New Books Network Podcast

African American Studies September 26, 2023

Before the Movement

The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights

Dylan C. Penningroth

Hosted by Katrina Anderson

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A prize-winning scholar draws on astonishing new research to demonstrate how Black people used the law to their advantage long before the Civil Rights Movement. The familiar story of civil …

Madison's Notes September 26, 2023

Bargaining for Democracy

A Conversation with Josiah Ober on Ancients and Moderns

Josiah Ober

Hosted by Annika Nordquist

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Amidst increasing acrimony and political strain, many worry that democratic governance has an expiration date. To answer these concerns, Josiah Ober looks to the ancients. Here, he discusses his recent …

Political Science September 25, 2023

The People and Their Peace

Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-revolutionary South

Laura F. Edwards

Hosted by Susan Liebell

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Do individuals have the right to “keep and bear” arms? Do “the people” have any collective rights to public safety? Now that the United States Supreme Court requires each side …

Sociology September 24, 2023

The Golden Passport

Global Mobility for Millionaires

Kristin Surak

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Our lives are in countless ways defined by our citizenship. The country we belong to affects our rights, our travel possibilities, and ultimately our chances in life. Obtaining a new …

Sociology September 24, 2023

Good Soldiers Don't Rape

The Stories We Tell About Military Sexual Violence

Megan MacKenzie

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Sexual violence is a significant problem within many Western militaries. Despite international attention to the issue and global #MeToo and #TimesUp movements highlighting the impact of sexual violence, rates of …

Law September 23, 2023

Justifying Violent Protest

Law and Morality in Democratic States

James Greenwood-Reeves

Hosted by Jane Richards

Was the use of violence on January 6th Capitol attacks legitimate? Is the use of violence morally justified by members of Extinction Rebellion or Just Stop Oil campaigners? Justifying Violent Protest …

Media September 23, 2023

The New True Crime

How the Rise of Serialized Storytelling Is Transforming Innocence

Diana Rickard

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The New True Crime: How the Rise of Serialized Storytelling Is Transforming Innocence (NYU Press, 2023) by Dr. Diana Rickard examines how serialized crime shows became an American obsession. TV …

Recall This Book September 21, 2023

January 6th and Asymmetrical Policing (JP, EF)

A Discussion with David Cunningham

David Cunningham

Hosted by Elizabeth Ferry and John Plotz

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Recall This Book first heard from the sociologist of American racism David Cunningham in Episode 36 Policing and White Power. Less than a week after the horrors of January 6th …

Disability Studies September 20, 2023

Not Good Enough for Canada

Canadian Public Discourse Around Issues of Inadmissibility for Potential Immigrants with Diseases And/Or Disabilities

Valentina Capurri

Hosted by Shu Wan

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Valentina Capurri's book Not Good Enough for Canada: Canadian Public Discourse Around Issues of Inadmissibility for Potential Immigrants with Diseases And/Or Disabilities (U Toronto Press, 2020) investigates the development of Canadian …

Intellectual History September 19, 2023

Moral Relativism and Pluralism

David B. Wong

Hosted by Jessica Zu

Today I talked to David B. Wong about his book Moral Relativism and Pluralism (Cambridge UP, 2023). The argument for metaethical relativism--the view that there is no single true or most …

Postscript September 18, 2023

How Firearms Fuel Domestic Violence in the US

A Discussion with Shannon Frattoroli, Kelly Roskam, and April M. Zeoli

Shannon Frattoroli, Kelly Roskam, and April M. Zeoli

Hosted by Susan Liebell

In 2019, nearly two-thirds of domestic violence homicides in the United States were committed with a gun. On average, three women are killed by a current or former partner every …

Sex, Sexuality, and Sex Work September 18, 2023

Child Sex Abuse

Power, Profit, Perversion

Beverley Chalmers

Hosted by Jeannette Cockroft

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Children of all ages are abused in every country in the world, by members of every society, culture, religion, and socio-economic class. About 120 million children under twenty, or one …

Law September 13, 2023

Baby Ninth Amendments

How Americans Embraced Unenumerated Rights and Why It Matters

Anthony B. Sanders

Hosted by Deidre Tyler

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Listing every right that a constitution should protect is hard. American constitution drafters often list a few famous rights such as freedom of speech, protection against unreasonable searches and seizures …

Medieval History September 11, 2023

Medieval Communities and the Mad

Narratives of Crime and Mental Illness in Late Medieval France

Aleksandra Nicole Pfau

Hosted by Jana Byars

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The concept of madness as a challenge to communities lies at the core of legal sources. Aleksandra Pfau, Medieval Communities and the Mad: Narratives of Crime and Mental Illness in …

Chinese Studies September 10, 2023

Violent Intimacy

Family Harmony, State Stability, and Intimate Partner Violence in Post-Socialist China

Tiantian Zheng

Hosted by Shu Wan

Based on ethnographic research with victims of intimate partner violence since 2014, Tiantian Zheng's Violent Intimacy: Family Harmony, State Stability, and Intimate Partner Violence in Post-Socialist China (Bloomsbury, 2022) brings …

Jewish Studies September 6, 2023

Ilse Koch on Trial

Making the “Bitch of Buchenwald”

Tomaz Jardim

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

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On September 1, 1967, one of the Third Reich's most infamous figures hanged herself in her cell after nearly twenty-four years in prison. Known as the "Bitch of Buchenwald," Ilse …

General History September 4, 2023

Since Time Immemorial

Native Custom and Law in Colonial Mexico

Yanna Yannakakis

Hosted by Joaquín Rivaya-Martínez

In Since Time Immemorial: Native Custom and Law in Colonial Mexico (Duke UP, 2023), Yanna Yannakakis traces the invention of Native custom, a legal category that Indigenous litigants used in disputes …

Disability Studies September 2, 2023

Disability Pride

Dispatches from a Post-ADA World

Ben Mattlin

Hosted by Shu Wan

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In Disability Pride: Dispatches from a Post-ADA World (Beacon, 2022), disabled journalist Ben Mattlin weaves together interviews and reportage to introduce a cavalcade of individuals, ideas, and events in engaging …

Science, Technology, and Society September 2, 2023

Industry Unbound

The Inside Story of Privacy, Data, and Corporate Power

Ari Ezra Waldman

Hosted by Jake Chanenson

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In Industry Unbound: The Inside Story of Privacy, Data, and Corporate Power (Cambridge UP, 2021), Ari Ezra Waldman exposes precisely how the tech industry conducts its ongoing crusade to undermine …

Islamic Studies September 1, 2023

Wives and Work

Islamic Law and Ethics Before Modernity

Marion Holmes Katz

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani

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In this interview, I speak with Marion Holmes Katz about her latest book Wives and Work: Islamic Law and Ethics Before Modernity (Columbia UP, 2022). This fascinating book explores the …