New Books Network
American Studies
Music October 22, 2021

Major Labels

A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres

Kelefa Sanneh

Hosted by Franz Nicolay
Kelefa Sanneh was born in England, and lived in Ghana and Scotland before moving with his parents to the United States in the early 1980s. He was a pop music …

American Studies

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Interviews with scholars of America about their new books.

General History October 22, 2021

The Last Liberal Republican

An Insider's Perspective on Nixon's Surprising Social Policy

John Roy Price

Hosted by Daniel Peris
History is told, it is said, by the victors. And so it is in regard to Richard Nixon. We all know how his presidency ended. What too few of us recall …
Architecture October 22, 2021

Sandfuture

Justin Beal

Hosted by Bryan Toepfer
Sandfuture (MIT Press, 2021) is a book about the life of the architect Minoru Yamasaki (1912–1986), who remains on the margins of history despite the enormous influence of his work on American …
Political Science October 21, 2021

Hot Pants and Spandex Suits

Gender Representation in American Superhero Comic

Esther De Dauw

Hosted by Lilly Goren
Superman, Batman, Captain America, and Iron Man are names that are often connected to the expansive superhero genre, including the multi-billion-dollar film and television franchises. But these characters are older …
American West October 21, 2021

South to Freedom

Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War

Alice L Baumgartner

Hosted by Stephen Hausmann
For some enslaved Americans, the path to freedom led not north, but south, argues Dr. Alice Baumgardner, an assistant professor of history at the University of Southern California. In South to …
Politics & Polemics October 20, 2021

America Transformed

The Rise and Legacy of American Progressivism

Ronald J. Pestritto

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
What’s a “progressive?” We hear constantly about the rift in the Democratic Party between its “progressive” wing and its “moderate” one. But what exactly was “Progressivism?” And why do we …
Buddhist Studies October 20, 2021

Be the Refuge

Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists

Chenxing Han

Hosted by Victoria Montrose
Despite the fact that two thirds of U.S. Buddhists identify as Asian American, mainstream perceptions about what it means to be Buddhist in America often whitewash and invisibilize the diverse …
Philosophy October 20, 2021

The Politics of Black Joy

Zora Neale Hurston and Neo-Abolitionism

Lindsey Stewart

Hosted by Sarah Tyson
What can southern Black joy teach us about agency? What role does refusal have in liberation? What more might there be to root work than resistance? In The Politics of …
Drugs, Addiction and Recovery October 20, 2021

The Opioid Epidemic in the United States

Missed Opportunities and Policy Failures

Kant Patel and Mark E. Rushefsky

Hosted by Geert Slabbekoorn
The current opioid epidemic in the United States began in the mid-1990s with the introduction of a new drug, OxyContin, viewed as a safer and more effective opiate for chronic …
American West October 19, 2021

History of Montana in 101 Objects

Artifacts & Essays from the Montana Historical Society

Montana Historical Society

Hosted by Troy Hallsell
A History of Montana in 101 Objects: Artifacts & Essays from the Montana Historical Society (Helena: Montana Historical Society Press, 2021) showcases the remarkable collection of artifacts preserved at the Montana …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel October 18, 2021

Troubled Water

What's Wrong with What We Drink

Seth M. Siegel

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
There’s nothing more vital to survival than water. “Water water everywhere, and not a drop to drink!”, said the Ancient Mariner, in the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Besides widespread …
Military History October 18, 2021

How the Few Became the Proud

Crafting the Marine Corps Mystique 1874-1918

Heather P. Venable

Hosted by Alex Beckstrand
For more than half of its existence, members of the Marine Corps largely self-identified as soldiers. It did not yet mean something distinct to be a Marine, either to themselves …
LGBTQ+ Studies October 18, 2021

A Lesbian Belle Tells

OUTrageous Southern Stories of Family, Loss, and Love

Elizabeth McCain

Hosted by John Marszalek
Settle back for a wild ride through a Southern lesbian's life of soul-searching, rule-breaking, and truth-telling. This belle's kind of coming out was not what her traditional Mississippi family expected …
African American Studies October 18, 2021

The Colored Conventions Movement

Black Organizing in the Nineteenth Century

P. Gabrielle Foreman and Jim Casey

Hosted by Adam McNeil
P. Gabrielle Foreman and Jim Casey's edited volume The Colored Conventions Movement: Black Organizing in the Nineteenth Century (UNC Press, 2021) is the first to focus on the Colored Conventions movement …
East Asian Studies October 15, 2021

Green with Milk and Sugar

When Japan Filled America's Tea Cups

Robert Hellyer

Hosted by Nathan Hopson
Robert Hellyer’s Green with Milk and Sugar: When Japan Filled America's Tea Cups (Columbia UP, 2021) is a tale of American and Japanese teaways, skillfully weaving together stories of Midwesterners …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast October 15, 2021

Career and Family

Women’s Century-Long Journey toward Equity

Claudia Goldin

Hosted by Marshall Poe
A century ago, it was a given that a woman with a college degree had to choose between having a career and a family. Today, there are more female college …
Journalism October 15, 2021

The American Newsroom

A History, 1920-1960

Will Mari

Hosted by Jenna Spinelle
The story of the American newsroom is that of modern American journalism. In The American Newsroom: A History, 1920-1960 (University of Missouri Press, 2021), Will Mari documents a time of great change …
Jewish Studies October 15, 2021

A Fortress in Brooklyn

Race, Real Estate, and the Making of Hasidic Williamsburg

Nathaniel Deutsch and Michael Casper

Hosted by Zalman Newfield
The Hasidic community in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn is famously one of the most separatist, intensely religious, and politically savvy groups of people in the entire United States. Less …
African American Studies October 14, 2021

The Other Side of Terror

Black Women and the Culture of US Empire

Erica R. Edwards

Hosted by Brittney Edmonds
Dr. Erica R. Edwards's The Other Side of Terror: Black Women and the Culture of US Empire (New York University, 2021) reveals the troubling intimacy between Black women and the making of US …
Political Science October 14, 2021

How the Tea Party Captured the GOP

Insurgent Factions in American Politics

Rachel M. Blum

Hosted by Lilly Goren
The discussion of factions in American politics is as old as the republic itself. But there is more to consider, particularly in terms of the way that contemporary factions operate …