New Books Network Podcast

Psychology November 29, 2023

Resilience

The Science of Mastering Life's Greatest Challenges

Steven M. Southwick, Dennis S. Charney, and Jonathan M. Depierro

Hosted by Deidre Tyler

Life presents us all with challenges. Most of us at some point will be struck by major traumas such as the sudden death of a loved one, a debilitating disease …

Critical Theory November 28, 2023

The Age of Insecurity

Coming Together as Things Fall Apart

Astra Taylor

Hosted by Louisa Hann

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These days, everyone feels insecure. We are financially stressed and emotionally overwhelmed. The status quo isn’t working for anyone, even those who appear to have it all. What is going …

Japanese Studies November 27, 2023

Nuclear Minds

Cold War Psychological Science and the Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Ran Zwigenberg

Hosted by Nathan Hopson

Ran Zwigenberg’s Nuclear Minds: Cold War Psychological Science and the Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (U Chicago Press, 2023) explores early efforts by the American military, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social scientists …

The Future of . . . with Owen Bennett-Jones November 26, 2023

The Future of Innovation

A Discussion with Min W. Jung

Min W. Jung

Hosted by Owen Bennett-Jones

Humans have been so dominant on Earth in large part because of their capacity to innovate – but how does that work exactly? Why can they innovate so much? That …

Psychoanalysis November 25, 2023

The Analyst's Torment

Unbearable Mental States in Countertransference

Dhwani Shah

Hosted by Christopher Russell

Today I spoke with Dr. Dhwani Shah about his new book The Analyst’s Torment: Unbearable Mental States in Countertransference (Karnac Books, 2022). The son of a sculptor mother and an …

Psychoanalysis November 24, 2023

Twins in Session

Case Histories in Treating Twinship Issues

Joan A. Friedman

Hosted by Judith Tanen

Why would a twin sacrifice her own needs to make sure her same-age sibling is always cared for? What would cause a twin to have panic attacks when he and …

Buddhist Studies November 18, 2023

Saving Time

Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock

Jenny Odell

Hosted by Tricycle Magazine

In her first book, How to Do Nothing, artist Jenny Odell examined the power of quiet contemplation in a world where our attention is bought and sold. Now, she takes …

Literary Studies November 18, 2023

Affective Ecologies

Empathy, Emotion, and Environmental Narrative

Alexa Weik von Mossner

Hosted by Arnab Dutta Roy

Affective Ecologies: Empathy, Emotion, and Environmental Narrative (Ohio State UP, 2017) explores our emotional engagement with environmental narrative. Focusing on the American cultural context, Alexa Weik von Mossner develops an …

Music November 14, 2023

The Machines of Evolution and the Scope of Meaning

Gary Tomlinson

Hosted by Nathan Smith

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What is meaning? How does it arise? Where is it found in the world? In recent years, philosophers and scientists have answered these questions in different ways. Some see meaning …

Law November 11, 2023

Mental Health Law

Abolish Or Reform?

Kay Wilson

Hosted by Jane Richards

The debate about whether mental health law should be abolished or reformed is one that is highly charged and to which there are no easy solutions. In Mental Health Law: Abolish Or Reform? (Oxford …

Psychoanalysis November 7, 2023

Advancing Psychotherapy for the Next Generation

Humanizing Mental Health Policy and Practice

Linda L. Michaels, Tom Wooldridge, Nancy Burke, and Janice R. Muhr

Hosted by Judith Tanen

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Advancing Psychotherapy for the Next Generation: Humanizing Mental Health Policy and Practice (Routledge, 2023) brings together a global community of mental health professionals to offer an impassioned defense of relationship-based …

Political Science November 6, 2023

Wrong

How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive Our Appetite for Misinformation

Dannagal Goldthwaite Young

Hosted by Susan Liebell

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Over the past 40 years, lawmakers in America's two major political parties have taken increasingly extreme positions on ideological issues. Voters from the two parties have become increasingly distinct and …

Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel November 5, 2023

The Power of Placebos

Unlocking Their Potential to Improve Health Care

Jeremy Howick

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Should your doctor prescribe a placebo for you, instead of conventional medicine? And if she did, would it work? Is the double-blind placebo-controlled paradigm really the gold standard for medical …

Animal Studies November 3, 2023

How Our Love of Dogs Creates Social Conflict

James K. Beggan

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

For the last twenty-thousand years, dogs and people have shared a unique bond in the animal kingdom. In How Our Love of Dogs Creates Social Conflict (Lexington Books, 2022), Dr …

Comics and Graphic Novels October 30, 2023

Who Understands Comics?

Questioning the Universality of Visual Language Comprehension

Neil Cohn

Hosted by Elizabeth Woock

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Drawings and sequential images are so pervasive in contemporary society that we may take their understanding for granted. But how transparent are they really, and how universally are they understood …

Public Health October 24, 2023

Project UnLonely

Healing Our Crisis of Disconnection

Jeremy Nobel

Hosted by Ron Winslow

Even before the Covid pandemic began in 2020, chronic loneliness was a private experience of profound anguish that had become a public health crisis. Since then it has reached new heights …

The Future of . . . with Owen Bennett-Jones October 24, 2023

The Future of Paying Attention

A Discussion with Carolyn Dicey Jennings

Carolyn Dicey Jennings

Hosted by Owen Bennett-Jones

Is it really harder to pay attention to something than it used to be? No doubt the world is getting faster, and social media platforms are so good at grabbing …

Politics & Polemics October 20, 2023

Undoing Suicidism

A Trans, Queer, Crip Approach to Rethinking (Assisted) Suicide

Alexandre Baril

Hosted by Clayton Jarrard

Note: This episode contains a discussion of suicide. A list of resources is available below. In Undoing Suicidism: A Trans, Queer, Crip Approach to Rethinking (Assisted) Suicide (Temple UP, 2023) …

Sociology October 19, 2023

Intoxication

An Ethnography of Effervescent Revelry

Sébastien Tutenges

Hosted by Michael Johnston

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For two decades, Sébastien Tutenges has conducted research in bars, nightclubs, festivals, drug dens, nightlife resorts, and underground dance parties in a quest to answer a fundamental question: Why do people …

Psychology October 15, 2023

It's Not Me, It's You!

How Narcissists Get What They Want and How to Stop Them

Karyne E. Messina

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Bullies, bad bosses, human traffickers, and mean girls all manipulate their victims without lifting a finger. This sinister form of mind control is known in the psychoanalytical community as projective …