New Books Network Podcast

Sociology September 28, 2022

Hospital Land USA

Sociological Adventures in Medicalization

Wendy Simonds

Hosted by Michael Johnston

In Hospital Land USA: Sociological Adventures in Medicalization (Routledge, 2016), Wendy Simonds analyzes the wide-reaching powers of medicalization: the dynamic processes by which medical authorities, institutions, and ideologies impact our …

General History September 26, 2022

Death By Shakespeare

Snakebites, Stabbings and Broken Hearts

Kathryn Harkup

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

William Shakespeare found dozens of different ways to kill off his characters, and audiences today still enjoy the same reactions – shock, sadness, fear – that they did more than …

Medicine September 21, 2022

Tik Merauke

An Epidemic Like No Other

John Richens

Hosted by Rachel Pagones

A medical doctor with an inquisitive mind and a traveling spirit, John Richens thought he had hit upon an exemplary public health case study – the story of donovanosis among …

Drugs, Addiction and Recovery September 16, 2022

The Psychedelic Handbook

A Practical Guide to Psilocybin, LSD, Ketamine, MDMA, and DMT/Ayahuasca

Rick Strassman

Hosted by Geert Slabbekoorn

Entering the world of psychedelic drugs can be challenging, and many aren't sure where to start. As research continues to expand and legalization looms on the horizon for psychedelics like …

Food September 14, 2022

Coffee the Magical Elixir

Facts That Will Astound and Perk You Up

Sanjiv Chopra

Hosted by Deidre Tyler

Today I talked to Sanjiv Chopra about his book Coffee the Magical Elixir: Facts That Will Astound and Perk You Up (Bookbaby, 2021) 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed globally everyday …

Medicine September 9, 2022

Successful Aging as a Contemporary Obsession

Global Perspectives

Sarah Lamb

Hosted by Rachel Pagones

In recent decades, the North American public has pursued an inspirational vision of successful aging—striving through medical technique and individual effort to eradicate the declines, vulnerabilities, and dependencies previously commonly …

Medicine September 7, 2022

Model Systems in Biology

History, Philosophy, and Practical Concerns

Georg Striedter

Hosted by Rachel Pagones

Biomedical research using various animal species and in vitro cellular systems has resulted in both major successes and translational failure. In Model Systems in Biology: History, Philosophy, and Practical Concerns …

Darts & Letters September 2, 2022

The Tamiflu Trials

Profit and Public Health--How Do We Choose Which Drugs to Use?

Hosted by Gordon Katic

Before Remdesivir and Hydroxycloroquin there was Tamiflu. To prepare for Swine Flu and Bird Flu, governments spent billions stockpiling this drug called Tamiflu. You’d think governments used the best evidence-based …

Medicine August 30, 2022

All Health Politics Is Local

Community Battles for Medical Care and Environmental Health

Merlin Chowkwanyun

Hosted by Claire Clark

Health care is political. It entails fierce battles over the allocation of resources, arguments over the imposition of regulations, and the mediation of dueling public sentiments—all conflicts that are often …

Medicine August 30, 2022

How the Clinic Made Gender

The Medical History of a Transformative Idea

Sandra Eder

Hosted by Claire Clark

An eye-opening exploration of the medical origins of gender in modern US history. Today, a world without "gender" is hard to imagine. Gender is at the center of contentious political …

Literary Studies August 29, 2022

Early Modern Herbals and the Book Trade

English Stationers and the Commodification of Botany

Sarah Neville

Hosted by John Yargo

Over the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, works of botany underwent a radical change in the English book trade. A genre that was once produced in smaller cheaper …

Food August 26, 2022

Big Food & Co

Mélissa Mialon’s

Hosted by Anna Levy

In the 1960s and 1970s, the exposure of Big Tobacco’s aggressive lobbying and internal efforts to obscure science showcasing the harmful effects of smoking changed U.S. public opinion of the …

American West August 24, 2022

From Back Alley to the Border

Criminal Abortion in California, 1920-1969

Alicia Gutierrez-Romine

Hosted by Stephen Hausmann

Before 1973's landmark Roe v. Wade decision, abortion in California was illegal for both doctors performing and women seeking the procedure. In From Back Alley to the Border: Criminal Abortion in …

Darts & Letters August 16, 2022

Nothing Spreads Like Greed

The Pandemic Profiteers Who Made the Crisis Worse

Hosted by Gordon Katic

Has the pandemic taught us anything? As we look forward and imagine what the future might look like, we like to think ‘next time will be different.’ But, if we …

Public Policy August 12, 2022

Single Payer Healthcare Reform

Grassroots Mobilization and the Turn Against Establishment Politics in the Medicare for All Movement

Lindy S. F. Hern

Hosted by Gregory Soden

In Single Payer Healthcare Reform: Grassroots Mobilization and the Turn Against Establishment Politics in the Medicare for All Movement (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), Lindy Hern provides a comprehensive history of the grassroots Movement …

Medicine August 9, 2022

Building Schools, Making Doctors

Architecture and the Modern American Physician

Katherine L. Carroll

Hosted by Rachel Pagones

In the late nineteenth century, medical educators intent on transforming American physicians into scientifically trained, elite professionals recognized the value of medical school design for their reform efforts. Between 189 …

Psychology August 4, 2022

The Mind and the Moon

My Brother's Story, the Science of Our Brains, and the Search for Our Psyches

Daniel Bergner

Hosted by Steve Beitler

Why is our understanding of the mind so limited? How do cells become consciousness? What are the limitations of a biological model of the mind and its disorders? In The …

Chinese Studies July 25, 2022

Chinese Village Life Today

Building Families in an Age of Transition

Gonçalo Santos

Hosted by Suvi Rautio

Today I had the pleasure of talking to Professor Gonçalo Santos (University of Coimbra), about his new book, Chinese Village Life Today: Building Families in an Age of Transition, which was published …

Medicine July 22, 2022

Tornado of Life

A Doctor's Journey through Constraints and Creativity in the ER

Jay Baruch

Hosted by Galina Limorenko

To be an emergency room doctor is to be a professional listener to stories. Each patient presents a story; finding the heart of that story is the doctor’s most critical …

Medicine July 20, 2022

Our Transgenic Future

Spider Goats, Genetic Modification, and the Will to Change Nature

Lisa Jean Moore

Hosted by Rachel Pagones

The process of manipulating the genetic material of one animal to include the DNA of another creates a new transgenic organism. Several animals, notably goats, mice, sheep, and cattle are …