New Books Network
Irish Studies
Think About It January 11, 2022

John Waters on James Joyce's "Dubliners"

John Waters

Hosted by Uli Baer
James Joyce’s 1914 collection of fifteen short stories, Dubliners, is righty considered one of the greatest literary achievements of Western modernity. But what is so original about these stories that …

Irish Studies

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Interviews with scholars of Ireland about their new books.

Princeton UP Ideas Podcast January 3, 2022

Western Europe’s Democratic Age

1945-1968

Martin Conway

Hosted by Mark Klobas
What happened in the years following World War II to create a democratic revolution in the western half of Europe? In Western Europe’s Democratic Age: 1945-1968 (Princeton UP, 2021), Martin …
Irish Studies December 21, 2021

The Golden Thread

Irish Women Playwrights (1716-2016)

David Clare, Fiona McDonagh, and Justine Nakase

Hosted by Colleen English
The 2015 #WakingTheFeminists Campaign for gender equality in Irish theatre highlighted the marginalization of women in this industry and led to several significant initiatives that interrogated existing theater practices …
Irish Studies November 26, 2021

Estranging the Novel

Poland, Ireland, and Theories of World Literature

Katarzyna Bartoszyńska

Hosted by Aidan Beatty
Katarzyna (Kasia) Bartoszyńska is an assistant professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies at Ithaca College. Her research and teaching focuses on the novel form and the theories connected …
General History November 23, 2021

The Rise and Fall of Christian Ireland

Crawford Gribben

Hosted by Jana Byars
Today Crawford Gribben joins us to talk about his new book, The Rise and Fall of Christian Ireland (Oxford UP, 2021). Ireland has long been regarded as a 'land of …
British Studies November 10, 2021

A Useful History of Britain

The Politics of Getting Things Done

Michael Braddick

Hosted by Charles Prior
What have the Romans ever done for us? That’s the question put to his pals by Reg, in a much quoted scene from Monty Python’s Life of Brian. The debate …
Russian and Eurasian Studies October 20, 2021

All Future Plunges to the Past

James Joyce in Russian Literature

José Vergara

Hosted by Steven Seegel
All Future Plunges to the Past: James Joyce in Russian Literature (Cornell UP, 2021) explores how Russian writers from the mid-1920s on have read and responded to Joyce's work …
Irish Studies October 19, 2021

The History of Marriage Equality in Ireland

A Social Revolution Begins

Sonja Tiernan

Hosted by Averill Earls
In 2015, the world witnessed an Irish social revolution. In a historic referendum vote, the Republic of Ireland voted to extend the constitutional right to marriage to same-sex couples. Thirty …
Performing Arts October 19, 2021

Chartist Drama

Gregory Vargo

Hosted by Andy Boyd
Greg Vargo's Chartist Drama (Manchester UP, 2021) opens a window into a fascinating aspect of working-class radical drama. This book includes scripts of four dramas performed or published by members …
Irish Studies October 13, 2021

History and Salvation in Medieval Ireland

Elizabeth Boyle

Hosted by Danica Ramsey-Brimberg
In History and Salvation in Medieval Ireland, Dr. Elizabeth Boyle closely examines medieval Irish ideas regarding salvation history from 700 to 1200 CE through both Latin and vernacular texts for both …
Australian and New Zealand Studies September 13, 2021

Child Sexual Abuse Inquiries and the Catholic Church

Reassessing the Evidence

Virginia Miller

Hosted by Bede Haines
In Child Sexual Abuse Inquiries and the Catholic Church: Reassessing the Evidence (Firenze UP, 2021), Dr Miller analyses empirical findings, methodologies and conclusions of the three main national inquiries (Irish, US, Australian) …
Literature August 23, 2021

Rockaway Blue

A Novel

Larry Kirwan

Hosted by Robert Snyder
Twenty years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the novel Rockaway Blue (Cornell UP, 2021) probes the griefs, trauma and resilience of Irish American New Yorkers wresting with the …
Irish Studies August 11, 2021

LGBTQ Visibility, Media and Sexuality in Ireland

Páraic Kerrigan

Hosted by Averill Earls
“We know what we want, and one day, our prince will come,” says Toby, the bicycle-shorts-wearing, double ententre-making, unacknowledgely-gay neighbor in RTE’s Upwardly Mobile. Though the first queer characters in …
Irish Studies August 9, 2021

The Coffin Ship

Life and Death at Sea during the Great Irish Famine

Cian T. McMahon

Hosted by Aidan Beatty
Cian T. McMahon is an associate professor of history at University of Nevada-Las Vegas. His research focuses on the history and identity of the Irish Diaspora. In this interview, he …
Irish Studies July 23, 2021

Derry City

Memory and Political Struggle in Northern Ireland

Margo Shea

Hosted by Ryan Shelton
The city that sits on the River Foyle on the North side of the Irish isle in many ways has stood as a microcosm of the conflicts in Northern Ireland …
General History May 4, 2021

All the Nations Under Heaven

Immigrants, Migrants, and the Making of New York

Frederick M. Binder, David M. Reimers, and Robert W. Snyder

Hosted by Peter Aigner
All the Nations Under Heaven: Immigrants, Migrants, and the Making of New York by Frederick M. Binder, David M. Reimers, and Robert W. Snyder (Columbia University Press, 2019) covers almost …
General History April 14, 2021

A Brief History of Britain 1851-2021

From World Power to ?

Jeremy Black

Hosted by Crawford Gribben
Jeremy Black, one of the most prolific and punchy of historians of modern Britain, has written a new account of a period on which he has previously published. A Brief …
General History April 12, 2021

Ireland's New Traditionalists

Fianna Fáil Republicanism and Gender, 1926-1938

Kenneth Shonk

Hosted by Jana Byars
Today on New Books in History, a channel on the New Books Network we are joined by Kenneth L. Shonk, Professor of History at University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse to talk about …
Critical Theory April 2, 2021

Imperial Encore

The Cultural Project of the Late British Empire

Caroline Ritter

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What role did culture play in the British Empire? In Imperial Encore: The Cultural Project of the Late British Empire (University of California Press, 2021), Caroline Ritter, an Assistant Professor of …
General History March 15, 2021

Saint Patrick Retold

The Legend and History of Ireland's Patron Saint

Roy Flechner

Hosted by Ryan Shelton
The only surviving contemporary texts that provide insight into the life of Saint Patrick were both written by the legendary patron saint of Ireland. By Patrick's own account, his life …