New Books with Miranda Melcher

New Books with Miranda Melcher

episodes

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

Paul Robichaud, "Stories of the Stones: Imagining Prehistory in Britain, Ireland and Brittany" (Reaktion, 2026)

April 13, 2026

Stories of the Stones

Paul Robichaud
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Stories of the Stones: Imagining Prehistory in Britain, Ireland and Brittany (Reaktion, 2026) by Dr. Paul Robichaud explores how ancient monuments – s…

Kim Embrey, "Coca and the Victorians: From Botanical Curiosity to Regulated Drug, 1835–1912" (Transcript Publishing, 2025)

April 12, 2026

Coca and the Victorians

Kim Embrey
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The South American coca plant was established in 19th-century Britain as a medical product before it became a globally restricted drug. Drawing on bot…

Peter Richardson, "Brand New Beat: The Wild Rise of Rolling Stone Magazine" (U California Press, 2026)

April 7, 2026

Brand New Beat

Peter Richardson
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Rolling Stone's first decade was truly rock and roll: chaotic, wild, and unpredictable. Brand New Beat: The Wild Rise of Rolling Stone Magazine (U Cal…

Andrew Thomas Park, "Sarah Wambaugh and the Plebiscite: The Turbulent History of a Democratic Alternative to War" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

April 7, 2026

Sarah Wambaugh and the Plebiscite

Andrew Thomas Park
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In Sarah Wambaugh and the Plebiscite: The Turbulent History of a Democratic Alternative to War (Cambridge UP, 2026) Dr. Andrew Park tells the story of…

Dominik Berrens, "Naming New Things and Concepts in Early Modern Science: The Case of Natural History" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

April 6, 2026

Naming New Things and Concepts in Early Modern Science

Dominik Berrens
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Naming new discoveries is central to science, and for centuries, Latin dominated this process. The resulting terminology still shapes modern science, …

Hilary Matfess, "After Liberation: Women and the Politics of Expectations in Rebel-to-Party Transitions" (Stanford UP, 2026)

April 5, 2026

After Liberation

Hilary Matfess
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

War offers opportunities for women to liberate their communities and build a better life for themselves. When women join rebel groups, they often take…

Tim Altenhof, "Breathing Space: The Architecture of Pneumatic Beings" (Zone Books, 2026)

April 5, 2026

Breathing Space

Tim Altenhof
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Breathing Space: The Architecture of Pneumatic Beings (Zone Books, 2026) is a compelling and wide-ranging analysis of pneumatic phenomena in modern cu…

Wout Saelens, "Fossil Consumerism: Energy, Ecology and Everyday Life in the Early Modern Low Countries" (Leuven UP, 2026)

April 4, 2026

Fossil Consumerism

Wout Saelens
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Fossil Consumerism: Energy, Ecology and Everyday Life in the Early Modern Low Countries (Leuven UP, 2026) by Dr. Wout Saelens explores how the homes o…

Lindsay Rae Smith Privette, "The Surgeon's Battle: How Medicine Won the Vicksburg Campaign and Changed the Civil War" (UNC Press, 2025)

April 4, 2026

The Surgeon's Battle

Lindsay Rae Smith Privette
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Between May 1 and May 22, 1863, Union soldiers marched nearly 200 miles through the hot, humid countryside to assault and capture the fortified city o…

Isabelle Held, "Atomic Bombshells: How Plastics Shaped Postwar Bodies" (Duke UP, 2026)

April 3, 2026

Atomic Bombshells

Isabelle Held
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Bullet bras, bazookas, bombshells, bikinis. In Atomic Bombshells: How Plastics Shaped Postwar Bodies (Duke UP, 2026), Dr. Isabelle Held challenges the…

Zhou Meisen, "Property of the People" (Sinoist, 2025)

April 3, 2026

Property of the People

Zhou Meisen translated by James Trapp
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

"Honoured Investors, As Zhongfu Group enters its eighth decade, we are pleased to announce the acquisition of two famous coal mines. These assets fur…

Kristina Jonutytė, "Between the Buddha and the New Tsar: Urban Religion and Minority Politics at the Asian Borderlands of Russia" (Cornell UP, 2026)

April 1, 2026

Between the Buddha and the New Tsar

Kristina Jonutytė
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Between the Buddha and the New Tsar: Urban Religion and Minority Politics at the Asian Borderlands of Russia (Cornell UP, 2026) by Dr. Kristina Jonuty…

Katherine Harvey, "The Medieval Guide to Healthy Living" (Reaktion, 2026)

April 1, 2026

The Medieval Guide to Healthy Living

Katherine Harvey
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

We often think of medieval medicine as strange, unhygienic and unscientific, but The Medieval Guide to Healthy Living (Reaktion, 2026) by Dr. Katherin…

Allan Greer, "Canada in the Age of Rum" (McGill-Queen's UP, 2026)

March 31, 2026

Canada in the Age of Rum

Allan Greer
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Awash in a sea of rum describes the years between the 1670s and the 1830s in the colonies that would later become Canada. Millions of litres of the su…

Peter Mauch, "Tojo: The Rise and Fall of Japan's Most Controversial World War II General" (Harvard UP, 2026)

March 31, 2026

Tojo

Peter Mauch
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The military general who became Emperor Hirohito’s prime minister, Tojo Hideki is most often remembered as an iron-fisted leader who dragged Japan int…

Vojta Hybl, "Rocks: A Guide to the Stones Around Us and the Stories They Tell" (Frances Lincoln, 2026)

March 30, 2026

Rocks

Vojta Hybl
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

What is that rock you’ve just picked up? Which minerals is it made of, what’s unique about it and what can it reveal about Earth’s deeper story? …

Nikita Kaur Simpson, "Tension: Mental Distress and Embodied Inequality in the Western Himalayas" (Duke UP, 2026)

March 29, 2026

Tension

Nikita Kaur Simpson
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In Tension: Mental Distress and Embodied Inequality in the Western Himalayas (Duke UP, 2026), Dr. Nikita Kaur Simpson examines the effects of rapid de…

Zheng Liu, "Cultural Mavericks: The Business and Politics of Independent Bookselling in China" (Columbia UP, 2026)

March 28, 2026

Cultural Mavericks

Zheng Liu (Sociology scholar)
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In recent decades, self-proclaimed “independent bookstores” have arisen across China. In the West, such retailers represent an alternative to corporat…

Megan Peiser, "British Women Novelists and the Review Periodical" (JHU Press, 2026)

March 28, 2026

British Women Novelists and the Review Periodical

Megan Peiser
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

At the turn of the nineteenth century, British women novelists were publishing more fiction than their male counterparts, yet their place in literary …

Erica Morawski, "Development Design: Hotels and Politics in the Hispanic Caribbean" (U Pittsburgh Press, 2025)

March 26, 2026

Development Design

Erica Morawski
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Underneath picturesque views of palm trees, fruity cocktails in hotel lounges, and day trips to preserved colonial zones lies a history of tourism des…