New Books Network Podcast

Economics December 10, 2023

Invested

How Three Centuries of Stock Market Advice Reshaped Our Money, Markets, and Minds

Paul Crosthwaite, Peter Knight, Nicky Marsh, James Taylor, and Helen Paul

Hosted by Nathan Moore

Who hasn’t wished for a surefire formula for riches and a ticket to the good life? For three centuries, investment advisers of all kinds, legit and otherwise, have guaranteed that …

Music December 9, 2023

Bob Dylan

Mixing Up the Medicine

Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel

Hosted by Daniel Moran

Several years ago, a treasure trove containing some 6,000 original Bob Dylan manuscripts was revealed to exist. Their destination? Tulsa, Oklahoma. The documents, as essential as they are intriguing—draft …

Caribbean Studies December 8, 2023

An American Icon in Puerto Rico

Barbie, Girlhood, and Colonialism at Play

Emily R. Aguiló-Pérez

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Since her debut in 1959, Barbie has transcended boundaries and transformed into a global symbol of femininity, capturing the imaginations of girls all around the world. An American Icon in …

Food December 8, 2023

Chinese Menu

The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods

Grace Lin

Hosted by Laura Goldberg

Newbery and Caldecott honoree and New York Times bestselling author Grace Lin joins New Books Network to talk about her new, groundbreaking, lushly illustrated, book that explores the whimsical myths …

Game Studies December 7, 2023

Playing the Middle Ages

Pitfalls and Potential in Modern Games

Robert Houghton

Hosted by Rudolf Thomas Inderst

The Middle Ages have provided rich source material for physical and digital games from Dungeons and Dragons to Assassin's Creed. Playing the Middle Ages: Pitfalls and Potential in Modern Games …

Comics and Graphic Novels December 6, 2023

Cartooning China

Punch, Power, & Politics in the Victorian Era

Amy Matthewson

Hosted by Elizabeth Woock

Dr. Amy Matthewson's Cartooning China: Punch, Power, & Politics in the Victorian Era (Routledge, 2022) explores the series of cartoons of China and the Chinese that were published in the popular …

General History December 6, 2023

Pockets

An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close

Hannah Carlson

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

It’s a subject that stirs up plenty of passion: Why do men’s clothes have so many pockets and women’s so few? In her captivating book Pockets: An Intimate History of …

Popular Culture December 5, 2023

Ballroom

A People’s History of Dancing

Hilary French

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In the early twentieth century, American ragtime and the Parisian tango fuelled a dancing craze in Britain. Public ballrooms were built throughout the country, providing a glamorous setting for dancing …

Asian American Studies December 3, 2023

Adoption Fantasies

The Fetishization of Asian Adoptees from Girlhood to Womanhood

Kimberly D. McKee

Hosted by Julia Lee

In Adoption Fantasies: The Fetishization of Asian Adoptees from Girlhood to Womanhood (Ohio State UP, 2023), Kimberly D. McKee explores the ways adopted Asian women and girls are situated at …

African Studies December 3, 2023

Bottled

How Coca-Cola Became African

Sara Byala

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Travel to virtually any African country and you are likely to find a Coca-Cola, often a cold one at that. Bottled asks how this carbonated drink became ubiquitous across the …

Popular Culture December 3, 2023

I Am the Dark Tourist

Messenger of Remembrance

H. E. Sawyer

Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Dark tourism is the practice of visiting sites associated with death and disaster. Participation is increasing, yet much of the machinations behind dark tourism remain shrouded in mystery, and intentionally …

General History November 28, 2023

The Pirates’ Code

Laws and Life Aboard Ship

Rebecca Simon

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Listen:

In The Pirate's Code: Laws and Life Aboard Ship (Reaktion, 2023), Dr. Rebecca Simon presents a rollicking account of pirates’ codes, the strict rules essential for survival at sea. Pirates …

Anthropology November 27, 2023

‘Ritual Litter' Redressed

Ceri Houlbrook

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Ritual deposition is not an activity that many people in the Western world would consider themselves participants of. The enigmatic beliefs and magical thinking that led to the deposition of …

Asian Review of Books November 23, 2023

Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again

The Original Novellas by Shigeru Kayama

Shigeru Kayama

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

Earlier this month, Toho Studios released “Godzilla Minus One”—the 37th film in the now almost seven-decade-old franchise. Godzilla has gone through many phases over the past 70 years: symbol of …

America and Beyond with Paul Starobin November 20, 2023

Folk Music

A Bob Dylan Biography in Seven Songs

Greil Marcus

Hosted by Paul Starobin

Greil Marcus is perhaps the world’s foremost interpreter of Bob Dylan. This podcast focuses on Marcus’ latest Dylan book, Folk Music: A Bob Dylan Biography in Seven Songs (Yale University …

Literary Studies November 18, 2023

Proto-Science Fiction Classics

Joshua Glenn on MIT Press's "Radium Age Series"

Joshua Glenn

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Under the direction of founding editor Joshua Glenn, the MIT Press’s Radium Age series is reissuing notable proto–science fiction stories from the underappreciated era between 1900 and 1935. In these …

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 …

UConn PopCast November 15, 2023

'For All Mankind'

An Alternate History About the Possibility of Utopia

Hosted by UConn PopCast

It’s the UConn PopCast, and in this episode we tackle ‘For All Mankind,’ Apple TV’s alternate history about a space race that never ended. We first react to episode one …

Media November 14, 2023

Scratchin' and Survivin'

Hustle Economics and the Black Sitcoms of Tandem Productions

Adrien Sebro

Hosted by Pete Kunze

Listen:

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 …

Comics and Graphic Novels November 10, 2023

Comics and the Body

Drawing, Reading, and Vulnerability

Eszter Szép

Hosted by Elizabeth Woock

Dr. Eszter Szép's book Comics and the Body: Drawing, Reading, and Vulnerability (Ohio State UP, 2020) is the first book to examine the roles of the body in both drawing …