New Books Network
Catholic Studies
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast January 14, 2022

Ravenna

Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe

Judith Herrin

Hosted by Mark Klobas
At the end of the fourth century, as the power of Rome faded and Constantinople became the seat of empire, a new capital city was rising in the West. Here …

Catholic Studies

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Interviews with scholars of Catholicism about their new books.

Catholic Studies January 20, 2022

Kindred Spirits

Friendship and Resistance at the Edges of Modern Catholicism

Brenna Moore

Hosted by Piotr Kosicki
In Kindred Spirits: Friendship and Resistance at the Edges of Modern Catholicism (University of Chicago Press, 2021), Brenna Moore takes us inside a global network of Catholic historians, theologians, poets …
General History January 12, 2022

The Corrupter of Boys

Sodomy, Scandal, and the Medieval Clergy

Dyan Elliott

Hosted by Jana Byars
In the fourth century, clerics began to distinguish themselves from members of the laity by virtue of their augmented claims to holiness. Because clerical celibacy was key to this distinction …
General History December 22, 2021

Zwingli

God's Armed Prophet

Bruce Gordon

Hosted by Zachary McCulley
Zwingli: God's Armed Prophet (Yale, 2021) is a major new biography of Huldrych Zwingli--the warrior preacher who shaped the early Reformation. Zwingli (1484-1531) was the most significant early reformer after Martin Luther. As the …
General History December 17, 2021

Eagles Looking East and West

Dynasty, Ritual and Representation in Habsburg Hungary and Spain

Tibor Martí and Roberto Quiros Rosado

Hosted by Krzysztof Odyniec
The fifteen contributors to Eagles Looking East and West: Dynasty, Ritual and Representation in Habsburg Hungary and Spain (Brepols, 2021) describe politics and representation in the Kingdom of Hungary from …
Education December 14, 2021

Traditions of Eloquence

The Jesuits and Modern Rhetorical Studies

Cinthia Gannett and John Brereton

Hosted by Thomas Discenna
Traditions of Eloquence: The Jesuits and Modern Rhetorical Studies (Fordham UP, 2016) explores the important ways Jesuits have employed rhetoric, the ancient art of persuasion and the current art of …
Catholic Studies December 1, 2021

The Priest Who Put Europe Back Together

The Life of Rev. Fabian Flynn, CP

Sean Brennan

Hosted by Carlos Ruiz Martinez
Philp Fabian Flynn led a remarkable life, bearing witness to some of the most pivotal events of the twentieth century. Flynn took part in the invasions of Sicily and Normandy …
General History November 23, 2021

The Rise and Fall of Christian Ireland

Crawford Gribben

Hosted by Jana Byars
Today Crawford Gribben joins us to talk about his new book, The Rise and Fall of Christian Ireland (Oxford UP, 2021). Ireland has long been regarded as a 'land of …
German Studies November 23, 2021

Nazis of Copley Square

The Forgotten Story of the Christian Front

Charles Gallagher

Hosted by Eric Grube
Nazis of Copley Square: The Forgotten Story of the Christian Front (Harvard UP, 2021) by Charles R. Gallagher, S.J., traces the machinations of far-right Catholic thinkers and activists in the US …
Science November 19, 2021

Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher

A Monkey's Head, the Pope's Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul

Brandy Schillace

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
Today I talked to Brandy Schillace about her book Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher: A Monkey's Head, the Pope's Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul (Simon and Schuster, 2021).In the …
General History November 17, 2021

To Kidnap a Pope

Napoleon and Pius VII

Ambrogio A. Caiani

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
In the wake of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, and Pope Pius VII shared a common goal: to reconcile the Catholic church with the French state …
Anthropology November 9, 2021

The Charismatic Gymnasium

Breath, Media, and Religious Revivalism in Contemporary Brazil

Maria Jose de Abreu

Hosted by Irene Promodh
In The Charismatic Gymnasium: Breath, Media, and Religious Revivalism in Contemporary Brazil (Duke University Press, 2021), Maria José de Abreu examines how Charismatic Catholicism in contemporary Brazil produces a new form of total …
Catholic Studies November 9, 2021

Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns

The Catholic Conflict Over Cold War Human Rights Policy in Central America

Theresa Keeley

Hosted by Allison Isidore
In Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns: The Catholic Conflict Over Cold War Human Rights Policy in Central America (Cornell UP, 2020), Theresa Keeley analyzes the role of intra-Catholic conflict within the framework of …
Catholic Studies October 28, 2021

Meatpacking America

How Migration, Work, and Faith Unite and Divide the Heartland

Kristy Nabhan-Warren

Hosted by Carlos Ruiz Martinez
Whether valorized as the heartland or derided as flyover country, the Midwest became instantly notorious when COVID-19 infections skyrocketed among workers in meatpacking plants—and Americans feared for their meat supply …
Catholic Studies October 25, 2021

America's Most Famous Catholic (According to Himself)

Stephen Colbert and American Religion in the Twenty-First Century

Stephanie N. Brehm

Hosted by Carlos Ruiz Martinez
For nine years, Stephen Colbert’s persona “Colbert”?—a Republican superhero and parody of conservative political pundits--informed audiences on current events, politics, social issues, and religion while lampooning conservative political policy, biblical …
Irish Studies October 19, 2021

The History of Marriage Equality in Ireland

A Social Revolution Begins

Sonja Tiernan

Hosted by Averill Earls
In 2015, the world witnessed an Irish social revolution. In a historic referendum vote, the Republic of Ireland voted to extend the constitutional right to marriage to same-sex couples. Thirty …
General History October 7, 2021

Catholic Identity and the Revolt of the Netherlands, 1520-1635

Judith Pollmann

Hosted by Jana Byars
Today Judith Pollmann, professor of early modern dutch history at Leiden University in Leiden, The Netherlands, to talk about her book, Catholic Identity and the Revolt of the Netherlands, 152 …
Catholic Studies September 27, 2021

Follow Your Conscience

The Catholic Church and the Spirit of the Sixties

Peter Cajka

Hosted by Carlos Ruiz Martinez
What is your conscience? Is it, as Peter Cajka asks in this provocative book, “A small, still voice? A cricket perched on your shoulder? An angel and devil who compete …
Medieval History September 20, 2021

Cross-cultural Interaction Between Byzantium and the West, 1204-1669

Whose Mediterranean Is It Anyway?

Angeliki Lymberopoulou

Hosted by Evan Zarkadas
The early modern Mediterranean was an area where many different rich cultural traditions came in contact with each other, and were often forced to co-exist, frequently learning to reap the …
General History September 15, 2021

A Fake Saint and the Real Church

The Story of a Forgery in Seventeenth-Century Naples

Stefania Tutino

Hosted by Jana Byars
Stefania Tutino, Professor and Peter Reill Chair in European History at UCLA talks about her new book, A Fake Saint and the True Church: the Story of a Forgery in …