New Books Network
Arts & Letters
Art November 30, 2020

Painter and Patron

The Maritime Silk Road in the Códice Casanatense

Peter Gordon and Juan José Morales

Hosted by Jenny Peruski
Today I talked to Peter Gordon and Juan José Morales about their book Painter and Patron: The Maritime Silk Road in the Códice Casanatense (Abbreviated Press, 2020). The Códice Casanatense …

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Critical Theory November 30, 2020

The Empire Strikes Back

BFI Classics Series

Rebecca Harrison

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
Why does The Empire Strikes Back matter? In BFI Classics Series's The Empire Strikes Back (Bloomsbury, 2020), Rebecca Harrison, a lecturer in Film and Television Studies at the University of Glasgow, tells the …
LGBTQ+ Studies November 30, 2020

Confessions of a Gay Priest

A Memoir of Sex, Love, Abuse, and Scandal in the Catholic Seminary

Tom Rastrelli

Hosted by John Marszalek
Tom Rastrelli is a survivor of clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse who then became a priest in the early days of the Catholic Church’s ongoing scandals. Confessions of a Gay Priest: A …
Performing Arts November 30, 2020

Lot Six

A Memoir

David Adjmi

Hosted by Andy Boyd
Lot Six (Harper 2020) is a moving and hilarious memoir from playwright David Adjmi. The book traces Adjmi’s search for his identity, during which he becomes an observant yeshiva student …
Hindu Studies November 27, 2020

The Bhagavad-Gītā

A Critical Introduction

Ithamar Theodor

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Ithamar Theodor's The Bhagavad-Gītā: A Critical Introduction (Routledge, 2020) is a systematic and comprehensive introduction to one of the most read texts in South Asia. The Bhagavad-gītā is at its …
Architecture November 27, 2020

Making Architecture Through Being Human

A Handbook of Design Ideas

Philip D. Plowright

Hosted by Bryan Toepfer
Architecture can seem complicated, mysterious or even ill-defined, especially to a student being introduced to architectural ideas for the first time. One way to approach architecture is simply as the …
Sports November 27, 2020

Our Last Season

A Writer, a Fan, a Friendship

Harvey Araton

Hosted by Paul Knepper
Harvey Araton’s new book Our Last Season: A Writer, a Fan, a Friendship (Penguin, 2020), reads like a mix between Tuesdays with Morrie and a sequel to his book When …
Literature November 25, 2020

Seven

Farzana Doctor

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb
Sharifa and her husband Murtuza are spending his sabbatical year in Mumbai with their seven-year-old daughter, Zeenat. While Murtuza teaches, Shari is planning to homeschool Zee, reconnect with her family …
Science Fiction November 25, 2020

The Once and Future Witches

Alix E. Harrow

Hosted by Rob Wolf
Alix E. Harrow’s The Once and Future Witches (Redhook, 2020) begins with the familiar phrase “Once upon a time” but the novel is anything but a traditional fairytale. Yes, there are …
Popular Culture November 25, 2020

Batman and the Joker

Contested Sexuality in Popular Culture

Chris Richardson

Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan
In Batman and The Joker: Contested Sexuality in Popular Culture (Routledge, 2020), Chris Richardson presents a cultural analysis of the ways gender, identity, and sexuality are negotiated in the rivalry …
Sports November 25, 2020

ABC Sports

The Rise and Fall of Network Sports Television

Travis Vogan

Hosted by Keith Rathbone
Today we are joined by Travis Vogan, Associate Professor of Journalism and American Studies at the University of Iowa, and the author of ABC Sports: The Rise and Fall of …
Performing Arts November 24, 2020

Martha Graham's Cold War

The Dance of American Diplomacy

Victoria Phillips

Hosted by Renee Garris
Dr. Victoria Phillips adeptly tells the story of Martha Graham's role as diplomat, arts innovator, and dancer. Her book Martha Graham's Cold War: The Dance of American Diplomacy (Oxford UP …
Intellectual History November 24, 2020

Digitizing Enlightenment

Digital Humanities and the Transformation of Eighteenth-Century Studies

Simon Burrows and Glenn Roe

Hosted by Alexandra Ortolja-Baird
Digitizing Enlightenment: Digital Humanities and the Transformation of 18th-Century Studies (Liverpool UP, 2020) explores how a set of inter-related digital projects are transforming our vision of the Enlightenment. The featured …
Geography November 24, 2020

Seeds of Power

Environmental Injustice and Genetically Modified Soybeans in Argentina

Amalia Leguizamón

Hosted by Stentor Danielson
In 1996 Argentina adopted genetically modified (GM) soybeans as a central part of its national development strategy. Today, Argentina is the third largest global grower and exporter of GM crops …
Language November 24, 2020

A Revolution in Tropes

Alloiostrophic Rhetoric

Jane S. Sutton and Mari Lee Mifsud

Hosted by Lee Pierce
Aristotle, the co-called father of rhetoric, supposedly conceptualized his theory of persuasion as a means of bringing meaning to rest. But what if there’s another story, one in which forgotten …
History November 23, 2020

The Mappae Mundi of Medieval Iceland

Dale Kedwards

Hosted by Joshua Tham
The Icelandic mappae mundi were a series of maps produced in the late medieval period (c. 1225 - c. 1400) that bore witness to fundamental changes in the landscape of …
Sociology November 20, 2020

Can Music Make You Sick?: Measuring the Price of Musical Ambition

Sally Anne Gross and George Musgrave

Hosted by Michael Johnston
It is often assumed that creative people are prone to psychological instability, and that this explains apparent associations between cultural production and mental health problems. In their detailed study of …
Native American Studies November 20, 2020

Picturing Indians

Native Americans in Film, 1941-1960

Liza Black

Hosted by Annabel LaBrecque
Behind the braided wigs, buckskins, and excess bronzer that typified the mid-century "filmic Indian" lies a far richer, deeper history of Indigenous labor, survival, and agency. This history takes center …
Education November 20, 2020

Writing Support for International Graduate Students

Enhancing Transition and Success

Shyam Sharma

Hosted by Daniel Shea
Listen to this interview of Shyam Sharma, author of Writing Support for International Graduate Students: Enhancing Transition and Success (Routledge, 2020). We talk about international students and rhetoric, international students …
Food November 19, 2020

Diners, Dudes, and Diets

How Gender and Power Collide in Food Media and Culture

Emily J. H. Contois

Hosted by Carrie Tippen
In Diners, Dudes, and Diets: How Gender and Power Collide in Food Media and Culture (UNC Press, 2020), Emily Contois argues that the figure of The Dude was invented (or …