New Books Network Podcast

Jewish Studies March 21, 2023

Jewish Antifascism and the False Promise of Settler Colonialism

Max Kaiser

Hosted by Miriam Schulz

Max Kaiser's book Jewish Antifascism and the False Promise of Settler Colonialism (Palgrave MacMillan, 2022) takes a timely look at histories of radical Jewish movements, their modes of Holocaust memorialisation, and …

Geography March 1, 2023

Indigenous Economics

Sustaining Peoples and Their Lands

Ronald L. Trosper

Hosted by Stentor Danielson

What does “development” mean for Indigenous peoples? Indigenous Economics: Sustaining Peoples and Their Lands (U Arizona Press, 2022) lays out an alternative path showing that conscious attention to relationships among …

Language December 25, 2022

Take My Word for It

A Dictionary of English Idioms

Anatoly Liberman

Hosted by Daniel Moran

Three centuries of English idioms—their unusual origins and unexpected interpretations. To pay through the nose. Raining cats and dogs. By hook or by crook. Curry favor. Drink like a fish …

African American Studies December 20, 2022

Pasifika Black

Oceania, Anti-colonialism, and the African World

Quito Swan

Hosted by Amanda Joyce Hall

Oceania is a vast sea of islands, large scale political struggles and immensely significant historical phenomena. Pasifika Black: Oceania, Anti-Colonialism, and the African World (NYU Press, 2022) is a compelling …

Human Rights December 16, 2022

Chasing Wrongs and Rights

My Experience Defending Human Rights Around the World

Elaine Pearson

Hosted by Nicholas Bequelin

Chasing Wrongs and Rights: My Experience Defending Human Rights Around the World (Simon & Schuster, 2022) by Elaine Pearson, the Asia Director at Human Rights Watch, is an intimate account …

Australian and New Zealand Studies November 21, 2022

More Zeros and Ones

Digital Technology, Maintenance and Equity in Aotearoa New Zealand

Anna Pendergrast and Kelly Pendergrast

Hosted by Ed Amon

Many of today’s digital technologies inadvertently amplify the power structures and prejudices of wider society. By examining the way digital tools and platforms are designed, built, and maintained, this BWB …

Australian and New Zealand Studies October 18, 2022

Towards a Grammar of Race in Aotearoa New Zealand

Arcia Tecun, Lana Lopesi, and Anisha Sankar

Hosted by Ed Amon

A search for new ways to talk about race in Aotearoa New Zealand brought together this powerful group of scholars, writers, and activists. For these authors, attempts to confront racism …

SSEAC Stories October 13, 2022

Ethics, Utopia and Materiality

Glimpses of Everyday Creativity and Hope in Indonesian Papua

Roberto Costa

Hosted by Natali Pearson

The Asmat are an indigenous people of Indonesian Papua and are renowned for their artistic carving flair and complex life-cycle rituals. They also have big ambitions that reach as far …

Sports September 21, 2022

Never Say Die

The Hundred-Year Overnight Success of Australian Women's Football

Fiona Crawford and Lee McGowan

Hosted by Keith Rathbone

Today we are joined by two guests: Dr. Fiona Crawford, a writer, editor, and researcher whose work engages with social, environmental, and sports. Dr. Crawford writes for a range of …

Medicine September 21, 2022

Tik Merauke

An Epidemic Like No Other

John Richens

Hosted by Rachel Pagones

A medical doctor with an inquisitive mind and a traveling spirit, John Richens thought he had hit upon an exemplary public health case study – the story of donovanosis among …

Lies Agreed Upon September 21, 2022

It’s The End Of The World As We Know It

On On the Beach (1959), The Day After (1983), and Threads (1984)

Hosted by Lia Paradis and Brian Crim

Last episode we discussed films about how a nuclear war would start, particularly the insane logic of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). In this episode we explore how American, British, and …

General History September 16, 2022

Making Australian History

Anna Clark

Hosted by Benjamin Goh

Australian history has been revised and reinterpreted by successive generations of historians, writers, governments and public commentators, yet there has been no account of the ways it has changed, who …

General History September 16, 2022

Destroying to Replace

Settler Genocides of Indigenous Peoples

Mohamed Adhikari

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Today I talked to Dr. Mohamed Adhikari about his book Destroying to Replace: Settler Genocides of Indigenous Peoples (Hackett, 2022). "This book explores settler colonial genocides in a global perspective and over …

Australian and New Zealand Studies August 16, 2022

Of Marsupials and Men

Alastair Paton

Hosted by Bede Haines

Alistair Paton joins today, writer of Of Marsupials and Men (Black Inc, 2022), a book recounting the fascinating and often hilarious history of the men and women who dedicated their lives …

Sports August 16, 2022

Gridiron Capital

How American Football Became a Samoan Game

Lisa Uperesa

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Since the 1970s, a “Polynesian Pipeline” has brought football players from American Sāmoa to Hawaii and the mainland United States to play at the collegiate and professional levels. In Gridiron …

American West August 10, 2022

Visions of Nature

How Landscape Photography Shaped Settler Colonialism

Jarrod Hore

Hosted by Stephen Hausmann

During the early years of photography, settlers around the Pacific World were fascinated with the landscapes of the places they conquered. According to Dr. Jarrod Hore, a postdoctoral researcher and …

General History August 5, 2022

Australia in the Age of International Development, 1945–1975

Colonial and Foreign Aid Policy in Papua New Guinea and Southeast Asia

Nicholas Ferns

Hosted by Bernard Keo

In the voluminous literature on the history of modernisation theory and its associated concept of development since the end of World War II, much of the focus lies on the …

Australian and New Zealand Studies July 8, 2022

Root and Branch

Essays on Inheritance

Eda Gunaydin

Hosted by Bede Haines

Eda Gunaydin joins us today to talk about Root and Branch: Essays on Inheritance (NewSouth, 2022). Lots of themes: Turkey, Australia, Sydney, family, friends, media, food, essays. That there is no easy translation …

American West July 4, 2022

The Chinese Question

The Gold Rushes, Chinese Migration, and Global Politics

Mae Ngai

Hosted by Stephen Hausmann

Between 1848 and 1899, miners extracted more gold from the earth than in the previous 3,000 years of human history combined. Each gold rush in this period, from the Sierra …

Sports June 21, 2022

Bondi Beach

Representations of an Iconic Australian

Douglas Booth

Hosted by Keith Rathbone

Today we are joined by Douglas Booth, Dean of Adventure, Culinary Arts and Tourism at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, Canada and Professor Emeritus at the University of Otago …