African American Studies

African American Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of African American and Black studies about their new books.

Peter C. Mancall, "Contested Continent: The Struggle for North America, c. 1000–1680" (Oxford UP, 2026)

July 11, 2026

Contested Continent

Peter C. Mancall
Hosted by Ryan Tripp

In Contested Continent: The Struggle for America, c.1000-1680 (Oxford University Press, 2026), the newest installment of the acclaimed Oxford History …

Cécile Bishop, "Forms of Blackness: Race and Visibility in the French-Speaking World" (Duke UP, 2026)

July 11, 2026

Forms of Blackness

Cécile Bishop
Hosted by Amisah Bakuri

What does Blackness look like? In Forms of Blackness: Race and Visibility in the French-Speaking World (Duke University Press, 2026), Cécile Bishop …

Daniel Rood, "In the Shadow of the Great House: A History of the Plantation in America" (Norton, 2026)

July 7, 2026

In the Shadow of the Great House

Daniel Rood
Hosted by Ryan Tripp

Dan Rood’s In the Shadow of the Great House (W.W. Norton & Co., 2026) is one of the first contemporary books to focus on the primary engine of slavery…

Gullah-Geechee Diasporas: Knowledge, Culture, and Black Lowcountry Legacies

July 7, 2026

Gullah-Geechee Diasporas

Muhammad Fraser-Rahim and Elizabeth J West eds.
Hosted by Sullivan Summer

Gullah-Geechee Diasporas: Knowledge, Culture, and Black Lowcountry Legacies (University of South Carolina Press, 2026) counters romantic portrayals of…

Stephen Robertson, "Harlem in Disorder: A Spatial History of How Racial Violence Changed in 1935" (Stanford UP, 2024)

July 6, 2026

Harlem in Disorder

Stephen Robertson
Hosted by Kishauna Soljour

The violence that spread across Harlem on the night of March 19, 1935 was the first large-scale racial disorder in the United States in more than a d…

Thy Will Be Done: George Washington's Legacy of Slavery and the Fight for American Memory

July 2, 2026

Thy Will Be Done

John Garrison Marks

In Thy Will Be Done: George Washington's Legacy of Slavery and the Fight for American Memory (UNC Press, 2026), historian John Garrison Marks tells th…

A.D. Carson, "Owning My Masters (Mastered): The Rhetorics of Rhymes & Revolutions" (U Michigan Press, 2026)

July 2, 2026

Owning My Masters (Mastered)

A.D. Carson
Hosted by Kishauna Soljour

Owning My Masters (Mastered) is a digital archive of original rap music and spoken word poetry containing two volumes of music, an annotated timeline,…

Sharron Wilkins Conrad, "The Trinity: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Civil Rights in African American Memory" (UNC Press, 2026)

June 27, 2026

The Trinity

Sharron Wilkins Conrad
Hosted by Raymond Williams

A striking triptych once displayed in countless African American households, the Trinity typically features Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King Jr., and …

Introducing Periodically: A UC Press Journals Podcast with Journals Director David Famiano

June 25, 2026

Introducing Periodically

David Famiano
Hosted by Jessica Chesnutt

1. A complete list of University of California Press journals is available at UC Press Journals 2. Clare E. B. Cannon; Advancing sustainable transit…

Where Harlem Rests at the Woodlawn Cemetery

June 23, 2026

Where Harlem Rests at the Woodlawn Cemetery

Eric K. Washington (Woodlawn Cemetery & Conservancy)
Hosted by Sullivan Summer

A cemetery as open-air museum? Historian and award-winning author of Boss of the Grips: The Life of James H. Williams and the Red Caps of Grand Centra…

Shelley Fisher Fishkin, "Jim: The Life and Afterlives of Huckleberry Finn’s Comrade" (Yale UP, 2025)

June 21, 2026

Jim

Shelley Fisher Fishkin

Mark Twain’s Jim, introduced in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), is a shrewd, self‑aware, and enormously admirable enslaved man, one of the firs…

Blair LM Kelley, "Black Freedom: A Visual History of Juneteenth and Emancipation Days" (Black Dog & Leventhal, 2026)

June 19, 2026

Black Freedom

Blair LM Kelley
Hosted by Kishauna Soljour

Black Freedom: A Visual History of Juneteenth and Emancipation Days (Black Dog & Leventhal, 2026) is the first fully illustrated history of Juneteenth…

Youssef J. Carter, "The Vast Oceans: Remembering Allah and Self on the Mustafawiyya Sufi Path" (UNC Press, 2026)

June 19, 2026

The Vast Oceans

Youssef J. Carter
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

Youssef J. Carter’s The Vast Oceans: Remembering Allah and Self on the Mustafawiyya Sufi Path (UNC Press, 2026) is a stunning meditation on Black Atla…

Anna O. Law, "Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship: African Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants" (Oxford UP, 2026)

June 18, 2026

Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship

Anna O. Law
Hosted by Lilly Goren

Anna O. Law, the Herbert Kurz Chair in Constitutional Rights in the Department of Political Science at City University of New York-Brooklyn Campus, ha…

Joe P. L. Davidson, "Saving Utopia: Imagining Hopeful Futures in Dystopian Times" (MIT Press, 2026)

June 17, 2026

Saving Utopia

Joe P. L. Davidson
Hosted by Matt Dawson

There is no alternative. The End of History. Climate Apocalypse. It seems that our contemporary moment is defined by the idea that things can only…

Jesse Montgomery, "It Is Not Enough to Survive: The Young Patriots Story" (UNC Press, 2026)

June 16, 2026

It Is Not Enough to Survive

Jesse Montgomery
Hosted by Michael Stauch

Jesse Montgomery joins Michael Stauch to discuss It Is Not Enough to Survive: The Young Patriots Story (UNC Press, 2026). They examine how young white…

Stephanie Coontz, "For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage" (Viking, 2026)

June 14, 2026

For Better and Worse

Stephanie Coontz

Marriage rates have fallen dramatically since the 1970s. Yet far from devaluing marriage, people still overwhelmingly describe marriage as the highest…

Allyson Nadia Field, "Acts of Love: Black Performance and the Kiss That Changed Film History" (U California Press, 2026)

June 6, 2026

Acts of Love

Allyson Nadia Field
Hosted by Pete Kunze

In 1898, vaudeville actors Saint Suttle and Gertie Brown joyously embraced in a short silent film titled Something Good—Negro Kiss. The first known …

172 David Cunningham on Contesting Confederate Monuments (JP)

June 4, 2026

172 David Cunningham on Contesting Confederate Monuments (JP)

David Cunningham joins John to speak about his pathbreaking article about visiting each of the 113 communities that removed or relocated Confederate s…

Paper Heroines: Women Writers in Conversation and Community Across the Sea Islands, 1838-1902

June 4, 2026

Paper Heroines

Mollie Barnes

In ⁠Paper Heroines: Women Writers in Conversation and Community Across the Sea Islands, 1838-1902⁠ (U South Carolina Press, 2026), Dr. Mollie Barnes s…