New Books Network
Book of the Day/ Philosophy

Wild Animal Ethics

The Moral and Political Problem of Wild Animal Suffering

Kyle Johannsen

Hosted by Carrie Figdor
Many sentient (or possibly sentient) wild animals follow a reproductive strategy whereby they have large numbers of offspring, the vast majority of which suffer and die quickly or suffer and die slowly. Either way, there is a huge amount of suffering in the wild. And it is a truism in ethics that we have a duty to alleviate or prevent unnecessary suffering. If we could intervene in nature to prevent …
Law

Reinventing Bankruptcy Law

A History of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act

Virginia Torrie

Hosted by Nick Pozek
Reinventing Bankruptcy Law: A History of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (University of Toronto Press, 2020) explodes conventional wisdom about the history of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and in its …
Australian and New Zealand Studies

A Bridge Between

Spanish Benedictine Missionary Women in Australia

Katherine Massam

Hosted by Bede Haines
Katharine Massam's A Bridge Between: Spanish Benedictine Missionary Women in Australia (ANU Press, 2020) is the first book detailing the Benedictine women who worked at New Norcia, examining their life in the …
Japanese Studies

Cinema of Ozu Yasujiro

Histories of the Everyday

Woojeong Joo

Hosted by Takeshi Morisato
One of the most well regarded of non-Western film directors, responsible for acknowledged classics like Tokyo Story (1953), Ozu Yasujiro worked during a period of immense turbulence for Japan and …
Food

Food Insecurity on Campus

Action and Intervention

Katharine M. Broton and Clare L. Cady

Hosted by Carrie Helms Tippen
The new essay collection Food Insecurity on College Campuses edited by Katharine M. Broton and Clare L. Cady explores the widespread problem of food insecurity among college students and the …
Film

Little Lindy Is Kidnapped

How the Media Covered the Crime of the Century

Thomas Doherty

Hosted by Joel Tscherne
In Little Lindy Is Kidnapped: How the Media Covered the Crime of the Century (Columbia University Press, 2020), Thomas Doherty offers a lively and comprehensive cultural history of the media coverage of the …
Indian Ocean World

The Impoverishment of the African Red Sea Littoral, 1640–1945

Steven Serels

Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi
The African Red Sea Littoral, currently divided between Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Djibouti, is one of the poorest regions in the world. But the pastoralist communities indigenous to this region …
Political Science

Understanding and Explaining the Iranian Nuclear 'Crisis'

Theoretical Approaches

Halit M. E. Tagma and Paul E. Lenze Jr.

Hosted by Susan Liebell
How can multiple theoretical approaches yield a better understanding of international political politics? In Understanding and Explaining the Iranian Nuclear 'Crisis': Theoretical Approaches (Lexington Books, 2020), Dr. Halit M. E. Tagma …
Biblical Studies

Exploring the Composition of the Pentateuch

Roy E. Gane

Hosted by Michael Morales
For many years, the historical-critical quest for a reconstruction of the origin(s) and development of the Pentateuch or Hexateuch has been dominated by the documentary hypothesis, the heuristic power of …
Politics

I Love You, but I Hate Your Politics

How to Protect Your Intimate Relationships in a Poisonous Partisan World

Jeanne Safer

Hosted by Ian Drake
We’ve all been there – the family dinners turned full-fledged political debates, the awkward chat in the kitchen at work, the difficulty of discussing politics on a first date or …
Education

Walking with Strangers

Critical Ethnography and Educational Promise

Barbara Dennis

Hosted by Pengfei Zhao
In this episode, I speak with Dr. Barbara Dennis of Indiana University on her new ethnography, Walking with Strangers: Critical Ethnography and Educational Promise, published in 2020 by Peter Lang …
Interpretive Political and Social Science

Authoritarian Apprehensions

Ideology, Judgment, and Mourning in Syria

Lisa Wedeen

Hosted by Nick Cheesman
How has the Syrian regime been able to bear the brunt of the challenges raised against it? And, what can we learn about the seductions of authoritarian politics more generally …
Book of the Day/ Performing Arts

