New Books Network Podcast

The Future of . . . with Owen Bennett-Jones September 24, 2023

The Future of Ukraine

A Discussion with Christopher Miller

Christopher Miller

Hosted by Owen Bennett-Jones

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has already changed the world. Why did it happen? Who is winning? How will it end? Christopher Miller is the author of The War Came to …

Anthropology September 24, 2023

Blackness As a Universal Claim

Holocaust Heritage, Noncitizen Futures, and Black Power in Berlin

Damani Partridge

Hosted by Reighan Gillam

In this bold and provocative new book, Blackness as a Universal Claim: Holocaust Heritage, Noncitizen Futures, and Black Power in Berlin (University of California Press, 2023), Damani Partridge examines the possibilities …

Law September 23, 2023

Justifying Violent Protest

Law and Morality in Democratic States

James Greenwood-Reeves

Hosted by Jane Richards

Was the use of violence on January 6th Capitol attacks legitimate? Is the use of violence morally justified by members of Extinction Rebellion or Just Stop Oil campaigners? Justifying Violent Protest …

General History September 18, 2023

Age of Emergency

Living with Violence at the End of the British Empire

Erik Linstrum

Hosted by Ran Zwigenberg

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When uprisings against colonial rule broke out across the world after 1945, Britain responded with overwhelming and brutal force. Although this period has conventionally been dubbed "postwar," it was punctuated …

The Future of . . . with Owen Bennett-Jones September 16, 2023

The Future of Anarchism

A Discussion with Ruth Kinna

Ruth Kinna

Hosted by Owen Bennett-Jones

50 years ago, anarchism was written off by some as a set of outdated idealistic ideas that had no contemporary relevance. Then came protests at events such as World Trade …

Political Science September 14, 2023

Election Day

How We Vote and What It Means for Democracy

Emilee Booth Chapman

Hosted by Lilly Goren

Emilee Booth Chapman, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, has a new book that examines the idea of the vote, and what this experience means for citizens, for …

America and Beyond with Paul Starobin September 13, 2023

The Shadow War between America and Russia

A Discussion with George S. Beebe

George S. Beebe

Hosted by Paul Starobin

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Western analysts and media often assess the prospect that Moscow might use nuclear weapons as the war in Ukraine grinds on, possibly to a flailing Russia’s disadvantage. George Beebe, though …

Critical Theory September 13, 2023

The Political Right and Equality

Turning Back the Tide of Egalitarian Modernity

Matthew McManus

Hosted by Morteza Hajizadeh

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McManus presents an intellectual history of the conservative and reactionary tradition, stretching from Aristotle and Filmer to Alexander Dugin and Patrick Deneen. Providing a comprehensive critical genealogy of the intellectual …

Anthropology September 8, 2023

A Vital Frontier

Water Insurgencies in Europe

Andrea Muehlebach

Hosted by Armanc Yildiz

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In A Vital Frontier: Water Insurgencies in Europe (Duke University Press, 2023)) Andrea Muehlebach examines the work of activists across Europe as they organize to preserve water as a commons and …

European Politics September 7, 2023

What Went Wrong with Brexit?

And What We Can Do about It

Peter Foster

Hosted by Tim Jones

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It’s been over three years since the UK withdrew from the EU and no one – not even the most ardent Brexiter – thinks it has gone well so far …

German Studies August 30, 2023

Everyday Denazification in Postwar Germany

The Fragebogen Questionnaire and Political Screening During the Allied Occupation

Mikkel Dack

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

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In the wake of the Second World War, the victorious Allied armies implemented a radical program to purge Nazism from Germany and preserve peace in Europe. Between 1945 and 1949 …

Middle Eastern Studies August 28, 2023

When Democracy Died

The Middle East's Enduring Peace of Lausanne

Hans-Lukas Kieser

Hosted by Roberto Mazza

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The Treaty of Lausanne, signed in Switzerland in July 1923, officially settled the conflict between the Ottoman Empire and the Allied forces. Not only did the Treaty establish the borders …

French Studies August 27, 2023

France on Trial

The Case of Marshal Pétain

Julian Jackson

Hosted by Richard Northrop

There was a time when French people put up picture of Marshal Philippe Petain on their walls. He is a figure of immeasurable stature to the country of France. Victor …

Eastern European Studies August 25, 2023

No Neighbors’ Lands in Postwar Europe

Vanishing Others

Anna Wylegala, Sabine Rutar, and Malgorzata Lukianow

Hosted by Nataliya Shpylova-Saeed

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Anna Wylegala, Sabine Rutar, and Malgorzata Lukianow's edited volume No Neighbors’ Lands in Postwar Europe: Vanishing Others (Palgrave MacMillan, 2023) focuses on the social voids that were the result of occupation …

European Politics August 20, 2023

Mussolini's Grandchildren

Fascism in Contemporary Italy

David Broder

Hosted by Morteza Hajizadeh

The fastest-rising force in Italian politics is Giorgia Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia - a party with a direct genealogy from Mussolini's regime. Surging to prominence in recent years, it has waged …

Intellectual History August 19, 2023

Liberalism Against Itself

Cold War Intellectuals and the Making of Our Times

Samuel Moyn

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

By the middle of the twentieth century, many liberals looked glumly at the world modernity had brought about, with its devastating wars, rising totalitarianism, and permanent nuclear terror. They concluded …

The Future of . . . with Owen Bennett-Jones August 18, 2023

The Future of Traditionalism

A Discussion with Mark J. Sedgwick

Mark J. Sedgwick

Hosted by Owen Bennett-Jones

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Twenty years ago, it seemed Traditionalism was an esoteric and irrelevant set of beliefs. Since then, powerful people sympathetic to its ideas have overturned that perception. In the US, Russia …

Military History August 17, 2023

Putin's War on Ukraine

Russia’s Campaign for Global Counter-Revolution

Samuel Ramani

Hosted by AJ Woodhams

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Eight years after annexing Crimea, Russia embarked on a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022. For Vladimir Putin, this was a legacy-defining mission--to restore Russia's sphere of influence …

European Politics August 17, 2023

Eurowhiteness

Culture, Empire and Race in the European Project

Hans Kundnani

Hosted by Tim Jones

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"Today’s 'pro-Europeans' would be horrified at the suggestion that their idea of Europe had anything to do with whiteness. In fact, many would find the attempt to link the two …

European Politics August 13, 2023

Russia's War Against Ukraine

The Whole Story

Mark Edele

Hosted by Tim Jones

"That Russia and Ukraine have diverged politically so radically since 1991 is partially due to their position vis-à-vis the imploded empire they emerged from," writes Mark Edele in Russia's War …