New Books Network

Neuroscience January 27, 2022

Dark and Magical Places

The Neuroscience of Navigation

Christopher Kemp

Hosted by Galina Limorenko

Inside our heads we carry around an infinite and endlessly unfolding map of the world. Navigation is one of the most ancient neural abilities we have―older than language. In Dark and Magical Places: The Neuroscience of Navigation (Norton, 2022), Christopher Kemp embarks on a journey to discover the remarkable extent of what our minds can do. Fueled by his own spatial shortcomings, Kemp describes the brain regions that orient us …

Finance January 25, 2022

The Revolution That Wasn't

GameStop, Reddit, and the Fleecing of Small Investors

Spencer Jakab

Hosted by Daniel Peris

In The Revolution That Wasn't: GameStop, Reddit, and the Fleecing of Small Investors (Portfolio/Penguin, 2022), WSJ columnist Spencer Jakab weaves together personal narratives, the key market institutions, and social media to tell the fascinating …

Technology January 20, 2022

In AI We Trust

Power, Illusion and Control of Predictive Algorithms

Helga Nowotny

Hosted by Galina Limorenko

Today I talked to Helga Nowotny about her new book In AI We Trust: Power, Illusion and Control of Predictive Algorithms (Polity, 2021).One of the most persistent concerns about the future is …

Middle Eastern Studies January 18, 2022

Embattled Dreamlands

The Politics of Contesting Armenian, Kurdish and Turkish Memory

David Leupold

Hosted by Ronay Bakan

Embattled Dreamlands: The Politics of Contesting Armenian, Kurdish and Turkish Memory (Routledge, 2020) explores the complex relationship between competing national myths, imagined boundaries and local memories in the threefold-contested geography …

Medicine January 13, 2022

The First Shots

The Epic Rivalries and Heroic Science Behind the Race to the Coronavirus Vaccine

Brendan Borrell

Hosted by Galina Limorenko

Heroic science. Chaotic politics. Billionaire entrepreneurs. Award-winning journalist Brendan Borrell brings the defining story of our times alive through compulsively readable, first-time reporting on the players leading the fight against …

Think About It January 11, 2022

John Waters on James Joyce's "Dubliners"

John Waters

Hosted by Uli Baer

James Joyce’s 1914 collection of fifteen short stories, Dubliners, is righty considered one of the greatest literary achievements of Western modernity. But what is so original about these stories that …

Language January 7, 2022

The Babel Message

A Love Letter to Language

Keith Kahn-Harris

Hosted by Nathan Abrams

A thrilling journey deep into the heart of language, from a rather unexpected starting point. Keith Kahn-Harris is a man obsessed with something seemingly trivial – the warning message found …

Recall This Book January 6, 2022

Jennifer Egan with Ivan Kreilkamp

Fiction as Streaming, Genre as Portal (Novel Dialogue crossover, JP)

Jennifer Egan and Ivan Kreilkamp

Hosted by Elizabeth Ferry and John Plotz

This week on Recall this Book, another delightful crossover episode from our sister podcast Novel Dialogue, which puts scholars and writers together to discuss the making of novels and what …

African American Studies January 5, 2022

Metaphysical Africa

Truth and Blackness in the Ansaru Allah Community

Michael Muhammad Knight

Hosted by Adam Bobeck

The Ansaru Allah Community, also known as the Nubian Islamic Hebrews (AAC/NIH) and later the Nuwaubians, is a deeply significant and controversial African American Muslim movement. Founded in Brooklyn in …

Psychology January 4, 2022

Havana Syndrome

Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria

Robert W. Baloh and Robert E. Bartholomew

Hosted by Galina Limorenko

It is one of the most extraordinary cases in the history of science: the mating calls of insects were mistaken for a “sonic weapon” that led to a major diplomatic …

Princeton UP Ideas Podcast January 3, 2022

Western Europe’s Democratic Age

1945-1968

Martin Conway

Hosted by Mark Klobas

What happened in the years following World War II to create a democratic revolution in the western half of Europe? In Western Europe’s Democratic Age: 1945-1968 (Princeton UP, 2021), Martin …

African Studies December 29, 2021

Making the World Global

U.S. Universities and the Production of the Global Imaginary

Isaac A. Kamola

Hosted by Sara Katz

Following World War II the American government and philanthropic foundations fundamentally remade American universities into sites for producing knowledge about the world as a collection of distinct nation-states. As neoliberal …

Science December 28, 2021

Pump

A Natural History of the Heart

Bill Schutt

Hosted by Galina Limorenko

In this lively, unexpected look at the hearts of animals—from fish to bats to humans—American Museum of Natural History zoologist Bill Schutt tells an incredible story of evolution and scientific …

General History December 27, 2021

The Cause

The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773-1783

Joseph J. Ellis

Hosted by Charles Coutinho

In one of the most “exciting and engaging” (Gordon S. Wood) histories of the American founding in decades, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Joseph J. Ellis offers an epic account of the …

Genocide Studies December 24, 2021

The Crime of Aggression

The Quest for Justice in an Age of Drones, Cyberattacks, Insurgents, and Autocrats

Noah Weisbord

Hosted by Jeff Bachman

On July 17, 2018, starting an unjust war became a prosecutable international crime alongside genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Instead of collective state responsibility, our leaders are now …

British Studies December 22, 2021

Britain at Bay

The Epic Story of the Second World War: 1938-1941

Alan Allport

Hosted by Mark Klobas

Here is the many-faceted, world-historically significant story of Britain at war. In looking closely at the military and political dimensions of the conflict's first crucial years, Alan Allport tackles questions …

Gender Studies December 21, 2021

The Maternal Imprint

The Contested Science of Maternal-Fetal Effects

Sarah S. Richardson

Hosted by Sohini Chatterjee

The idea that a woman may leave a biological trace on her gestating offspring has long been a commonplace folk intuition and a matter of scientific intrigue, but the form …

General History December 16, 2021

Nikolai Chernyshevskii and Ayn Rand

Russian Nihilism Travels to America

Aaron Weinacht

Hosted by Mark Klobas

Nikolai Chernyshevskii and Ayn Rand: Russian Nihilism Travels to America (Lexington, 2021) argues that the core commitments of the nihilist movement of the 1860's made their way to 20th century America …

Political Science December 10, 2021

Sustaining Democracy

What We Owe to the Other Side

Robert B. Talisse

Hosted by Lilly Goren

Robert Talisse’s new book, Sustaining Democracy: What We Owe to the Other Side (Oxford UP, 2021) is, in a certain sense, a continuation of his work from his previous book, Overdoing Democracy …

Education January 26, 2022

Futilitarianism

Neoliberalism and the Production of Uselessness

Neil Vallelly

Hosted by Thomas Discenna

If maximizing utility leads to the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people, as utilitarianism has always proposed, then why is it that as many of us currently maximize …