New Books Network

Science June 2, 2020

Until the End of Time

Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe

Brian Greene

Hosted by John Weston

Brian Greene is a Professor of Mathematics and Physics at Columbia University in the City of New York, where he is the Director of the Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and …

African American Studies April 28, 2020

Slavery and the University

Histories and Legacies

Leslie M. Harris

Hosted by Adam McNeil

Slavery and the University: Histories and Legacies (University of Georgia Press, 2019), edited by Leslie M. Harris, James T. Campbell, and Alfred L. Brophy, is the first edited collection of …

Mathematics March 30, 2020

Sleight of Mind

75 Ingenious Paradoxes in Mathematics, Physics, and Philosophy

Matt Cook

Hosted by Jim Stein

Paradox is a sophisticated kind of magic trick. A magician's purpose is to create the appearance of impossibility, to pull a rabbit from an empty hat. Yet paradox doesn't require …

Critical Theory February 25, 2020

Inside the Critics’ Circle

Book Reviewing in Uncertain Times

Phillipa Chong

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

How does the world of book reviews work? In Inside the Critics’ Circle: Book Reviewing in Uncertain Times (Princeton University Press, 2020), Phillipa Chong, assistant professor in sociology at McMaster …

Mathematics December 3, 2019

How Charts Lie

Getting Smarter about Visual Information

Alberto Cairo

Hosted by Jim Stein

We’ve all heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, but what if we don’t understand what we’re looking at? Social media has made charts, infographics, and diagrams ubiquitous―and …

Media November 4, 2019

Kathryn Conrad on University Press Publishing

Kathryn Conrad

Hosted by Marshall Poe

As you may know, university presses publish a lot of good books. In fact, they publish thousands of them every year. They are different from most trade books in …

Public Policy October 24, 2019

Geeky Pedagogy

A Guide for Intellectuals, Introverts, and Nerds Who Want to Be Effective Teachers

Jessamyn Neuhaus

Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

The things that make people academics -- a deep fascination with some arcane subject, often bordering on obsession, and a comfort with the solitude that developing expertise requires -- do …

NBN Seminar March 19, 2019

Discussion of Massive Online Peer Review and Open Access Publishing

Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick

Hosted by Felipe Gonzalez Santos

In the information age, knowledge is power. Hence, facilitating the access to knowledge to wider publics empowers citizens and makes societies more democratic. How can publishers and authors contribute to …

NBN Seminar December 6, 2018

General Intellects

Twenty-One Thinkers for the Twenty-First Century

McKenzie Wark

Hosted by Carla Nappi

McKenzie Wark’s new book offers 21 focused studies of thinkers working in a wide range of fields who are worth your attention. The chapters of General Intellects: Twenty-One Thinkers for …

NBN Seminar November 20, 2018

Discognition

Steven Shaviro

Hosted by Carla Nappi

Steven Shaviro’s book Discognition (Repeater Books, 2016) opens with a series of questions: What is consciousness? How does subjective experience occur? Which entities are conscious? What is it like to …

NBN Seminar August 13, 2018

The Ecology of Attention

Yves Citton

Hosted by Carla Nappi

We are arguably living in the midst of a form of economy where attention has become a key resource and value, labor, class, and currency are being reconfigured as a …

Critical Theory September 29, 2017

Under the Cover

The Creation, Production, and Reception of a Novel

Clayton Childress

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

How does a book come into being? In Under the Cover: The Creation, Production, and Reception of a Novel (Princeton University Press, 2017), Clayton Childress, Assistant Professor in the Department …

Religion September 25, 2017

After World Religions

Reconstructing Religious Studies

Christopher R. Cotter and David G. Robertson

Hosted by Kristian Petersen

When undergraduate students look through a course catalog and see the title World Religions they probably have some idea what the course will be about. But why is that? Why …

Literary Studies August 25, 2017

The Edge of Evolution

Animality, Inhumanity, and Doctor Moreau

Ron Edwards

Hosted by Eric LeMay

As I was reading Ron Edward's fascinating and far-reaching new book, The Edge of Evolution: Animality, Inhumanity, and Doctor Moreau (Oxford University Press, 2016), I had a flashback. I must …

Political Science May 26, 2017

Why the Humanities Matter Today

In Defense of Liberal Education

Lee Trepanier, ed.

Hosted by Lilly Goren

Lee Trepanier, Professor of Political Science at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan, edited this important analysis of why the humanities matter, especially within higher education. Trepanier's collection, Why the …

NBN Seminar April 25, 2017

What Love Is

And What It Could Be

Carrie Jenkins

Hosted by Carla Nappi

Carrie Jenkins' new book is a model for what public philosophy can be. Beautifully written, thoughtful, and compellingly and carefully argued, What Love Is: And What it Could Be (Basic …

Science, Technology, and Society October 10, 2016

Molecular Red

Theory for the Anthropocene

McKenzie Wark

Hosted by Carla Nappi

McKenzie Wark's new book begins and ends with a playful call: "Workings of the world untie! You have a win to world!" Molecular Red: Theory for the Anthropocene (Verso, 2015) …

NBN Seminar March 7, 2016

ABC of Impossibility

Simon Critchley

Hosted by Carla Nappi

From its opening fragment on "Fragments" to its "Possibly dolorous tropical lyrical coda," Simon Critchley's new book is a pleasure to hold in the hand and the mind. ABC of …

NBN Seminar November 17, 2015

The Marvelous Clouds

Toward a Philosophy of Elemental Media

John Durham Peters

Hosted by Carla Nappi

John Durham Peters' wonderful new book is a brilliant and beautifully-written consideration of natural environments as subjects for media studies. Accessible and informative for a broad readership. The Marvelous Clouds …

NBN Seminar September 28, 2015

Horror of Philosophy

Three Volumes

Eugene Thacker

Hosted by Carla Nappi

Eugene Thacker's wonderful Horror of Philosophy series includes three books - In the Dust of this Planet (Zero Books, 2011), Starry Speculative Corpse (Zero Books, 2015), and Tentacles Longer than …