New Books Network
Sociology
Jewish Studies November 30, 2020

Yeshiva Days

Learning on the Lower East Side

Jonathan Boyarin

Hosted by Zalman Newfield
New York City's Lower East Side has witnessed a severe decline in its Jewish population in recent decades, yet every morning in the big room of the city's oldest yeshiva …

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Education November 30, 2020

Digital Divisions

How Schools Create Inequality in the Tech Era

Matthew H. Rafalow

Hosted by Trevor Mattea
In this episode, I speak with Matt Rafalow, about his book, Digital Divisions: How Schools Create Inequality in the Tech Era (University of Chicago Press, 2020). This book provides an …
Sociology November 27, 2020

Essential Dads

The Inequalities and Politics of Fathering

Jennifer M. Randles

Hosted by Michael Johnston
In Essential Dads: The Inequalities and Politics of Fathering (University of California Press, 2020), sociologist Jennifer Randles shares the stories of more than 60 marginalized men as they sought to …
South Asian Studies November 27, 2020

Citizenship in a Caste Polity

Religion, Language and Belonging in Goa

Jason Keith Fernandes

Hosted by Ali Mohsin
In the mid-1980s, Goa witnessed mass demonstrations, violent protests and political mobilising, following which Konkani was declared the official language of the Goan territory. However, Konkani was recognised only in …
SSEAC Stories November 25, 2020

Projectland

Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village with Associate Professor Holly High

Holly High

Hosted by Natali Pearson
In her latest book, Projectland: Life in a Lao Socialist Model Village (University of Hawaii Press), due out in May 2021, Associate Professor Holly High argues that socialism remains an …
South Asian Studies November 25, 2020

Caste Matters

Suraj Yengde

Hosted by Preethi Ramaprasad
“India is not yet a nation. It is still in an improvisational mode like a jazz band that needs to perform repeatedly together in order to uplift every voice in …
Gender Studies November 25, 2020

Embodied Reckonings

“Comfort Women,” Performance, and Transpacific Redress

Elizabeth Son

Hosted by Ann Choi
In a bustling city-center of Seoul, women in yellow vests protesting over the “final” resettlement between the Japanese and Korean governments every Wednesday is an iconic sight, testifying to the …
Religion November 25, 2020

Peace Love Yoga

The Politics of Global Spirituality

Andrea Jain

Hosted by Lindsey Jackson
In Peace Love Yoga: The Politics of Global Spirituality (Oxford University Press, 2020), Andrea Jain examines the interconnectedness between global spirituality and neoliberal capitalism through an examination of the global …
Popular Culture November 25, 2020

Batman and the Joker

Contested Sexuality in Popular Culture

Chris Richardson

Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan
In Batman and The Joker: Contested Sexuality in Popular Culture (Routledge, 2020), Chris Richardson presents a cultural analysis of the ways gender, identity, and sexuality are negotiated in the rivalry …
Anthropology November 24, 2020

Enduring Cancer

Life, Death, and Diagnosis in Delhi

Dwaipayan Banerjee

Hosted by Sneha Annavarapu
In Enduring Cancer: Life, Death, and Diagnosis in Delhi (Duke UP, 2020), Dwaipayan Banerjee explores the efforts of Delhi's urban poor to create a livable life with cancer as patients …
Sociology November 23, 2020

The Mating Game

How Gender Still Shapes How We Date

Ellen Lamont

Hosted by Michael Johnston
Ellen Lamont's new book The Mating Game: How Gender Still Shapes How We Date (University of California Press, 2020) offers an in-depth analysis of how gender shapes dating practices. Despite enormous changes in …
Critical Theory November 23, 2020

Identity, Mediation, and the Cunning of Capital

Ani Maitra

Hosted by Stephen Dozeman
The politics of identity have played center stage in many political debates in the last few years, and is often seen somewhat pejoratively as an epiphenomenal manifestation of the dynamics …
World Affairs November 20, 2020

On Borders

Territories, Legitimacy, and the Rights of Place

Paulina Ochoa Espejo

Hosted by Geoffrey Gordon
When are borders justified? Who has a right to control them? Where should they be drawn? Today people think of borders as an island's shores. Just as beaches delimit a …
South Asian Studies November 20, 2020

Jugaad Time

Ecologies of Everyday Hacking in India

Amit S. Rai

Hosted by Sneha Annavarapu
In India, the practice of jugaad—finding workarounds or hacks to solve problems—emerged out of subaltern strategies of negotiating poverty, discrimination, and violence but is now celebrated in management literature as …
Sociology November 20, 2020

Can Music Make You Sick?: Measuring the Price of Musical Ambition

Sally Anne Gross and George Musgrave

Hosted by Michael Johnston
It is often assumed that creative people are prone to psychological instability, and that this explains apparent associations between cultural production and mental health problems. In their detailed study of …
Critical Theory November 20, 2020

The Crisis of the Meritocracy

Britain's Transition to Mass Education Since the Second World War

Peter Mandler

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How did public demand shape education in the 20th century? In The Crisis of the Meritocracy: Britain’s Transition to Mass Education since the Second World War (Oxford UP, 2020), Peter …
Food November 19, 2020

Diners, Dudes, and Diets

How Gender and Power Collide in Food Media and Culture

Emily J. H. Contois

Hosted by Carrie Tippen
In Diners, Dudes, and Diets: How Gender and Power Collide in Food Media and Culture (UNC Press, 2020), Emily Contois argues that the figure of The Dude was invented (or …
Mobilities and Methods November 18, 2020

Beyond Exception

New Interpretations of the Arabian Peninsula

Ahmed Kanna, Amélie Le Renard, and Neha Vora

Hosted by Alize Arıcan
Over the nearly two decades that they have each been conducting fieldwork in the Arabian Peninsula, Ahmed Kanna, Amélie Le Renard, and Neha Vora have regularly encountered exoticizing and exceptionalist …
Caribbean Studies November 18, 2020

The Cuban Hustle

Culture, Politics, Everyday Life

Sujatha Fernandes

Hosted by Alejandra Bronfman
Cuban resourcefulness is on full display in Cuban Hustle: Culture, Politics, Everyday Life (Duke UP, 2020), as sociologist Sujatha Fernandes presents an array of strategies not just for survival but …
Animal Studies November 13, 2020

The Lives and Deaths of Shelter Animals

Katja M. Guenther

Hosted by Mark Molloy
Monster is an adult pit bull, muscular and grey, who is impounded in a large animal shelter in Los Angeles. Like many other dogs at the shelter, Monster is associated …