American Studies

American Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of America about their new books.

Mollie Barnes, "Paper Heroines: Women Writers in Conversation and Community Across the Sea Islands, 1838-1902" (U South Carolina Press, 2026)

June 4, 2026

Paper Heroines

Mollie Barnes

In Paper Heroines: Women Writers in Conversation and Community Across the Sea Islands, 1838-1902 (U South Carolina Press, 2026), Dr. Mollie Barnes stu…

172 David Cunningham on Contesting Confederate Monuments (JP)

June 4, 2026

David Cunningham on Contesting Confederate Monuments (JP)

David Cunningham joins John to speak about his pathbreaking article about visiting each of the 113 communities that removed or relocated Confederate s…

Mary R. Lanni, "Using Nursery Rhymes with Today’s Kids: Their Legacy and Evolution" (Bloomsbury, 2026)

June 4, 2026

Using Nursery Rhymes with Today’s Kids

Mary R. Lanni
Hosted by Mel Rosenberg

In this illuminating conversation with librarian-author Mary R. Lanni, we celebrate her brand new book, Using Nursery Rhymes with Today’s Kids: Their …

Lauren Duval, "The Home Front: Revolutionary Households, Military Occupation, and the Making of American Independence" (Omohundro Institute and UNC Press, 2025)

June 3, 2026

The Home Front

Lauren Duval
Hosted by Leah Cargin

Prior to the American Revolution, the urban centers of colonial North America had little direct experience of war. With the outbreak of violence, Brit…

Kati Curts, "Assembling Religion: The Ford Motor Company and the Transformation of Religion in America" (NYU Press, 2025)

June 2, 2026

Assembling Religion

Kati Curts
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Henry Ford did not just mass produce cars. As a member of the Episcopal Church, reader of New Thought texts, believer in the “gospel of reincarn…

Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, "Something We Said: Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word and Me" (37 Ink, 2026)

June 2, 2026

Something We Said

Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor
Hosted by Sullivan Summer

The N-word is one of the most perplexing, controversial and misunderstood words in the American lexicon. It’s a word that Elizabeth Pryor has not only…

Homes of the Past

June 1, 2026

Homes of the Past

Jeffrey Shandler
Hosted by YIVO Institute

In 1940s New York, immigrant Jewish scholars sought to build a museum to commemorate their lost worlds and people. Among the Jews who arrived in the U…

Craig Fehrman, "This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark" (Simon & Schuster, 2026)

May 31, 2026

This Vast Enterprise

Craig Fehrman
Hosted by Raymond Williams

In 1806, when Meriwether Lewis and William Clark return from their journey—having led the Corps of Discovery across eight thousand miles of rapids, mo…

Julie J. Park, "Race, Class, and Affirmative Action: College Admissions in a New Era" (Harvard Education Press, 2026)

May 31, 2026

Race, Class, and Affirmative Action

Julie J. Park
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

In Race, Class, and Affirmative Action: College Admissions in a New Era (Harvard Education Press, 2026), Julie J. Park offers deft analysis of the cha…

Joanna Dee Das, "Faith, Family, and Flag: Branson Entertainment and the Idea of America" (U Chicago Press, 2025)

May 31, 2026

Faith, Family, and Flag

Joanna Dee Das

Faith, Family, and Flag: Branson Entertainment and the Idea of America (University of Chicago Press, 2025) examines the history of Branson, Missouri…

Chloe Chapin, "Suitable: The Sartorial Revolution and the Fashioning of Modern Men" (Oxford UP, 2026)

May 31, 2026

Suitable

Chloe Chapin
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

How did black suits become so ubiquitous? Why has men's business clothing been so plain for the last 250 years? How did a style adopted by the Foundin…

Annette Gordon-Reed ed., "Jefferson on Race: A Reader" (Princeton UP, 2026)

May 30, 2026

Jefferson on Race

Annette Gordon-Reed
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

From The New York Times–bestselling and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello, a groundbreaking collection of Thomas Jefferson’…

Charlie Qiuli Xue and Arwen Yingting Chen, "American-Designed Shopping Malls in China" (Hong Kong UP, 2026)

May 30, 2026

American-Designed Shopping Malls in China

Charlie Qiuli Xue and Arwen Yingting Chen
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

China’s remarkable journey from poverty to becoming the world’s second-largest economic power is marked by extraordinary urban growth and consumpt…

Ashley Rose Young, "Nourishing Networks: The Public Culture of Food in New Orleans" (Oxford UP, 2025)

May 29, 2026

Nourishing Networks

Ashley Rose Young
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

For much of the Crescent City's history, days began with the cries of roaming street vendors and the percussive thwack of butchers' meat cleavers echo…

Robin R. Means Coleman and Novotny Lawrence eds., "The Oxford Handbook of Black Horror Film" (Oxford UP, 2024)

May 29, 2026

The Oxford Handbook of Black Horror Film

Robin R. Means Coleman and Novotny Lawrence eds.
Hosted by Pete Kunze

Since the release of Jordan Peele's Academy Award-winning horror hit Get Out (2017), interest in Black horror films has erupted. This renewed intrigue…

The Instigators

May 28, 2026

The Instigators

Atima Omara

Black women have always been the most relentless instigators for change—building a democracy for all. In The Instigators: How Black Women Have Been Es…

Chunmei Du, "Everyday Occupation: American Soldiers and Chinese Civilians in the Aftermath of World War II" (Cambridge UP, 2025)

May 28, 2026

Everyday Occupation

Chunmei Du
Hosted by Anthony Kao

Chunmei Du is an Associate Professor of History at Lingnan University. Her work focuses on the social and cultural history of modern China, specifical…

Paige Towers, "What They Stole: A Familicide Rooted in Intercountry Adoption" (U Iowa Press, 2026)

May 28, 2026

What They Stole

Paige Towers
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In 1955, following the devastation of the Korean War, Bertha and Harry Holt made headlines for adopting eight Korean children. Driven by evangelical c…

Timothy Mason Roberts, "After Barbary: Algeria's Roles in the French and American Empires" (Cornell UP, 2025)

May 28, 2026

After Barbary

Timothy Mason Roberts
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

After Barbary: Algeria's Roles in the French and American Empires (Cornell University Press, 2025) by Dr. Timothy Mason Roberts explores the connectio…

David Faflik, "Segregation Games: Boston, Busing, and the Making of Red Sox Nation" (U Massachusetts Press, 2026)

May 27, 2026

Segregation Games

A cultural history of race, resistance, and representation in a city divided by politics and play When outfielder Bernie Carbo joined the Red Sox i…