New Books Network
NBN Book of the Day
Economics May 7, 2021

Post Growth

Life after Capitalism

Tim Jackson

Hosted by Andrea Bernardi
I spoke with Prof. Tim Jackson about his latest book: Post Growth, Life after Capitalism, published by Polity Books in 2021. The book starts with a reflection on the event of the past few months. The success in 2019 of the school strikes for climate, the attention that Greta Thunberg received even in Davos, and the arrival of the pandemic that changed our priorities. Even the 2009 crisis challenged the …
Communications May 6, 2021

Twitter

A Biography

Jean Burgess and Nancy K. Baym

Hosted by Ryan Shelton
As Twitter enters its own adolescence, both the users and the creators of this famous social media platform find themselves engaging with a tool that certainly could not have been imagined at …
Critical Theory May 5, 2021

Nietzsche, the Aristocratic Rebel

Intellectual Biography and Critical Balance-Sheet

Domenico Losurdo

Hosted by Stephen Dozeman
The 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche stands among the canon’s most-cited figures, with aphorisms dotting texts on a variety of topics, and his name evokes strong responses from almost …
History May 4, 2021

All the Nations Under Heaven

Immigrants, Migrants, and the Making of New York

Frederick M. Binder, David M. Reimers, and Robert W. Snyder

Hosted by Peter Aigner
All the Nations Under Heaven: Immigrants, Migrants, and the Making of New York by Frederick M. Binder, David M. Reimers, and Robert W. Snyder (Columbia University Press, 2019) covers almost …
Sociology May 3, 2021

The Promise of Access

Technology, Inequality, and the Political Economy of Hope

Daniel Greene

Hosted by Patrick Sheehan
Why do we keep trying to solve poverty with technology? What makes us feel that we need to learn to code--or else? In The Promise of Access: Technology, Inequality, and …
History April 30, 2021

The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

A Photographic History

Karlos K. Hill

Hosted by Mark Klobas
On the evening of May 31, 1921, thousands of white Oklahomans assaulted the Greenwood District of the city of Tulsa. In what would come to be known as the Tulsa …
History April 29, 2021

The Committed

Viet Thanh Nguyen

Hosted by Michael Vann
What do you ask a novelist who has won a Pulitzer, a Guggenheim, and a MacArthur genius grant? Cocktail advice, of course. When I had the honor of chatting with …
History April 28, 2021

Learning Empire

Globalization and the German Quest for World Status, 1875-1919

Erik Grimmer-Solem

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
The First World War marked the end point of a process of German globalization that began in the 1870s, well before Germany acquired a colonial empire or extensive overseas commercial …
History April 27, 2021

The Enlightenment

The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680-1790

Ritchie Robertson

Hosted by Zachary McCulley
The Enlightenment: The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680-1790 (Harper, 2021) is a magisterial history that recasts the Enlightenment as a period not solely consumed with rationale and reason, but rather as a pursuit …
Politics & Polemics April 26, 2021

Minds Wide Shut

How the New Fundamentalisms Divide Us

Morton Schapiro and Gary Saul Morson

Hosted by Daniel Peris
Two very thoughtful oddfellows--a labor economist and a Russian literature scholar--take on the world's problems in their newest collaboration, Minds Wide Shut How the New Fundamentalisms Divide Us (Princeton University …
Science, Technology, and Society April 23, 2021

The Hidden Lives of Owls

The Science and Spirit of Nature's Most Elusive Birds

Leigh Calvez

Hosted by Sarah Kearns
Join naturalist and science writer Leigh Calvez on her adventures into science and spirit of animals, as we discuss her two recent books: The Hidden Lives of Owls, and The Breath of the …
Political Science April 22, 2021

Immigration in the 21st Century

The Comparative Politics of Immigration Policy

Terri E. Givens, Rachel Navarre, and Pete Mohanty

Hosted by Lilly Goren
Immigration in the 21st Century: The Comparative Politics of Immigration Policy (Routledge, 2020) is an excellent primer for those looking to understand the complexities of immigration not only as a …
Language April 21, 2021

Why Chimpanzees Can't Learn Language and Only Humans Can

Herbert S. Terrace

Hosted by Malcolm Keating
Through discussion of his famous 1970s experiment alongside new research, in Why Chimpanzees Can’t Learn Language and Only Humans Can (Columbia University Press, 2019), Herbert Terrace argues that, despite the …
Secularism April 20, 2021

Speak of the Devil

How the Satanic Temple Is Changing the Way We Talk about Religion

Joseph P. Laycock

Hosted by Carrie Lynn Evans
In 2013, when the state of Oklahoma erected a statue of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the state capitol, a group calling themselves The Satanic Temple applied to …
Postscript April 19, 2021

Postscript

Biden's First 100 Days

Lilly J. Goren and Susan Liebell

Hosted by Susan Liebell
Much has long been made of the bold legislative action that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt marshalled forward in his first 100 days in office in the midst of the Great …
History April 16, 2021

The Golden Age of the American Essay

1945-1970

Phillip Lopate

Hosted by Zachary McCulley
The three decades that followed World War II were an exceptionally fertile period for American essays. The explosion of journals and magazines, the rise of public intellectuals, and breakthroughs in …
Public Policy April 15, 2021

Ungoverned and Out of Sight

Public Health and the Political Crisis of Homelessness in the United States

Charley E. Willison

Hosted by Stephen Pimpare
If health policy truly seeks to improve population health and reduce health disparities, addressing homelessness must be a priority. Homelessness is a public health problem. Nearly a decade after the …
Sports April 14, 2021

The Fastest Game in the World

Hockey and the Globalization of Sports

Bruce Berglund

Hosted by Bob D'Angelo
Today we are joined by Bruce Berglund, author of The Fastest Game in the World: Hockey and the Globalization of Sports (University of California Press, 2020). In this sweeping look …
Public Policy April 13, 2021

Engine of Inequality

The Fed and the Future of Wealth in America

Karen Petrou

Hosted by Stephen Pimpare
Following the 2008 financial crisis, the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy placed much greater focus on stabilizing the market than on helping struggling Americans. As a result, the richest Americans got …
World Affairs April 12, 2021

Lie Machines

How to Save Democracy from Troll Armies, Deceitful Robots, Junk News Operations, and Political Operatives

Philip N. Howard

Hosted by Medha Prasanna
Technology is breaking politics - what can be done about it? Artificially intelligent "bot" accounts attack politicians and public figures on social media. Conspiracy theorists publish junk news sites to …