New Books Network

East Asian Studies August 16, 2022

Moral Foods

The Construction of Nutrition and Health in Modern Asia

Angela Ki Che Leung, Melissa L. Caldwell, and Robert Ji-Song Ku

Hosted by Nathan Hopson

The twelve chapters of Moral Foods: The Construction of Nutrition and Health in Modern Asia (U Hawai’i Press, 2020) are divided into three sections: Good Foods, Bad Foods, and Moral …

Japanese Studies August 15, 2022

Public Health in Asia During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Global Health Governance, Migrant Labour, and International Health Crises

Anoma Van Der Veere, Florian Schneider, and Catherine Lo

Hosted by Jingyi Li

Every nation in Asia has dealt with COVID-19 differently and with varying levels of success in the absence of clear and effective leadership from the WHO. As a result, the …

Indian Religions August 15, 2022

Amma’s Daughters

A Memoir

Meenal Shrivastava

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Today I talked to about Amma’s Daughters: A Memoir (Athabasca UP, 2018). This book is available open access here. As a precocious young girl, Surekha knew very little about the details of …

Economics August 12, 2022

Micro-Institutional Foundations of Capitalism

Roselyn Hsueh

Hosted by Peter Lorentzen

Roselyn Hsueh’s Micro-Institutional Foundations of Capitalism (Cambridge, 2022) presents a new framework for understanding how developing countries integrate into the global economy. Examining the labor-intensive textile sector and the capital-intensive …

Indian Religions August 11, 2022

Sadhus in Indian Politics

Dynamics of Hindutva

Koushiki Dasgupta

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Koushiki Dasgupta's Sadhus in Indian Politics: Dynamics of Hindutva (Sage, 2021) maps the changing face of contemporary Hindu politics, evaluating the influence of sadhus (ascetics) on the course of politics …

Indian Religions August 4, 2022

Gods in the Time of Democracy

Kajri Jain

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

In 2018 India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, inaugurated the world's tallest statue: a 597-foot figure of nationalist leader Sardar Patel. Twice the height of the Statue of Liberty, it is …

Indian Religions August 2, 2022

After the War

The Last Books of the Mahabharata

Wendy Doniger

Hosted by Ujaan Ghosh

Wendy Doniger's After the War: The Last Books of the Mahabharata (Oxford UP, 2022) is a new translation of the final part of the Mahabharata, the great Sanskrit Epic poem about …

Indian Religions July 28, 2022

Democracy and Social Cleavage in India

Ethnography of Riots, Everyday Politics and Communalism in West Bengal C. 2012-2021

Suman Nath

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Suman Nath's book Democracy and Social Cleavage in India: Ethnography of Riots, Everyday Politics and Communalism in West Bengal (2012-2021) (Routledge, 2022) explores the emergence of identity politics and violence at …

Asian Review of Books July 28, 2022

Science on the Roof of the World

Empire and the Remaking of the Himalaya

Lachlan Fleetwood

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

Today, the idea that the Himalayas have the world’s tallest peaks—by a large margin—is entirely uncontroversial. Just about anyone can name Mount Everest and K2 as the world’s tallest and …

Anthropology July 26, 2022

Being Single in India

Stories of Gender, Exclusion, and Possibility

Sarah Lamb

Hosted by Garima Jaju

Today, the majority of the world's population lives in a country with falling marriage rates, a phenomenon with profound impacts on women, gender, and sexuality. In Being Single in India …

Indian Religions July 21, 2022

Marg Magazine

Readings on the Temple

Naman P. Ahuja

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

In October 1946, shortly before Independence, Mulk Raj Anand founded Marg, a magazine that soon became a pioneering forum for research on Indian and South Asian art and architecture. Over …

Indian Religions July 19, 2022

The Light We Give

How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life

Simran Jeet Singh

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

An inspiring approach to a happier, more fulfilling life through Sikh teachings on love and service. As a boy growing up in South Texas, Simran Jeet Singh and his brothers …

Nordic Asia Podcast July 15, 2022

Publishing in Asian Studies Journals

A Discussion with Julie Yu-Wen Chen and Hyung-Gu Lynn

Julie Yu-Wen Chen and Hyung-Gu Lynn

Hosted by Duncan McCargo

How can we get our articles in Asian studies published? What criteria should we use in selecting what journals to target? On what basis do journal editors make decisions on …

Indian Religions July 14, 2022

The Hagiographer and the Avatar

The Life and Works of Narayan Kasturi

Antonio Rigopoulos

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

In The Hagiographer and the Avatar: The Life and Works of Narayan Kasturi (SUNY Press, 2021), Antonio Rigopoulos explores the fundamental role of a hagiographer within a charismatic religious movement …

Literature July 12, 2022

Victory Colony, 1950

Bhaswati Ghosh

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

Victory Colony, 1950 (Yoda Press, 2020) by Bhaswati Ghosh is a story of resilience about East Pakistani refugees who were forced to leave their homes in East Pakistan because of …

Literature July 12, 2022

Bombay Hangovers

Rochelle Potkar

Hosted by Sharonee Dasgupta

The stories in Bombay Hangovers (Vishwakarma Publications, 2021) are laced with the grit, sleaze and dynamism of Bombay. They explore the nerve centre of a great metropolis with caustic wit and …

South Asian Studies July 11, 2022

Ploughshares and Swords

India's Nuclear Program in the Global Cold War

Jayita Sarkar

Hosted by Shatrunjay Mall

Ploughshares and Swords: India’s Nuclear Program in the Global Cold War (Cornell University Press, 2022) by Jayita Sarkar challenges this received wisdom by narrating a global story of India's nuclear …

High Theory July 8, 2022

Apabhraṃśa

A Discussion with Abhishek Avtans

Abhishek Avtans

Hosted by Kim Adams and Saronik Bosu

Abhishek Avtans talks about the apabhraṃśa, a word that refers to the middle stage of the Indo-Aryan languages, crucial links between ancient languages like Sanskrit, and modern South Asian languages …

Indian Religions July 7, 2022

Botanical Ecstasies

Psychoactive Plant Formulas in India and Beyond

Matthew Clark

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

In Botanical Ecstasies: Psychoactive Plant Formulas in India and Beyond, Dr Matthew Clark proposes that soma/hoama is instead an ayahuasca-like plant complex made from many different species. He discusses a …

Literary Studies July 6, 2022

Colonial Law in India and the Victorian Imagination

Leila Neti

Hosted by Gargi Binju

Situated at the intersection of law and literature, nineteenth-century studies and post-colonialism, Colonial Law in India and the Victorian Imagination (Cambridge UP, 2021) draws on original archival research to shed …