American Studies

American Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of America about their new books.

Steven C. Beda, "Strong Winds and Widow Makers: Workers, Nature, and Environmental Conflict in Pacific Northwest Timber Country" (U Illinois Press, 2022)

April 26, 2024

Strong Winds and Widow Makers

Steven C. Beda
Hosted by Stephen Hausmann

Imagine an environmentalist. Are you picturing a Birkenstock-clad hippie? An office worker who hikes on weekends? A political lobbyist? What about a m…

Adam J. Criblez, "Kings of the Garden: The New York Knicks and Their City" (Three Hills, 2024)

April 26, 2024

Kings of the Garden

Adam J. Criblez
Hosted by Paul Knepper

In Kings of the Garden: The New York Knicks and Their City (Three Hills, 2024), Adam J. Criblez traces the fall and rise of the New York Knicks betwee…

Andrea Wenzel, "Antiracist Journalism: The Challenge of Creating Equitable Local News" (Columbia UP, 2023)

April 26, 2024

Antiracist Journalism

Andrea Wenzel
Hosted by Garrett Broad

Journalists have a long history of covering race and racism in the United States, telling stories that shed light on protest, activism, institutional …

Dana Gorzelany-Mostak, "Tracks on the Trail: Popular Music, Race, and the US Presidency" (U Michigan Press, 2023)

April 26, 2024

Tracks on the Trail

Dana Gorzelany-Mostak
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

From Bill Clinton playing his saxophone on The Arsenio Hall Show to Barack Obama referencing Jay-Z's song "Dirt Off Your Shoulder," politicians have u…

Teri Finneman et al., "Reviving Rural News: Transforming the Business Model of Community Journalism in the US and Beyond" (Routledge, 2024)

April 25, 2024

Reviving Rural News

Teri Finneman, Nick Mathews. and Patrick Ferrucci
Hosted by James Kates

Based on extensive research into weekly rural publishers and rural readers, Reviving Rural News: Transforming the Business Model of Community Journali…

Pamela Robertson Wojcik, "Unhomed: Cycles of Mobility and Placelessness in American Cinema" (U California Press, 2024)

April 24, 2024

Unhomed

Pamela Robertson Wojcik
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In Unhomed: Cycles of Mobility and Placelessness in American Cinema (University of California Press, 2024), Dr. Pamela Roberston Wojcik examines Ameri…

Alexander Greenhough, "Albert Brooks: Interviews" (UP of Mississippi, 2024)

April 24, 2024

Albert Brooks

Alexander Greenhough
Hosted by Daniel Moran

Albert Brooks: Interviews (UP of Mississippi, 2024) brings together fourteen profiles of and conversations with Brooks (b. 1947), in which he contempl…

Michael J. Graetz, "The Power to Destroy: How the Antitax Movement Hijacked America" (Princeton UP, 2024)

April 23, 2024

The Power to Destroy

Michael J. Graetz
Hosted by Meghan Cochran

The anti-tax movement is "the most important overlooked social and political movement of the last half century", according to our guest Michael J. Gra…

Philip Mark Plotch and Jen Nelles, "Mobilizing the Metropolis: How the Port Authority Built New York" (U Michigan Press, 2023)

April 23, 2024

Mobilizing the Metropolis

Philip Mark Plotch and Jen Nelles
Hosted by Robert Snyder

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is everywhere in the New York metropolitan area. Founded in 1921, its portfolio includes airports, marin…

Gary S. Cross, "Free Time: The History of an Elusive Ideal" (NYU Press, 2024)

April 23, 2024

Free Time

Gary S. Cross
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Free time, one of life’s most precious things, often feels unfulfilling. But why? And how did leisure activities transition from strolling in the park…

Michael Liu, "Forever Struggle: Activism, Identity, and Survival in Boston's Chinatown, 1880-2018" (U Massachusetts Press, 2020)

April 22, 2024

Forever Struggle

Michael Liu
Hosted by Shu Wan

Chinatown has a long history in Boston. Though little documented, it represents the city's most sustained neighborhood effort to survive during eras o…

Susan Partovi, "Renegade M.D.: A Doctor's Stories from the Streets" (Bookbaby, 2024)

April 21, 2024

Renegade M.D.

Susan Partovi
Hosted by Deidre Tyler

Dr. Susan Partovi first experienced poverty medicine volunteering at a dump site in Tijuana during high school. There, she recognized the need for all…

Diana Chapman Walsh, "The Claims of Life: A Memoir" (MIT Press, 2023)

April 21, 2024

The Claims of Life

Diana Chapman Walsh
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

The engaging memoir of a legendary president of Wellesley College known for authentic and open-hearted leadership, who drove innovation with power and…

Rogers M. Smith and Desmond King, "America’s New Racial Battle Lines: Protect Versus Repair" (U Chicago Press, 2024)

April 21, 2024

America’s New Racial Battle Lines

Rogers M. Smith and Desmond King
Hosted by Ursula Hackett

What is happening to the politics of race in America? In America’s New Racial Battle Lines: Protect Versus Repair (U Chicago Press, 2024), Rogers Sm…

Fumilayo Showers, "Migrants Who Care: West Africans Working and Building Lives in U.S. Health Care" (Rutgers UP, 2023)

April 21, 2024

Migrants Who Care

Fumilayo Showers
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

As the U.S. population ages and as health care needs become more complex, demand for paid care workers in home and institutional settings has increase…

On Fiorello La Guardia and Why He Still Matters: A Discussion with Author Terry Golway

April 19, 2024

On Fiorello La Guardia and Why He Still Matters

Terry Golway
Hosted by Paul Starobin

Has any American mayor ever made a greater stamp on the public consciousness than the Little Flower, Fiorello La Guardia, mayor of New York City from …

Tanisha Ford, "Our Secret Society: Mollie Moon and the Glamour, Money, and Power Behind the Civil Rights Movement" (Amistad Press, 2024)

April 19, 2024

Our Secret Society

Tanisha Ford
Hosted by Mickell Carter

An engrossing social history of the unsinkable Mollie Moon, the stylish founder of the National Urban League Guild and fundraiser extraordinaire who r…

Charles E. Curran, "Loyal Dissent: Memoir of a Catholic Theologian" (Georgetown UP, 2006)

April 19, 2024

Loyal Dissent

Charles E. Curran
Hosted by Al Bertrand

Over the course of our 60th anniversary in 2024, we'll be revisiting some classic Georgetown books. First up is Loyal Dissent by Charles E. Curran. …

Guido Alfani, "As Gods Among Men: A History of the Rich in the West" (Princeton UP, 2023)

April 19, 2024

As Gods Among Men

Guido Alfani

This provocative and interesting book has received considerable attention. Roaring reviews and interviews include The Financial Times (UK), The Teleg…

Rose Miron, "Indigenous Archival Activism: Mohican Interventions in Public History and Memory" (U Minnesota Press, 2024)

April 18, 2024

Indigenous Archival Activism

Rose Miron
Hosted by Jen Hoyer

The past several decades have seen a massive shift in debates over who owns and has the right to tell Native American history and stories. For centuri…