In Conversation: An OUP Podcast

In Conversation: An OUP Podcast

episodes

Interviews with authors of Oxford University Press books.

Antony Valentini, "Beyond the Quantum: A Quest for the Origin and Hidden Meaning of Quantum Mechanics" (Oxford UP, 2026)

May 5, 2026

Beyond the Quantum

Antony Valentini
Hosted by Gregory McNiff

Based on decades of research, Beyond the Quantum: A Quest for the Origin and Hidden Meaning of Quantum Mechanics (Oxford UP, 2026) offers a panoramic …

Russell McCutcheon, "Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia, second edition" (Oxford UP, 2026)

May 4, 2026

Manufacturing Religion:

Russell McCutcheon
Hosted by Jacob Barrett

First published in 1997, Manufacturing Religion was a controversial book because it critiqued a widely adopted style of scholarship that presumes that…

Alice Echols, "Black Power, White Heat: From Solidarity Politics to Radical Chic" (Oxford UP, 2026)

May 3, 2026

Black Power, White Heat

Alice Echols and Professor of Contemporary Gender Studies and Professor of History and Gender and Sexuality Studies Alice Echols

A rich history of cross-racial coalitions and alliances of the Sixties' freedom movement, acclaimed historian Alice Echols's Black Power, White Heat r…

Roger Frie, "Edge of Catastrophe: Erich Fromm, Fascism and the Holocaust" (Oxford UP, 2024)

May 3, 2026

Edge of Catastrophe

Roger Frie

Erich Fromm, the prominent twentieth-century public intellectual and psychoanalyst, was recognized for his courageous stand against fascism, racism, a…

Anthony Kaldellis, "1453: The Conquest and Tragedy of Constantinople" (Oxford UP, 2026)

May 1, 2026

1453

Anthony Kaldellis
Hosted by Charles Coutinho

A detailed account of the siege and fall of Constantinople in 1453, a watershed year that closed the book, once and for all, on the Roman Empire and c…

Philip Abbott, "Sounds for a New World: The Christianizing Soundscapes of Late Antiquity" (Oxford UP, 2026)

April 29, 2026

Sounds for a New World

Assistant Professor of Religion Philip Abbott and Philip Abbott
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In the Greco-Roman world, gods were known to tame soundscapes, or acoustic landscapes. Zeus, Apollo, Orpheus, and other Classical deities demonstrated…

Tiffany Jo Werth, "The Lithic Imagination from More to Milton" (Oxford UP, 2024)

April 25, 2026

The Lithic Imagination from More to Milton

Tiffany Jo Werth
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The Lithic Imagination from More to Milton (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Tiffany Jo Werth explores how stones, rocks, and the broader mineral…

Amanda Anderson and Simon During, "Humanities Theory" (Oxford UP, 2026)

April 17, 2026

Humanities Theory

Amanda Anderson and Simon During

Humanities Theory (Oxford UP, 2026) pioneers a new topic: the theory of the humanities. It is an urgent topic right now because the humanities face a …

Alisa Kessel, "Rape Fantasies: Rape Culture and the Persistence of Sexual Violence" (Oxford UP, 2025)

April 16, 2026

Rape Fantasies

Alisa Kessel

Political theorist Alisa Kessel (University of Puget Sound) has an important and impressive new book, Rape Fantasies: Rape Culture and the Persistence…

David-James Gonzales, "Breaking Down the Walls of Segregation: Mexican American Grassroots Politics and Civil Rights in Orange County, California" (Oxford UP, 2025)

April 14, 2026

Breaking Down the Walls of Segregation

David-James Gonzales

On March 2, 1945, five Mexican American families and their Jewish American lawyer filed a class-action lawsuit against four school districts in Orange…

David Potter, "Master of Rome: A Life of Julius Caesar" (Oxford UP, 2025)

April 11, 2026

Master of Rome

David Potter

By any measure, Julius Caesar is one of the most significant and famous figures in Roman history. Self-identified as a "popular" politician, he advoca…

The Gospel According to Josephus, Part 2

April 8, 2026

The Gospel According to Josephus, Part 2

Hosted by Ryan Shinkel

In this fifth episode of Season 5, I interview Professor Thomas C. Schmidt, a historian who focuses on the New Testament, Patristics, and Eastern Chr…

Andrew Lister, "Justice and Reciprocity" (Oxford UP, 2024)

April 5, 2026

Justice and Reciprocity

Andrew Lister
Hosted by Blain Neufeld

Andrew Lister's Justice and Reciprocity (Oxford University Press, 2024) examines the place of reciprocity in egalitarianism, focusing on John Rawls's …

Marta Lorimer, "Europe As Ideological Resource: European Integration and Far Right Legitimation in France and Italy" (Oxford UP, 2024)

April 5, 2026

Europe As Ideological Resource

Marta Lorimer

How did the far right go from illegitimate fringe to contender for public office, and did Europe have anything to do with it? Europe As Ideological Re…

Amir Saemi, "Morality and Revelation in Islamic Thought and Beyond: A New Problem of Evil" (Oxford UP, 2024)

April 4, 2026

Morality and Revelation in Islamic Thought and Beyond

Amir Saemi
Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani

Amir Saemi’s exciting book Morality and Revelation in Islamic Thought and Beyond: A New Problem of Evil (Oxford UP, 2024) is a fascinating and deeply …

S5E4 The Gospel According to Josephus: A Conversation with Thomas C. Schmidt, Part 1

April 1, 2026

The Gospel According to Josephus, Part 1

Thomas C. Schmidt
Hosted by Ryan Shinkel

In this fourth episode of Season 5, I interview Professor Thomas C. Schmidt, a historian who focuses on the New Testament, Patristics, and Eastern Chr…

Mark Pennington, "Foucault and Liberal Political Economy: Power, Knowledge, and Freedom" (Oxford UP, 2025)

March 30, 2026

Foucault and Liberal Political Economy

Mark Pennington

This highly original and innovative book is the first to comprehensively engage the ideas of the French social theorist and philosopher Michel Foucaul…

Thomas Hegghammer and Diego Gambetta eds., "Fight, Flight, Mimic: Identity Mimicry in Conflict" (Oxford UP, 2024)

March 28, 2026

Fight, Flight, Mimic

Thomas Hegghammer and Diego Gambetta
Hosted by Lucas Tse

Time spent and words spent—what does each signal? Deceptive mimicry—the manipulation of individual or group identity—includes passing off as a differ…

Sarah James, "The Politics of Failed Policies" (Oxford UP, 2025)

March 27, 2026

The Politics of Failed Policies

Sarah James
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

The Politics of Failed Policies (Oxford UP, 2025) examines how the interplay of politics and data affects when failed policies get recognized. It show…

Tom Wells, "The Kissinger Tapes: Inside His Secretly Recorded Phone Conversations" (Oxford UP, 2026)

March 26, 2026

The Kissinger Tapes

Tom Wells
Hosted by Charles Coutinho

A richly detailed collection of transcripts of Henry Kissinger's secretly recorded phone conversations from his time in the Nixon administration that …