New Books Network Podcast

Medieval History March 27, 2023

The Fantasy of the Middle Ages

An Epic Journey through Imaginary Medieval Worlds

Larisa Grollemond and Bryan C. Keene

Hosted by Evan Zarkadas

This abundantly illustrated book is an illuminating exploration of the impact of medieval imagery on three hundred years of visual culture. From the soaring castles of Sleeping Beauty to the …

Scholarly Communication March 26, 2023

Blunt Instruments

Recognizing Racist Cultural Infrastructure in Memorials, Museums, and Patriotic Practices

Kristin Hass

Hosted by Jen Hoyer

Blunt Instruments: Recognizing Racist Cultural Infrastructure in Memorials, Museums, and Patriotic Practices (Beacon Press, 2022) provides a field guide to the memorials, museums, and practices that commemorate white supremacy in …

Architecture March 25, 2023

Out of Architecture

The Value of Architects Beyond Traditional Practice

Jake Rudin and Erin Pellegrino

Hosted by Bryan Toepfer

Jake Rudin and Erin Pellegrino's book Out of Architecture: The Value of Architects Beyond Traditional Practice (Routledge, 2022) is both a call to reassess the architecture profession and its education, and a toolkit …

Architecture March 20, 2023

Climate Justice and Community Renewal

Resistance and Grassroots Solutions

Brian Tokar and Tamra Gilbertson

Hosted by Bryan Toepfer

Brian Tokar and Tamra Gilbertson's book Climate Justice and Community Renewal: Resistance and Grassroots Solutions (Routledge, 2020) brings together the voices of people from five continents who live, work, and research …

Architecture March 8, 2023

Development, Architecture, and the Formation of Heritage in Late Twentieth-Century Iran

A Vital Past

Ali Mozaffari and Nigel Westbrook

Hosted by Bryan Toepfer

Development, Architecture, and the Formation of Heritage in Late Twentieth-Century Iran (Manchester UP, 2020) analyses the use of the past and the production of heritage through architectural design in the …

Architecture February 28, 2023

The Building as Screen

A History, Theory, and Practice of Massive Media

Dave Colangelo

Hosted by Bryan Toepfer

The Building as Screen: A History, Theory, and Practice of Massive Media (Amsterdam UP, 2019) describes, historicizes, theorizes, and creatively deploys massive media -- a set of techno-social assemblages and …

Architecture February 23, 2023

Reconstructing the Garrick

Adler and Sullivan's Lost Masterpiece

John Vinci

Hosted by Bryan Toepfer

For six months in 1961, Richard Nickel, John Vinci, and David Norris salvaged the interior and exterior ornamentation of the Garrick Theater, Adler & Sullivan’s magnificent architectural masterpiece in Chicago’s …

International Horizons February 20, 2023

Why Should Cultural Heritage Be Protected?

Preserving Our Common History with Former UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova

Irina Bokova

Hosted by International Horizons

Where people are killed and abused in warfare and violent conflict, artifacts of cultural heritage are often destroyed and mistreated as well. Indeed, in the World War II-era efforts to …

Sociology February 18, 2023

Urban Play

Make-Believe, Technology, and Space

Fabio Duarte and Ricardo Alvarez

Hosted by Michael Johnston

Why technology is most transformative when it is playful, and innovative spatial design happens only when designers are both tinkerers and dreamers. In Urban Play: Make-Believe, Technology, and Space (MIT …

Architecture February 8, 2023

Design with Nature on Cape Cod and the Islands

Jack Ahern

Hosted by Bryan Toepfer

Cape Cod and the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are special places known for their distinctive flora, including pine-oak forests, sandplain grasslands, and sand dunes peppered with bearberry shrubs …

Geography February 8, 2023

Co-Cities

Innovative Transitions toward Just and Self-Sustaining Communities

Sheila R. Foster and Christian Iaione

Hosted by Stentor Danielson

A new model of urban governance, mapping the route to a more equitable management of a city’s infrastructure and services. The majority of the world’s inhabitants live in cities, but …

Sociology January 29, 2023

Stacked Decks

Building Inspectors and the Reproduction of Urban Inequality

Robin Bartram

Hosted by Michael Johnston

Though we rarely see them at work, building inspectors have the power to significantly shape our lives through their discretionary decisions. The building inspectors of Chicago are at the heart …

Indian Religions January 26, 2023

Opening Kailasanatha

The Temple in Kanchipuram Revealed in Time and Space

Padma Kaimal

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

In Opening Kailasanatha: The Temple in Kanchipuram Revealed in Time and Space (U Washington Press, 2020), Padma Kaimal deciphers the intentions of the monument’s makers, reaching back across centuries to …

Anthropology January 22, 2023

The Industrial Ephemeral

Labor and Love in Indian Architecture and Construction

Namita Vijay Dharia

Hosted by Garima Jaju

What transformative effects does a multimillion-dollar industry have on those who work within it? The Industrial Ephemeral: Labor and Love in Indian Architecture and Construction (U California Press, 2022), presents …

Political Science January 19, 2023

Designing for Democracy

How to Build Community in Digital Environments

Jennifer Forestal

Hosted by Lilly Goren

Political Theorist Jennifer Forestal’s new book is a fascinating exploration of contemporary democracy and how it operates in different spaces. Forestal’s avenue into the question of democracy and the space …

Philosophy January 12, 2023

After Thomas Kuhn

The Structure of Aesthetic Revolutions

Oana Serban

Hosted by Carrie Figdor

Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions revolutionized the way philosophers and historians of science thought about science, scientific progress, and the nature of scientific knowledge. But Kuhn himself also …

Art December 22, 2022

Alternative Iran

Contemporary Art and Critical Spatial Practice

Pamela Karimi

Hosted by Kaveh Rafie

Alternative Iran offers a unique contribution to the field of contemporary art, investigating how Iranian artists engage with space and site amid the pressures of the art market and the …

Sociology December 2, 2022

Egypt's Housing Crisis

The Shaping of Urban Space

Yahia Shawkat

Hosted by Rituparna Patgiri

Along with football and religion, housing is a fundamental cornerstone of Egyptian life: it can make or break marriage proposals, invigorate or slow down the economy, and popularize or embarrass …

American Studies November 30, 2022

Heaven on the Hudson

Mansions, Monuments, and Marvels of Riverside Park

Stephanie Azzarone

Hosted by Robert Snyder

On the west side of Manhattan, Riverside Park winds between the banks of the Hudson River and the elegant housing of Riverside Drive. In her new book Heaven on the …

Sociology November 28, 2022

Estate Regeneration and Its Discontents

Public Housing, Place and Inequality in London

Paul Watt

Hosted by Anna Zhelnina

It is widely accepted that London is in the midst of a serious housing crisis, manifested most obviously in city's soaring rents. While the causes of this crisis are manifold …