New Books Network
Biology and Evolution
Neuroscience January 27, 2022

Dark and Magical Places

The Neuroscience of Navigation

Christopher Kemp

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
Inside our heads we carry around an infinite and endlessly unfolding map of the world. Navigation is one of the most ancient neural abilities we have―older than language. In Dark …

Biology and Evolution

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Interviews with biologists and evolutionary scientists about their new books.

SSEAC Stories January 21, 2022

Speaking Bones

Unearthing Ancient Stories of Illness and Disease

Melandri Vlok

Hosted by Natali Pearson
From mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue to chronic bacterial infections such as yaws, Southeast Asia is home to a wide range of tropical diseases. For a long time …
Science January 19, 2022

Lives of Weeds

Opportunism, Resistance, Folly

John Cardina

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
Lives of Weeds: Opportunism, Resistance, Folly (Cornell UP, 2021) explores the tangled history of weeds and their relationship to humans. Through eight interwoven stories, John Cardina offers a fresh perspective …
Anthropology January 14, 2022

Being a Human

Adventures in Forty Thousand Years of Consciousness

Charles Foster

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
How did humans come to be who we are? In his marvelous, eccentric, and widely lauded book Being a Beast, legal scholar, veterinary surgeon, and naturalist extraordinaire Charles Foster set …
Medicine January 13, 2022

The First Shots

The Epic Rivalries and Heroic Science Behind the Race to the Coronavirus Vaccine

Brendan Borrell

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
Heroic science. Chaotic politics. Billionaire entrepreneurs. Award-winning journalist Brendan Borrell brings the defining story of our times alive through compulsively readable, first-time reporting on the players leading the fight against …
Indian Religions January 11, 2022

Hindu Theology and Biology

The Bhagavata Purana and Contemporary Theory

Jonathan B. Edelmann

Hosted by Shruti Dixit
In Hindu Theology and Biology: The Bhagavata Purana and Contemporary Theory (Oxford University Press, 2020), Professor Jonathan B. Edelmann develops a constructive and comparative theological dialogue between Hinduism and Western …
Children's Literature January 4, 2022

Whooo Knew?

The Truth about Owls

Annette Whipple

Hosted by Mel Rosenberg
Today I talked to Annette Whipple about her book Whooo Knew? The Truth About Owls (Reycraft Books, 2020) How do owls see in the dark? Can owls spin their heads all the way …
Neuroscience January 3, 2022

How Not to Study a Disease

The Story of Alzheimer's

Karl Herrup

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
For decades, some of our best and brightest medical scientists have dedicated themselves to finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease. What happened? Where is the cure? The biggest breakthroughs occurred …
Scholarly Communication December 31, 2021

Exploring Science Literacy and Public Engagement with Science

Ayelet Baram-Tsabari

Hosted by Avi Staiman
Listen to this interview of Ayelet Baram-Tsabari. We talk about the accessibility of science using Google to scholars and students in languages beyond English and how scholars can de-jargonize their …
Science December 28, 2021

Pump

A Natural History of the Heart

Bill Schutt

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
In this lively, unexpected look at the hearts of animals—from fish to bats to humans—American Museum of Natural History zoologist Bill Schutt tells an incredible story of evolution and scientific …
Science December 24, 2021

Silent Earth

Averting the Insect Apocalypse

Dave Goulson

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
Drawing on thirty years of research, Goulson has written an accessible, fascinating, and important book that examines the evidence of an alarming drop in insect numbers around the world. "If …
Gender Studies December 21, 2021

The Maternal Imprint

The Contested Science of Maternal-Fetal Effects

Sarah S. Richardson

Hosted by Sohini Chatterjee
The idea that a woman may leave a biological trace on her gestating offspring has long been a commonplace folk intuition and a matter of scientific intrigue, but the form …
French Studies December 31, 2021

Pasteur's Empire

Bacteriology and Politics in France, Its Colonies, and the World

Aro Velmet

Hosted by Roxanne Panchasi
Aro Velmet's Pasteur's Empire: Bacteriology in France, Its Colonies, and the World (Oxford UP, 2020) is a complex history of the Pasteur Institutes, a network of scientific laboratories established in France and throughout the French empire …
Ideas Roadshow Podcast December 31, 2021

Ocean Enlightenment

Edie Widder

Hosted by Howard Burton
Ocean Enlightenment is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Edie Widder, Founder, CEO and Senior Scientist at Ocean Research & Conservation Association (ORCA). After an inspiring …
Scholarly Communication December 24, 2021

Making "Nature"

The History of a Scientific Journal

Melinda Baldwin

Hosted by Daniel Shea
Listen to this interview of Melinda Baldwin about her book Making 'Nature': The History of a Scientific Journal (U Chicago Press, 2015). Melinda is AIP Endowed Professor in History of Natural Sciences at …
Ideas Roadshow Podcast December 21, 2021

Minds and Machines

Miguel Nicolelis

Hosted by Howard Burton
Minds and Machines is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Miguel Nicolelis, Professor of Neurobiology, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Biomedical Engineering, Psychology and Neuroscience and Orthopaedic Surgery and …
Science December 10, 2021

Overloaded

How Every Aspect of Your Life is Influenced by Your Brain Chemicals

Ginny Smith

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
From adrenaline to dopamine, most of us are familiar with the chemicals that control us. They are the hormones and neurotransmitters that our brains run on, and Overloaded: How Every …
Science November 26, 2021

Of Sound Mind

How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World

Nina Kraus

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
Making sense of sound is one of the hardest jobs we ask our brains to do. In Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World (MIT Press …
Science November 16, 2021

Infectious

Pathogens and How We Fight Them

Dr John S. Tregoning

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
Nature wants you dead. Not just you, but your children and everyone you have ever met and everyone they have ever met; in fact, everyone. It wants you to cough and …
Philosophy November 10, 2021

Living as a Bird

Vinciane Despret

Hosted by Carrie Figdor
Birds sing to set up a territory, but the relationships between the bird, the song, the territory, and the bird’s community are highly complex and individually variable. In Living as …