Sailor Song

The Shanties and Ballads of the High Seas

Gerry Smyth

Hosted by Andy Boyd
Sailor Song: The Shanties and Ballads of the High Seas (University of Washington Press, 2020) by performer and scholar Gerry Smyth includes lyrics and commentary for dozens of sea shanties, as well as a brief history of the genre. The world that emerges in these 19th century sailor songs is surprisingly multi-cultural; in a sense, sea shanties were the first sonic products of globalization, combining African-American work songs, Irish ballads, and English …
Eastern European Studies

Ukraine

What Everyone Needs to Know

Serhy Yekelchyk

Hosted by Nataliya Shpylova-Saeed
In 2020, Oxford University Press published a second edition of Serhy Yekelchyk’s Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford UP, 2020). This series is based on the reference format that …
Art

Knowledge Beside Itself

Contemporary Art's Epistemic Politics

Tom Holert

Hosted by Pierre d'Alancaisez
What is the role and function of contemporary art in economic and political systems that increasingly manage data and affect? Knowledge Beside Itself: Contemporary Art's Epistemic Politics (Sternberg Press, 2020) delves into …
Hindu Studies

Tracing the Path of Yoga

The History and Philosophy of Indian Mind-Body Discipline

Stuart Ray Sarbacker

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Clear, accessible, and meticulously annotated, Tracing the Path of Yoga: The History and Philosophy of Indian Mind-Body Discipline (SUNY Press, 2021) offers a comprehensive survey of the history and philosophy of …
Third World Nationalism

Indonesian Notebook

A Sourcebook on Richard Wright and the Bandung Conference

Brian Russell Roberts and Keith Foulcher

Hosted by Kirk Meighoo
This is a Special Series on Third World Nationalism. In the wake of a rise in nationalism around the world, and its general condemnation by liberals and the left, in …
Medicine

Aging Behind Prison Walls: Studies in Trauma and Resilience

Tina Maschi and Keith Morgen

Hosted by Rachel Pagones
The demographics of U.S. prisons are changing, as are demographics outside of them: an increasing share of the population is growing old. The number of people aged 55 and older …
Latin American Studies

The Last Turtlemen of the Caribbean

Waterscapes of Labor, Conservation, and Boundary Making

Sharika D. Crawford

Hosted by Lisette Varon Carvajal
In The Last Turtlemen of the Caribbean: Waterscapes of Labor, Conservation, and Boundary Makin (University of North Carolina Press 2020), Dr. Sharika Crawford tells the story of Caymanian turtle hunters …
Poetry

Descent

Lauren Russell

Hosted by Philip Lance
In 2013, poet Lauren Russell acquired a copy of the diary of her great-great-grandfather, Robert Wallace Hubert, a Captain in the Confederate Army. After his return from the Civil War …
Literature

The Tenth Muse

A Novel

Catherine Chung

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb
Katherine recalls being young and friendless. While growing up in the 40’ and 50’s, she remembers when her mother packed up and left, her father remarried, and she was left …
Performing Arts

The Trade Federation or Let's Explore Globalization Through the Star Wars Prequels

Andy Boyd

Hosted by Toney Brown
New Books in Performing Arts own Andy Boyd has written a new play about a young experimental playwright named Andy Boyd who pitches Georges Lucas his screenplay for a new …
Book of the Day/ Science

A Natural History of Color

The Science Behind What We See and How We See it

Rob DeSalle

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
Is color a phenomenon of science or a thing of art? Over the years, color has dazzled, enhanced, and clarified the world we see, embraced through the experimental palettes of painting, the advent of the color photograph, Technicolor pictures, color printing, on and on, a vivid and vibrant celebrated continuum. These turns to represent reality in “living color” echo our evolutionary reliance on and indeed privileging of color as a …
Food

Let's Ask Marion

What You Need to Know about the Politics of Food, Nutrition, and Health

Marion Nestle and Kerry Trueman

Hosted by Carrie Helms Tippen
Marion Nestle describes her new book as “a small, quick and dirty reader for the general audience” summarizing some of her biggest and most influential works. Let’s Ask Marion: What …
History

Whistleblowing Nation

The History of National Security Disclosures and the Cult of State Secrecy

Kaeten Mistry and Hannah Gurman

Hosted by Dexter Fergie
In the past decade, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden became household names. They were celebrated by many as truth-tellers who blew the whistle on governmental abuses. Yet, in the eyes …
East Asian Studies

