’s the clip, which might well be worth five minutes of your day. Also, Sudhir is scheduled to be on Larry King Live tonight.
Colbert Digs Venkatesh
TAGS: stephen colbert, Sudhir Venkatesh
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Did Sudhir take Levitt’s advice and peek at the question cards?
I thought Sudhir was great! And Colbert was rather speechless. Cobert smiled a lot dispite his best efforts to be serious. When asking if Sudhir got to “pop a cap”… Oh man, too funny. The best part is, unlike other interviews, the audience could actually grasp the point of the book! Good Work.
A good interview, but the work he describes is not “rogue” sociology. Sociologists do fieldwork all the time. He undermines the discipline by saying that his work is unique because of its methodology.
Cyberchic is correct. Sociologists don’t just write questionnaires with stock answers like ‘very good.’ Fieldwork is an integral part of the discipline.
He can say he is a ‘rogue’ sociologist, though, because he doesn’t seem to follow even the most basic of ethical guidelines (ordering someone beaten up, going to the police to infom on his subjects, etc).