New Books Network
American Studies
Anthropology January 25, 2021

Liquor Store Theatre

Maya Stovall

Hosted by Reighan Gillam
For six years, anthropologist and artist Maya Stovall enacted a series of dance performances outside of liquor stores in the McDougall-Hunt neighborhood on Detroit’s east side. Stovall conceptualized these performances …

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Christian Studies January 21, 2021

Trump and the Protestant Reaction to Make America Great Again

Matthew Rowley

Hosted by Ryan Shelton
The relationship between American Protestant Evangelicals and the candidacy, presidency, and legacy of Donald Trump arrests the attention of journalists and pundits alike. But few have probed the implication that the rally …
Political Science January 21, 2021

Amateur Hour

Presidential Character and the Question of Leadership

Lara M. Brown

Hosted by Lilly Goren
Political scientist Lara Brown’s new book, Amateur Hour, is a complex and important multi-method study of the presidency, starting from the original conception of the office at the constitutional convention …
Dan Hill's EQ Spotlight January 21, 2021

The Saddest Words

William Faulkner's Civil War

Michael Gorra

Hosted by Dan Hill
Today I talked to Michael Gorra about his new book The Saddest Words: William Faulkner's Civil War (Liveright, 2020). This episode touches on two of William Faulkner’s novels in particular: The Sound and …
Postscript January 20, 2021

Postscript

The Biden-Harris Administration’s Transition in Context

Lilly J. Goren and Susan Leibell

Hosted by Susan Liebell
As Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, Dr. Kathryn Dunn Tenpas of the Brookings Institution joins the team at New Books in Political …
Sociology January 19, 2021

Other End of the Needle

Continuity and Change Among Tattoo Workers

David C. Lane

Hosted by Michael Johnston
In The Other End of the Needle (Rutgers University Press, 2020), David C. Lane, Ph.D. investigates the intricacies of the tattoo industry. Particularly, Lane found that tattooing is more complex …
Christian Studies January 19, 2021

Reformed Resurgence

The New Calvinist Movement and the Battle Over American Evangelicalism

Brad Vermurlen

Hosted by Ryan Shelton
Since the turn of the millennium, American Evangelical Protestantism has seen a swell of interest in Calvinist theology. Variously described as the New Calvinism or Neo-Reformed Christianity, the latter half …
History January 19, 2021

Dividing the Faith

The Rise of Segregated Churches in the Early American North

Richard J. Boles

Hosted by Lane Davis
In Dividing the Faith: The Rise of Segregated Churches in the Early American North (NYU Press, 2020), Richard J. Boles argues that, contrary to traditional American religious historiography, interracial worship was …
Medicine January 19, 2021

Science Under Fire

Challenges to Scientific Authority in Modern America

Andrew Jewett

Hosted by Claire Clark
Americans today are often skeptical of scientific authority. Many conservatives dismiss climate change and Darwinism as liberal fictions, arguing that "tenured radicals" have coopted the sciences and other disciplines. Some …
Celebration Studies January 19, 2021

City of a Million Dreams

A History of New Orleans at Year 300

Jason Berry

Hosted by Emily Ruth Allen
In City of a Million Dreams: A History of New Orleans at Year 300 (University of North Carolina Press, 2018), Jason Berry delivers a history of New Orleans at its tricentennial. Beyond …
American Studies January 19, 2021

As a City on a Hill

The Story of America's Most Famous Lay Sermon

Daniel T. Rodgers

Hosted by Ryan Shelton
Since the presidency of Ronald Reagan, John Winthrop's famous phrase, "We shall be as a city upon a hill," has become political creed and rallying cry for American exceptionalism. But for …
History January 18, 2021

Stargazing in the Atomic Age

Anne Goldman

Hosted by Grant Kleiser
During World War II, with apocalypse imminent, a group of well-known Jewish artists and scientists sidestepped despair by challenging themselves to solve some of the most difficult questions posed by …
Intellectual History January 18, 2021

Hubert Harrison

The Struggle for Equality, 1918–1927

Jeffrey B. Perry

Hosted by Hettie V. Williams
Hubert Harrison: The Struggle for Equality, 1918-1927 (Columbia University 2020) by Jeffrey B. Perry, independent scholar and archivist, is an extensive intellectual history of the life and work of Black …
LGBTQ+ Studies January 18, 2021

Live At Jackson Station

Music, Community, and Tragedy in a Southern Blues Bar

Daniel M. Harrison

Hosted by Morris Ardoin
The smoke was thick, the music was loud, and the beer was flowing. In the fast-and-loose 1980s, Jackson Station Rhythm & Blues Club in Hodges, South Carolina, was a festive …
Literary Studies January 15, 2021

Strange Likeness

Description and the Modernist Novel

Dora Zhang

Hosted by Britton Edelen
In this interview, I talk with Dora Zhang, associate professor of English and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley, about her book Strange Likeness: Description in the Modernist …
History January 15, 2021

Down the Up Staircase

Three Generations of a Harlem Family

Bruce Haynes and Syma Solovitch

Hosted by Tyesha Maddox
Down the Up Staircase: Three Generations of a Harlem Family (Columbia UP, 2019) tells the story of one Harlem family across three generations, connecting its journey to the historical and …
Dan Hill's EQ Spotlight January 14, 2021

Soul Full of Coal Dust

The True Story of an Epic Battle for Justice

Chris Hamby

Hosted by Dan Hill
Today I talked to Chris Hamby about his book Soul Full of Coal Dust: The True Story of an Epic Battle for Justice (Little Brown, 2020). Hamby looks into why there has …
History January 13, 2021

Whistleblowing Nation

The History of National Security Disclosures and the Cult of State Secrecy

Kaeten Mistry and Hannah Gurman

Hosted by Dexter Fergie
In the past decade, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden became household names. They were celebrated by many as truth-tellers who blew the whistle on governmental abuses. Yet, in the eyes …
Medicine January 12, 2021

Aging Behind Prison Walls: Studies in Trauma and Resilience

Tina Maschi and Keith Morgen

Hosted by Rachel Pagones
The demographics of U.S. prisons are changing, as are demographics outside of them: an increasing share of the population is growing old. The number of people aged 55 and older …
Food January 11, 2021

Food Insecurity on Campus

Action and Intervention

Katharine M. Broton and Clare L. Cady

Hosted by Carrie Helms Tippen
The new essay collection Food Insecurity on College Campuses edited by Katharine M. Broton and Clare L. Cady explores the widespread problem of food insecurity among college students and the …