Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

episodes

Interviews with authors of Princeton University Press books.

Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, "Puerto Rico: A National History" (Princeton UP, 2024)

April 16, 2024

Puerto Rico

Jorell Meléndez-Badillo
Hosted by Mark Klobas

Puerto Rico is a Spanish-speaking territory of the United States with a history shaped by conquest and resistance. For centuries, Puerto Ricans have c…

Melvin L. Rogers, "The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought" (Princeton UP, 2023)

April 15, 2024

The Darkened Light of Faith

Melvin L. Rogers
Hosted by Lilly Goren

Political Theorist Melvin L. Rogers has a deep and rich new book delving into the work of a host of different African American political thinkers. But…

Grazia Ting Deng, "Chinese Espresso: Contested Race and Convivial Space in Contemporary Italy" (Princeton UP, 2024)

April 14, 2024

Chinese Espresso

Grazia Ting Deng
Hosted by Shu Wan

Why and how local coffee bars in Italy--those distinctively Italian social and cultural spaces--have been increasingly managed by Chinese baristas sin…

Eric Schwitzgebel, "The Weirdness of the World" (Princeton UP, 2024)

April 10, 2024

The Weirdness of the World

Eric Schwitzgebel
Hosted by Carrie Figdor

"What's life for if there's no time to play and explore?" In The Weirdness of the World (Princeton UP, 2024), Eric Schwitzgebel invites the reader to…

Claudia de Rham, "The Beauty of Falling: A Life in Pursuit of Gravity" (Princeton UP, 2024)

April 1, 2024

The Beauty of Falling

Claudia de Rham
Hosted by Mark Klobas

Claudia de Rham has been playing with gravity her entire life. As a diver, experimenting with her body's buoyancy in the Indian Ocean. As a pilot, soa…

Ya-Wen Lei, "The Gilded Cage: Technology, Development, and State Capitalism in China" (Princeton UP, 2023)

March 30, 2024

The Gilded Cage

Ya-Wen Lei
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Since the mid-2000s, the Chinese state has increasingly shifted away from labor-intensive, export-oriented manufacturing to a process of socioeconomic…

Marc-William Palen, "Pax Economica: Left-Wing Visions of a Free Trade World" (Princeton UP, 2024)

March 23, 2024

Pax Economica

Marc-William Palen
Hosted by Thomas Kingston

A new economic history which uncovers the forgotten left-wing, anti-imperial, pacifist origins of economic cosmopolitanism and free trade from the mid…

Beth Linker, "Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America" (Princeton UP, 2024)

March 21, 2024

Slouch

Beth Linker
Hosted by Mark Klobas

In 1995, a scandal erupted when the New York Times revealed that the Smithsonian possessed a century's worth of nude "posture" photos of college stude…

Matthias Doepke and Fabrizio Zilibotti, "Love, Money, and Parenting: How Economics Explains the Way We Raise Our Kids" (Princeton UP, 2019)

March 20, 2024

Love, Money, and Parenting

Matthias Doepke and Fabrizio Zilibotti

Parents everywhere want their children to be happy and do well. Yet how parents seek to achieve this ambition varies enormously. For instance, America…

Colin Elliott, "Pox Romana: The Plague That Shook the Roman World" (Princeton UP, 2024)

March 19, 2024

Pox Romana

Colin Elliott
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In the middle of the second century AD, Rome was at its prosperous and powerful apex. The emperor Marcus Aurelius reigned over a vast territory that s…

Myisha Cherry, "Failures of Forgiveness: What We Get Wrong and How to Do Better" (Princeton UP, 2023)

March 15, 2024

Failures of Forgiveness

Myisha Cherry
Hosted by N'Kosi Oates

From religion to popular culture, institutions and people have shaped how we conceive forgiveness. Myisha Cherry, associate professor of philosophy, a…

Julie Kalman, "The Kings of Algiers: How Two Jewish Families Shaped the Mediterranean World During the Napoleonic Wars and Beyond" (Princeton UP, 2023)

March 14, 2024

The Kings of Algiers

Julie Kalman
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

On July 27th, 1827, the dey of Algiers struck the French consul over his country’s refusal to pay back its debts–specifically, to two Jewish merchant …

Korey Garibaldi, "Impermanent Blackness: The Making and Unmaking of Interracial Literary Culture in Modern America" (Princeton UP, 2023)

March 13, 2024

Impermanent Blackness

Korey Garibaldi

In Impermanent Blackness: The Making and Unmaking of Interracial Literary Culture in Modern America (Princeton UP, 2023), Korey Garibaldi explores int…

Thomas J. Barfield, "Shadow Empires: An Alternative Imperial History" (Princeton UP, 2023)

March 1, 2024

Shadow Empires

Thomas J. Barfield
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

Empires are one of the most common forms of political structure in history—yet no empire is alike. We have our “standard” view of empire: perhaps the …

Verity Harding, "AI Needs You: How We Can Change AI's Future and Save Our Own" (Princeton UP, 2024)

March 1, 2024

AI Needs You

Verity Harding
Hosted by Mark Klobas

Artificial intelligence may be the most transformative technology of our time. As AI's power grows, so does the need to figure out what--and who--this…

Katharina Pistor, "The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality" (Princeton UP, 2019)

February 22, 2024

The Code of Capital

Katharina Pistor
Hosted by Keith Krueger

"Most lawyers, most actors, most soldiers and sailors, most athletes, most doctors, and most diplomats feel a certain solidarity in the face of outsid…

Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper, "Post-Imperial Possibilities: Eurasia, Eurafrica, Afroasia" (Princeton UP, 2023)

February 18, 2024

Post-Imperial Possibilities

Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper
Hosted by Erika Monahan

How can territory and peoples be organized? After the dissolution of empires, was the nation-state the only way to unite people politically, culturall…

Richard L. Hasen, "A Real Right to Vote: How a Constitutional Amendment Can Safeguard American Democracy" (Princeton UP, 2024)

February 15, 2024

A Real Right to Vote

Richard L. Hasen
Hosted by Mark Klobas

Throughout history, too many Americans have been disenfranchised or faced needless barriers to voting. Part of the blame falls on the Constitution, wh…

Despina Stratigakos, "Hitler’s Northern Utopia: Building the New Order in Occupied Norway" (Princeton UP, 2020)

February 11, 2024

Hitler’s Northern Utopia

Despina Stratigakos
Hosted by Craig Sorvillo

In her new book Hitler’s Northern Utopia: Building the New Order in Occupied Norway (Princeton University Press, 2020), Despina Stratigakos investigat…

Nicholas Dames, "The Chapter: A Segmented History from Antiquity to the Twenty-First Century" (Princeton UP, 2023)

February 5, 2024

The Chapter

Nicholas Dames
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Why do books have chapters? With this seemingly simple question, Dr. Nicholas Dames embarks on a literary journey spanning two millennia, revealing ho…