New Books Network Podcast

Higher Education October 4, 2023

Teaching (and Learning) at a University Online

A Discussion with Caleb Simmons of the University of Arizona

Caleb Simmons

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

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There is a lot of talk about online learning, and particularly universities going online. Today I talked to Caleb Simmons, Executive Director of Arizona Online (and notable scholar of religion …

Education October 3, 2023

Facilitating Youth-Led Book Clubs As Transformative and Inclusive Spaces

Jody N. Polleck

Hosted by Madden Gilhooly

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Facilitating Youth-Led Book Clubs as Transformative and Inclusive Spaces (Teachers College Press) teaches us how to integrate book clubs into secondary school communities for transformation and inclusion so as to …

Jewish Studies September 29, 2023

The Unknown History of Jewish Women Through the Ages

On Learning and Illiteracy, On Slavery and Liberty

Rachel Elior

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

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Rachel Elior's book The Unknown History of Jewish Women: On Learning and Illiteracy, On Slavery and Liberty (de Gruyter, 2023) is a comprehensive study on the history of Jewish women, which discusses their …

Higher Education September 29, 2023

The Abundant University

Remaking Higher Education for a Digital World

Michael D. Smith

Hosted by John Emrich

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For too long, our system of higher education has been defined by scarcity: scarcity in enrollment, scarcity in instruction, and scarcity in credentials. In addition to failing students professionally, this …

Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel September 23, 2023

The Engaged Scholar

Expanding the Impact of Academic Research in Today’s World

Andrew J. Hoffman

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Society and democracy are ever threatened by the fall of fact. Rigorous analysis of facts, the hard boundary between truth and opinion, and fidelity to reputable sources of factual information …

Education September 22, 2023

Off the Mark

How Grades, Ratings, and Rankings Undermine Learning (but Don't Have To)

Jack Schneider and Ethan L. Hutt

Hosted by Max Jacobs

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Amid widespread concern that our approach to testing and grading undermines education, two experts explain how schools can use assessment to support, rather than compromise, learning. Anyone who has ever …

Sociology September 21, 2023

Nice Is Not Enough

Inequality and the Limits of Kindness at American High

C. J. Pascoe

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

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Nice is not enough: Inequality and the Limits of Kindness at American High (University of California Press, 2023) by Dr. C. J. Pascoe is a provocative story of contemporary high …

General History September 7, 2023

The Student

A Short History

Michael S. Roth

Hosted by Benjamin Phillips

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In The Student: A Short History (Yale UP, 2023), Michael S. Roth narrates a vivid and dynamic history of students, exploring some of the principal models for learning that have …

Library Science September 6, 2023

On the Digital Humanities

Essays and Provocations

Stephen Ramsay

Hosted by Hallel Yadin

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Stephen Ramsey's On the Digital Humanities: Essays and Provocations (University of Minnesota Press, 2023) is a witty and incisive exploration of the philosophical conundrums that animate the digital humanities. Since its inception …

Education September 6, 2023

The Alienation of Fact

Digital Educational Privatization, AI, and the False Promise of Bodies and Numbers

Kenneth J. Saltman

Hosted by Joao Souto-Maior

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Today, conspiracy theories run rampant, attacks on facts have become commonplace, and systemic inequities are on the rise as individual and collective agency unravels. The Alienation of Fact: Digital Educational …

Education September 4, 2023

Unionizing the Ivory Tower

Cornell Workers' Fifteen-Year Fight for Justice and a Living Wage

Al Davidoff

Hosted by Thomas Discenna

Unionizing the Ivory Tower: Cornell Workers' Fifteen-Year Fight for Justice and a Living Wage (ILR Press, 2023) chronicles how a thousand low-paid custodians, cooks, and gardeners succeeded in organizing a …

Academic Life August 31, 2023

The Power of Play in Higher Education

A Conversation with Alison James

Alison James

Hosted by Christina Gessler

Why are academics encouraged to be rigorous and exhausted, instead of innovative and engaged? What learning outcomes are we sacrificing by being so serious? Dr. Alison James joins us to …

Education August 31, 2023

This Is Our School!

Race and Community Resistance to School Reform

Hava Rachel Gordon

Hosted by Joao Souto-Maior

Parents, educators, and activists are passionately fighting to improve public schools around the country. In This Is Our School!: Race and Community Resistance to School Reform (NYU Press, 2021), Hava …

Education August 30, 2023

Commemorative Literacies and Labors of Justice

Resistance, Reconciliation, and Recovery in Buenos Aires and Beyond

James S. Damico, Loren D. Lybarger, and Edward Brudney

Hosted by Madden Gilhooly

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Commemorative Literacies and Labors of Justice: Resistance, Reconciliation, and Recovery in Buenos Aires and Beyond (Routledge, 2021) examines literacy practices of commemoration marking the 40th anniversary of the March 24 …

Public Policy August 26, 2023

Public Workers in Service of America

A Reader

Frederick W. Gooding Jr. and Eric S. Yellin

Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

From white-collar executives to mail carriers, public workers meet the needs of the entire nation. In Public Workers in Service of America: A Reader (U Illinois Press, 2023), Frederick W. Gooding …

Education August 25, 2023

Suddenly Diverse

How School Districts Manage Race and Inequality

Erica O. Turner

Hosted by Joao Souto-Maior

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For the past five years, American public schools have enrolled more students identified as Black, Latinx, American Indian, and Asian than white. At the same time, more than half of …

Academic Life August 24, 2023

Managing your Mental Health during your PhD

A Discussion with Zoë J. Ayres

Zoë J. Ayres

Hosted by Christina Gessler

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Can your graduate school affect your mental health? Dr. Zoe Ayres joins us to discuss what she wishes she had known before starting graduate school, including: What happens when you …

Education August 23, 2023

The Death of Public School

How Conservatives Won the War Over Education in America

Cara Fitzpatrick

Hosted by Laura Kelly

America has relied on public schools for 150 years, but the system is increasingly under attack. With declining enrollment and diminished trust in public education, policies that steer tax dollars …

Library Science August 20, 2023

Trans and Gender Diverse Voices in Libraries

Kalani Adolpho, Stephen G. Krueger, and Krista McCracken

Hosted by Jen Hoyer

In the library profession, and in the world as a whole, the experiences of trans and gender diverse people often go unnoticed, hidden, and ignored. Trans and Gender Diverse Voices …

Education August 19, 2023

Regenerative Learning

Nurturing People and Caring for the Planet

Satish Kumar and Lorna Howarth

Hosted by Madden Gilhooly

Be The Change! Are you a policy maker? Parent? Teacher? Regenerative Learning: Nurturing People and Caring for the Planet (Salt Desert Media, 2022) is full of fresh ideas as well …