Intellectual History

Intellectual History

episodes

Interviews with intellectual historians about their new books.

Kevin Van Meter and Robert Ovetz eds. "Points of Departure: Refusal of Work and the Crisis of Capitalism: the Collected Writings of Harry Cleaver" (Common Notions, 2026)

September 7, 2026

Points of Departure

Harry Cleaver and Editors Kevin Van Meter and Robert Ovetz
Hosted by Keith Krueger

“The general thrust of capitalist policy in this period aims at the intensified imposition of work in response to ongoing struggle against it.” —Harry…

Valeria Vázquez Guevara, "Truth Commissions and International Law: Jurisdiction, Representation, Authority" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

September 4, 2026

Truth Commissions and International Law

Valeria Vázquez Guevara
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Truth Commissions and International Law: Jurisdiction, Representation, Authority (Cambridge University Press, 2026) examines how truth commissions con…

An Honest Death: Life's End and Humanist Funerals with Matthew Engelke

August 28, 2026

An Honest Death

Matthew Engelke
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

A fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at non-religious funerals in contemporary London, An Honest Death: Life's End and Humanist Funerals (Princeton U…

Divining the Past: How to Do Conjectural History with Anthony Grafton

August 26, 2026

Divining the Past

with Anthony Grafton
Hosted by Ryan Shinkel

Whether recovering a lost history or charting a new land, scholars and explorers alike often hit at frontiers not only of place, but also knowledge. W…

Eran Shalev, "The Star-Spangled Republic: Political Astronomy and the Rise of the American Constellation" (U Virginia Press, 2025)

August 24, 2026

The Star-Spangled Republic

Eran Shalev
Hosted by Edward Blum

Why does the American flag use stars to represent the states? In The Star-Spangled Republic: Political Astronomy and the Rise of the American Constell…

Emile Chabal, "The Age of Hobsbawm: The Life of a Revolutionary Historian" (Harvard UP, 2026)

August 21, 2026

The Age of Hobsbawm

Emile Chabal
Hosted by Ryan Tripp

Eric Hobsbawm (1917–2012) was one of the foremost European intellectuals of the twentieth century. He published hundreds of articles on modern history…

Roderick Beaton, "Europe: A New History" (Allen Lane, 2026)

August 19, 2026

Europe

Roderick Beaton

What do we talk about when we talk about Europe? Is it defined by geography? Or is it politics, or shared culture? In Europe: A New History (Allen Lan…

Beronda L. Montgomery, "When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy" (Henry Holt & Co.)

August 18, 2026

When Trees Testify

Beronda L. Montgomery
Hosted by Sullivan Summer

The histories of trees in America are also the histories of Black Americans. Pecan trees were domesticated by an enslaved African named Antoine; sycam…

James Loeffler, "Exceptional Hatred: Antisemitism and the Fight over Free Speech in Modern America" (Metropolitan Books, 2026)

August 15, 2026

Exceptional Hatred

James Loeffler
Hosted by Thomas Discenna

A leading historian’s revelatory exploration of antisemitism in the United States—from 1940s anti-Jewish riots until today—showing that it has long se…

Eric Hoffer's "The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements" (1951): A Discussion with Jay Garfinkel

August 14, 2026

Eric Hoffer's "The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements" (1951)

Eric Hoffer
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

A stevedore on the San Francisco docks in the 1940s, who eventually taught at the University of California at Berkeley, Eric Hoffer wrote philosophi…

Kathleen J. Frydl, "Liberalism and the Reinvention of the Modern Corporation" (Oxford UP, 2025)

August 13, 2026

Liberalism and the Reinvention of the Modern Corporation

Kathleen J. Frydl
Hosted by Lilly Goren

This is a really good book. Really good. Liberalism and the Reinvention of the Modern Corporation (Oxford UP, 2025) takes the reader on a fascinating,…

Why the Roman Empire Fell: On Edward Gibbon with Hugh Liebert

August 12, 2026

Why the Roman Empire Fell

with Hugh Liebert
Hosted by Ryan Shinkel

250 years ago when the United States declared independence, Edward Gibbon across the ocean published the first volume of his magisterial series, The D…

Jarvis C. McInnis, "Afterlives of the Plantation: Plotting Agrarian Futures in the Global Black South" (Columbia UP, 2025)

August 12, 2026

Afterlives of the Plantation

Jarvis C. McInnis
Hosted by Kishauna Soljour

Built on the grounds of a former cotton plantation, the Tuskegee Institute, founded by Booker T. Washington, offered agricultural and industrial educa…

Sima Qian–China’s Grand Historian

August 12, 2026

Sima Qian–China’s Grand Historian

Tim McGirk

John Ross chats with repeat guest Tim McGirk about Sima Qian (c. 145–86 BC), the Father of Chinese History. He earned this accolade for his monumental…

Michael R. Griffiths, "The Death of the Author and Anticolonial Thought" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025)

August 12, 2026

The Death of the Author and Anticolonial Thought

Michael R. Griffiths

The Death of the Author and Anticolonial Thought (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025) promises to transform a decades old debate in literary studies about the r…

Younus Y. Mirza, "The Islamic Mary: Maryam Through the Centuries" (Fortress Press, 2025)

August 12, 2026

The Islamic Mary

Younus Y. Mirza

Mary, the mother of Jesus, has been historically revered throughout the Islamic tradition. This began already in the Qur'an, where she is called by th…

Marisa Karyl Franz, "Near and Desired Things: Shamanism in Late Imperial Local Siberian Museums" (Cornell UP, 2026)

August 9, 2026

Near and Desired Things

Marisa Karyl Franz
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Near and Desired Things: Shamanism in Late Imperial Local Siberian Museums (Cornell University Press, 2026) reveals nineteenth-century Siberian museum…

Leopoldina Fortunati, "The Arcana of Reproduction: Housewives, Prostitutes, Workers and Capital" (Verso, 2025)

August 8, 2026

The Arcana of Reproduction

Leopoldina Fortunati

The definitive feminist analysis of reproductive and ‘caring’ labor to emerge from Italian feminism of the 1970s. Emerging from the great social uphe…

Andres Saenz de Sicilia, "Subsumption in Kant, Hegel and Marx: From the Critique of Reason to the Critique of Society" (Brill, 2024)

August 7, 2026

Subsumption in Kant, Hegel and Marx

Andres Saenz de Sicilia

Subsumption in Kant, Hegel and Marx: From the Critique of Reason to the Critique of Society is the latest book from Dr Andres Saenz De Sicilia, an Ass…

Giulio Boccaletti, "The Environmental Republic: Why Citizens Will Save the World" (Princeton UP, 2026)

August 7, 2026

The Environmental Republic

Giulio Boccaletti

Republicanism is arguably the most powerful political idea in history, an extraordinary feat of human imagination that balances individual liberty wit…