New Books Network
Critical Theory
American West February 24, 2021

Cinematic Settlers

The Settler Colonial World in Film

Janne Lahti and Rebecca Weaver-Hightower

Hosted by Stephen Hausmann
The medium of cinema emerged during the height of Victorian-era European empires, and as a result, settler colonial imperialism has thematically suffused film for well over a century. In Cinematic …

Subscribe to

Critical Theory

on the NBN

RSS Spotify Stitcher Apple
Critical Theory February 24, 2021

Penguin Books and Political Change

Britain's Meritocratic Moment, 1937–1988

Dean Blackburn

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
Why do books and publishing matter to the contemporary history of Britain? In Penguin Books and Political Change: Britain's Meritocratic Moment, 1937–1988 (Manchester UP, 2020), Dean Blackburn, a Lecturer in Modern …
Philosophy February 19, 2021

Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory

Patricia Hill Collins

Hosted by Sarah Tyson
Is intersectionality a critical social theory? What must intersectionality do to be both critical and a social theory? Must social justice be a guiding normative principle? And what does or …
Latino Studies February 18, 2021

Decolonizing Diasporas

Radical Mappings of Afro-Atlantic Literature

Yomaira C Figueroa-Vásquez

Hosted by Jonathan Cortez
Yomaira C. Figueroa-Vásquez pens towards decolonial freedom. Her recently published book, Decolonizing Diasporas: Radical Mappings of Afro-Atlantic Literature (Northwestern University Press, 2020), uses peripheralized (5) novels, visual/sonic works, poetry, essays …
Literary Studies February 15, 2021

The Phenomenology of Love and Reading

Cassandra Falke

Hosted by Britton Edelen
In this episode, I interview Cassandra Falke, professor of English Literature ad UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, about her book The Phenomenology of Love and Reading (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016). In …
Christian Studies February 10, 2021

Rhythm

A Theological Category

Lexi Eikelboom

Hosted by Ryan Shelton
Philosophers have long approached the concept of rhythm as a significant tool for understanding the human experience, metaphysics, language, and the arts. In her new study Rhythm: A Theological Category (Oxford …
Middle Eastern Studies February 9, 2021

Anticolonial Afterlives in Egypt

The Politics of Hegemony

Sara Salem

Hosted by Yi Ning Chang
In this conversation, Sara Salem, author of Anticolonial Afterlives in Egypt: The Politics of Hegemony (Cambridge University Press, 2020), talks to host Yi Ning Chang about temporality, capitalism, and hegemony …
Economics February 8, 2021

Neoliberalism

A Very Short Introduction

Manfred B. Steger and Ravi K. Roy

Hosted by Tim Jones
George Orwell once said that “the word ‘fascism’ has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies ‘something not desirable’”. The word ‘neoliberalism’ knows exactly how it feels …
Art February 4, 2021

Propaganda Art in the 21st Century

Jonas Staal

Hosted by Pierre d'Alancaisez
How to understand propaganda art in the post-truth era—and how to create a new kind of emancipatory propaganda art. Propaganda art — whether a depiction of joyous workers in the style of …
History February 2, 2021

First Class Passengers on a Sinking Ship

Elite Politics and the Decline of Great Powers

Richard Lachmann

Hosted by Zeb Larson
Being a great power almost seems to invite discussion of decline: whether you are declining, what can be done to prevent or arrest it, and what the consequences of …
Critical Theory January 29, 2021

Access All Areas

The Diversity Manifesto for TV and Beyond

Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How can we create a more equal media industry? In Access All Areas: The Diversity Manifesto for TV and Beyond, Marcus Ryder and Sir Lenny Henry, both founder members of …
Critical Theory January 29, 2021

A Cultural History of the Disneyland Theme Parks

Middle Class Kingdoms

Sabrina Mittermeier

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How should we understand the theme park in our globalised world? In A Cultural History of the Disneyland Theme Parks: Middle Class Kingdoms (Intellect, 2020), Dr. Sabrina Mittermeier, a postdoctoral researcher and …
Critical Theory January 28, 2021

Wages Against Artwork

Decommodified Labor and the Claims of Socially Engaged Art

Leigh Claire La Berge

Hosted by Pierre d'Alancaisez
The last twenty years have seen a rise in the production, circulation, and criticism of new forms of socially engaged art aimed at achieving social justice and economic equality.  Leigh …
LGBTQ+ Studies January 26, 2021

Black Queer Freedom

Spaces of Injury and Paths of Desire

GerShun Avilez

Hosted by John Marszalek
Whether engaged in same-sex desire or gender nonconformity, black queer individuals live with being perceived as a threat while simultaneously being subjected to the threat of physical, psychological, and socioeconomic …
Critical Theory January 26, 2021

Migrants in the Profane

Critical Theory and the Question of Secularization

Peter E. Gordon

Hosted by Ryan Tripp
A beautifully written exploration of religion's role in a secular, modern politics, by an accomplished scholar of critical theory, Migrants in the Profane: Critical Theory and the Question of Secularization (Yale University …
Critical Theory January 15, 2021

A Critical Legal Examination of Liberalism and Liberal Rights

Matthew McManus

Hosted by Stephen Dozeman
The tradition of political liberalism has a long and complicated history, filled with twists, turns, critiques and responses that have filled books, essays and lectures for several centuries now. Questions …
Critical Theory January 13, 2021

Critique of Rights

Christoph Menke

Hosted by Dominik Finkelde
Christoph Menke, who is professor of philosophy at the Goethe University in Frankfurt Germany and considered the most important representative of the third generation of the "Frankfurt School of Critical …
Art January 12, 2021

Knowledge Beside Itself

Contemporary Art's Epistemic Politics

Tom Holert

Hosted by Pierre d'Alancaisez
What is the role and function of contemporary art in economic and political systems that increasingly manage data and affect? Knowledge Beside Itself: Contemporary Art's Epistemic Politics (Sternberg Press, 2020) delves into …
Education January 11, 2021

Walking with Strangers

Critical Ethnography and Educational Promise

Barbara Dennis

Hosted by Pengfei Zhao
In this episode, I speak with Dr. Barbara Dennis of Indiana University on her new ethnography, Walking with Strangers: Critical Ethnography and Educational Promise, published in 2020 by Peter Lang …
Literary Studies January 8, 2021

Radical Animism

Reading for the End of the World

Jemma Deer

Hosted by Nataliya Shpylova-Saeed
Jemma Deer’s Radical Animism: Reading for the End of the World (Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2020) invites the reader to take a moment and to ponder on the way of reading …