New Books Network
Biblical Studies July 29, 2021

Jesus

The Incarnation of the Word

David C Mitchell

Hosted by Michael Morales
Did the prophets foretell a priestly Messiah? Who was the mysterious figure of Melchizedek? In his new book, Jesus: The Incarnation of the Word, David Mitchell uses exegetical acumen and his …

Subscribe to

on the NBN

Ideas Roadshow Podcast July 29, 2021

The Value of Voice

Nick Couldry

Hosted by Howard Burton
The Value of Voice is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Nick Couldry, Professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory in the Department of Media and …
Biography July 29, 2021

Philip Payton

The Father of Black Harlem

Kevin McGruder

Hosted by Dan Hill
Today I talked to Kevin McGruder about his new book Philip Payton: The Father of Black Harlem (Columbia UP, 2021) In a moment of hope, even faith, African-Americans inspired by Booker T …
Australian and New Zealand Studies July 29, 2021

Creating God

The Birth and Growth of Major Religions

Robin Derricourt

Hosted by Bede Haines
What do we really know about how and where religions began, and how they spread?  Robin Derricourt considers the birth and growth of several major religions, using history and archaeology …
Sociology July 29, 2021

How Green Became Good

Urbanized Nature and the Making of Cities and Citizens

Hillary Angelo

Hosted by Richard Ocejo
As projects like Manhattan's High Line, Chicago's 606, China's eco-cities, and Ethiopia's tree-planting efforts show, cities around the world are devoting serious resources to urban greening. Formerly neglected urban spaces and …
Indian Religions July 29, 2021

The Viṣṇu Purāṇa

Ancient Annals of the God with Lotus Eyes

McComas Taylor

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Listen in as we speak with McComas Taylor (Associate Professor and Reader in Sanskrit, The Australian National University) about his brand-new translation of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa. This is the second …
Economics July 29, 2021

Welfare for Autocrats

How Social Assistance in China Cares for Its Rulers

Jennifer Pan

Hosted by Peter Lorentzen
Development economists have been doing intensive research in recent years on conditional cash transfer programs as a tool to help get people out of poverty. Meanwhile in the US there …
Gender Studies July 29, 2021

Hijras, Lovers, Brothers

Surviving Sex and Poverty in Rural India

Vaibhav Saria

Hosted by Shraddha Chatterjee
Hijras, one of India’s third gendered or trans populations, have been an enduring presence in the South Asian imagination—in myth, in ritual, and in everyday life, often associated in stigmatized …
Dan Hill's EQ Spotlight July 29, 2021

Choosing Courage

The Everyday Guide to Being Brave at Work

Jim Detert

Hosted by Dan Hill
Retaining Freedom After Speech Today I talked to Jim Detert about his book Choosing Courage: The Everyday Guide to Being Brave at Work (Harvard Business Review Press, 2021) Jim Detert is …
Asian Review of Books July 29, 2021

We Shall Be Masters

Russian Pivots to East Asia from Peter the Great to Putin

Chris Miller

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
Russia’s position between Europe and Asia has led to differing conceptions of “what Russia is” to its leaders. Russia’s vast holdings east of the Urals have often inspired those who …
World Christianity July 29, 2021

Protestants, Gender and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria

Deanna Ferree Womack

Hosted by Byung Ho Choi
The Ottoman Syrians - residents of modern Syria and Lebanon - formed the first Arabic-speaking Evangelical Church in the region. Deanna Ferree Womack's book Protestants, Gender and the Arab Renaissance in …
Critical Theory July 29, 2021

Eating in Theory

Annemarie Mol

Hosted by Kai Wortmann
As we taste, chew, swallow, digest, and excrete, our foods transform us, while our eating, in its turn, affects the wider earthly environment. In Eating in Theory (Duke UP, 2021) …
Political Science July 29, 2021

Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic

The Deep State and the Unitary Executive

Stephen Skowronek, John A. Dearborn, and Desmond King

Hosted by Lilly Goren
Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic: The Deep State and the Unitary Executive (Oxford UP, 2021) helps us think about the complexity of the American political system that has grown up over …
Academic Life July 29, 2021

Pandemic Perspectives from a Student Studying Abroad

An interview with Case Western Reserve University

Emma Halfin

Hosted by Christina Gessler
Welcome to The Academic Life. You are smart and capable, but you aren’t an island, and neither are we. So we reached across our mentor network to bring you podcasts …
Ideas Roadshow Podcast July 28, 2021

The Two Cultures, Revisited

Stefan Collini

Hosted by Howard Burton
The ‘Two Cultures’ debate of the 1960s between C.P. Snow and F.R. Leavis is one of the most misunderstood intellectual disputes of the 20th century. Most people think that the …
European Studies July 28, 2021

Monetary Policy in Times of Crisis

A Tale of Two Decades of the European Central Bank

Massimo Rostagno et al.

Hosted by Tim Jones
In July 2021, nine summers after its then president saved the euro with three choice words (“whatever it takes”), the European Central Bank published the results of a thoroughgoing …
Middle Eastern Studies July 28, 2021

Arab Conquests and Early Islamic Historiography

The Futuh Al-Buldan of Al-Baladhuri

Ryan J. Lynch

Hosted by Christopher Rose
Of the available sources for Islamic history published before the 9th century of the Christian Era, few are of greater importance than Kitab Futuh al-Buldan (The Book of the Conquest …
East Asian Studies July 28, 2021

Cinema Off Screen

Moviegoing in Socialist China

Chenshu Zhou

Hosted by Victoria Lupascu
At a time when what it means to watch movies keeps changing, this book offers a case study that rethinks the institutional, ideological, and cultural role of film exhibition, demonstrating …
South Asian Studies July 28, 2021

The Origins of the British Empire in Asia, 1600–1750

David Veevers

Hosted by Samee Siddiqui
This is an important, revisionist account of the origins of the British Empire in Asia in the early modern period. In The Origins of the British Empire in Asia, 1600-1750 (Cambridge University …
Anthropology July 28, 2021

Boasians at War

Anthropology, Race, and World War II

Anthony Q. Hazard

Hosted by Alex Golub
The realities of race that continue to plague the United States have direct ties to the anthropology. Anthropologists often imagine their discipline as inherently anti-racist and historically connected to …