New Books Network

Political Science August 11, 2022

Stars and Shadows

The Politics of Interracial Friendship from Jefferson to Obama

Saladin Ambar

Hosted by Lilly Goren

Slavery and its lingering remnants remain a plague on the United States, continuing to foster animosity between races that hinders the understanding and connection conducive to dismantling the remains of …

Sociology August 11, 2022

Generally Speaking

An Invitation to Concept-Driven Sociology

Eviatar Zerubavel

Hosted by Rituparna Patgiri

Defying the conventional split between “theory” and “methodology,” Eviatar Zerubavel's Generally Speaking: An Invitation to Concept-Driven Sociology (Oxford UP, 2020) introduces a yet unarticulated and thus far never systematised method of …

Law August 10, 2022

Who Decides?

States As Laboratories of Constitutional Experimentation

Jeffrey S. Sutton

Hosted by William Domnarski

Everything in law and politics, including individual rights, comes back to divisions of power and the evergreen question: Who decides? Who wins the disputes of the day often turns on …

Genocide Studies August 9, 2022

Ideology and Mass Killing

The Radicalized Security Politics of Genocides and Deadly Atrocities

Jonathan Leader Maynard

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In research on 'mass killings' such as genocides and campaigns of state terror, the role of ideology is hotly debated. For some scholars, ideologies are crucial in providing the extremist …

Music August 9, 2022

Sampling Politics

Music and the Geocultural

M. I. Franklin

Hosted by Gummo Clare

Music sampling has become a predominantly digitalized practice. It was popularized with the rise of Rap and Hip-Hop, as well as ambient music scenes, but it has a history stretching …

Film August 8, 2022

Hollywood Sports Movies and the American Dream

Grant Wiedenfeld

Hosted by Annie Berke

Through the heart of Hollywood cinema runs a surprising current of progressive politics. Sports movies, a genre that has flourished since the mid-seventies, evoke the American dream and represent the …

Political Science August 4, 2022

The Knowledge Polity

Teaching and Research in the Social Sciences

Paul A. Djupe, Anand Edward Sokhey, and Amy Erica Smith

Hosted by Lilly Goren

Paul A. Djupe, Anand Edward Sokhey, and Amy Erica Smith, The Knowledge Polity: Teaching and Research in the Social Sciences (Oxford UP, 2022) explores a more holistic understanding of knowledge production in …

In Conversation: An OUP Podcast August 4, 2022

Nimitz at War

Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay

Craig L. Symonds

Hosted by Mark Klobas

Only days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tapped Chester W. Nimitz to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. Nimitz was not the most senior candidate …

Indian Religions August 2, 2022

After the War

The Last Books of the Mahabharata

Wendy Doniger

Hosted by Ujaan Ghosh

Wendy Doniger's After the War: The Last Books of the Mahabharata (Oxford UP, 2022) is a new translation of the final part of the Mahabharata, the great Sanskrit Epic poem about …

Japanese Studies August 1, 2022

Eavesdropping on the Emperor

Interrogators and Codebreakers in Britain's War With Japan

Peter Kornicki

Hosted by Jingyi Li

When Japanese signals were decoded at Bletchley Park, who translated them into English? When Japanese soldiers were taken as prisoners of war, who interrogated them? When Japanese maps and plans …

Middle Eastern Studies August 1, 2022

The Italian Empire and the Great War

Vanda Wilcox

Hosted by Roberto Mazza

The Italian Empire and the Great War (Oxford UP, 2021) by Vanda Wilcox brings an imperial and colonial perspective to the Italian experience of the First World War. Italy's decision for …

Philosophy August 1, 2022

Spying Through a Glass Darkly

The Ethics of Espionage and Counter-Intelligence

Cécile Fabre

Hosted by Robert Talisse

On its face, spying and counter-intelligence activities seem morally suspect. They tend to involve sneaking, deceiving, and manipulating, as well as various forms of betrayal, treachery, and disloyalty. Yet intelligence …

General History July 28, 2022

The Pursuit of Europe

A History

Anthony Pagden

Hosted by Charles Coutinho

The European Union, we are told, is facing extinction. Most of those who believe that, however, have no understanding of how, and why, it become possible to imagine that the …

General History July 26, 2022

Russia Resurrected

Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order

Kathryn E. Stoner

Hosted by Charles Coutinho

Too often, we are told that Russia plays a weak hand well. But, perhaps the nation's cards are better than we know. Russia ranks significantly behind the US and China …

General History July 21, 2022

The Rise of English

Global Politics and the Power of Language

Rosemary Salomone

Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Spoken by a quarter of the world's population, English is today's lingua franca--its common tongue. The language of business, popular media, and international politics, English has become commodified for its …

General History July 13, 2022

The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy

Weak Power, Great Power, Superpower, Hyperpower

Michael Mandelbaum

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

The United States is now nearly 250 years old. It arose from humble beginnings, as a strip of mostly agrarian and sparsely populated English colonies on the northeastern edge of …

Environmental Studies July 12, 2022

Scars on the Land

An Environmental History of Slavery in the American South

David Silkenat

Hosted by Brian Hamilton

They worked Virginia's tobacco fields, South Carolina's rice marshes, and the Black Belt's cotton plantations. Wherever they lived, enslaved people found their lives indelibly shaped by the Southern environment. By …

Religion July 12, 2022

Demonic Bodies and the Dark Ecologies of Early Christian Culture

Travis W. Proctor

Hosted by Tiatemsu Longkumer

Drawing insights from gender studies and the environmental humanities, Demonic Bodies and the Dark Ecologies of Early Christian Culture (Oxford UP, 2022) analyze how ancient Christians constructed the Christian body …

Music July 11, 2022

Freedom Girls

Voicing Femininity in 1960s British Pop

Alexandra Apolloni

Hosted by Kristen Turner

Freedom Girls: Voicing Femininity in 1960s British Pop (Oxford University Press, 2021) by Alexandra M. Apolloni is about how the vocal performances of girl singers in 1960s Britain defined—and sometimes …

Philosophy July 11, 2022

Perspectival Realism

Michela Massimi

Hosted by Carrie Figdor

For many philosophers, the fact that scientists take different perspectives on the world is an obstacle to being a realist about the world. In Perspectival Realism (Oxford University Press, 2022) …