Early Modern History

Early Modern History

episodes

Interviews with scholars of early modern history about their new books.

Juliet B. Wiersema, "The History of a Periphery: Spanish Colonial Cartography from Colombia's Pacific Lowlands" (U Texas Press, 2024)

April 26, 2024

The History of a Periphery

Juliet B. Wiersema

During the late Spanish colonial period, the Pacific Lowlands, also called the Greater Chocó, was famed for its rich placer deposits. Gold mined here …

Stefanos Geroulanos on "The Invention of Prehistory"

April 26, 2024

Stefanos Geroulanos on "The Invention of Prehistory"

Stefanos Geroulanos
Hosted by Uli Baer

What does it mean to be human? What do we know about the true history of humankind? In this episode, I spoke with historian and NYU professor Stefanos…

Nicholas Popper, "The Specter of the Archive: Political Practice and the Information State in Early Modern Britain" (U Chicago Press, 2024)

April 26, 2024

The Specter of the Archive

Nicholas Popper
Hosted by Jen Hoyer

We are used to thinking of ourselves as living in a time when more information is more available than ever before. In The Specter of the Archive: Poli…

Alexander Statman, "A Global Enlightenment: Western Progress and Chinese Science" (U Chicago Press, 2023)

April 25, 2024

A Global Enlightenment

Alexander Statman

Alexander Statman's book A Global Enlightenment: Western Progress and Chinese Science (U Chicago Press, 2023) is a revisionist history of the idea of …

Sudev Sheth, "Bankrolling Empire: Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India" (Cambridge UP, 2024)

April 24, 2024

Bankrolling Empire

Sudev Sheth
Hosted by Arighna Gupta

In this colorful book, historian Sudev Sheth traces how a family of diamond dealers deployed wealth to play off political leaders and survive the coll…

Michael Scott and Michael Collins, "Christian Shakespeare?: A Collection of Essays on Shakespeare in His Christian Context" (Vernon Press, 2022)

April 23, 2024

Christian Shakespeare

Michael Scott and Michael Collins
Hosted by Dessy Vassileva

The enigma of William Shakespeare's religious beliefs has long tantalized scholars and enthusiasts alike. Vernon Press's latest publication, Christian…

Julie Peakman, "Libertine London: Sex in the Eighteenth-Century Metropolis" (Reaktion, 2024)

April 22, 2024

Libertine London

Julie Peakman
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Libertine London: Sex in the Eighteenth-Century Metropolis (Reaktion, 2024) by Dr. Julie Peakman investigates the sex lives of women from 1680 to 1830…

Steven Nadler, "Spinoza: A Life" (Cambridge UP, 2022)

April 22, 2024

Spinoza

Steven Nadler

Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) was one of the most important philosophers of all time; he was also one of the most radical and controversial. The story of…

Amanda Wunder, "Spanish Fashion in the Age of Velázquez: A Tailor at the Court of Philip IV" (Yale UP, 2024)

April 20, 2024

Spanish Fashion in the Age of Velázquez

Amanda Wunder
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Spanish Fashion in the Age of Velázquez: A Tailor at the Court of Philip IV (Yale University Press, 2024) by Dr. Amanda Wunder is the first archival s…

Nicholas Terpstra, "Senses of Space in the Early Modern World" (Cambridge UP, 2024)

April 19, 2024

Senses of Space in the Early Modern World

Nicholas Terpstra
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

How did early moderns experience sense and space? How did the expanding cultural, political, and social horizons of the period emerge out of those exp…

Debby Koren, "Responsa in a Historical Context: A View of Post-Expulsion Spanish-Portuguese Jewish Communities Through 16th- And 17th-Century Responsa" (Academic Studies Press, 2023)

April 18, 2024

Responsa in a Historical Context

Debby Koren
Hosted by Drora Arussy

Debby Koren's book Responsa in a Historical Context: A View of Post-Expulsion Spanish-Portuguese Jewish Communities Through 16th- And 17th-Century Res…

Felipe Fernández-Armesto and Manuel Lucena Giraldo, "How the Spanish Empire Was Built: A 400 Year History" (Reaktion, 2024)

April 16, 2024

How the Spanish Empire Was Built

Felipe Fernández-Armesto and Manuel Lucena Giraldo
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Sixteenth-century Spain was small, poor, disunited and sparsely populated. Yet the Spaniards and their allies built the largest empire the world had e…

Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, "Puerto Rico: A National History" (Princeton UP, 2024)

April 16, 2024

Puerto Rico

Jorell Meléndez-Badillo
Hosted by Mark Klobas

Puerto Rico is a Spanish-speaking territory of the United States with a history shaped by conquest and resistance. For centuries, Puerto Ricans have c…

Adam Kabat, "The River Imp and the Stinky Jewel and Other Tales: Monster Comics from Edo Japan" (Columbia UP, 2023)

April 14, 2024

The River Imp and the Stinky Jewel and Other Tales

Adam Kabat
Hosted by Nathan Hopson

Adam Kabat’s The River Imp and the Stinky Jewel and Other Tales: Monster Comics from Edo Japan (Columbia UP, 2023) is an in-depth introduction to the …

Jeremy Black, "The Atlantic Slave Trade in World History" (Routledge, 2015)

April 14, 2024

The Atlantic Slave Trade in World History

Jeremy Black
Hosted by Charles Coutinho

In The Atlantic Slave Trade in World History (Routledge, 2024), Jeremy Black presents a compact yet comprehensive survey of slavery and its impact on …

Hume, the Epicureans, and the Origins of Liberalism: A Conversation with Aaron Zubia

April 10, 2024

Hume, the Epicureans, and the Origins of Liberalism

Aaron Alexander Zubia
Hosted by Annika Nordquist

Enlightenment philosopher David Hume enjoyed a tremendous influence on intellectual history. What did Hume believe, why was it so controversial at the…

Christopher Michael Blakley, "Empire of Brutality: Enslaved People and Animals in the British Atlantic World" (Louisiana State UP, 2023)

April 8, 2024

Empire of Brutality

Christopher Michael Blakley
Hosted by Susan Liebell

Historians of early America, slavery, early African American history, the history of science, and environmental history have interrogated the complex …

Claudio Ferlan, "The Jesuits: A Thematic History" (Institute of Jesuit Sources, 2023)

April 6, 2024

The Jesuits

Claudio Ferlan
Hosted by Roberto Mazza

In The Jesuits: A Thematic History (Institute of Jesuit Sources, 2023), Claudio Ferlan provides an exploration of the tradition of the Society of Jesu…

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, "Merits of the Plague" (Penguin, 2023)

April 2, 2024

Merits of the Plague

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani

Six hundred years ago, the author of this landmark work of history and religious thought—an esteemed judge, poet, and scholar in Cairo—survived the bu…

Paola Tartakoff, "Between Christian and Jew: Conversion and Inquisition in the Crown of Aragon, 1250-1391" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2012)

April 2, 2024

Between Christian and Jew

Paola Tartakoff
Hosted by Ari Barbalat

In 1341 in Aragon, a Jewish convert to Christianity was sentenced to death, only to be pulled from the burning stake and into a formal religious inter…