Special Series

Special Series

episodes
Ralph Jones, "Microphone" (Bloomsbury, 2026)

June 5, 2026

Microphone

Ralph Jones
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Since its invention more than 150 years ago, the microphone transformed the world in an instant. Yet its evolution and integration into our daily …

Lewis Ryder, "Connoisseurs and conmen: The contest for cultural authority in early twentieth-century Britain" (Manchester UP, 2026)

June 5, 2026

Connoisseurs and conmen

Lewis Ryder
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Connoisseurs and conmen: The contest for cultural authority in early twentieth-century Britain (Manchester University Press, 2026) by Dr. Lewis Ryde…

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…

Anand Gopal, "Days of Love and Rage: A Story of Ordinary People Forging a Revolution" (Viking, 2026)

June 4, 2026

Days of Love and Rage

Anand Gopal
Hosted by Chris Holmes

From Pulitzer and National Book Award finalist Anand Gopal, an epic and enthralling account of six Syrians fighting for a better world, in the traditi…

Timothy Fort and Suneal Bedi, "The Vision of the Firm" (West Academic Publishing, 2025)

June 3, 2026

The Vision of the Firm

Timothy Fort and Suneal Bedi
Hosted by Alfred Marcus

The Vision of the Firm (West Academic Publishing, 2025) provides a complete summary of the leading theories of business ethics today. It aims to clari…

Rahul Mukherjee, "Unlimited: Aspirational Politics and Mobile Media Distribution" (MIT Press, 2026)

June 2, 2026

Unlimited

Rahul Mukherjee
Hosted by Priyam Sinha

Around 2016, buoyed by so-called data kranti ("data revolution"), an aspirational neo-middle class of users in India accessed internet for the fir…

Kati Curts, "Assembling Religion: The Ford Motor Company and the Transformation of Religion in America" (NYU Press, 2025)

June 2, 2026

Assembling Religion

Kati Curts
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Henry Ford did not just mass produce cars. As a member of the Episcopal Church, reader of New Thought texts, believer in the “gospel of reincarn…

Kenna Neitch, "A Praxis of Persistence: Central American Feminist Testimony and Sustainable Activism" (SUNY Press, 2026)

June 1, 2026

A Praxis of Persistence

Kenna Neitch
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

A Praxis of Persistence: Central American Feminist Testimony and Sustainable Activism (SUNY Press, 2026) by Dr. Kenna Neitch establishes persistence a…

Helen Veit, "Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History" (St Martin's Press, 2026)

June 1, 2026

Picky

Helen Zoe Veit
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Are children naturally picky? It sure seems that way. Yet, amazingly, pickiness used to be almost nonexistent. Well into the 20th century, Americans s…

Jonatan Leer and Stinne Gunder Strøm Krogager, "Food Porn: Food Aesthetics in a Digital Age" (Bristol UP, 2026)

May 31, 2026

Food Porn

Jonatan Leer and Stinne Gunder Strøm Krogager
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Is food porn a vibrant and democratic new expression of modern food culture or a superficial addition to an image-saturated world? Tracing its o…

David Petruccelli, "A Scourge of Humanity: The Origins of Interpol and the End of Empire in Central and Eastern Europe" (Oxford UP, 2025)

May 31, 2026

A Scourge of Humanity

David Petruccelli
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

As the First World War came to a chaotic end, Europeans feared that a wave of crime and anarchy would sweep across their continent. The upheavals …

Pedro Domingos, "The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World" (Basic Books, 2018)

May 30, 2026

The Master Algorithm

Pedro Domingos
Hosted by Gregory McNiff

In the world's top research labs and universities, the race is on to invent the ultimate learning algorithm: one capable of discovering any knowledge …

Kevin Warsh: "What did you have to say in order to get this job?"

May 30, 2026

Kevin Warsh: "What did you have to say in order to get this job?"

Claire Jones, Michael Redmond and Catarina Saraiva
Hosted by Tim Jones

More than any single institution, the US Federal Reserve drives global financial markets with its decisions and communications. While its interest rat…

Charlie Qiuli Xue and Arwen Yingting Chen, "American-Designed Shopping Malls in China" (Hong Kong UP, 2026)

May 30, 2026

American-Designed Shopping Malls in China

Charlie Qiuli Xue and Arwen Yingting Chen
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

China’s remarkable journey from poverty to becoming the world’s second-largest economic power is marked by extraordinary urban growth and consumpt…

Christos Lynteris, "How Plague Got Rats: Mastering a Zoonotic Pandemic" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2026)

May 30, 2026

How Plague Got Rats

Christos Lynteris
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Today, rats are nearly synonymous with plague, but this association is surprisingly recent. For centuries, plague devastated populations without b…

Ashley Rose Young, "Nourishing Networks: The Public Culture of Food in New Orleans" (Oxford UP, 2025)

May 29, 2026

Nourishing Networks

Ashley Rose Young
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

For much of the Crescent City's history, days began with the cries of roaming street vendors and the percussive thwack of butchers' meat cleavers echo…

Gregory Kenicer, "Scottish Plant Names: An A–Z" (Birlinn, 2026)

May 29, 2026

Scottish Plant Names

Gregory J. Kenicer
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Names are incredibly powerful things and are a crucial part of the way we see and classify the world around us. Plant names are especially fasci…

Timothy Mason Roberts, "After Barbary: Algeria's Roles in the French and American Empires" (Cornell UP, 2025)

May 28, 2026

After Barbary

Timothy Mason Roberts
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

After Barbary: Algeria's Roles in the French and American Empires (Cornell University Press, 2025) by Dr. Timothy Mason Roberts explores the connectio…

Frances Kneupper, "Prophecy and the Battle for Spiritual Authority, 1360–1400" (Oxford UP, 2025)

May 28, 2026

Prophecy and the Battle for Spiritual Authority, 1360–1400

Frances Courtney Kneupper
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The end of the fourteenth century was a time of upheaval and contested authority among the traditional institutions of medieval Europe. In response to…

Paige Towers, "What They Stole: A Familicide Rooted in Intercountry Adoption" (U Iowa Press, 2026)

May 28, 2026

What They Stole

Paige Towers
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In 1955, following the devastation of the Korean War, Bertha and Harry Holt made headlines for adopting eight Korean children. Driven by evangelical c…