Seeing Like a Child

Inheriting the Korean War

Clara Han

Hosted by Ann Choi
Intertwining autobiography and ethnography, Clara Han’s touching new book Seeing Like a Child: Inheriting the Korean War (Fordham University Press, 2020) asks how scholarship can be transformed from a child’s …
Critical Theory

Critique of Rights

Christoph Menke

Hosted by Dominik Finkelde
Christoph Menke, who is professor of philosophy at the Goethe University in Frankfurt Germany and considered the most important representative of the third generation of the "Frankfurt School of Critical …
History

Albert Camus

A Very Short Introduction

Oliver Gloag

Hosted by Michael Vann
Albert Camus, one of the most famous French philosophers and novelists, has a diverse fan base. British alternative rockers The Cure sang about The Stranger in their first big hit …
Drugs, Addiction and Recovery

Intoxicating Zion

A Social History of Hashish in Mandatory Palestine and Israel

Haggai Ram

Hosted by Lucas Richert
When European powers carved political borders across the Middle East following World War I, a curious event in the international drug trade occurred: Palestine became the most important hashish waystation …
African Studies

The Idea of Development in Africa

A History

Corrie Decker and Elisabeth McMahon

Hosted by Elisa Prosperetti
The Idea of Development in Africa: A History (Cambridge UP, 2020) challenges prevailing international development discourses about the continent, by tracing the history of ideas, practices, and 'problems' of development used …
Performing Arts

Life at Hamilton

Sometimes You Throw Away Your Shot, Only to Find Your Story

Mike Anthony

Hosted by Alexandra Salkin
When Mike Anthony moved to New York City to become an actor, he’d imagined being under the bright lights of Broadway, living a life full of fame and fortune. Instead …
East Asian Studies

A Fashionable Century

Textile Artistry and Commerce in the Late Qing

Rachel Silberstein

Hosted by Sarah Bramao-Ramos
Rachel Silberstein’s book A Fashionable Century: Textile Artistry and Commerce in the Late Qing (University of Washington Press, 2020) reveals how Qing fashion was produced at the intersection of commerce …
Book of the Day/ Political Science

Transforming Prejudice

Identity, Fear, and Transgender Rights

Melissa R. Michelson and Brian F. Harrison

Hosted by Lilly Goren
Melissa Michelson and Brian Harrison, co-authors of the book Listen, We Need to Talk: How to Change Attitudes about LGBT Rights (Oxford University Press, 2017), which focused on how people came to change their minds about same-sex marriage and LGBT rights, examine their thesis from the previous research to determine if it is applicable to transgender rights as well. What they find is that they need to look at a …
European Studies

The Retreat of Liberal Democracy

Authoritarian Capitalism and the Accumulative State in Hungary

Gábor Scheiring

Hosted by Tim Jones
As Donald Trump's presidency draws to a close, his opponents give thanks that he never developed a strategy or learned to use his powers and agencies efficiently. If he had …
Asian Review of Books

Three Asian Divas

Women, Art and Culture In Shiraz, Delhi and Yangzhou

David Chaffetz

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
The “diva” is a common trope when we talk about culture. We normally think of the diva as a Western construction: the opera singer, the Broadway actress, the movie star …
Dan Hill's EQ Spotlight

Soul Full of Coal Dust

The True Story of an Epic Battle for Justice

Chris Hamby

Hosted by Dan Hill
Today I talked to Chris Hamby about his book Soul Full of Coal Dust: The True Story of an Epic Battle for Justice (Little Brown, 2020). Hamby looks into why there has …
Japanese Studies

Creativity in Tokyo

Revitalizing a Mature City

Matjaz Ursic and Heide Imai

Hosted by Jingyi Li
In Creativity in Tokyo: Revitalizing a Mature City (Palgrave, 2020), Heide Imai and Matjaz Ursic focues on overlooked contextual factors that constitute the urban creative climate or innovative urban milieu in …
Genocide Studies

Advancing Holocaust Studies

Carol Rittner and John K. Roth

Hosted by Kelly McFall
I think this is the fifth time I've interviewed John K. Roth for the podcast (and the second for Carol Rittner).  He has always been relentlessly realistic about the challenges, intellectual …
East Asian Studies

Staging Personhood

Costuming in Early Qing Drama

Guojun Wang

Hosted by Sarah Bramao-Ramos
Much is known about the Qing sartorial regulations and how the Qing conquerors forced Han Chinese males to adopt Manchu hairstyle and clothing. But what happened on the stage? What …
Science Fiction

