New Books Network Podcast

Language September 19, 2023

The Last Language on Earth

Linguistic Utopianism in the Philippines

Piers Kelly

Hosted by Malcolm Keating

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In the southern Philippines, the Bohol community speaks a language they say one man, Pinay, created long ago, leaving it for a modern Filipino named Mariano Datahan to rediscover and …

South Asian Studies September 9, 2023

Scripts of Power

Writing, Language Practices, and Cultural History in Western India

Prachi Deshpande

Hosted by Niharika Yadav

Scripts of Power: Writing, Language Practices, and Cultural History in Western India (Permanent Black, 2023) is a cultural history of western India from a fascinatingly new perspective: language use, writing practices …

The Future of . . . with Owen Bennett-Jones August 26, 2023

The Future of Talking

A Discussion with Shane O'Mara

Shane O'Mara

Hosted by Owen Bennett-Jones

Talking is a defining part of what makes us human – we are almost constantly in dialogue but what purpose does all this conversation serve? Both for the individual and …

African Studies August 19, 2023

A Language for the World

The Standardization of Swahili

Morgan J. Robinson

Hosted by Elisa Prosperetti

Morgan J. Robinson argues that the portability of Standard Swahili has contributed to its wide use not only across the African continent but also around the globe. A Language for …

Language August 16, 2023

Emoji Speak

Communication and Behaviours on Social Media

Jieun Kiaer

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

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Emoji Speak: Communication and Behaviours on Social Media (Bloomsbury, 2023) by Dr. Jieun Kiaer provides an in-depth discussion of emoji use in a global context, this volume presents the use …

Nordic Asia Podcast August 11, 2023

Of Peninsulas and Archipelagos

The Landscape of Translation in Southeast Asia

Phrae Chittiphalangsri, Vicente L. Rafael, and Vicente L. Rafael

Hosted by Nordic Asia Podcast

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What does a map of Southeast Asia as a pegasus have to do with translation and Southeast Asia? How can we think of translation as anything other than a …

Gender Studies August 2, 2023

Childfree and Happy

Transforming the Rhetoric of Women's Reproductive Choices

Courtney Adams Wooten

Hosted by Jana Byars

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Childfree and Happy: Transforming the Rhetoric of Womens' Reproductive Choices (Utah State University Press, 2023) examines how millennia of reproductive beliefs (or doxa) have positioned women who choose not to have …

Japanese Studies August 1, 2023

Language Ideologies and L2 Speaker Legitimacy

Native Speaker Bias in Japan

Jae DiBello Takeuchi

Hosted by Jingyi Li

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Jae DiBello Takeuchi's Language Ideologies and L2 Speaker Legitimacy: Native Speaker Bias in Japan (Mulitlingual Matters, 2023) examines dilemmas faced by second language (L2) Japanese speakers as a result of …

Literary Studies July 22, 2023

Revolution of the Ordinary

Literary Studies After Wittgenstein, Austin, and Cavell

Toril Moi

Hosted by John Yargo

Today’s guest is Toril Moi, whose book Revolution of the Ordinary: Literary Studies After Wittgenstein, Austin and Cavell (University of Chicago Press, 2017) returns to three twentieth-century figures in ordinary …

Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel July 22, 2023

The Art of Translation

A Discussion with Anne Birkenhauer Molad

Anne Birkenhauer Molad

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Translation is a mysterious process that combines the elements of writing – rhythm and voice, meaning, structure and nuance – with the challenge of problem-solving. The American writer Harry Mathews …

Islamic Studies July 21, 2023

Translating Rumi Into the West

A Linguistic Conundrum and Beyond

Amir Sedaghat

Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

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Amir Artaban Sedaghat’s Translating Rumi into the West: A Linguistic Conundrum and Beyond (Routledge, 2023) engages Rumi, the 13th-century Muslim Persian mystic and a best-selling poet, and the paradoxes of …

Science July 13, 2023

How to Speak Whale

A Voyage into the Future of Animal Communication

Tom Mustill

Hosted by Frances Sacks

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What if animals and humans could speak to one another? Tom Mustill—the nature documentarian who went viral when a thirty‑ton humpback whale breached onto his kayak—asks this question in his …

MIT Press Podcast July 4, 2023

The Outer Limits of Reason

What Science, Mathematics, and Logic Cannot Tell Us

Noson S. Yanofsky

Hosted by MIT Press

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Many books explain what is known about the universe. This book investigates what cannot be known. Rather than exploring the amazing facts that science, mathematics, and reason have revealed to …

MIT Press Podcast June 20, 2023

The Eternal Letter

Two Millennia of the Classical Roman Capital

Paul Shaw

Hosted by MIT Press

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The fiftieth anniversary of Helvetica, the most famous of all sans serif typefaces, was celebrated with an excitement unusual in the staid world of typography and culminated in the release …

Disability Studies June 3, 2023

Dyslexia

A History

Philip Kirby and Margaret J. Snowling

Hosted by Shu Wan

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In 1896 the British physician William Pringle Morgan published an account of “Percy,” a “bright and intelligent boy, quick at games, and in no way inferior to others of his …

Scholarly Communication June 1, 2023

Nick Enfield on Language, Influence, and Science Communications

Nick Enfield

Hosted by Daniel Shea

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Listen to this interview of Nick Enfield, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Sydney for Language Research and the Sydney Initiative for Truth. We talk about communication as you …

Scholarly Communication May 30, 2023

What Is a Human?

Language, Mind, and Culture

James Paul Gee

Hosted by Daniel Shea

Listen to this interview of James Gee, Regents' Professor and Mary Lou Fulton Presidential Professor of Literacy Studies at Arizona State University. We talk about too much communication, about too …

Indian Religions May 10, 2023

The International Association of Sanskrit Studies

A Discussion with Dipti Tripathi, president of the IASS

Dipti Tripathi

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

The newly-elected first female president of the The International Association of Sanskrit Studies, Dr. Dipti Tripathi discusses Association’s genesis, mandate, and potential in honour of its 50th year. Raj Balkaran is …

Chinese Studies May 3, 2023

Angloscene

Compromised Personhood in Afro-Chinese Translations

Jay Ke-Schutte

Hosted by Suvi Rautio

Today I had the pleasure of talking to Jay Ke-Schutte on his just released book, Angloscene: Compromised Personhood in Afro-Chinese Translations (U California Press, 2023). Angloscene examines Afro-Chinese interactions within …

Indian Religions April 17, 2023

Learning Hindi with Rajiv Ranjan

Rajiv Ranjan

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Rajiv Ranjan discusses his second language acquisition journey, open educational resources, and teaching philosophy. You can study with him at Yogic Studies. Rajiv Ranjan is an Assistant Professor in the …