New Books Network

Music August 12, 2022

Music and Mystique in Muscle Shoals

Christopher M. Reali

Hosted by Emily Ruth Allen

The forceful music that rolled out of Muscle Shoals in the 1960s and 1970s shaped hits by everyone from Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin to the Rolling Stones and Paul …

African American Studies August 11, 2022

Or, on Being the Other Woman

Simone White

Hosted by Brittney Edmonds

In or, on being the other woman (Duke UP, 2022), Simone White considers the dynamics of contemporary black feminist life. Throughout this book-length poem, White writes through a hybrid of …

Political Science August 11, 2022

Stars and Shadows

The Politics of Interracial Friendship from Jefferson to Obama

Saladin Ambar

Hosted by Lilly Goren

Slavery and its lingering remnants remain a plague on the United States, continuing to foster animosity between races that hinders the understanding and connection conducive to dismantling the remains of …

Academic Life August 11, 2022

Writing Beyond a Limited Narrative

A Conversation with Hari Ziyad

Hari Ziyad

Hosted by Christina Gessler

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Hari Ziyad’s journey through higher education.Why they became editor of RaceBaitr after finishing film school at NYU.The necessary disruption …

Writ Large August 9, 2022

On Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

A Discussion with Joshua Bennett

Joshua Bennett

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Zora Neale Hurston was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance, but her novels didn’t conform to the style of her contemporaries. As a result, her work was almost lost—until …

African American Studies August 8, 2022

Riding Jane Crow

African American Women on the American Railroad

Miriam Thaggert

Hosted by Deidre Tyler

Miriam Thaggert illuminates the stories of African American women as passengers and as workers on the nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century railroad. As Jim Crow laws became more prevalent and forced Black …

American Studies August 5, 2022

Living the Dream

The Contested History of Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Daniel T. Fleming

Hosted by James West

Living the Dream: The Contested History of Martin Luther King Jr. Day (UNC Press, 2022) tells the history behind the establishment of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the battle …

Biography August 4, 2022

The Enigma of Clarence Thomas

Corey Robin

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Most people can tell you two things about Clarence Thomas: Anita Hill accused him of sexual harassment, and he almost never speaks from the bench. Here are some things they …

Anthropology August 4, 2022

Academic Outsider

Stories of Exclusion and Hope

Victoria Reyes

Hosted by Reighan Gillam

In Academic Outsider: Stories of Exclusion and Hope (Stanford University Press, 2022), sociologist Victoria Reyes combines her personal experiences with research findings to examine how academia creates conditional citizenship for its …

Education August 3, 2022

Why They Hate Us

How Racist Rhetoric Impacts Education

Lindsay Pérez Huber and Susana M. Muñoz

Hosted by Autumn Wilke

Why They Hate Us: How Racist Rhetoric Impacts Education (Teachers College Press, 2021) examines how racist political rhetoric has created damaging and dangerous conditions for Students of Color in schools …

African American Studies August 1, 2022

My Seven Black Fathers

A Young Activist's Memoir of Race, Family, and the Mentors Who Made Him Whole

Will Jawando

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

Will Jawando tells a deeply affirmative story of hope and respect for men of color at a time when Black men are routinely stigmatized. As a boy growing up outside …

African American Studies July 29, 2022

Insurrection

Rebellion, Civil Rights, and the Paradoxical State of Black Citizenship

Hawa Allan

Hosted by Brittney Edmonds

The little-known and under-studied 1807 Insurrection Act was passed to give the president the ability to deploy federal military forces to fend off lawlessness and rebellion, but it soon became …

African American Studies July 29, 2022

Black Majority

Negroes in Colonial South Carolina from 1670 Through the Stono Rebellion

Peter H. Wood

Hosted by Adam McNeil

Welcome to New Books in African American Studies, a podcast channel on the New Books Network. I am your host, Adam Xavier McNeil. Today’s podcast is special, not because …

American Studies July 27, 2022

Instruments of Empire

Colonial Elites and U.S. Governance in Early National Louisiana, 1803–1815

Michael K. Beauchamp

Hosted by Deidre Tyler

M. K. Beauchamp's Instruments of Empire: Colonial Elites and U.S. Governance in Early National Louisiana, 1803–1815 (LSU Press, 2021) examines the challenges that resulted from U.S. territorial expansion through the …

African American Studies July 22, 2022

Department Stores and the Black Freedom Movement

Workers, Consumers, and Civil Rights from the 1930s to the 1980s

Traci Parker

Hosted by Deidre Tyler

In Department Stores and the Black Freedom Movement: Workers, Consumers, and Civil Rights from the 1930s to the 1980s (UNC Press, 2019), Traci Parker examines the movement to racially integrate …

Women's History July 20, 2022

Trailblazers

Black Women Who Helped Make America Great, American Firsts/American Icons

Gabrielle David

Hosted by Deidre Tyler

Since slavery, Black women have struggled to liberate themselves from racism and sexism. Yet despite these hurdles and under the most difficult circumstances, they managed to achieve greatness. Trailblazers: Black …

Darts & Letters July 20, 2022

Darts and Lasers

The Future of Science Fiction, Afro-Futurism, and Feminist Speculative Fiction

Cory Doctorow, Nalo Hopkinson, and Batya Weinbaum

Hosted by Jay Cockburn

It’s stardate 99040.01 and lead producer Jay Cockburn is temporarily taking over command of Darts and Letters for an episode. For this episode, as part of the week’s theme of …

High Theory July 19, 2022

Black Trans Feminism

A Discussion with Marquis Bey

Marquis Bey

Hosted by Kim Adams and Saronik Bosu

Marquis Bey talks about the radical and abolitionist project of Black Trans Feminism. Rather than an identity formation, it is a politics and modality of being that vitiates the limits …

African American Studies July 19, 2022

The Emancipation Circuit

Black Activism Forging a Culture of Freedom

Thulani Davis

Hosted by Deidre Tyler

In The Emancipation Circuit: Black Activism Forging a Culture of Freedom (Duke UP, 2022) Thulani Davis provides a sweeping rethinking of Reconstruction by tracing how the four million people newly …

Intellectual History July 18, 2022

Living in the Future

Utopianism and the Long Civil Rights Movement

Victoria W. Wolcott

Hosted by Deidre Tyler

Living in the Future: Utopianism and the Long Civil Rights Movement (U Chicago Press, 2022) reveals the unexplored impact of utopian thought on the major figures of the Civil Rights …