New Books Network Podcast

Nordic Asia Podcast September 22, 2023

The Political Life of Memory

Birsa Munda in Contemporary India

Rahul Ranjan

Hosted by Kenneth Bo Nielsen

How do affective sites such as memorials and statues produce political visions, emotions, and opportunities? And how are they used strategically to further particular political projects? In this episode, we …

Islamic Studies September 22, 2023

Merchants of Virtue

Hindus, Muslims, and Untouchables in Eighteenth-Century South Asia

Divya Cherian

Hosted by SherAli Tareen

In her formidable and fiercely well-argued new book Merchants of Virtue: Hindus, Muslims, and Untouchables in Eighteenth-Century South Asia (U California Press, 2022), Divya Cherian shows with meticulous detail and in lyrical …

Indian Religions September 21, 2023

Middle-Class Dharma

Gender, Aspiration, and the Making of Contemporary Hinduism

Jennifer D. Ortegren

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

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Middle-Class Dharma: Gender, Aspiration, and the Making of Contemporary Hinduism (Oxford UP, 2023) is a contemporary ethnography of class mobility among Hindus in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. Focusing on women …

Philosophy September 20, 2023

Vatsyayana's Commentary on the Nyaya-Sutra

A Guide

Matthew R. Dasti

Hosted by Malcolm Keating

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In Vatsyayana's Commentary on the Nyaya-Sutra: A Guide (Oxford University Press, 2023), Matthew Dasti unpacks a canonical classical Indian text, the Nyayabhasya, while simultaneously demonstrating its relevance to contemporary philosophy …

Political Science September 18, 2023

We're Here Because You Were There

Immigration and the End of Empire

Ian Sanjay Patel

Hosted by Lamis Abdelaaty

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What are the origins of the hostile environment against immigrants in the UK? In We’re Here Because You Were There: Immigration and the End of Empire (Verso, 2021), Patel retells …

British Studies September 16, 2023

The East India Company and the Politics of Knowledge

Joshua Ehrlich

Hosted by Morteza Hajizadeh

The East India Company is remembered as the world's most powerful, not to say notorious, corporation. But for many of its advocates from the 1770s to the 1850s it was …

Nordic Asia Podcast September 15, 2023

Development and Migration in Contemporary Asia

A Discussion with Jonathan Rigg and Marta Bivand Erdal

Jonathan Rigg and Marta Bivand Erdal

Hosted by Arve Hansen

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Is migration good or bad for development? How does migration affect those who leave and those who stay behind? How are rural and urban livelihoods interconnected in Asian cities? What …

Critical Theory September 15, 2023

Imperial Island

An Alternative History of the British Empire

Charlotte Lydia Riley

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

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Can Britain escape from being a nation trapped in its past? In Imperial Island: A History of Empire in Modern Britain (Penguin, 2023), Charlotte Lydia Riley, an Associate Professor of History in …

Indian Religions September 14, 2023

Science and Society in the Sanskrit World

Vishal Sharma, Christopher T. Fleming, Toke Lindegaard Knudsen and Anuj Misra

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Science and Society in the Sanskrit World (Brill, 2023) lauds the remarkable career of Christopher Z. Minkowski, the erstwhile Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Balliol College, University of Oxford. The …

Middle Eastern Studies September 12, 2023

Inventing the Middle East

Britain and the Persian Gulf in the Age of Global Imperialism

Guillemette Crouzet

Hosted by Morteza Hajizadeh

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The “Middle East” has long been an indispensable and ubiquitous term in discussing world affairs, yet its history remains curiously underexplored. Few question the origin of the term or the …

International Horizons September 11, 2023

India, a Non-Aligned Member of the International System?

A Discussion with Upendra Choudhury

Upendra Choudhury

Hosted by International Horizons

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We kick off our Fall 2023 season of International Horizons with Upendra Choudhury from Aligarh Muslim University discussing the role of India in the contemporary international system. Prof. Choudhury argues …

Literary Studies September 10, 2023

The Arabian Nights in Contemporary World Cultures

Global Commodification, Translation, and the Culture Industry

Muḥsin Jāsim Mūsawī

Hosted by Morteza Hajizadeh

The stories in the Thousand and One Nights, or the Arabian Nights, are familiar to many of us: from the tales of Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba and his …

Indian Ocean World September 9, 2023

The Owl and the Occult

Popular Politics and Social Liminality in Early Modern South Asia

Divya Cherian

Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi

Today I talked to Divya Cherian about her article "The Owl and the Occult: Popular Politics and Social Liminality in Early Modern South Asia" published in Comparative Studies in Society and History (June …

South Asian Studies September 9, 2023

Scripts of Power

Writing, Language Practices, and Cultural History in Western India

Prachi Deshpande

Hosted by Niharika Yadav

Scripts of Power: Writing, Language Practices, and Cultural History in Western India (Permanent Black, 2023) is a cultural history of western India from a fascinatingly new perspective: language use, writing practices …

Islamic Studies September 8, 2023

Colonizing Kashmir

State-building under Indian Occupation

Hafsa Kanjwal

Hosted by SherAli Tareen

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In her scintillating and brilliant new book, Colonizing Kashmir: State-Building Under Indian Occupation (Stanford UP, 2023), Hafsa Kanjwal details and showcases the discursive and institutional means and mechanisms through which …

Indian Religions September 7, 2023

Between Hindu and Christian

Khrist Bhaktas, Catholics, and the Negotiation of Devotion in Banaras

Kerry P. C. San Chirico

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

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On the second Saturday of each month, on the outskirts of the ancient city of Varanasi, Shiva's own city, thousands of shudra and Dalit devotees worship Yesu (Jesus) at a …

Asian Review of Books September 7, 2023

Plains of Discontent

A Political History of Nepal’s Tarai (1743-2019)

Maximillian Mørch

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

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When we think of Nepal, we think of its high Himalayan mountains, or maybe the highlands of Kathmandu. But somewhere between a quarter and a third of the country is …

Indian Religions September 6, 2023

The Bhagavata Purana

Sacred Text and Living Tradition

Ravi Gupta and Kenneth Valpey

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

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Today I talked to Ravi Gupta and Kenneth Valpey about The Bhagavata Purana: Sacred Text and Living Tradition (Columbia UP, 2013) A vibrant example of living literature, the Bhagavata Purana is a …

Indian Religions August 31, 2023

Texts, Traditions, and Sacredness

Cultural Translation in Kristapurana

Annie Rachel Royson

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Annie Rachel Royson's book Texts, Traditions, and Sacredness: Cultural Translation in Kristapurana (Routledge, 2023) presents a critical reading of Kristapurāṇa, the first South Asian retelling of the Bible. In 1579 …

Asian Review of Books August 31, 2023

The Best Possible Experience

Stories

Nishanth Injam

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

The characters in Nishanth Injam’s The Best Possible Experience (Pantheon, 2023), his debut short story collection, are like many in India or in Indian communities in the United States: Working …