NBN Book of the Day

NBN Book of the Day

episodes

One book selected daily from those published on the New Books Network.

Strong State, Weak Links: Eugenics and the Southern Politics of Welfare with Anna Krome-Lukens (UNC Press, 2026)

September 30, 2026

Strong State, Weak Links

Anna Krome-Lukens
Hosted by Ariel Schnee

In the early twentieth century, most US states established eugenics programs to improve the human race through selective breeding. North Carolina ran …

Smuggling Law: Unsettled Sovereignties in Turkey's Kurdish Borderlands with Fırat Bozçalı (Stanford UP, 2025)

September 29, 2026

Smuggling Law

Fırat Bozçalı
Hosted by Armanc Yildiz

The Kurdish-populated Wan/Van Province is a major smuggling hub between Turkey and Iran. Kurdish smugglers cross this 180-mile-long land border, trans…

The Player and the Played: From Gamed Capitalism to 21st-Century Fascism with Max Haiven (MIT Press, 2026)

September 28, 2026

The Player and the Played

Max Haiven

A provocative examination of the ways our economy has been rigged by financialization, and the importance of games to our dangerous political moment. …

Wastelands and Wonderlands: Utopias and Dystopias in Film and Literature with Matthew Leggatt (SUNY Press, 2026)

September 27, 2026

Wastelands and Wonderlands

Matthew Leggatt
Hosted by Luca Trenta

Wastelands and Wonderlands: Utopias and Dystopias in Film and Literature with Matthew Leggatt (SUNY Press, 2026) is an edited collection exploring uto…

Power Surge: Conglomerate Hollywood and the Studio System's Last Hurrah with Thomas Schatz (U California Press, 2026)

September 26, 2026

Power Surge

Thomas Schatz
Hosted by Pete Kunze

Thomas Schatz returns us to an era when a newly enriched movie industry rediscovered its creative energy, and indie went mainstream without losing its…

Climate Hegemony: Confronting the Politics of Environmental Impasse with Laurie Parsons (LSE Press, 2026)

September 26, 2026

Climate Hegemony

Laurie Parsons

Climate action is at an impasse. Its political opponents are stronger than ever, its advocates powerless. Almost every major government and corporatio…

Driven to Their Knees: Humiliation in Contemporary Politics with Roxanne L. Euben (Princeton UP, 2025)

September 25, 2026

Driven to Their Knees

Roxanne L. Euben

Humiliation pervades our politics, from images of stripped Palestinian men in Gaza to mocking chants at MAGA rallies. It suffuses pictures and videos,…

Marion Nestle and Lisa Sutherland, "Sugar Coated: Unboxing the Hidden Forces Shaping America's Favorite Breakfast Food" (U California Press, 2026)

September 24, 2026

Sugar Coated

Marion Nestle and Lisa Sutherland
Hosted by Kelly Spivey

In Sugar Coated: Unboxing the Hidden Forces Shaping America's Favorite Breakfast Food (U California Press, 2026), world-renowned food politics expert …

Tess Chakkalakal, "A Matter of Complexion: The Life and Fictions of Charles W. Chesnutt" (St. Martin's Press, 2025)

September 23, 2026

A Matter of Complexion

Tess Chakkalakal
Hosted by Raymond Williams

In A Matter of Complexion: The Life and Fictions of Charles W. Chesnutt (St. Martin's Press, 2025), Tess Chakkalakal gives readers the first comprehen…

Ehsan Dehghan, "The Discursive-Digital Link: Antagonism and Polarisation in Digital Spaces" (Routledge, 2025)

September 22, 2026

The Discursive-Digital Link

Ehsan Dehghan
Hosted by Pete Kunze

We are in a state of crisis. Democracy is under threat, authoritarian politics are on the rise, and digital media—once heralded as emancipatory techno…

Eileen Luhr, "Golden States: How California Religion Went from Cautionary Tale to Global Brand" (U California Press, 2024)

September 21, 2026

Golden States

Eileen Luhr
Hosted by Stephen Hausmann

Since the beginning of European colonization, the sun-drenched land of California has always attracted dreamers and schemers. Whether it was Spanish m…

Pablo F. Gomez, "Bloody Numbers: The Early Atlantic Slave Trade and the Invention of Modern Corporeality" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

September 20, 2026

Bloody Numbers

Pablo F. Gomez
Hosted by Amisah Bakuri

In my conversation with Professor Pablo F. Gómez about his new book, Bloody Numbers: The Early Atlantic Slave Trade and the Invention of Modern Corpor…

Pushpesh Kumar et al. eds., "Sociology of Gender in India: Contemporary Issues and Perspectives" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

September 19, 2026

Sociology of Gender in India

Pushpesh Kumar, Rituparna Patgiri, and Deepali Aparajita Dungdung eds.
Hosted by Priyam Sinha

Sociology of Gender in India brings together feminist and queer scholarship to chart the changing landscape of gender debates in Indian sociology. Spa…

Jerome Sauvage, "Witness to North Korea: Three Years on the Ground in the DPRK" (Bloomsbury, 2026)

September 18, 2026

Witness to North Korea

Jerome Sauvage
Hosted by Anthony Kao

Jerome Sauvage served as the United Nations Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative in North Korea …

Bryant Simon, "For Customers Only: Public Bathrooms and the Making of American Inequality" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

September 17, 2026

For Customers Only

Bryant Simon
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Americans have nowhere to go. Nationwide, countless public spaces lack one crucial thing: bathrooms, never mind ones that are safe and functional. Yet…

Christina E. Firpo, "Beauty and the Nation: Women, Culture, and the National Image in Interwar Vietnam" (Columbia UP, 2025)

September 16, 2026

Beauty and the Nation

Christina E. Firpo
Hosted by Camellia Pham

During the interwar years, Vietnamese society witnessed a rapid change in the way women looked. Rejecting the model of a sequestered maiden with black…

Tom Hulme, "Belfastmen: An Intimate History of Life Before Gay Liberation" (Cornell UP, 2026)

September 15, 2026

Belfastmen

Tom Hulme
Hosted by Niall Herron

Professor Tom Hulme's second book reconstructs the erotic and romantic lives of queer men in Belfast across roughly seventy years, from the recriminal…

R. Douglas Hurt, "The Country People: An Agricultural History of the American Revolution" (U Georgia Press, 2026)

September 14, 2026

The Country People

R. Douglas Hurt
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Although historians have given considerable attention to the American Revolution, the agricultural history of the American War for Independence exists…

Jennifer Hoewe, "Enjoyment Is Breaking News: How We Became Less Informed and More Divided (and How to Fix It)" (MIT Press, 2026)

September 13, 2026

Enjoyment Is Breaking News

Jennifer Hoewe
Hosted by Cory Barker

Why we crave enjoyment from news, how our news use divides us, and what we can do to create better news and more informed citizens. TikTok. Short-form…

R. Joshua Scannell, "The Carceral Surround" (U Minnesota Press, 2026)

September 12, 2026

The Carceral Surround

R. Joshua Scannell
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

As law enforcement agencies deploy increasingly advanced technologies to suppress dissent, hunt migrants, and target marginalized communities, The Car…