The Wire is pretty popular at Campus Progress. But did any of you -- Kay, Jesse -- watch it with inner city drug dealers and see thousands of dollars wagered on what will happen this season? Because Sudhir Venkatesh did, and has a post at the Times Freakonomics blog describing the experience.

Venkatesh is no stranger to inner city thugs; he studied and basically embedded himself with a crack gang in Chicago for years, and even did the job of the gang's leader for a day.  He also was a co-author with Steven Levitt of the prostituion study I wrote about yesterday.  Basically, Venkatesh is the most badass sociologist ever.