New Books Network

Political Science September 23, 2021

Political Mourning

Identity and Responsibility in the Wake of Tragedy

Heather Pool

Hosted by Lilly Goren

Political Mourning: Identity and Responsibility in the Wake of Tragedy (Temple UP, 2021) moves us, as readers, beyond the stages of grief to consider the effects of mourning. While grief …

General History September 21, 2021

Hidden Laws

How State Constitutions Stabilize American Politics

Robinson Woodward-Burns

Hosted by Derek Litvak

Robinson Woodward-Burns is the author of Hidden Laws: How the State Constitutions Stabilize American Politics, published by Yale University Press in 2021. Hidden Laws explores the relationship between both state …

General History September 21, 2021

Insurance Era

Risk, Governance, and the Privatization of Security in Postwar America

Caley Horan

Hosted by Ashton Merck

Actuarial thinking is everywhere in contemporary America, an often unnoticed byproduct of the postwar insurance industry’s political and economic influence. Calculations of risk permeate our institutions, influencing how we understand …

Architecture September 21, 2021

Open Plan

A Design History of the American Office

Jennifer Kaufmann-Buhler

Hosted by Nushelle de Silva

Albeit inspired by a progressive vision of a working environment without walls or hierarchies, the open plan office has come to be associated with some of the most dehumanizing and …

American West September 20, 2021

American Prophet

The Life and Work of Carey McWilliams

Peter Richardson

Hosted by Barbara Berglund Sokolov

Historian Kevin Starr described Carey McWilliams as "the finest nonfiction writer on California—ever" and "the state's most astute political observer." But as Peter Richardson argues in American Prophet: The Life and …

Architecture September 17, 2021

The Speculative City

Art, Real Estate, and the Making of Global Los Angeles

Susanna Phillips Newbury

Hosted by Bryan Toepfer

Underlying every great city is a rich and vibrant culture that shapes the texture of life within. In The Speculative City: Art, Real Estate, and the Making of Global Los …

American West September 17, 2021

Black Towns, Black Futures

The Enduring Allure of a Black Place in the American West

Karla Slocum

Hosted by Stephen Hausmann

Oklahoma's Black towns aren't just places of the past - they maintain an enduring allure, and look toward the future, argues Karla Slocum in her new book, Black Towns, Black Futures: The …

Environmental Studies September 17, 2021

The Gospel of Climate Skepticism

Why Evangelical Christians Oppose Action on Climate Change

Robin Globus Veldman

Hosted by Brady McCartney

Why are white evangelicals the most skeptical major religious group in America regarding climate change? Previous scholarship has pointed to cognitive factors such as conservative politics, anti-science attitudes, aversion to …

Anthropology September 17, 2021

Margaret Mead

Paul Shankman

Hosted by Adam Bobeck

Tracing Mead’s career as an ethnographer, as the early voice of public anthropology, and as a public figure, this elegantly written biography links the professional and personal sides of her …

Sports September 16, 2021

Our Team

The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball

Luke Epplin

Hosted by Paul Knepper

In July 1947, not even three months after Jackie Robinson debuted on the Brooklyn Dodgers, snapping the color line that had segregated Major League Baseball, Larry Doby would follow in …

Sociology September 16, 2021

Where Misfits Fit

Counterculture and Influence in the Ozarks

Thomas Michael Kersen

Hosted by Michael Johnston

All regions and places are unique in their own way, but the Ozarks have an enduring place in American culture. Studying the Ozarks offers the ability to explore American life …

Political Science September 16, 2021

Rhetoric, Politics, and Hamilton: an American Musical

Jeffrey P. Mehltretter Drury and Sara A. Mehltretter Drury

Hosted by Lilly Goren

Hamilton: An American Musical made its record-breaking Broadway debut in 2015—but the musical has reached far beyond typical Broadway audiences to pave a path into political discourse, pop culture, classroom …

American West September 15, 2021

Facilitating Injustice

The Complicity of Social Workers in the Forced Removal and Incarceration of Japanese Americans, 1941-1946

Yoosun Park

Hosted by Stephen Hausmann

Between 1942 and 1945, the United States government forcibly removed approximately 120,000 people "of Japanese ancestry" from their homes and into self-proclaimed concentration camps across the American West and South …

Film September 15, 2021

Engulfed

The Death of Paramount Pictures and the Birth of Corporate Hollywood

Bernard F. Dick

Hosted by Joel Tscherne

From Double Indemnity to The Godfather, the stories behind some of the greatest films ever made pale beside the story of the studio that made them. In the golden age …

Popular Culture September 15, 2021

Leatherface Vs. Tricky Dick

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as Political Satire

Martin Harris

Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

The Watergate scandal was a horror show. What better way to satirize it than with a horror movie? The Texas Chain Saw Massacre written by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel premiered in …

Ideas Roadshow Podcast September 14, 2021

Battling Protestants

David Hollinger

Hosted by Howard Burton

Battling Protestants is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and intellectual historian David Hollinger, UC Berkeley, and examines the unique role that different strands of religion have …

Diplomatic History September 14, 2021

The Picky Eagle

How Democracy and Xenophobia Limited U. S. Territorial Expansion

Richard W. Maass

Hosted by Grant Golub

The Picky Eagle: How Democracy and Xenophobia Limited U. S. Territorial Expansion (Cornell UP, 2020) explains why the United States stopped annexing territory by focusing on annexation's domestic consequences, both political …

Cover Story September 14, 2021

Covering Donald Trump

A Conversation with Allen Salkin

Allen Salkin

Hosted by Agata Popeda

What's it like to cover Donald Trump? In this episode, veteran American journalist Allen Salkin explains. For over three decades, Salkin has written about many things for many high-profile publications, including …

Public Policy September 14, 2021

Free to Discriminate

How Realtors Conspired to Segregate Housing and Divide America

Gene Slater

Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

Gene Slater's book Free to Discriminate: How Realtors Conspired to Segregate Housing and Divide America (Heyday Books, 2021) uncovers realtors' definitive role in segregating America and shaping modern conservative thought. Gene Slater follows …

African American Studies September 14, 2021

Read Until You Understand

The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature

Farah Jasmine Griffin

Hosted by N'Kosi Oates

Before Farah Jasmine Griffin’s father died, he wrote to her a note ending with a line “read until you understand.” He would die years later when she was nine, and …