Special Series

Big Ideas

Big Ideas

episodes

Interviews with scholars promoting big ideas.

César A. Hidalgo, "The Infinite Alphabet: And the Laws of Knowledge" (Allen Lane, 2026)

March 15, 2026

The Infinite Alphabet

César A. Hidalgo
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
John Oakes, "The Fast: The History, Science, Philosophy, and Promise of Doing Without" (Avid Reader, 2024)

March 15, 2026

The Fast

John Oakes
Hosted by Saman Nasser
Celebration Studies

Celebration Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of celebration about their new books.

Doug MacCash, "Mardi Gras Beads" (Louisiana UP, 2022)

November 17, 2025

Mardi Gras Beads

Doug MacCash
Hosted by Emily Ruth Allen
Hongwei Bao, "Queer Comrades: Gay Identity and Tongzhi Activism in Postsocialist China" (NIAS Press, 2018)

December 31, 2023

Queer Comrades

Hongwei Bao
Hosted by Laurie Dickmeyer
Co-Authored

Co-Authored

episodes

Interviews with social scientists who work in teams.

Co-Authored: A Discussion of "The Party Decides"

September 9, 2020

A Discussion of 'The Party Decides'

Hosted by Heath Brown
Co-Authored: Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward

July 2, 2020

Co-Authored

Hosted by Heath Brown
Cover Story

Cover Story

episodes

Interviews with journalists and editors about their work.

A Book Imprint from The Nation Magazine Launches with Bhaskar Sunkara and Colin Robinson

June 19, 2025

A Book Imprint from The Nation Magazine Launches

Bhaskar Sunkara and Colin Robinson
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
Covering Donald Trump: A Conversation with Allen Salkin

September 14, 2021

Covering Donald Trump

Allen Salkin
Hosted by Agata Popeda
Historical Materialism

Historical Materialism

episodes

Interviews with scholars of historical materialism about their new books.

Agustín Santella and Adrián Piva, "Marxism, Social Movements and Collective Action" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023)

February 16, 2026

Marxism, Social Movements and Collective Action

Adrián Piva and Agustín Santella
Hosted by Stephen Dozeman
Douglas Greene, "In Stalin's Shadow: Trotsky and the Legacy of the Moscow Trials" (Resistance Books, 2025)

January 14, 2026

In Stalin's Shadow

Douglas Greene
Hosted by Stephen Dozeman
History Ex Silo

History Ex Silo

episodes

History Ex Silo is place where historians step outside of their expertise silos to engage with the work of other historians who focus on different chronological or geographical contexts. Brought to you by the journal Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History.

Quinn Slobodian and Philip J. Stern on Political Economy

June 5, 2025

On Political Economy

Quinn Slobodian and Philip J. Stern
Hosted by Erika Monahan
Interpretive Political and Social Science

Interpretive Political and Social Science

episodes

A special series featuring interviews with authors and editors of books on the epistemologies and methodologies of interpretive political and social science, alternately with authors of exemplary interpretivist monographs; streaming through the New Books in Political Science channel.

Colette Einfeld and Helen Sullivan, "How to Conduct Interpretive Research: Insights for Students and Researchers" (Edward Elgar, 2025)

January 27, 2026

How to Conduct Interpretive Research

Colette Einfeld and Helen Sullivan
Hosted by Nick Cheesman
Michael Rowe, "Researching Street-Level Bureaucracy: Bringing Out the Interpretive Dimensions" (Routledge, 2024)

October 1, 2025

Researching Street-Level Bureaucracy

Michael Rowe
Hosted by Nick Cheesman
Invested Investor

Invested Investor

episodes

A series of entrepreneurial podcasts, aimed at anyone who wants to create or is interested in successful start ups by learning from expertise, experience and war stories. Hosted by Peter Cowley.

Active Hotels, via Booking.com, to Angel Investing: A Discussion with Andy Phillipps (Part 2)

July 26, 2021

Active Hotels, via Booking.com, to Angel Investing

Andy Phillipps
Hosted by Peter Cowley
Active Hotels, via Booking.com, to Angel Investing: A Discussion with Andy Phillipps

July 19, 2021

Active Hotels, via Booking.com, to Angel Investing

Andy Phillipps
Hosted by Peter Cowley
Landscape Architecture

Landscape Architecture

episodes

Interviews with landscape architects and scholars of landscape architecture about their new books.

Amanda Shoaf Vincent, "Constructing Gardens, Cultivating the City: Paris's New Parks, 1977-1995" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023)

October 18, 2024

Constructing Gardens, Cultivating the City

Amanda Shoaf Vincent
Hosted by Sarah Miles
Karsten Jørgensen et al., "Teaching Landscape: The Studio Experience" (Routledge, 2019)

May 4, 2021

Teaching Landscape

Karsten Jørgensen et al.
Hosted by Tricia Keffer
Mormonism

Mormonism

episodes

Interviews with scholars of Mormonism about their new books.

Matthew C. Godfrey, "The Joseph Smith Papers: Documents, Volume 7: September 1839–January 1841" (Church Historian's Press, 2018)

January 5, 2025

The Joseph Smith Papers

Matthew C. Godfrey et al., eds.
Hosted by Daniel Stone
Farina King, "Diné dóó Gáamalii: Navajo Latter-day Saint Experiences in the Twentieth Century" (UP of Kansas, 2023)

December 26, 2024

Diné dóó Gáamalii

Farina King
Hosted by Stephen Hausmann
NBN Book of the Day

NBN Book of the Day

episodes

One book selected daily from those published on the New Books Network.

