New Books Network
Politics & Polemics
Critical Theory October 25, 2021

Lukács

Praxis and the Absolute

Daniel Andrés López

Hosted by Stephen Dozeman
The Hungarian Marxist philosopher George Lukács has long occupied a complicated place in the Marxist canon of thinkers, both his lived and theoretical practice subject to much critical commentary …

Politics & Polemics

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Interviews with partisans and polemicists about their new books.

Media October 22, 2021

Politics for the Love of Fandom

Fan-Based Citizenship in a Digital World

Ashley Hinck

Hosted by Lee Pierce
Politics for the Love of Fandom: Fan-Based Citizenship in a Digital World (Louisiana State Press, 2019) examines what Ashley Hinck calls “fan-based citizenship”: civic action that blends with and arises from …
Politics & Polemics October 20, 2021

America Transformed

The Rise and Legacy of American Progressivism

Ronald J. Pestritto

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
What’s a “progressive?” We hear constantly about the rift in the Democratic Party between its “progressive” wing and its “moderate” one. But what exactly was “Progressivism?” And why do we …
Art October 19, 2021

Investigative Aesthetics

Conflicts and Commons in the Politics of Truth

Matthew Fuller

Hosted by Pierre d'Alancaisez
Today, journalists, legal professionals, activists, and artists challenge the state's monopoly on investigation and the production of narratives of truth. They probe corruption, human rights violations, environmental crimes, and technological …
General History October 19, 2021

The Darker Angels of Our Nature

Refuting the Pinker Theory of History & Violence

Philip Dwyer and Mark Micale

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
In The Better Angels of Our Nature Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker argued that modern history has witnessed a dramatic decline in human violence of every kind, and that in the …
Politics & Polemics October 18, 2021

Outgrowing Capitalism

Rethinking Money to Reshape Society and Pursue Purpose

Marco Dondi

Hosted by Kirk Meighoo
In Outgrowing Capitalism: Rethinking Money to Reshape Society and Pursue Purpose (Fast Company Press, 2021), Marco Dondi sheds light on the fact that most people do not have the economic security to …
Politics & Polemics October 18, 2021

Skirmishes

With Friends, Enemies, and Neutrals

Graham Harman

Hosted by Adam Bobeck
One of the fifty most influential living philosophers, a “self-promoting charlatan” (Brian Leiter), and the orchestrator of an “online orgy of stupidity” (Ray Brassier). In Skirmishes: With Friends, Enemies, and …
General History October 14, 2021

Imperial Nostalgia

How the British Conquered Themselves

Peter Mitchell

Hosted by Michael Vann
With Imperial Nostalgia: How the British Conquered Themselves (Manchester UP, 2020) Peter Mitchell offers a “history of the present”. That is to say, it is not a narrative of how we got …
General History October 13, 2021

Urgent Archives

Enacting Liberatory Memory Work

Michelle Caswell

Hosted by Ann Choi
Today I talked to Michelle Caswell about her new book Urgent Archives: Enacting Liberatory Memory Work (Routledge, 2021).What is the place of archives in our society? In archival studies, an answer to …
Politics & Polemics October 13, 2021

The Dawn of Redemption

Ethics and Tradition in a Time of Power

Mikhael Manekin

Hosted by Yakir Englander
In The Dawn of Redemption: Ethics and Tradition in a Time of Power (Evrit, 2021), Mikhael Manekin argues that modern Jewish nationalism--widespread today among secular as well as religious Israeli-Jews--is …
Finance October 13, 2021

The Myth of Private Equity

An Inside Look at Wall Street's Transformative Investments

Jeffrey C. Hooke

Hosted by Daniel Peris
Jeffrey Hooke's The Myth of Private Equity: An Inside Look at Wall Street's Transformative Investments (Columbia Business School, 2021) is a scathing indictment of the high-flying world of private equity. Piece by …
Politics & Polemics October 12, 2021

The Rights of Women

Reclaiming a Lost Vision

Erika Bachiochi

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) was one of the most important moral philosophers and political theorists ever. Her writings on liberty and equality have been embraced by thinkers both in her own …
Sports October 11, 2021

Loving Sports When They Don't Love You Back

Dilemmas of the Modern Fan

Jessica Luther and Kavitha Davidson

Hosted by Keith Rathbone
Today we are joined by Jessica Luther, a freelance investigative journalist, and Kavitha Davidson, a sport and culture writer with the Athletic, who together are the authors of Loving Sports …
General History October 8, 2021

Working Class History

Everyday Acts of Resistance & Rebellion

Working Class History Collective

Hosted by Michael Vann
Personally, I hate the This-Day-in-History genre. Far too often it is some Great-Man-History trope, representing a rather archaic way of thinking about history. However, I love the social media accounts …
Historical Materialism October 7, 2021

Becoming Marxist

Studies in Philosophy, Struggle, and Endurance

Ted Stolze

Hosted by Stephen Dozeman
Marxism is having a moment; higher workloads, stagnating wages, rising costs of living, a new economic crisis every few years, a warming climate and now almost two years of …
Gender Studies October 7, 2021

Complaint!

Sara Ahmed

Hosted by Shraddha Chatterjee
In Complaint! (Duke UP, 2021), Sara Ahmed examines what we can learn about power from those who complain about abuses of power. Drawing on oral and written testimonies from academics and students …
Politics & Polemics October 4, 2021

Let's Be Reasonable

A Conservative Case for Liberal Education

Jonathan Marks

Hosted by Hope J. Leman
Do we really need universities and colleges anymore? Have they become too politicized? Many conservatives have started to write off American academia. They contend that it is so irremediably, irretrievably …
Arguing History September 30, 2021

Why did the US Fail in Afghanistan?

A Discussion with Jeremy Black

Jeremy Black

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
With its ultimate debacle in August 2021, a discussion of the twenty-year military involvement of America and the West in Afghanistan is most timely. Accordingly, there is no one more …
Geography September 22, 2021

Unnatural Disasters

Why Most Responses to Risk and Climate Change Fail But Some Succeed

Gonzalo Lizarralde

Hosted by Stentor Danielson
Unnatural Disasters: Why Most Responses to Risk and Climate Change Fail But Some Succeed (Columbia UP, 2021) offers a new perspective on our most pressing environmental and social challenges, revealing …
Politics & Polemics September 22, 2021

Western Jihadism

A Thirty Year History

Jytte Klausen

Hosted by Kirk Meighoo
Western Jihadism: A Thirty Year History (Oxford University Press, 2021) tells the story of how Al Qaeda grew in the West.In forensic and compelling detail, Jytte Klausen traces how Islamist revolutionaries …