Black Sun

Rebecca Roanhorse

Hosted by Rob Wolf
The first chapter of Rebecca Roanhorse’s new novel, Black Sun (Gallery/Saga Press, 2020), features a mother and child sharing a tender moment that takes an unexpected turn, ending in violence. It’s …
Academic Life

How to Leave Academia and Find a Good Job

A Discussion with Christopher Caterine

Christopher Caterine

Hosted by Christina Gessler
Welcome to The Academic Life. You are smart and capable, but you aren’t an island, and neither are we. So we reached across our mentor network to bring you podcasts …
Book of the Day/ Critical Theory

A Critical Legal Examination of Liberalism and Liberal Rights

Matthew McManus

Hosted by Stephen Dozeman
The tradition of political liberalism has a long and complicated history, filled with twists, turns, critiques and responses that have filled books, essays and lectures for several centuries now. Questions of the importance and limitations of individual rights and how to balance different interests have produced no shortage of theoretical conflict as different figures have attempted to make sense of the importance and limits of individuals and their rights.  Diving …
Art

The Life and Art of Felrath Hines

From Dark to Light

Rachel Berenson Perry

Hosted by Kirstin Ellsworth
Today I talked to Rachel Berenson Perry about her book The Life and Art of Felrath Hines: From Dark to Light (Indiana University Press, 2019). Felrath Hines (1913–1993), the first African American man to …
Islamic Studies

The Bruce B. Lawrence Reader

Islam Beyond Borders

Bruce B. Lawrence and Ali Altaf Mian

Hosted by SherAli Tareen
For more than four decades, Bruce Lawrence’s multivalent and fulsomely prolific scholarship has influenced and imprinted the Western study of Islam and Religious Studies more broadly in singularly profound ways …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

Goya

A Portrait of the Artist

Janis Tomlinson

Hosted by Marshall Poe
The life of Francisco Goya (1746–1828) coincided with an age of transformation in Spanish history that brought upheavals in the country’s politics and at the court which Goya served, changes …
Biblical Studies

The Holy Spirit

Gregg Allison and Andreas J. Köstenberger

Hosted by Ashley Morales
The Holy Spirit: Theology for the People of God (B&H Academic, 2020) analyzes the Holy Spirit through the lens of both biblical and systematic theology. Dr. Gregg Allison and Dr. Andreas Köstenberger provide a comprehensive …
Literary Studies

Strange Likeness

Description and the Modernist Novel

Dora Zhang

Hosted by Britton Edelen
In this interview, I talk with Dora Zhang, associate professor of English and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley, about her book Strange Likeness: Description in the Modernist …
Literary Studies

Teaching in Times of Crisis

Applying Comparative Literature in the Classroom

Hosted by Victoria Lupascu
Teaching in Times of Crisis: Applying Comparative Literature in the Classroom (Routledge, 2021) explores how comparative methods, which are instrumental in reading and teaching works of literature from around the …
History

Down the Up Staircase

Three Generations of a Harlem Family

Bruce Haynes and Syma Solovitch

Hosted by Tyesha Maddox
Down the Up Staircase: Three Generations of a Harlem Family (Columbia UP, 2019) tells the story of one Harlem family across three generations, connecting its journey to the historical and …
Architecture

Practiceopolis: Stories from the Architectural Profession

Yasser Megahed

Hosted by Bryan Toepfer
Practiceopolis: Stories from the Architectural Profession (Routledge, 2020) is a graphic novel about the contemporary architectural profession, in which it acts as the protagonist in the form of an imaginary …
Southeast Asian Studies

Disturbed Forests, Fragmented Memories

Jarai and Other Lives in the Cambodian Highlands

Jonathan Padwe

Hosted by Faizah Zakaria
Cambodia’s troubled history has often been depicted in terms of conflict, trauma and tussles between great powers. In Disturbed Forests, Fragmented Memories: Jarai and Other Lives in the Cambodian Highlands …
The Common Magazine

Stories from Sudan in Translation

Elisabeth Jaquette

Hosted by Emily Everett
Translator Elisabeth Jaquette speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about four stories she translated from Arabic for Issue 19 of The Common magazine. These stories appear in a special portfolio …