New Books Network Podcast

Anthropology March 15, 2023

Nested Ecologies

A Multilayered Ethnography of Functional Medicine

Rosalynn A. Vega

Hosted by Joan Matamoros

Each body is a system within a system—an ecology within the larger context of social, political, economic, cultural, and environmental factors. This is one of the lessons of epigenetics, whereby …

Politics & Polemics March 12, 2023

The Covid Consensus

The Global Assault on Democracy and the Poor—A Critique from the Left

Toby Green and Thomas Fazi

Hosted by Pierre d'Alancaisez

During the first months of the pandemic, governments worldwide agreed that ‘following the science’ with hard lockdowns and vaccine mandates was the best way to preserve life. But evidence is …

Ministry of Ideas March 8, 2023

Kinsey or, How Do You Measure Sex?

Measure for Measure Episode 7

Kate Sink

Hosted by Zachary Davis

Scientist Alfred Kinsey tried to differentiate human sexualities on a seven-point scale. In so doing, he brought us the basics of bisexuality. But the scale leaves a lot to be …

Japanese Studies March 8, 2023

Madness in the Family

Women, Care, and Illness in Japan

H. Yumi Kim

Hosted by Ran Zwigenberg

To fend off American and European imperialism in the nineteenth century, Japan strove to strengthen itself by drawing on the most updated ideas and practices from around the world. By …

Russian and Eurasian Studies March 6, 2023

Mixing Medicines

The Global Drug Trade and Early Modern Russia

Clare Griffin

Hosted by Erika Monahan

Clare Griffin's book Mixing Medicines: The Global Drug Trade and Early Modern Russia (McGill-Queen's UP, 2022) introduces the reader to the dynamic and complex world of early modern Russian medical drugs, from …

Women's History March 4, 2023

Women's Medicine

Family Planning and British Female Doctors in Transnational Perspective, 1920-70

Caroline Rusterholz

Hosted by Nicole Bourbonnais

Who built the twentieth century birth control movement? In Women's Medicine: Family Planning and British Female Doctors in Transnational Perspective, 1920-70 (Manchester University Press 2020), Dr. Caroline Rusterholz highlights British female doctors' key contribution …

Recall This Book March 2, 2023

Nuclear Ghosts

A Discussion with Ryo Morimoto

Ryo Morimoto

Hosted by Elizabeth Ferry and John Plotz

John and Elizabeth, in this special Centennial episode of Recall this Book, explore spectral radiation with Ryo Morimoto, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Princeton University. His new book Nuclear Ghost …

British Studies March 2, 2023

Hidden Histories of the Dead

Disputed Bodies in Modern British Medical Research

Elizabeth T. Hurren

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In Hidden Histories of the Dead: Disputed Bodies in Modern British Medical Research (Cambridge University Press, 2021), Dr. Elizabeth T. Hurren maps the post-mortem journeys of bodies, body-parts, organs, and …

Medicine March 1, 2023

Writing at the Margin

Discourse Between Anthropology and Medicine

Arthur Kleinman

Hosted by Shu Cao Mo

One of the most influential and creative scholars in medical anthropology takes stock of his recent intellectual odysseys in this collection of essays. Arthur Kleinman, an anthropologist and psychiatrist who …

Medicine February 28, 2023

Whiteout

How Racial Capitalism Changed the Color of Opioids in America

Helena Hansen, Jules Netherland, and David Herzberg

Hosted by Claire Clark

In the past two decades, media images of the surprisingly white “new face” of the US opioid crisis abounded. But why was the crisis so white? Some argued that skyrocketing …

Medicine February 26, 2023

Embodied Injustice

Race, Disability, and Health

Mary Crossley

Hosted by Rachel Pagones

Black people and people with disabilities in the United States are distinctively disadvantaged in their encounters with the health care system. These groups also share harsh histories of medical experimentation …

Canadian Studies February 21, 2023

The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto

A Discussion with David Wright

David Wright

Hosted by Greg Marchildon

Greg Marchildon interviews David Wright of McGill University on his book Sick Kids: The History of The Hospital for Sick Children (University of Toronto Press) which won the Champlain Society’s …

Historical Fiction February 19, 2023

The Woman with the Cure

Lynn Cullen

Hosted by C. P. Lesley

The essential contribution of The Woman with the Cure (Berkley Books, 2023) can be summarized in one sentence: like most of its future readers (I assume), I had never before heard …

Law February 19, 2023

The Right to Be Protected from Committing Suicide

Jonathan Herring

Hosted by Jane Richards

Professor Jonathan Herring makes an argument that suicidal people have a right to be protected from committing suicide, and that the state should be under a duty to take reasonable …

Medicine February 17, 2023

Capitalizing a Cure

How Finance Controls the Price and Value of Medicines

Victor Roy

Hosted by Rachel Pagones

Capitalizing a Cure: How Finance Controls the Price and Value of Medicines (U California Press, 2023) takes readers into the struggle over a medical breakthrough to investigate the power of …

Drugs, Addiction and Recovery February 13, 2023

How Do We Treat Opioid Addiction?

A Discussion with Mark Parrino

Mark Parrino

Hosted by Emily Dufton

Mark Parrino has been involved with the delivery of health care and treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) since 1974. As the president of the American Association for the Treatment …

How to Be Wrong February 13, 2023

Bioethics, Humility, and Responsibility

A Conversation with Arthur Caplan

Arthur Caplan

Hosted by John Kaag and John Traphagan

For this episode we welcome Dr. Arthur Caplan, who is currently the Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor and founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics at …

Politics & Polemics February 11, 2023

The Story of Abortion in America

A Street-level History, 1652-2022

Marvin N. Olasky and Leah Savas

Hosted by Hope J. Leman

Abortion is an issue like no other. Our attitudes towards it and how we define when life begins determine the very words we use when discussing abortion. We don’t even …

General History January 30, 2023

Epidemic Orientalism

Race, Capital, and the Governance of Infectious Disease

Alexandre I. R. White

Hosted by Nathan Moore

For many residents of Western nations, COVID-19 was the first time they experienced the effects of an uncontrolled epidemic. This is in part due to a series of little-known regulations …

Peoples & Things January 30, 2023

The History of Teletherapy

A Conversation with Hannah Zeavin

Hannah Zeavin

Hosted by Lee Vinsel

Hannah Zeavin, lecturer in the department of History and member of the executive committees of both the Center for New Media and the Center for Science, Technology, Medicine, and Society …