New Books Network
Nordic Asia Podcast October 22, 2021

The Modi Wave

Politics of the Pandemic in India

Alf Gunvald Nilsen

Hosted by Kenneth Bo Nielsen
At the start of 2021, a widespread belief held that India had escaped the Covid-19 pandemic relatively unscathed - this was evidenced, the story went, in the country's comparatively low …

Subscribe to

on the NBN

Chinese Studies October 22, 2021

The End of the Village

Planning the Urbanization of Rural China

Nick R. Smith

Hosted by Suvi Rautio
Today I spoke to Nick R. Smith to talk about how China's expansive new era of urbanization threatens to undermine the foundations of rural life, which he writes about in …
British Studies October 22, 2021

Shakespearean

On Life and Language in Times of Disruption

Robert McCrum

Hosted by Joseph Krulder
When inspiration struck Robert McCrum to write a book about the Bard, it came while watching one of the playwright’s plays in Central Park, New York. Here, McCrum realized that …
Film October 22, 2021

The Sensuous Cinema of Wong Kar-wai

Film Poetics and the Aesthetic of Disturbance

Gary Bettinson

Hosted by Gustavo Gutiérrez Suárez
The widely acclaimed films of Wong Kar-wai are characterized by their sumptuous yet complex visual and sonic style. This study of Wong’s filmmaking techniques uses a poetics approach to examine …
Education October 22, 2021

Surviving Emotional Work for Teachers

Improving Wellbeing and Professional Learning Through Reflexive Practice

Jean Hopman

Hosted by Alice Garner
Jean Hopman’s book Surviving Emotional Work for Teachers: Improving Wellbeing and Professional Learning Through Reflexive Practice (Routledge, 2020), is a guide to improving teachers' wellbeing and practice through support of …
Gender Studies October 22, 2021

Portraits of Wollstonecraft

Eileen Hunt Botting

Hosted by Lilian Calles Barger
Eileen Hunt Botting is a Professor political science at the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Botting is a widely published and cited scholar on the thought of Mary Wollstonecraft, the …
General History October 22, 2021

The Last Liberal Republican

An Insider's Perspective on Nixon's Surprising Social Policy

John Roy Price

Hosted by Daniel Peris
History is told, it is said, by the victors. And so it is in regard to Richard Nixon. We all know how his presidency ended. What too few of us recall …
Science October 22, 2021

Moving Forward

Reflections on Autism, Neurodiversity, Brain Surgery, and Faith

Jacki Edry

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
Jacki Edry's Moving Forward: Reflections on Autism, Neurodiversity, Brain Surgery, and Faith (2021) is a journey between the worlds of autism, neurodiversity, brain surgery recovery, and faith. It provides a …
Ideas Roadshow Podcast October 22, 2021

Apocalypse Then

The First Crusade

Jay Rubenstein

Hosted by Howard Burton
Apocalypse Then: The First Crusade is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Jay Rubenstein, Professor of History and Director of the Center for the Premodern World …
Media October 22, 2021

Politics for the Love of Fandom

Fan-Based Citizenship in a Digital World

Ashley Hinck

Hosted by Lee Pierce
Politics for the Love of Fandom: Fan-Based Citizenship in a Digital World (Louisiana State Press, 2019) examines what Ashley Hinck calls “fan-based citizenship”: civic action that blends with and arises from …
The Common Magazine October 22, 2021

Arabic Translations from Morocco

Nariman Youssef

Hosted by Emily Everett
Nariman Youssef speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her work translating three short stories from Arabic for The Common’s portfolio of fiction from Morocco, in the spring issue. In …
Latin American Studies October 22, 2021

Disruptive Archives

Feminist Memories of Resistance in Latin America's Dirty Wars

Viviana Beatriz MacManus

Hosted by Minni Sawhney
Today I talked to Viviana MacManus, author of Disruptive Archives: Feminist Memories of Resistance in Latin America’s Dirty Wars published by the University of Illinois Press in 2020. It has …
Music October 22, 2021

Major Labels

A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres

Kelefa Sanneh

Hosted by Franz Nicolay
Kelefa Sanneh was born in England, and lived in Ghana and Scotland before moving with his parents to the United States in the early 1980s. He was a pop music …
Islamic Studies October 22, 2021

The Beauty of the Houri

Heavenly Virgins and Feminine Ideals

Nerina Rustomji

Hosted by SherAli Tareen
In her scintillating new book, The Beauty of the Houri: Heavenly Virgins, Feminine Ideals (Oxford UP, 2021), Nerina Rustomji presents a fascinating and multilayered intellectual and cultural history of the category …
Architecture October 22, 2021

Sandfuture

Justin Beal

Hosted by Bryan Toepfer
Sandfuture (MIT Press, 2021) is a book about the life of the architect Minoru Yamasaki (1912–1986), who remains on the margins of history despite the enormous influence of his work on American …
Religion October 22, 2021

Jesus and Addiction to Origins

Toward an Anthropocentric Study of Religion

Willi Braun

Hosted by Tiatemsu Longkumer
Willi Braun's Jesus and Addiction to Origins: Towards an Anthropocentric Study of Religion (Equinox, 2020)  constitutes an extended argument for an anthropocentric, human-focused study of religious practices. Part I presents the basic …
Recall This Book October 21, 2021

On Multi-Species Community

A Critical Conversation with Patricia Alvarez Astacio

Patricia Alvarez Astacio

Hosted by Elizabeth Ferry and John Plotz
Octopus month has morphed seamlessly into Multispecies month here at RtB, bringing with it not only last week's piece on chimpanzees, but also this sparkling conversation about all sorts of …
Academic Life October 21, 2021

Long Road to the Dream Job in Academia

A Conversation with Liz W. Faber

Liz W. Faber

Hosted by Christina Gessler
Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Dr. Liz Faber’s long road from completed PhD to dream jobWhy academia said she was a failureThe financial reasons …
Scholarly Communication October 21, 2021

Editing Scholarly Writing

A Discussion with Avi Staiman of "Academic Language Experts"

Avi Staiman

Hosted by Daniel Shea
Listen to this interview of Avi Staiman, who is CEO, founder, and director of Academic Language Experts. We talk about how complex and how simple editing is. Avi Staiman …
African Studies October 21, 2021

The Muridiyya on the Move

Islam, Migration, and Place Making

Cheikh Anta Babou

Hosted by Sara Katz
The construction of collective identity among the Muridiyya abroad is a communal but contested endeavor. Differing conceptions of what should be the mission of Muridiyya institutions in the diaspora reveal …