Economic and Business History

Economic and Business History

episodes

Interviews with scholars of economic and business history about their new books.

Zheng Liu, "Cultural Mavericks: The Business and Politics of Independent Bookselling in China" (Columbia UP, 2026)

March 28, 2026

Cultural Mavericks

Zheng Liu (Sociology scholar)
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In recent decades, self-proclaimed “independent bookstores” have arisen across China. In the West, such retailers represent an alternative to corporat…

Nellie Chu, "Precarious Accumulation: Fast Fashion Bosses in Transnational Guangzhou" (Duke UP, 2026)

March 28, 2026

Precarious Accumulation

Nellie Chu
Hosted by Yadong Li

In Precarious Accumulation: Fast Fashion Bosses in Transnational Guangzhou (Duke UP, 2026), the cultural anthropologist Nellie Chu tells the story of …

Dovev Lavie, "The Cooperative Economy: A Solution to Societal Grand Challenges" (Routledge, 2023)

March 27, 2026

The Cooperative Economy

Dovev Lavie
Hosted by Alfred Marcus

Societal grand challenges have taken a toll on humanity, which finds itself at a crossroads. The concentration of wealth and economic inequality, the …

James Lin, "The Global Vanguard: Agrarian Development and the Making of Modern Taiwan" (U California Press, 2025)

March 25, 2026

The Global Vanguard

James Lin

What does it mean for a small state to imagine itself as a model for the developing world? And how were these visions of agrarian development received…

J. S. Nelson, "Business Ethics: What Everyone Needs to Know" (Oxford UP, 2021)

March 24, 2026

Business Ethics

J. S. Nelson
Hosted by Alfred Marcus

The book places special emphasis on the relationship between corporations, managers, and shareholders. Drawing on Lynn Stout’s influential work on cor…

Steffan Blayney, "Health and Efficiency: Fatigue, the Science of Work, and the Making of the Working-Class Body" (Activist Studies of Science, 2022)

March 23, 2026

Health and Efficiency

Steffan Blayney
Hosted by Thomas Discenna

Our guest today is Steffan Blayney, the author of Health & Efficiency: Fatigue, the Science of Work, and the Making of the Working-Class Body. In Heal…

Orsi Husz, "Bankminded: Banks As Intimate Agents of Everyday Life in Welfare State Sweden" (Palgrave MacMillan, 2025)

March 22, 2026

Bankminded

Orsi Husz

In today’s world, it is almost impossible to go through the day without interacting with a bank—whether through a salary payment, a debit card, a cred…

Elizabeth Mitchell Elder, "Company Towns: Industry Power and the Historical Foundations of Public Mistrust" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

March 22, 2026

Company Towns

Elizabeth Mitchell Elder
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In Company Towns: Industry Power and the Historical Foundations of Public Mistrust (University of Chicago Press, 2026), Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell Elder …

Doug Crandell, "Twenty-Two Cents an Hour: Disability Rights and the Fight to End Subminimum Wages" (Cornell UP, 2022)

March 21, 2026

Twenty-Two Cents an Hour

Doug Crandell
Hosted by Thomas Discenna

In Twenty-Two Cents an Hour: Disability Rights and the Fight to End Subminimum Wages (Cornell UP, 2022), Doug Crandell uncovers the harsh reality of p…

Paul Kohlbry, "Plots and Deeds: Agrarian Annihilation and the Fight for Land Justice in Palestine" (Stanford UP, 2026)

March 20, 2026

Plots and Deeds

Paul Kohlbry

The emancipatory potential and limits of land justice, when land is at once home, property, territory, and homeland. Peasant farming was once an inte…

Lisa Nakamura, "The Inattention Economy: How Women of Color Built the Internet" (U Minnesota Press, 2026)

March 18, 2026

The Inattention Economy

Lisa Nakamura
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The Inattention Economy: How Women of Color Built the Internet (U Minnesota Press, 2026) by Dr. Lisa Nakamura challenges the widespread myth that the …

Abe Walker, "Reassembling the UAW: Insurgency, Contention, and the Struggle for Unionism in the American South" (Temple UP, 2026)

March 17, 2026

Reassembling the UAW

Abe Walker
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

When Volkswagen’s Chattanooga Assembly Plant opened in 2012, the United Auto Workers were excited by the golden opportunity to organize in the anti-un…

Entrepreneurial Work Ethic

March 16, 2026

Entrepreneurial Work Ethic

In this episode of High Theory, Saronik talks with Erik Baker about the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic. The dominant work ethic of our current moment, it …

Eurie Dahn, "Snack" (Bloomsbury, 2026)

March 16, 2026

Snack

Eurie Dahn
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In the hierarchy of foods, snacks are deemed trivial – perhaps even childish – especially in contrast to meals, which are seen as substantial and nece…

César A. Hidalgo, "The Infinite Alphabet: And the Laws of Knowledge" (Allen Lane, 2026)

March 15, 2026

The Infinite Alphabet

César A. Hidalgo
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

We all understand that knowledge shapes the fate of business and the growth of nations, but few of us are aware of the principles that govern its moti…

Michael Kimmel, "Playmakers: The Jewish Entrepreneurs Who Created the Toy Industry in America" (W. W. Norton & Co, 2026)

March 14, 2026

Playmakers

Michael Kimmel
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

The untold story of the first-generation Jewish American toymakers who literally manufactured “the century of the child.” In 1902, Morris and Rose Mi…

Marianna Dudley, "Electric Wind: An Energy History of Modern Britain by Marianna Dudley" (Manchester UP, 2025)

March 14, 2026

Electric Wind

Marianna Dudley

Electric Wind: An Energy History of Modern Britain by Marianna Dudley (Manchester University Press, 2025) is a cutting-edge history of wind power in B…

Pepper Culpepper and Taeku Lee, "Billionaire Backlash: The Age of Corporate Scandal and How it Could Save Democracy" (Bloomsbury, 2026) 

March 14, 2026

Billionaire Backlash

Pepper Culpepper and Taeku Lee
Hosted by Alfred Marcus

Giant companies, launch rockets into space, control satellite communication and develop era-defining AI technologies. But they are also seen as promot…

Cheng Li, "Contested Environmentalisms: Trees and the Making of Modern China" (Stanford UP, 2025)

March 12, 2026

Contested Environmentalisms

Cheng Li
Hosted by Yadong Li

For decades, tree planting and forestry have been pivotal to Chinese environmentalism. During the Mao era, while forests were razed to fuel rapid incr…

Kim Bowes, "Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent" (Princeton UP, 2025)

March 12, 2026

Surviving Rome

Kim Bowes

The story of ancient Rome is predominantly one of great men with great fortunes. Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent (Princeton U…