New Books Network Podcast

Nomads, Past and Present September 24, 2023

The Secret History of the Mongols

An interview with Chris Atwood

Chris Atwood

Hosted by Maggie Freeman

The Secret History of the Mongols is one of the literary wonders of the world. Writing in the thirteenth century, the Secret Historian - whose identity remains unknown - combines …

Russian and Eurasian Studies September 23, 2023

Monuments for Posterity

Self-Commemoration and the Stalinist Culture of Time

Antony Kalashnikov

Hosted by Aaron Weinacht

Antony Kalashnikov's Monuments for Posterity: Self-Commemoration and the Stalinist Culture of Time (Cornell UP, 2023) analyzes Stalinist monument-building. From the 1930's through the Great Patriotic War, architectural monuments such as …

Russian and Eurasian Studies August 6, 2023

Building Socialism

The Communist Party and the Making of the Soviet System, 1921–1941

Yiannis Kokosalakis

Hosted by Samantha Lomb

By placing the party grassroots at the centre of its focus, Yiannis Kokosalakis' book Building Socialism: The Communist Party and the Making of the Soviet System, 1921–1941 (Cambridge UP, 2023) presents …

Nomads, Past and Present July 29, 2023

Archaeology and Nomadism in the Russian Empire

An interview with Ismael Biyashev

Ismael Biyashev

Hosted by Maggie Freeman

In the second half of the 19th century, both professional and amateur archaeologists, surveyors, and explorers of the “periphery” of the Russian Empire became increasingly interested in the perceived ancient …

Nomads, Past and Present June 25, 2023

Mongol Nomadism, Mongol Identity, and the Fall of the Mongol Empire

A Discussion with Nicholas Morton

Nicholas Morton

Hosted by Maggie Freeman

Listen:

In part two of our conversation about his book The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East (Basic Books, 2022), Nicholas Morton, Associate Professor of History …

Asian Review of Books June 22, 2023

The White Mosque

A Memoir

Sofia Samatar

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

Listen:

In the late 19th century, a group of Mennonites leave Russia for what is now Uzbekistan. Driven out by Russian demands that the pacifist group make themselves available for conscription …

Indian Ocean World April 16, 2023

The Making of Persianate Modernity

Language and Literary History between Iran and India

Alexander Jabbari

Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi

Alexander Jabbari’s The Making of Persianate Modernity: Language and Literary History between Iran and India (Cambridge University Press, 2023) narrates the cultural and literary history of one of the world's …

Russian and Eurasian Studies April 10, 2023

Muslim Subjectivity in Soviet Russia

The Memoirs of 'Abd Al-Majid Al-Qadiri

Alfrid Bustanov and Vener Usmanov

Hosted by Aruuke Uran Kyzy

The world as seen by a Qur’an specialist in late imperial and early Soviet Russia. Alfrid Bustanov and Vener Usmanov's book Muslim Subjectivity in Soviet Russia (Brill, 2022) tells a dramatic …

Nomads, Past and Present April 3, 2023

Nomad, Nomad

Jonan Pilet

Hosted by Maggie Freeman

In his debut short story collection, Nomad, Nomad (Bound to Brew, 2021), Jonan Pilet explores the lives of Mongols and expats looking for a sense of home within the nomadic …

Nomads, Past and Present March 31, 2023

The Transformation of Livestock Herding in Socialist Mongolia

Kenny Linden

Hosted by Maggie Freeman

Between 1956 and 1960, leaders in the Mongolian People’s Republic embarked on a collectivization campaign to change the way in which Mongolians interacted with animals and the environment. Collectivization in …

Asian Review of Books March 9, 2023

The King’s Road

Diplomacy and the Remaking of the Silk Road

Xin Wen

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

Many of us–who maybe aren’t historians–have an image of the Silk Road: merchants who carried silk from China to as far as ancient Rome, in one of the first global …

The Future of . . . with Owen Bennett-Jones March 7, 2023

The Silk Road

Connecting Histories and Futures

Tim Winter

Hosted by Owen Bennett-Jones

The term "Silk Road" evokes images of trade and exotic luxurious goods and Orientalist images. Today, however, it also is associated with the projection of Chinese power abroad. And as that …

Nomads, Past and Present February 13, 2023

Jangar: The Heroic Epic of the Kalmyk Nomads

An interview with Dr. Saga Bougdaeva

Saga Bougdaeva

Hosted by Maggie Freeman

Saga Bougdaeva is the translator of the first English version of Jangar (University of California Press, 2023), the heroic epic of the Kalmyk nomads. The Kalmyks are the Western Mongols …

Nomads, Past and Present February 10, 2023

Star Wars: Andor’s Aldhani and its Real-World Parallels

An interview with Kenneth E. Linden

Kenneth E. Linden

Hosted by Maggie Freeman

In this episode, Dr. Kenny Linden, an environmental and animal historian of Mongolia and Inner Asia, joins me to discuss the Disney+ Star Wars prequel series Andor and its real-world …

Nomads, Past and Present January 24, 2023

Pastures of Change

Contemporary Adaptations and Transformations among Nomadic Pastoralists of Eastern Tibet

Gillian G. Tan

Hosted by Maggie Freeman

Tibetan nomads have developed a way of life that is dependent in multiple ways on their animals and shaped by the phenomenological experience of mobility. These pastoralists have adapted to …

Asian Review of Books January 19, 2023

Ships in the Desert

Jeff Fearnside

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

Many of us have likely seen photos of the Aral Sea, and the rusted Soviet-era ships, sitting in the desert with no water in sight. The Aral Sea is now …

Russian and Eurasian Studies January 11, 2023

Cigarettes and Soviets

Smoking in the USSR

Tricia Starks

Hosted by Daniel Peris

Seeing cigarette smoking as a cultural phenomenon of Western modernity is perhaps easier when the test case is outside the US where the narrative is dominated by Big Bad Tobacco and …

Central Asian Studies January 4, 2023

Order at the Bazaar

Power and Trade in Central Asia

Regine A. Spector

Hosted by Agathe Guy

Order at the Bazaar: Power and Trade in Central Asia (Cornell UP, 2017) delves into the role of bazaars in the political economy and development of Central Asia. Bazaars are …

Buddhist Studies December 26, 2022

Buddhist Medicine in Tibet

A Discussion with Bill McGrath

Bill McGrath

Hosted by Pierce Salguero

In this episode, I sit down with my friend Bill McGrath, a historian of Tibetan Buddhism and medicine. He's one of the most knowledgeable people in the world on this …

Political Science December 16, 2022

Revolution and Dictatorship

The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism

Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way

Hosted by Sally Sharif

Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism (Princeton UP, 2022) explores why dictatorships born of social revolution—such as those in China, Cuba, Iran, the Soviet Union, and Vietnam—are …