Economic and Business History

Economic and Business History

episodes

Interviews with scholars of economic and business history about their new books.

Sandeep Vaheesan, "Democracy in Power: A History of Electrification in the United States" (U Chicago Press, 2024)

August 22, 2026

Democracy in Power

Sandeep Vaheesan
Hosted by Anna Olteanu

In Democracy in Power: A History of Electrification in the United States (University of Chicago Press, 2024), Sandeep Vaheesan recounts the rather ove…

China Comes to Town: Chinese Investment and Local Politics in the U.S. with Emily Conrad

August 21, 2026

China Comes to Town:

with Emily Conrad

Chinese investment in the United States has become an increasingly contentious issue that is much more complicated than headlines suggest. In this epi…

A Succinct View of How AI is Changing Business and Work Right Now

August 20, 2026

A Succinct View of How AI is Changing Business and Work Right Now

Stephanie Kim

Does it seem like the business world is in its own version of an arms race to figure out AI? It’s a moment when even a little wisdom, grounded in exp…

Claudia Kreklau, "The Making of Modern Eating: How the German Middle Class Forged the Way We Eat, 1780–1910" (Berghahn, 2026)

August 20, 2026

The Making of Modern Eating

Claudia Kreklau
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Nineteenth-century Germany invented the way we eat. Women experimenting in households, French chefs fleeing guillotines, and one of the most rapid…

Nancy Folbre, "Making Care Work: Why Our Economy Should Put People First" (U California Press, 2026)

August 19, 2026

Making Care Work

Nancy Folbre

A bold critique of conventional economics that reveals why the time and money we devote to care work is vital to our economic future.Our economy is mu…

Utathya Chattopadhyaya, "Ganja Matters: Empire and the Pursuits of Cannabis in British India" (U California Press, 2026)

August 19, 2026

Ganja Matters

Utathya Chattopadhyaya
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Ganja is the popular name in Hindustani, Bengali, and other South Asian languages for intoxicating substances produced from the plant species Ca…

Dan Du, "This World in a Teacup: Credit, Taste, and Power in the U. S.-China Tea Trade, 1784–1911" (U Nebraska Press, 2026)

August 18, 2026

This World in a Teacup

Dan Du
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Popular history tells the story of how the tea boycott during the American Revolution caused a transition in American taste from tea to coffee, …

Máximo Badaró, "Pedagogies of Value: Marketing Foreign Goods in China" (Berghahn, 2026)

August 16, 2026

Pedagogies of Value

Máximo Badaró
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Pedagogies of Value: Marketing Foreign Goods in China (Berghahn, 2026) by Dr. Máximo Badaró explores how China is reshaping global hierarchies of …

Gregorio Astengo and Davide Spina eds.,"Real Estate: Histories of Architecture and Capital" (gta Verlag, 2026)

August 16, 2026

Real Estate

Gregorio Astengo and Davide Spina
Hosted by Matt Wells

Real Estate: Histories of Architecture and Capital (gta Verlag, 2026)challenges the conventional assumption that architects and planners are the princ…

Matias E. Margulis, "Shadow Negotiators: How UN Organizations Shape the Rules of World Trade for Food Security" (Stanford UP, 2023)

August 15, 2026

Shadow Negotiators

Matias E. Margulis
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Shadow Negotiators: How UN Organizations Shape the Rules of World Trade for Food Security (Stanford University Press, 2023) by Dr. Matias E. Marguli…

Kathleen J. Frydl, "Liberalism and the Reinvention of the Modern Corporation" (Oxford UP, 2025)

August 13, 2026

Liberalism and the Reinvention of the Modern Corporation

Kathleen J. Frydl
Hosted by Lilly Goren

This is a really good book. Really good. Liberalism and the Reinvention of the Modern Corporation (Oxford UP, 2025) takes the reader on a fascinating,…

Marco Pompili, "Public Housing in Japan: The Dōjunkai Apartments One Hundred Years On" (Brill, 2026)

August 10, 2026

Public Housing in Japan

Marco Pompili

Public Housing in Japan: The Dōjunkai Apartments One Hundred Years On (Brill, 2026) is the first comprehensive English-language examination of the Dōj…

Devin Kennedy, "Coding Capitalism: Computers and the Remaking of the Postwar US Economy" (Columbia UP, 2026)

July 31, 2026

Coding Capitalism

Devin Kennedy
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Long before Google, Amazon, or Microsoft, computer technology shaped how people worked, how markets operated, and how businesses became big. After W…

Robert Lee Maril, "Hungry Oklahoma: Confronting Poverty and Food Insecurity" (U Oklahoma Press, 2026)

July 30, 2026

Hungry Oklahoma

Robert Lee Maril
Hosted by Deidre Tyler

In Oklahoma, one out of every six residents is poor. One in five children lives in poverty and faces food insecurity. In Hungry Oklahoma: Confronting …

Paul Langley and Andrew Leyshon, "Fintech Capital: The Digital Transformation of Everyday Money and Finance" (Princeton UP, 2026)

July 28, 2026

Fintech Capital

Paul Langley and Andrew Leyshon
Hosted by Dave O'Brien

How is finance changing in the contemporary world? In FinTech Capital: The Digital Transformation of Everyday Money and Finance (Princeton University …

Adam Y. Liu, "Authoritarian Markets: The Politics of China's Banking Explosion" (Cornell UP, 2026)

July 28, 2026

Authoritarian Markets

Adam Y. Liu
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Authoritarian Markets explores the political foundations of China's banking boom and its far-reaching impact on the Chinese economy. In 1978 China …

Christopher Hodson and Brett Rushforth, "Beyond the Ocean: France and the Atlantic World from the Crusades to the Age of Revolutions" (Oxford UP, 2026)

July 28, 2026

Beyond the Ocean

Christopher Hodson and Brett Rushforth
Hosted by Elspeth Currie

In Beyond the Ocean: France and the Atlantic World from the Crusades to the Age of Revolutions (Oxford University Press, 2026), Christopher Hodson and…

David J. Teece and Sohvi Heaton, "Dynamic Universities: How Strategic, Entrepreneurial Leaders Can Strengthen Higher Education" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

July 26, 2026

Dynamic Universities

David J. Teece and Sohvi Heaton
Hosted by Alfred Marcus

In times of deep uncertainty, the university needs to transform itself into an entrepreneurial entity to maintain long-term evolutionary fitness. Dyna…

Samuel Moyn, "Gerontocracy in America: How the Old Are Hoarding Power and Wealth—and What to Do About It" (FSG, 2026)

July 25, 2026

Gerontocracy in America

Samuel Moyn

A leading social critic identifies our least-discussed major crisis, and sets out to solve it. As Americans debate President Biden’s infirmities and …

Samantha Iyer, "Agrarian Superpower: Food, Development, and the Global Ascendancy of the United States" (Columbia UP, 2026)

July 25, 2026

Agrarian Superpower

Samantha Iyer
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The United States’ superpower status is often associated with its industrial, financial, and military might. Yet its global power after the Second Wor…