New Books Network

Indian Religions January 11, 2022

Hindu Theology and Biology

The Bhagavata Purana and Contemporary Theory

Jonathan B. Edelmann

Hosted by Shruti Dixit

In Hindu Theology and Biology: The Bhagavata Purana and Contemporary Theory (Oxford University Press, 2020), Professor Jonathan B. Edelmann develops a constructive and comparative theological dialogue between Hinduism and Western …

Art January 5, 2022

Tree of Pearls

The Extraordinary Architectural Patronage of the 13th-Century Egyptian Slave-Queen Shajar Al-Durr

D. Fairchild Ruggles

Hosted by Tanja Tolar

Shajar al-Durr--known as "Tree of Pearls"--began her remarkable career as a child slave, given as property to Sultan Salih of Egypt. She became his concubine, was manumitted, became his wife …

Political Science December 23, 2021

Criminalizing Atrocity

The Global Spread of Criminal Laws Against International Crimes

Mark S. Berlin

Hosted by Lilly Goren

Political Scientist Mark Berlin’s new book, Criminalizing Atrocity: The Global Spread of Criminal Laws Against International Crimes (Oxford UP, 2020), examines the process through which laws against international crimes are established …

Genocide Studies December 22, 2021

Everyday Peace

How So-Called Ordinary People Can Disrupt Violent Conflict

Roger Mac Ginty

Hosted by Christopher Davey

Roger Mac Ginty's book Everyday Peace: How So-Called Ordinary People Can Disrupt Violent Conflict (Oxford UP, 2021) focuses on how individuals and communities navigate through, and out of, conflict. Through theory …

Japanese Studies December 22, 2021

Pilgrims Until We Die

Unending Pilgrimage in Shikoku

Ian Reader and John Shultz

Hosted by Raditya Nuradi

Ian Reader and John Shultz's Pilgrims Until We Die: Unending Pilgrimage in Shikoku (Oxford University Press, 2021)" explores the Shikoku pilgrimage by focusing on the themes of repetition and perpetual …

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 …

Philosophy January 20, 2022

The Analects: A Guide

Erin M. Cline

Hosted by Malcolm Keating

Probably the most well-known Chinese philosopher around the world is Kongzi, typically called by his Latinized name, “Confucius.” And yet he did not write a single book. Rather, his students …

Journalism January 19, 2022

News After Trump

Journalism's Crisis of Relevance in a Changed Media Culture

Matt Carlson, Sue Robinson, and Seth C. Lewis

Hosted by Jenna Spinelle

Political scientists have argued that Donald Trump exacerbated long-simmering changes in polarization, populism, and other aspects of politics. In their book News After Trump: Journalism's Crisis of Relevance in a Changed …

French Studies December 31, 2021

Pasteur's Empire

Bacteriology and Politics in France, Its Colonies, and the World

Aro Velmet

Hosted by Roxanne Panchasi

Aro Velmet's Pasteur's Empire: Bacteriology in France, Its Colonies, and the World (Oxford UP, 2020) is a complex history of the Pasteur Institutes, a network of scientific laboratories established in France and throughout the French empire …

Film December 27, 2021

Inhospitable World

Cinema in the Time of the Anthropocene

Jennifer Fay

Hosted by Gustavo Gutiérrez Suárez

Inhospitable World: Cinema in the Time of the Anthropocene (Oxford UP, 2018) explores the connection between cinema and artificial weather, climates, and even planets in or on which hospitality and …

Indian Religions December 16, 2021

Savoring God

Comparative Theopoetics

Gloria Maité Hernández

Hosted by Raj Balkaran

Gloria Maité Hernández's Savoring God: Comparative Theopoetics (Oxford UP, 2021) compares two mystical works central to the Christian Discalced Carmelite and the Hindu Bhakti traditions: the sixteenth-century Spanish Cántico espiritual …

Sociology December 15, 2021

Race Brokers

Housing Markets and Segregation in 21st Century Urban America

Elizabeth Korver-Glenn

Hosted by Richard Ocejo

Elizabeth Korver-Glenn's book Race Brokers: Housing Markets and Segregation in 21st Century Urban America (Oxford UP, 2021) examines how housing market professionals-including housing developers, real estate agents, mortgage lenders, and appraisers-construct 21st …

Law December 14, 2021

The War Lawyers

The United States, Israel, and Juridical Warfare

Craig Jones

Hosted by Zalman Newfield

Over the last 20 years the world's most advanced militaries have invited a small number of military legal professionals into the heart of their targeting operations, spaces which had previously …

Drugs, Addiction and Recovery December 7, 2021

Smashing the Liquor Machine

A Global History of Prohibition

Mark Lawrence Schrad

Hosted by Claire Clark

Smashing the Liquor Machine: A Global History of Prohibition (Oxford UP, 2021) is a unique retelling of the history of temperance and prohibition. Rather than focusing on white, rural, conservative …

Politics & Polemics December 1, 2021

Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic:

The Deep State and the Unitary Executive

Stephen Skowronek et al

Hosted by Kirk Meighoo

Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic: The Deep State and the Unitary Executive (Oxford University Press, 2021) powerfully dissects one of the fundamental problems in American governance today: the clash between …

Philosophy December 1, 2021

Responsible Citizens, Irresponsible States

Should Citizens Pay for Their States' Wrongdoings?

Avia Pasternak

Hosted by Robert Talisse

We tend to think that states can act wrongfully, even criminally. Thus, we also tend to think that states can be held responsible for their acts. They can be made …

Diplomatic History November 24, 2021

Unconditional

The Japanese Surrender in World War II

Marc Gallicchio

Hosted by Grant Golub

Signed on September 2, 1945 aboard the American battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay by Japanese and Allied leaders, the instrument of surrender formally ended the war in the Pacific …

Intellectual History November 24, 2021

The Right of Sovereignty

Jean Bodin on the Sovereign State and the Law of Nations

Daniel Lee

Hosted by Tejas Parasher

Sovereignty is the vital organizing principle of modern international law. Daniel Lee's book The Right of Sovereignty: Jean Bodin on the Sovereign State and the Law of Nations (Oxford UP, 2021) …

Sociology November 24, 2021

Agents of God

Boundaries and Authority in Muslim and Christian Schools

Jeffrey Guhin

Hosted by Nafeesa Andrabi

Jeff Guhin joins us today to talk about his book Agents of God: Boundaries and Authority in Muslim and Christian Schools (Oxford University Press, 2020). Jeff, an Assistant Professor of …

Christian Studies November 19, 2021

Syncretism and Christian Tradition

Race and Revelation in the Study of Religious Mixture

Ross Kane

Hosted by Tiatemsu Longkumer

Syncretism, even though, is an unavoidable phenomenon of religion, has a range of connotations. In Christian theology, the use of syncretism shifted from a compliment during the Reformation to an …