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Performing Arts
French Studies November 30, 2023

Creative Histories of Witchcraft

France, 1790–1940

Poppy Corbett, Anna Kisby Compton, and William G. Pooley

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
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How can researchers study magic without destroying its mystery? Drawing on a collaborative project between the playwright Dr. Poppy Corbett, the poet Anna Kisby Compton, and the historian Dr. William …

Performing Arts

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Interviews with performing artists and scholars of the performing arts about their new books.

British Studies November 29, 2023

Shakespeare’s House

A Window onto his Life and Legacy

Richard Schoch

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
In the wide realm of Shakespeare worship, the house in Stratford-upon-Avon where William Shakespeare was born in 1564 – known colloquially as the 'Birthplace' – remains the chief shrine. It's …
Art November 29, 2023

Artists Remake the World

A Contemporary Art Manifesto

Vid Simoniti

Hosted by Pierre d'Alancaisez
Artists Remake the World: A Contemporary Art Manifesto (Yale UP, 2023) puts forward an account of contemporary art’s political ambitions and potential. Surveying such innovations as evidence-driven art, socially engaged …
Critical Theory November 25, 2023

The Moral Foundations of Public Funding for the Arts

Michael Rushton

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
Should governments fund the arts? In The Moral Foundations of Public Funding for the Arts (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023), Michael Rushton, Co-Director of the Center for Cultural Affairs and a Professor at the …
American West November 24, 2023

Black Rodeo

A History of the African American Western

Mia Mask

Hosted by Stephen Hausmann
Did you know Sidney Poitier was a western icon? In a genre best known for John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, African American actors and directors have played an important role in both …
General History November 21, 2023

Persecution, Collaboration, Resistance

Music in the ‘Reichskommissariat Norwegen’ (1940–45)

Ina Rupprecht

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
When Germany invaded Norway on 9 April 1940, the long lasting bilateral relations changed fundamentally. Immediately, the administration of the ‘Reichskommissariat Norwegen’ responsible for culture and therein music together with …
Music November 17, 2023

Deliver Me from Nowhere

The Making of Bruce Springsteen's 'Nebraska'

Warren Zanes

Hosted by Bradley Morgan
Without Nebraska, Bruce Springsteen might not be who he is today. The natural follow-up to Springsteen's hugely successful album The River should have been the hit-packed Born in the U.S.A …
Sound Studies November 15, 2023

Listening with a Feminist Ear

Soundwork in Bombay Cinema

Pavitra Sundar

Hosted by Khadeeja Amenda
Pavitra Sundar's book Listening with a Feminist Ear: Soundwork in Bombay Cinema (U Michigan Press, 2023) is a study of the cultural politics and possibilities of sound in cinema. Eschewing ocularcentric …
Music November 15, 2023

Musical Migration and Imperial New York

Early Cold War Scenes

Brigid Cohen

Hosted by Kristen Turner
The heart of Brigid Cohen’s Musical Migration and Imperial New York: Early Cold War Scenes (University of Chicago Press, 2022) are the connections forged and broken amid the dislocations caused …
Media November 14, 2023

Scratchin' and Survivin'

Hustle Economics and the Black Sitcoms of Tandem Productions

Adrien Sebro

Hosted by Pete Kunze
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The 1970s was a golden age for representations of African American life on TV sitcoms: Sanford & Son, Good Times, The Jeffersons. Surprisingly, nearly all the decade’s notable Black sitcoms …
Buddhist Studies November 10, 2023

Dancing in My Dreams

A Spiritual Biography of Tina Turner

Ralph H. Craig III

Hosted by Jessica Zu
If you don’t know Tina Turner’s spirituality, you don’t know Tina.When Tina Turner reclaimed her throne as the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll in the 1980s, she attributed her comeback …
UConn PopCast November 8, 2023

What Reality TV Says About Us

A Discussion with Danielle J. Lindemann

Danielle J. Lindemann

Hosted by UConn PopCast
Reality TV shapes and reflects how we see ourselves, and what we regard as normal. Professor Danielle J. Lindemann watched thousands of hours of reality tv to decode its influence …
Film November 8, 2023

It's a Wonderful Life

Michael Newton

Hosted by Daniel Moran
Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life is one of the best-loved films of Classical Hollywood cinema, a story of despair and redemption in the aftermath of war that is …
UConn PopCast November 7, 2023

This Will Change Your Perspective on James Bond

A Discussion with Susan Burgess

Hosted by UConn PopCast
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The Bond movies have influenced portrayals of masculinity and femininity for decades, but the Daniel Craig-era saw a revolution in depictions of sex, gender, and inclusivity. The UConn PopCast discusses …
Music November 6, 2023

Get Shown the Light

Improvisation and Transcendence in the Music of the Grateful Dead

Michael Kaler

Hosted by Daniel Moran
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Of all the musical developments of rock in the 1960s, one in particular fundamentally changed the music’s structure and listening experience: the incorporation of extended improvisation into live performances …
Popular Culture November 5, 2023

A Curious Mix of People

The Underground Scene of '90s Austin

Greg Beets and Richard Whymark

Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan
Ask anyone outside of Austin what they know about the city and chances are the first thing they'll mention is the music. While the Armadillo Era has been well-chronicled, there …
General History November 2, 2023

Music and Resistance

Cultural Defense During the German Occupation of Norway 1940-45

Michael Custodis

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
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The role of music during the German occupation of Norway (1940-45) proves to be an exceptional case for cultural opposition in a dictatorship. Few famous musicians, some local celebrities and …
Recall This Book November 2, 2023

"We are all latecomers": Martin Puchner's "Culture"

A Discussion with Martin Puchner

Martin Puchner

Hosted by Elizabeth Ferry and John Plotz
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Recall This Book listeners already know the inimitable Martin Puchner (Professor of English and Theater at Harvard, editor of more than one Norton Anthology, and author of many prizewinning books) …
Film November 2, 2023

She Damn Near Ran the Studio

The Extraordinary Lives of Ida R. Koverman

Jacqueline R. Braitman

Hosted by Bruce Shapiro
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In this episode, I am happy to be interviewing historian and author Dr. Jacqueline R. Braitman about her very engaging biography, She Damn Near Ran the Studio: The Extraordinary Lives …
Music November 1, 2023

Song, Landscape, and Identity in Medieval Northern France

Toward an Environmental History

Jennifer Saltzstein

Hosted by Áine Palmer
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Song, Landscape, and Identity in Medieval Northern France: Toward an Environmental History (Oxford University Press, 2023) investigates how northern French vernacular poets and musicians writing in the late middle ages …