New Books Network Podcast

Medieval History November 30, 2023

The Power of Protocol

Diplomatics and the Dynamics of Papal Government, c. 400 – c.1600

D. L. d'Avray

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

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The Power of Protocol: Diplomatics and the Dynamics of Papal Government, c. 400 – c.1600 (Cambridge University Press, 2023) by Dr. David d’Avray asks: How did the papacy govern European …

Sociology November 20, 2023

Gentrification and Diversity

Rebranding Milan's Chinatown

Lidia Katia C. Manzo

Hosted by Anna Zhelnina

Lidia Katia C. Manzo's book Gentrification and Diversity: Rebranding Milan's Chinatown (Springer, 2023) examines lived experiences of making, inhabiting and appropriating space, in relation to the upscale commercial gentrification of the Milan …

Medieval History November 4, 2023

Belisarius & Antonina

Love and War in the Age of Justinian

David Alan Parnell

Hosted by Evan Zarkadas

Belisarius and Antonina were titans in the Roman world some 1,500 years ago. Belisarius was the most well-known general of his age, victor over the Persians, conqueror of the Vandals …

Military History November 1, 2023

Mussolini's Army Against Greece

October 1940-April 1941

Richard Carrier

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

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Richard Carrier's book Mussolini's Army Against Greece: October 1940-April 1941 (Routledge, 2021) analyses why the Italian army failed to defeat its Greek opponent between October 1940 and April 1941. It thoroughly …

Critical Theory October 29, 2023

Coloniality and Meritocracy in Unequal EU Migrations

Intersecting Inequalities in Post-2008 Italian Migration

Simone Varriale

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

How do migrants make sense of migration? In Coloniality and Meritocracy in unequal EU migrations: Intersecting Inequalities in Post-2008 Italian Migration (Bristol UP, 2023), Simone Varriale, Lecturer in Sociology at Loughborough University, explores …

Critical Theory October 22, 2023

Fascism

A Very Short Introduction

Kevin Passmore

Hosted by Morteza Hajizadeh

What is fascism? Is it revolutionary? Or is it reactionary? Can it be both? Fascism is notoriously hard to define. How do we make sense of an ideology that appeals …

Early Modern History October 20, 2023

Petrarch and the Making of Gender in Renaissance Italy

Shannon McHugh

Hosted by Jana Byars

Shannon McHugh's book Petrarch and the Making of Gender in Renaissance Italy (Amsterdam University Press, 2023) is a new history of early modern gender, told through the lyric poetry of Renaissance …

European Politics October 14, 2023

Mario Draghi, the Craftsman

The True Story of the Man Who Saved the Euro

Jana Randow and Alessandro Speciale

Hosted by Tim Jones

"Within our mandate, the [European Central Bank] is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough". With those three words delivered …

Italian Studies October 11, 2023

Dante and the Mediterranean Comedy

From Muslim Spain to Post-Colonial Italy

Andrea Celli

Hosted by Akash Kumar

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In Dante and the Mediterranean Comedy: From Muslim Spain to Post-Colonial Italy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), Andrea Celli explores the complex ways in which Dante’s Comedy could be considered ‘Mediterranean,’ ranging …

Medieval History October 6, 2023

England and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages

Papal Privileges in European Perspective, C. 680-1073

Benjamin Savill

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

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England and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages: Papal Privileges in European Perspective, c. 680-1073 (Oxford University Press, 2023) by Dr. Benjamin Savill provides the first dedicated, book-length study …

Jewish Studies September 30, 2023

Living Under the Evil Pope

The Hebrew Chronicle of Pope Paul IV by Benjamin Neḥemiah Ben Elnathan from Civitanova Marche (16th Cent.)

Martina Mampieri

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

In Living under the Evil Pope (Brill, 2020), Martina Mampieri presents the Hebrew Chronicle of Pope Paul IV, written in the second half of the sixteenth century by the Italian …

Biblical Studies September 26, 2023

Roman Self-Representation and the Lukan Kingdom of God

Michael Kochenash

Hosted by Rob Heaton

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Michael Kochenash published his revised dissertation from Claremont School of Theology as Roman Self-Representation and the Lukan Kingdom of God (Lexington Books/Fortress Academic) in 2020. A student of Dennis R …

Early Modern History September 13, 2023

Defining Nature's Limits

The Roman Inquisition and the Boundaries of Science

Neil Tarrant

Hosted by Morteza Hajizadeh

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Neil Tarrant challenges conventional thinking by looking at the longer history of censorship, considering a five-hundred-year continuity of goals and methods stretching from the late eleventh century to well into …

Ancient History September 10, 2023

Vergil

The Poet's Life

Sarah Ruden

Hosted by Benjamin Phillips

The Aeneid stands as a towering work of Classical Roman literature and a gripping dramatization of the best and worst of human nature. In the process of creating this epic …

Intellectual History September 9, 2023

Christian Intellectuals and the Roman Empire

From Justin Martyr to Origen

Jared Secord

Hosted by Benjamin Phillips

Early in the third century, a small group of Greek Christians began to gain prominence and legitimacy as intellectuals in the Roman Empire. Examining the relationship that these thinkers had …

Music August 31, 2023

Voice Machines

The Castrato, the Cat Piano, and Other Strange Sounds

Bonnie Gordon

Hosted by Nathan Smith

Italian courts and churches began employing castrato singers in the late sixteenth century. By the eighteenth century, the singers occupied a celebrity status on the operatic stage. Constructed through surgical …

General History August 27, 2023

Why Empires Fall

Rome, America, and the Future of the West

Peter Heather and John Rapley

Hosted by Charles Coutinho

Over the last three centuries, the West rose to dominate the planet. Then, around the start of the new millennium, history took a dramatic turn. Faced with economic stagnation and …

Jewish Studies August 26, 2023

The Specter of the Jews

Emperor Julian and the Rhetoric of Ethnicity in Syrian Antioch

Ari Finkelstein

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

In the generation after Constantine the Great elevated Christianity to a dominant position in the Roman Empire, his nephew, the Emperor Julian, sought to reinstate the old gods to their …

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 …

History Ex Silo August 14, 2023

Toward a More Expansive View of Medieval Europe

Kyivan Rus and Norman Salerno in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries

Christian Raffensperger and Joanna Drell

Hosted by Stephen Bittner

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Focusing on gender relations, family formation, and marriage patterns in areas peripheral to the England, France, and the Holy Roman Empire, Christian Raffensperger and Joanna Drell argue for a more …