Celebration Studies

Celebration Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of celebration about their new books.

Turning IBM's Culture Massively Around

June 4, 2026

Turning IBM's Culture Massively Around

Phil Gilbert

Phil Gilbert is best known for leading IBM’s transformation as their General Manager of Design, a project that updated the work of 400,000 IBM employe…

Geraldine Fela, "Critical Care: Nurses on the Frontline of Australia's AIDS Crisis" (UNSW Press, 2024)

June 3, 2026

Critical Care

Geraldine Fela
Hosted by Hannah Forsyth

The claim that real change is enabled by grassroots, community-based movements might seem a distant ideal, but Dr Geraldine Fela shows such assertions…

Gloria Sibson Ayob, "The Concept of Emotional Disorder" (Oxford UP, 2025)

June 2, 2026

The Concept of Emotional Disorder

Gloria Sibson Ayob

The Concept of Emotional Disorder (Oxford University Press, 2025) is a philosophical and academic exploration of how society determines whether emot…

Dougald O’Reilly, "Empires of the Southern Ocean: Early Civilizations of Mainland and Insular Southeast Asia" (Bloomsbury Academic, 2026)

June 1, 2026

Empires of the Southern Ocean

Dougald O’Reilly
Hosted by Patrick Jory

From about the middle of the first millennium of the Common Era through to the fifteenth century, Southeast Asian societies underwent a political tran…

H. A. Drake, "The Wisdom of the Ancients: Four Ideas That Changed the World" (Oxford UP, 2025)

May 28, 2026

The Wisdom of the Ancients

H. A. Drake
Hosted by Charles Coutinho

The Wisdom of the Ancients: Four Ideas That Changed the World (Oxford UP, 2025) is about four cornerstones of modern thought that were put in place by…

Barnaby B Barratt, "Free Association: A Contemporary Introduction" (Routledge, 2026)

May 28, 2026

Free Association

Barnaby B Barratt
Hosted by Philip Lance

In Free Association: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge, 2026), Barnaby Barratt presents a compelling and much-needed exploration of the method …

Christopher S. Celenza, "The Evolution of Western Thought: Volume 1, From the Ancient World to Late Antiquity" (Cambridge UP, 2025)

May 27, 2026

The Evolution of Western Thought

Christopher S. Celenza

A rich and immersive reinterpretation of the history of Western thought, The Evolution of Western Thought: Volume 1, From the Ancient World to Late An…

Patrick Wyman, "Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World" (HarperCollins, 2026)

May 26, 2026

Lost Worlds

Patrick Wyman
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

There’s a familiar story about us humans: we went from hunting and gathering to farming, wandering bands to villages and cities, clans and chieftains …

Matthieu Felt, "Meanings of Antiquity: Myth Interpretation in Premodern Japan" (Harvard UP, 2023)

May 25, 2026

Meanings of Antiquity

Matthieu Felt
Hosted by Jingyi Li

Meanings of Antiquity: Myth Interpretation in Premodern Japan (Harvard UP, 2023) is the first dedicated study of how the oldest Japanese myths, record…

Jeffrey Whyte, "The Birth of Psychological War: Propaganda, Espionage, and Military Violence from WWII to the Vietnam War" (Oxford UP, 2023)

May 25, 2026

The Birth of Psychological War

Jeffrey Whyte
Hosted by Michael Vann

Jeffrey Whyte's book The Birth of Psychological War: Propaganda, Espionage, and Military Violence from WWII to the Vietnam War (Oxford UP, 2023) explo…

Samuel Markind, "Music Between Your Ears: How Musical Engagement Powers the Human Brain" (JHU Press, 2025)

May 24, 2026

Music Between Your Ears

Samuel Markind
Hosted by Gregory McNiff

Explores the profound power of music to influence brain function and well-being. IPA 2026 Distinguished Favorite in the Music Category Why does musi…

John Waddell, "The Celtic World: A History" (Four Courts Press, 2026)

May 23, 2026

The Celtic World

John Waddell
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

At the dawn of history the Celts occupied a vast swathe of Europe from Ireland in the west to lands south of the Black Sea in Asia Minor. The stud…

Tara Mulder, "A Womb of One's Own: Lost Histories of Childbirth in Ancient Rome" (U California Press, 2026)

May 16, 2026

A Womb of One's Own

Tara Mulder
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In the well-trod history of the Roman Empire, a pivotal moment has long gone unnoticed: It was in ancient Rome that medical men first set their sights…

Lara Sheehi, "From the Clinic to the Streets: Psychoanalysis for Revolutionary Futures" (Pluto Press, 2026)

May 16, 2026

From the Clinic to the Streets

Lara Sheehi
Hosted by Amanie Antar

Psychoanalysis is rising in popularity, but it’s not helping patients navigate the pressures and harms of modern capitalism. Instead, it continues to …

Stuart Katz, "Still Here: A Story of Living with Suicidal Ideation" (Independent, 2026)

May 16, 2026

Still Here

Stuart Katz
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Still Here is a powerful and unflinching novel about chronic suicidal ideation—not as a moment of crisis, but as a daily presence. Daniel is a husban…

Sally Maslansky, "A Brilliant Adaptation: How Dissociative Identity Disorder and the Power of the Therapeutic Bond Saved Me" (New Harbinger Publications, 2026)

May 13, 2026

A Brilliant Adaptation

Sally Maslansky
Hosted by Elizabeth Cronin

A Brilliant Adaptation: How Dissociative Identity Disorder and the Power of the Therapeutic Bond Saved Me (New Harbinger Publications, 2026) is a sear…

Andrea Gutiérrez-Glik, "Healing the Oppressed Body: A Therapeutic Guide for Radical Self-Liberation" (Penguin, 2026)

May 12, 2026

Healing the Oppressed Body

Andrea Gutiérrez-Glik
Hosted by Helena Vissing

An essential guide to healing from oppression-based trauma, for everyone left outside of mainstream conversations There are many books on trauma heali…

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, "The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us" (Liveright Publishing, 2026)

May 12, 2026

The Mattering Instinct

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

MacArthur Fellow and National Humanities Medalist Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of Plato at the Googleplex and The Mind-Body Problem, returns wi…

Extraordinary, Mysterious, and Impossible Experiences, with Jeffrey Kriple

May 8, 2026

Extraordinary, Mysterious, and Impossible Experiences

Jeffrey Kriple
Hosted by Pierce Salguero

Today Pierce Salguero sit down with Prof. Jeff Kripal, noted scholar of religion at Rice University, to talk about extraordinary, mysterious, and “imp…

Empathy Takes Action: An Autistic Therapist on the Radical Work of Connection

April 30, 2026

Empathy Takes Action

Aimee Cliff

Mainstream psychology has long accepted that some people (like those with autism) are naturally more logical and unemotional, while others (like so-ca…