New Books Network
Public Policy
Education November 30, 2020

Digital Divisions

How Schools Create Inequality in the Tech Era

Matthew H. Rafalow

Hosted by Trevor Mattea
In this episode, I speak with Matt Rafalow, about his book, Digital Divisions: How Schools Create Inequality in the Tech Era (University of Chicago Press, 2020). This book provides an …

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Dan Hill's EQ Spotlight November 27, 2020

Engaged

Designing for Behavior Change

Amy Bucher

Hosted by Dan Hill
In her new book Engaged: Designing for Behavior Change (Rosenfeld Media, 2020), Amy Bucher analyzes both the barriers and levers to achieving behavioral change. Among the barriers are cognitive biases, like a …
Sociology November 27, 2020

Essential Dads

The Inequalities and Politics of Fathering

Jennifer M. Randles

Hosted by Michael Johnston
In Essential Dads: The Inequalities and Politics of Fathering (University of California Press, 2020), sociologist Jennifer Randles shares the stories of more than 60 marginalized men as they sought to …
Geography November 23, 2020

Lessons in Environmental Justice

From Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter and Idle No More

Michael Mascarenhas

Hosted by Stentor Danielson
Michael Mascarenhas's book Lessons in Environmental Justice: From Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter and Idle No More (Sage, 2020) provides an entry point to the field by bringing together …
Economics November 17, 2020

The Pandemic Information Gap and the Brutal Economics of Covid-19

Joshua Gans

Hosted by Tim Jones
As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in March, a self-isolating and easily distracted economist resolved to take himself in hand. "I decided I would do what I was good at …
Architecture November 16, 2020

The Urban Fix

Resilient Cities in the War Against Climate Change, Heat Islands and Overpopulation

Douglas Kelbaugh

Hosted by Bryan Toepfer
Cities are one of the most significant contributors to global climate change. The rapid speed at which urban centers use large amounts of resources adds to the global crisis and …
Animal Studies November 13, 2020

The Lives and Deaths of Shelter Animals

Katja M. Guenther

Hosted by Mark Molloy
Monster is an adult pit bull, muscular and grey, who is impounded in a large animal shelter in Los Angeles. Like many other dogs at the shelter, Monster is associated …
Law November 12, 2020

Making the Modern Criminal Law

Criminalization and Civil Order

Lindsay Farmer

Hosted by Jane Richards
In his latest book, Professor Lindsay Farmer offers a historical and conceptual analysis of theories of criminalization. The book shows how criminalization is inextricably linked to the making of the …
Law November 10, 2020

Queering Law and Order

LGBTQ Communities and the Criminal Justice System

Kevin Leo Nadal

Hosted by Nick Pozek
Throughout US history, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people have been pathologized, victimized, and criminalized. Reports of lynching, burning, or murdering of LGBTQ people have been documented for …
African American Studies November 3, 2020

Contingent Kinship

The Flows and Futures of Adoption in the United States

Kathryn A. Mariner

Hosted by Reighan Gillam
Contingent Kinship: The Flows and Futures of Adoption in the United States (University of California Press, 2019) offers an ethnography of adoption processes in the United States through the inner …
American Studies October 29, 2020

Bleeding Out

The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence--and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets

Thomas Abt

Hosted by Dan Hill
How do we promote peace in the streets? In his new book Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence--and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets (Basic …
Geography October 29, 2020

Mapping Crisis

Participation, Datafication and Humanitarianism in the Age of Digital Mapping

Doug Specht

Hosted by Alexandra Ortolja-Baird
The digital age has thrown questions of representation, participation and humanitarianism back to the fore, as machine learning, algorithms and big data centres take over the process of mapping the …
American Studies October 19, 2020

The Sex Obsession

Perversity and Possibility in American Politics

Janet Jakobsen

Hosted by Lindsey Jackson
Why are Americans, and American politicians more specifically, obsessed with sex? Why, in the words of Janet Jakobsen, are gender and sexuality such riveting public policy concerns the United States …
African American Studies October 15, 2020

Why are Blacks Democrats?

An Interview with Ismail K. White and Chryl N. Laird

Ismail K. White and Chryl N. Laird

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Black Americans are by far the most unified racial group in American electoral politics, with 80 to 90 percent identifying as Democrats—a surprising figure given that nearly a third now …
American Studies October 14, 2020

The President and Immigration Law

Adam B. Cox and Cristina M. Rodríguez

Hosted by Jaime Sánchez
Who truly controls immigration law in the United States? Though common sense might suggest the U.S. Congress, legal scholars Adam B. Cox and Cristina M. Rodríguez argue that the president …
South Asian Studies October 12, 2020

Demanding Development

The Politics of Public Good Provision in India’s Urban Slums

Adam Auerbach

Hosted by Selva Swetha
India’s urban slums exhibit dramatic variation in their access to basic public goods and services—paved roads, piped water, trash removal, sewers, and streetlights. Why are some vulnerable communities able to …
African American Studies October 8, 2020

Mobilized by Injustice

Criminal Justice Contact, Political Participation, and Race

Hannah L. Walker

Hosted by Lilly Goren
Hannah Walker’s new book, Mobilized by Injustice: Criminal Justice Contact, Political Participation, and Race (Oxford UP, 2020), brings together the political science and criminal justice disciplines in exploring how individuals …
Public Policy October 8, 2020

The Alchemy of Disease

How Chemicals and Toxins Cause Cancer and Other Illnesses

John Whysner

Hosted by Claire Clark
Since the dawn of the industrial age, we have unleashed a bewildering number of potentially harmful chemicals. But out of this vast array, how do we identify the actual threats …
American Studies October 5, 2020

Exhibiting Health

Public Health Displays in the Progressive Era

Jennifer Lisa Koslow

Hosted by Claire Clark
In the early twentieth century, public health reformers approached the task of ameliorating unsanitary conditions and preventing epidemic diseases with optimism. Using exhibits, they believed they could make systemic issues …
World Affairs October 1, 2020

No Refuge

Ethics and the Global Refugee Crisis

Serena Parekh

Hosted by Robert Talisse
Discourse in wealthy Western countries about refugees tends to follow a familiar script. How many refugees is a country morally required to accept? What kinds of care and support are …