Media and Communications

Media and Communications

episodes

Interviews with scholars of media and communications about their new books.

Siri Carpenter on Why She Self-Published First — and How It Led to a Traditional Book Deal

July 29, 2026

Why Self-Publish First?

Siri Carpenter
Hosted by Sarah Russo

What does it take to turn a self-published book into a traditional publishing deal? Science writer Siri Carpenter — executive director of The Open Not…

Daniel L. Gardner, "Thresholds of Digital Gameplay" (MIT Press, 2025)

July 21, 2026

Thresholds of Digital Gameplay

Daniel L. Gardner

Contemporary digital gameplay is only accessible by navigating an ecosystem of interfaces that support its computational nature. Account logins, contr…

Stefan Höltgen et al., "Commodore 64: Past, Present, and Future of a Home Computer" (Projekt Verlag, 2026)

July 20, 2026

Commodore 64

Stefan Höltgen, Torsten Roeder, and Jens Schröter

The Commodore 64 is the most significant computer of its era. From 1982 to 1994, a total of 27 million units were sold—more than any other computer fro…

Hector Amaya, "The Economy of Anonymity: Power in the Age of Identification" (Stanford UP 2026)

July 18, 2026

The Economy of Anonymity

Hector Amaya
Hosted by Pete Kunze

We use avatars to play video games. We use pseudonyms on social media. We use VPNs to mask our identities and activities. In the digital realm, anonym…

Laura B. McGrath, "Middlemen: Literary Agents and the Making of American Fiction" (Princeton UP, 2026)

July 18, 2026

Middlemen

Laura B. McGrath
Hosted by Karishma Koshal

In this interview, we speak with Laura B. McGrath, an Assistant Professor of English at Temple University and the author of Middlemen: Literary Agents…

Stacey Copeland, "Lavender Sounds: From Lesbian Radio to Queer Feminist Soundwork" (U Michigan Press, 2026)

July 17, 2026

Lavender Sounds

Stacey Copeland
Hosted by Jana Byars

Stacey Copeland, Assistant Professor of Cultural Heritage and Identity at the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies at the University of Groningen, …

Mike F. Alvarez, Warren J. Bareiss, and Jolane Flanigan eds., "Suicide in Popular Media and Culture: Studies in Framing a Social Catastrophe" (Bristol UP, 2026)

July 15, 2026

Suicide in Popular Media and Culture

Mike F. Alvarez, Warren J. Bareiss, and Jolane Flanigan
Hosted by Ailin Zhou

NB: This episode contains a discussion of suicide and may not be appropriate for all listeners. If you are thinking about hurting yourself, help is al…

Soraya Murray, "Technothriller: Film and the American Imagination" (MIT Press, 2026)

July 14, 2026

Technothriller

Soraya Murray
Hosted by Ailin Zhou

Technothriller: Film and the American Imagination (MIT Press, 2026) is the first dedicated examination of popular movies classified as “thrillers” tha…

Amélie Junqua and Geoffrey Day, "Too Good to Waste: Recycling Paper in the Eighteenth Century" (Bodleian Library, 2026)

July 11, 2026

Too Good to Waste

Amélie Junqua and Geoffrey Day
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Paper was a precious commodity in the eighteenth century: every sheet was made by hand. There was therefore a significant market in recycling su…

Ali Fard, "Grounding the Cloud: Urbanism in the Shadow of Data" (U Minnesota Press, 2026)

July 10, 2026

Grounding the Cloud

Ali Fard
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Since the 1990s, technologists have promoted a vision of the “cloud” as a shapeless and intangible entity. Grounding the Cloud: Urbanism in the Shadow…

Audio and Ideas, Panel #4

July 8, 2026

Audio and Ideas, Panel #4

Jody Avirgan, Sara McCrea, Caleb Zakarin, and Julia Barton

This is a special edition of the New York Institute for the Humanities’ Vault podcast. On May 13, 2026, Princeton’s Center for Human Values hosted a d…

Aswin Punathambekar, Adrienne Shaw and Jonathan Gray eds., "Planet Digital: A Global Media Cultures Reader" (NYU Press, 2026)

July 7, 2026

Planet Digital

Aswin Punathambekar, Adrienne Shaw and Jonathan Gray
Hosted by Pete Kunze

In the three decades since the rise of the global internet, digitalization has transformed how media are made, circulated, and consumed, reshaping cul…

Hayagreeva Rao and Henrich R Greve, "Ctrl+Alt+Doubt: Decoding the Language of Online Conspiracy Talk" (Oxford UP, 2026)

July 5, 2026

Ctrl+Alt+Doubt

Hayagreeva Rao and Henrich R Greve
Hosted by Alfred Marcus

Ctrl+Alt+Doubt: Decoding the Language of Online Conspiracy Talk (Oxford UP, 2026) offers a new way to understand why conspiracy theories grow and pers…

Audio and Ideas Panel #3

July 3, 2026

Audio and Ideas Panel #3

Allison Carruth and Ellen Horne

This is a special edition of the New York Institute for the Humanities’ Vault podcast. On May 13, 2026, Princeton’s Center for Human Values hosted a d…

Joseph Turow, "The Problem with Personalization: How Advertisers Learned to Make and Break Us from Ancient Times to the AI Age" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

July 3, 2026

The Problem with Personalization

Joseph Turow
Hosted by Pete Kunze

A respected voice on technology shows how seemingly simple ads help dismantle democracy and public discourse. Whether you’re intentionally shopping o…

Mark Rukman: Translating History Into Advertising

July 2, 2026

Translating History Into Advertising

Mark Rukman
Hosted by Patryk Babiracki

I chatted with brand planner Mark Rukman about his quest to translate historical ways of thinking into advertising. Mark likes to joke that, as a hist…

John Wills, "Doom Town, USA: The Nevada Test Site As Ground Zero of 1950s American Culture" (UP of Kansas, 2026)

June 30, 2026

Doom Town, USA

John Wills
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In March 1953 and May 1955, government officials—including the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA), the US Department of Defense, and the Atom…

Dallas Liddle, "News Machines: The Systems of Daily Journalism in Britain, 1785–1885" (Oxford UP, 2026)

June 29, 2026

News Machines

Dallas Liddle
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

British daily newspapers transformed rapidly at the turn of the nineteenth century, ballooning in size and radically reorganizing staffing and p…

Larry Atkins, "Foul or Fair? Ethical and Social Issues in Sports" (McFarland, 2024)

June 28, 2026

Foul or Fair?

Larry Atkins
Hosted by Paul Knepper

There's more to sports than what occurs during games. Check your social media, listen to sports talk radio, or watch ESPN--there are daily stories of …

Benjamin J. Nourse, "The Power of Publishing in Early Modern Tibetan Buddhism"(Lexington Books, 2025)

June 26, 2026

The Power of Publishing in Early Modern Tibetan Buddhism

Benjamin J. Nourse

The Power of Publishing in Early Modern Tibetan Buddhism (Lexington Books, 2025) is a rich exploration of the history of Tibetan books during the late…