New Books Network Podcast

Philosophy December 10, 2023

Why? The Purpose of the Universe

Philip Goff

Hosted by Carrie Figdor

Does the universe have a purpose? If it does, how is this connected to the meaningfulness that we seek in our lives? In Why? The Purpose of the Universe (Oxford …

Religion December 7, 2023

Borders of Belief

Religious Nationalism and the Formation of Identity in Ireland and Turkey

Gregory J. Goalwin

Hosted by Keith Krueger

Despite theories to the contrary, religious nationalism, and the use of religion to determine membership in the national community, has continued to play a role in processes of identification in …

The Imperfect Buddha Podcast December 4, 2023

David McMahan on Rethinking Meditation

David L. McMahan

Hosted by Matthew O'Connell

If anything, the Imperfect Buddha Podcast has been a rallying cry for the disruption of the myths that abound in the world of Buddhism and meditation. David L. McMahan professor …

Religion December 3, 2023

Sacred Foundations

The Religious and Medieval Roots of the European State

Anna M. Grzymała-Busse

Hosted by Piotr Kosicki

In Sacred Foundations: The Religious and Medieval Roots of the European State (Princeton University Press, 2023), political scientist Anna Grzymała-Busse corrects a long-standing distortion in the study of state formation …

Christian Studies December 2, 2023

Crucified

The Christian Invention of the Jewish Executioners of Jesus

J. Christopher Edwards

Hosted by Zalman Newfield

In his book Crucified: The Christian Invention of the Jewish Executioners of Jesus (Fortress Press, 2023), J. Christopher Edwards explores the early Christian teachings regarding who actually killed Jesus. Historians …

Jewish Studies December 2, 2023

ArchitecTorah

Architectural Ideas in Judaism and the Weekly Torah Portion

Joshua Skarf

Hosted by Matthew Miller

Joshua Skarf's book ArchitecTorah: Architectural Ideas in Judaism and the Weekly Torah Portion (Urim, 2023) is a collection of 178 short essays that investigate the Torah through the lens of architecture …

Anthropology November 27, 2023

‘Ritual Litter' Redressed

Ceri Houlbrook

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Ritual deposition is not an activity that many people in the Western world would consider themselves participants of. The enigmatic beliefs and magical thinking that led to the deposition of …

Early Modern History November 24, 2023

Love Spells and Lost Treasure

Service Magic in England from the Later Middle Ages to the Early Modern Era

Tabitha Stanmore

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Magic is ubiquitous across the world and throughout history. Yet if witchcraft is acknowledged as a persistent presence in the medieval and early modern eras, practical magic by contrast – …

Indian Religions November 23, 2023

The Brahmavaivarta Purana (Ganesa Khanda)

Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology

Greg Bailey

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Greg Bailey discusses his new translation of the Gaṇeśa Khaṇḍa of the Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa, one of the few texts dedicated solely to the popular elephant-headed Indian god Gaṇeśa. About the …

Indian Religions November 22, 2023

Gāyatrī

Mantra and Mother of the Vedas

Dominik A. Haas

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

The mantra known as Gāyatrī or Sāvitrī (Ṛgveda III 62.10) is one of the most frequently recited texts of mankind. Over the course of time it has not only been …

Madison's Notes November 21, 2023

Providence and Power

Rabbi Meir Soloveichik on Jewish Statesmanship from King David to David Ben Gurion

Meir Y. Soloveichik

Hosted by Annika Nordquist

For thousands of years, the Jewish people lacked a political state; yet, what can we say about the Jewish tradition of statesmanship? What makes it distinctive, and what can we …

Anthropology November 17, 2023

A Synthesis of Time

Zakat, Islamic Micro-finance and the Question of the Future in 21st-Century Indonesia

Konstantinos Retsikas

Hosted by Yadong Li

In A Synthesis of Time: Zakat, Islamic Micro-finance and the Question of the Future in 21st-Century Indonesia (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), Konstantinos Retsikas has anthropological investigation into the different forms the …

Indian Religions November 16, 2023

Like a Tree Universally Spread

Sri Sabhapati Swami And Śivarājayoga

Keith Cantú

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

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Keith Cantú's Like a Tree Universally Spread: Sri Sabhapati Swami And Śivarājayoga (Oxford UP, 2023) examines the life of a nineteenth- to early twentieth-century Tamil yogin named Sri Sabhapati Swami …

Biblical Studies November 16, 2023

Early Christ Groups and Greco-Roman Associations

Organizational Models and Social Practices

Richard S. Ascough

Hosted by Rob Heaton

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Exegetes have long relied on the framework of the Acts of the Apostles to understand the behavior and organization of Paul’s various ekklēsiai (assemblies), or church communities, from which Christ-groups …

Jewish Studies November 16, 2023

Fractured Tablets

Forgetfulness and Fallibility in Late Ancient Rabbinic Culture

Mira Balberg

Hosted by David Gottlieb

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The Rabbinic Sages of the Tannaitic era were fixated on memory and terrified of forgetfulness. In promulgating their own interpretations of Jewish law, the Tannaim not only took seriously Moses’s …

Intellectual History November 15, 2023

Theology, Horror and Fiction

A Reading of the Gothic Nineteenth Century

Jonathan Greenaway

Hosted by Stephen Dozeman

When one thinks of your typical horror movie and it’s usual imagery, a number of tropes may come forward. Graveyards behind old cathedrals, crucifixes and holy water, possessions and …

World Christianity November 15, 2023

Cambodian Evangelicalism

Cosmological Hope and Diasporic Resilience

Briana L. Wong

Hosted by Byung Ho Choi

The Cambodian Civil War and genocide of the late 1960s and ’70s left the country and its diaspora with long-lasting trauma that continues to reverberate through the community. In Cambodian …

Religion November 14, 2023

Christianity, Race, and Sport

Jeffrey Scholes

Hosted by Jacob Barrett

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This book provides a rigorously researched introduction to the relationship between Christianity, race, and sport in the United States. Christianity, Race, and Sport (Routledge, 2021) examines how Protestant Christianity and …

Anthropology November 11, 2023

Pilgrimage to Broken Mountain

Nahua Sacred Journeys in Mexico's Huasteca Veracruzana

Alan R. Sandstrom and Pamela Effrein Sandstrom

Hosted by Nathan Moore

An ethnographic study based on decades of field research, Pilgrimage to Broken Mountain: Nahua Sacred Journeys in Mexico's Huasteca Veracruzana (UP of Colorado, 2023) explores five sacred journeys to the …

Buddhist Studies November 11, 2023

A Chinese-American Buddhist Healer

A Discussion with Kin Cheung

Kin Cheung

Hosted by Pierce Salguero

Dr. Pierce Salguero sits down with Kin Cheung, a scholar of contemporary Buddhism at Moravian University. We talk about his research on a Chinese-American community healer who happens to be …