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  • Off the Page: A Columbia UP Podcast
Off the Page: A Columbia UP Podcast

Off the Page: A Columbia UP Podcast

episodes

Interviews with Columbia University Press authors.

Samuel Markind, "Music Between Your Ears: How Musical Engagement Powers the Human Brain" (JHU Press, 2025)

May 24, 2026

Music Between Your Ears

Samuel Markind
Hosted by Gregory McNiff

Explores the profound power of music to influence brain function and well-being. IPA 2026 Distinguished Favorite in the Music Category Why does musi…

Yosef Grodzinsky, "How Deeply Human Is Language?: Chomsky, the Brain, and the AI Fantasy" (MIT Press, 2026)

May 24, 2026

How Deeply Human Is Language?

Yosef Grodzinsky
Hosted by Mariam Olugbodi

How Deeply Human Is Language? Chomsky, the Brain, and the AI Fantasy (MIT Press, 2026) is Yosef Grodzinsky’s exploration of the criticality of the lin…

Thomas Doherty, "How Film Became History: The Rise of the Archival Documentary in 1930s America" (Columbia UP, 2026)

May 20, 2026

How Film Became History

Thomas Doherty
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

By the 1930s, filmmakers had access to a backlog of footage from nearly forty years of motion pictures, allowing them to create a new kind of film sti…

Ayşehan Jülide Etem, "Film Diplomacy: A Media History of Turkey-US Relations" (Columbia UP, 2026)

May 16, 2026

Film Diplomacy

Ayşehan Jülide Etem
Hosted by Ailin Zhou

Film Diplomacy: A Media History of Turkey-US Relations (Columbia UP, 2026) offers a powerful new account of how film shaped international relations an…

Patrick Noonan, "Age of Disaffection: The Aesthetic Critique of Politics in 1960s Japan" (Columbia UP, 2025)

May 10, 2026

Age of Disaffection

Patrick Noonan
Hosted by Jingyi Li

The 1960s in Japan have long been understood as a period of radical political engagement. But as political movements from Old Left Communism to New Le…

Alexander Klein, "Consciousness is Motor: William James on Mind and Action" (Oxford UP, 2025)

May 10, 2026

Consciousness is Motor

Alexander Klein
Hosted by Carrie Figdor

When it comes to consciousness, William James is well-known for his descriptions of it rather than his theory of it and its relation to the body. In C…

Shameem Black, "Flexible India: Yoga's Cultural and Political Tensions" (Columbia UP, 2023)

April 23, 2026

Flexible India

Shameem Black
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Yoga has offered the Indian state unprecedented opportunities for global, media-savvy political performance. Under Modi, it has promoted yoga tourism …

Masud Husain, "Our Brains, Our Selves: What a Neurologist’s Patients Taught Him About the Brain" (Canongate, 2025)

April 22, 2026

Our Brains, Our Selves

Masud Husain
Hosted by Gregory McNiff

What makes us who we are?Through the stories of seven of his patients, acclaimed Oxford University neurologist Masud Husain shows us how our brains cr…

Nathaniel Greenberg, "The Long War of Ideas: American Public Diplomacy in Arabic After 9/11" (Columbia UP, 2026)

April 19, 2026

The Long War of Ideas

Nathaniel Greenberg
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In the wake of the September 11 attacks, US officials identified the so-called battle for hearts and minds as the “second front” in the war on terror.…

Yingyi Ma, "Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education" (Columbia UP, 2020)

April 15, 2026

Ambitious and Anxious

Yingyi Ma

In Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education (Columbia UP, 2020), sociologist Yingyi Ma of…

Adam Zeman, "The Shape of Things Unseen: A New Science of Imagination" (Bloomsbury, 2025)

April 8, 2026

The Shape of Things Unseen

Adam Zeman
Hosted by Gregory McNiff

A compelling insight into how our imagination works, based on the latest scientific research. People often think of imagination as something used onl…

Ainehi Edoro, "Forest Imaginaries: How African Novels Think" (Columbia UP, 2026)

March 29, 2026

Forest Imaginaries

Ainehi Edoro

Forests in fiction are often understood simply as settings, symbols, or remnants of a premodern past. Yet many African novelists have turned to the fo…

Zheng Liu, "Cultural Mavericks: The Business and Politics of Independent Bookselling in China" (Columbia UP, 2026)

March 28, 2026

Cultural Mavericks

Zheng Liu (Sociology scholar)
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In recent decades, self-proclaimed “independent bookstores” have arisen across China. In the West, such retailers represent an alternative to corporat…

167* Addiction with Gina Turrigiano (EF, JP)

March 26, 2026

Addiction with Gina Turrigiano (EF, JP)

In Recall This Book's second episode (January 2019) John and Elizabeth spoke with their brilliant Brandeis colleague, the MacArthur-winning neuroscien…

Karima Moyer-Nocchi, "The Epic History of Macaroni and Cheese: From Ancient Rome to Modern America" (Columbia UP, 2026)

March 20, 2026

The Epic History of Macaroni and Cheese

Karima Moyer-Nocchi
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Today, macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food, a staple of weeknight dinners, family gatherings, and Soul Food restaurants. Humble though th…

A.J. Bauer, "Making the Liberal Media: How Conservatives Built a Movement Against The Press" (Columbia UP, 2026)

March 18, 2026

Making the Liberal Media

A J Bauer
Hosted by John Armenta

In Making the Liberal Media: How Conservatives Built a Movement Against The Press (Columbia UP, 2026), A.J. Bauer examines the history of the idea of …

Alan J. McComas, "Consciousness: The Road to Reductionism" (American Scientist, 2025)

February 27, 2026

Consciousness

Alan J. McComas
Hosted by Gregory McNiff

Neuroscientific evidence increasingly shows that consciousness is a remarkable but explainable function of a machinelike brain. Alan J. McComas' discu…

Renny Thomas and Sasanka Perera, "Decolonial Keywords: South Asian Thoughts and Attitudes" (Columbia UP, 2025)

February 26, 2026

Decolonial Keywords

Renny Thomas and Sasanka Perera
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Decolonial Keywords: South Asian Thoughts and Attitudes (Columbia UP, 2025) presents a set of keywords and concepts embedded in the languages of South…

Mari Ruti and Gail N. Newman, "The Creative Self: Beyond Individualism" (Columbia UP, 2025)

February 25, 2026

The Creative Self

Mari Ruti and Gail N. Newman
Hosted by Tracy Morgan

In their book The Creative Self: Beyond Individualism (Columbia UP, 2025) Mari Ruti and Gail N. Newman offer our beleaguered souls a breather. Toge…

Anne Mendelson, "Spoiled: The Myth of Milk as Superfood" (Columbia UP, 2023)

February 22, 2026

Spoiled

Anne Mendelson

Why is cows' milk, which few nonwhite people can digest, promoted as a science-backed dietary necessity in countries where the majority of the populat…