Emma Chapman, "Radio Universe: How to Explore Space Without Leaving Earth" (Hachette UK, 2026)

March 19, 2026

Radio Universe

Emma Chapman
Hosted by Gregory McNiff
Lisa Nakamura, "The Inattention Economy: How Women of Color Built the Internet" (U Minnesota Press, 2026)

March 18, 2026

The Inattention Economy

Lisa Nakamura
Hosted by Miranda Melcher
NBN Seminar

NBN Seminar

episodes

Interviews with authors of books that will appeal to the entire NBN audience.

Brian Greene, "Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe" (Random House, 2020)

June 2, 2020

Until the End of Time

Brian Greene
Hosted by John Weston
Leslie M. Harris, "Slavery and the University: Histories and Legacies" (U Georgia Press, 2019)

April 28, 2020

Slavery and the University

Leslie M. Harris
Hosted by Adam McNeil
New Books with Miranda Melcher

New Books with Miranda Melcher

episodes

A special series of interviews hosted by Dr. Miranda Melcher.

Lisa Nakamura, "The Inattention Economy: How Women of Color Built the Internet" (U Minnesota Press, 2026)

March 18, 2026

The Inattention Economy

Lisa Nakamura
Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Alistair Moffat, "Edinburgh: A New History" (Birlinn, 2024)

March 17, 2026

Edinburgh

Alistair Moffat
Hosted by Miranda Melcher
On the Cusp: Between Strategy and Ethics

On the Cusp: Between Strategy and Ethics

episodes

How do firms and public institutions regain greatness while wrestling with risk, disruption, and their responsibilities to investors, employees, and the public? When businesses and other organizations pursue their strategies, they inevitably run into ethical boundaries that don’t neatly align with their goals. On the Cusp: Between Strategy and Ethics is about what happens in that zone of collision where executives, policymakers, and citizens must decide whether to stretch the rules, redraw them, or change course altogether. Each episode takes up a concrete case, from shareholder primacy to AI, finance, and democratic accountability, asking a simple but uncomfortable question: what do “great” organizations owe the societies that can make their success more possible?


On the Cusp is hosted by Alfred Marcus, Professor at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He has published several books including Comeback: Can Great Companies Rise Again? and Managing Business Ethics co-authored with Tim Hargrave. He has spent much of his career on the cusp between strategy and ethics and hopes to understand that fault line far better through this podcast series.

Pepper Culpepper and Taeku Lee, "Billionaire Backlash: The Age of Corporate Scandal and How it Could Save Democracy" (Bloomsbury, 2026) 

March 14, 2026

Billionaire Backlash

Pepper Culpepper and Taeku Lee
Hosted by Alfred Marcus
Paolo Zannoni, "Money and Promises: Seven Deals That Changed the World" (Columbia Business School, 2024)

February 24, 2026

Money and Promises

Paolo Zannoni
Hosted by Alfred Marcus
Postscript: Conversations on Politics and Political Science

Postscript: Conversations on Politics and Political Science

episodes

Co-hosts of New Books in Political Science, Lilly Goren and Susan Liebell, interview authors who bring their expertise to contemporary political events. Postscript hosts the experts on mainstream media — with a little more time for detail and nuance!

Practical History

Practical History

episodes

Practical History is an NBN Special Series that explores the practical uses of historical knowledge in all realms of life, but especially in business and tech. We examine the power of historical understanding to solve real problems in the here and now. Your host is Patryk Babiracki is historian, researcher and writer; professor & MA student advisor at the University of Texas at Arlington. PhD from Johns Hopkins. Promoter of #AppliedHistory: using historical concepts, frameworks, and methodologies to solve real-world organizational problems.


Francis Gavin, "Thinking Historically: A Guide to Statecraft and Strategy" (Yale UP, 2025)

December 4, 2025

Thinking Historically

Francis J. Gavin
Hosted by Patryk Babiracki
Bridging History, Policy and Place with Bruce Harvey

July 3, 2025

Bridging History, Policy and Place

Bruce Harvey
Hosted by Patryk Babiracki
Preparing for Life After Grad School

Preparing for Life After Grad School

episodes

Inspired by Bradley Sommer’s tweet this past summer about the ongoing challenges of the Humanities job market in the U.S., this four part podcast (produced by Erica Bennett, an M.A. student in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama) talks with an early career scholar now looking for work in academia, a senior scholar with a view from the inside, and those who either earned their doctorate and established a career outside the university or those who decided early on that graduate work was not their preferred career path.

Psychology and Climate Change

Psychology and Climate Change

episodes

Exploring the psychological impact of global warming. This channel is sponsored by the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America.

Ashlee Piper, "No New Things: A Radically Simple 30-Day Guide to Saving Money, the Planet, and Your Sanity" (Celadon Books, 2025)

June 1, 2025

No New Things

Ashlee Piper
Hosted by Meg Gambino
CK Westbrook, "The Aftermath" (4 Horsemen Publications, 2024)

October 20, 2024

The Aftermath

CK Westbrook
Hosted by Karyne Messina
Syriac Studies

Syriac Studies

episodes

Interviews with authors of books about Syriac Christian culture, past and present.

Christopher J. Bonura, "A Prophecy of Empire: The Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius from Late Antique Mesopotamia to the Global Medieval Imagination" (U California Press, 2025)

January 19, 2026

A Prophecy of Empire

Christopher J. Bonura
Hosted by Michael Motia
Adam Bremer-McCollum, "The Pearlsong" (Harvard UP, 2025)

October 10, 2025

The Pearlsong

Adam Bremer-McCollum
The Chair: In The Room at the Fed

The Chair: In The Room at the Fed

episodes
Oceanic Studies

Oceanic Studies

episodes
David Bosco, "The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World's Oceans" (Oxford UP, 2021)

August 30, 2025

The Poseidon Project

David Bosco
Hosted by Helen Dewar