New Books Network
Religion
The Imperfect Buddha Podcast January 28, 2022

Winton Higgins on Secularizing Buddhism

Winton Higgins

Hosted by Matthew O'Connell
In the practising life, choices must be made. Those choices occur at all levels from big picture views of the world, a whole life, and society, to the everyday choice …

Religion

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Interviews with scholars of religion about their new books.

Indian Religions January 27, 2022

A Conversation with Hanuman Dass

Founder and Chairman of Go Dharmic

Hanuman Dass

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Raj Balkaran interviews Hanuman Dass, Chairman and Founder of Go Dharmic, about his far-reaching humanitarian work and universal vision if Hindu values. We also touch on his co-authored works with …
Political Science January 27, 2022

Decoding the Digital Church

Evangelical Storytelling and the Election of Donald J. Trump

Stephanie A. Martin

Hosted by Lilly Goren
Dr. Stephanie (Sam) A. Martin’s new book, Decoding the Digital Church: Evangelical Storytelling and the Election of Donald J. Trump (U Alabama Press, 2021), is a fascinating exploration of the way …
Japanese Studies January 27, 2022

Of Gods and Minds

In Search of a Theological Commons

James Heisig

Hosted by Takeshi Morisato
One of the trailblazers in the field of Japanese philosophy, James W. Heisig, delivered his five lectures in 2019 at Boston College as the Duffy Lectures in Global Christianity. These lectures were …
General History January 26, 2022

Eaters of the Dead

Myths and Realities of Cannibal Monsters

Kevin J. Wetmore

Hosted by Jana Byars
Spanning myth, history, and contemporary culture, a terrifying and illuminating excavation of the meaning of cannibalism. Every culture has monsters that eat us, and every culture repels in horror when …
Islamic Studies January 24, 2022

Islamicate Cosmopolitan Spirit

Bruce B. Lawrence

Hosted by SherAli Tareen
In his new book cum manifesto, Islamicate Cosmopolitan Spirit (Wiley-Blackwell, 2021), legendary scholar of Islam Bruce Lawrence outlines his politico-conceptual manifesto for the study and place of Islam in the …
Buddhist Studies January 24, 2022

Buddhism in Five Minutes

Elizabeth J. Harris

Hosted by Olivia Porter
In Elizabeth J. Harris' Buddhism in Five Minutes (Equinox Publishing, 2021), academic specialists offer answers to 75 questions about Buddhism that people curious about Buddhism might ask. The questions cover …
Anthropology January 21, 2022

Afterlives of Affect

Science, Religion, and an Edgewalker’s Spirit

Matthew C. Watson

Hosted by Adam Bobeck
In Afterlives of Affect: Science, Religion, and an Edgewalker’s Spirit (Duke UP, 2020), Matthew C. Watson considers the life and work of artist and Mayanist scholar Linda Schele (1942-1998) as …
Indian Religions January 20, 2022

Swami Vivekananda

His Life, Legacy, and Liberative Ethics

Rita D. Sherma

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Rita D. Sherma's book Swami Vivekananda: His Life, Legacy, and Liberative Ethics (Lexington Books, 2021) re-assesses the life and legacy of Swami Vivekananda from the vantage point of socially-engaged religion in …
Indian Religions January 13, 2022

A Conversation with Laurie Patton

Professor of Religions and President of Middlebury College

Laurie Patton

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Raj Balkaran speaks with Laurie Patton, Professor of Religions and President at Middlebury College, about her scholarly journey, educational administration, poetry, trends in scholarship, the significance of Indian myth, and …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel January 11, 2022

State and Religion in Israel

A Philosophical-Legal Inquiry

Gideon Sapir and Daniel Statman

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
Mahatma Gandhi said, “Those who believe religion and politics aren't connected don't understand either.” The relationship between religion and state presents complex challenges to liberal democracies around the world. In …
Indian Religions January 6, 2022

Neha Sahgal on the Pew Study “Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation”

Neha Sahgal

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Neha Sahgal, Associate Director, Research, at the Pew Research Center speaks of Pew’s ground-breaking research on Indian public opinion on religion. The data shows that Indians maintain a commitment to …
African American Studies January 5, 2022

Metaphysical Africa

Truth and Blackness in the Ansaru Allah Community

Michael Muhammad Knight

Hosted by Adam Bobeck
The Ansaru Allah Community, also known as the Nubian Islamic Hebrews (AAC/NIH) and later the Nuwaubians, is a deeply significant and controversial African American Muslim movement. Founded in Brooklyn in …
Jewish Studies December 31, 2021

Sanctified Sex

The Two-Thousand-Year Jewish Debate on Marital Intimacy

Noam Sachs Zion

Hosted by Rachel Adelman
Sanctified Sex: The Two-Thousand-Year Jewish Debate on Marital Intimacy (Jewish Publication Society, 2021) draws on two thousand years of rabbinic debates addressing competing aspirations for loving intimacy, passionate sexual union …
Indian Religions December 30, 2021

Vaiśeṣikasūtra

A Translation

Ionut Moise and Ganesh U. Thite

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
This book introduces readers to Indian philosophy by presenting the first integral English translation of Vaiśeṣikasūtra with the earliest extant commentary of Candrānanda on the old aphorisms of Vaiśeṣika school …
Japanese Studies December 22, 2021

Pilgrims Until We Die

Unending Pilgrimage in Shikoku

Ian Reader and John Shultz

Hosted by Raditya Nuradi
Ian Reader and John Shultz's Pilgrims Until We Die: Unending Pilgrimage in Shikoku (Oxford University Press, 2021)" explores the Shikoku pilgrimage by focusing on the themes of repetition and perpetual …
Music December 21, 2021

From This Broken Hill I Sing to You

God, Sex, and Politics in the Work of Leonard Cohen

Marcia Pally

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
Leonard Cohen's troubled relationship with God is here mapped onto his troubled relationships with sex and politics. Analysing Covenantal theology and its place in Cohen's work, Marcia Pally's From This …
Islamic Studies December 15, 2021

The Prophet's Heir

The Life of Ali ibn Abi Talib

Hassan Abbas

Hosted by Adam Bobeck
Ali ibn Abi Talib is arguably the single most important spiritual and intellectual authority in Islam after prophet Mohammad. Through his teachings and leadership as fourth caliph, Ali nourished Islam …
Jewish Studies December 13, 2021

We Are Not Alone

A Maimonidean Theology of the Other

Menachem Kellner

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed addressed Jews of his day who felt challenged by apparent contradictions between Torah and science. We Are Not Alone: A Maimonidean Theology of the Other (Academic …
African American Studies January 28, 2022

Jumping the Broom

The Surprising Multicultural Origins of a Black Wedding Ritual

Tyler D. Parry

Hosted by Adam McNeil
In Jumping the Broom: The Surprising Multicultural Origins of a Black Wedding Ritual (UNC Press, 2020), Tyler D. Parry untangles the convoluted history of the "broomstick wedding." Popularly associated with …