The University of Chicago Press Podcast

The University of Chicago Press Podcast

episodes

Interviews with authors of University of Chicago Press books.

Gayle F. Wald, "This Is Rhythm: Ella Jenkins, Children’s Music, and the Long Civil Rights Movement" (U Chicago Press, 2025)

July 15, 2026

This Is Rhythm

Gayle F. Wald
Hosted by Kristen Turner

Ella Jenkins (1924–2024) was one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century, although many people have never heard of her. A pioneer i…

Gregory Smits, "The Ryukyu Islands: A New History from the Stone Age to the Present" (U Chicago Press, 2025)

July 9, 2026

The Ryukyu Islands

Gregory Smits
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

Most people only know one of the Ryukyu Islands: the island of Okinawa, home to sandy beaches and one of the U.S.’s most important bases in Asia. Ther…

Rachel Silveri, "The Art of Living in Avant-Garde Paris: Ethics and Self-Making in Dada, Simultanism, and Surrealism" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

July 4, 2026

The Art of Living in Avant-Garde Paris

Rachel Silveri

With The Art of Living in Avant-Garde Paris: Ethics and Self-Making in Dada, Simultanism, and Surrealism (University of Chicago Press, 2026), Rachel…

Joseph Turow, "The Problem with Personalization: How Advertisers Learned to Make and Break Us from Ancient Times to the AI Age" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

July 3, 2026

The Problem with Personalization

Joseph Turow
Hosted by Pete Kunze

A respected voice on technology shows how seemingly simple ads help dismantle democracy and public discourse. Whether you’re intentionally shopping o…

Susannah Crockford, "A Perturbed System: Religion and Climate Change from the End of a World" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

June 29, 2026

A Perturbed System

Susannah Crockford
Hosted by Gregory Soden

Our ecological system is disturbed, and with it, every other system we’ve built to inhabit it. We do not face inevitable destruction, yet many of us c…

Hilary R. Buxton, "Disabled Empire: The Colonial Body in First World War Britain" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

June 23, 2026

Disabled Empire

Hilary R. Buxton

Disabled Empire: The Colonial Body in First World War Britain (U Chicago Press, 2026) examines how imperial precedents and racial ideologies shaped th…

D. Vance Smith, "Atlas’s Bones: The African Foundations of Europe" (U Chicago Press, 2025)

May 2, 2026

Atlas's Bones

D. Vance Smith

A major new look at Africa’s influence on European culture and how colonization remade Africa in the image of a medieval Europe. Virgil. Chaucer.…

Abigail Ocobock, "Marriage Material: How an Enduring Institution Is Changing Same-Sex Relationships" (U Chicago Press, 2024)

April 21, 2026

Marriage Material

Abigail Ocobock
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

It is no secret that marriage rates in the United States are at an all-time low. Despite this significant decline, the institution of marriage endures…

Larry M. Bartels and Katherine J. Cramer, "The Politics of Social Change: From the Sixties to the Present Through the Eyes of a Generation" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

April 15, 2026

The Politics of Social Change

Larry M. Bartels and Katherine J. Cramer
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Few time periods have been as defined by waves of monumental social change as the United States during the 1960s. Even today, almost sixty years later…

Clifton Crais, "The Killing Age: How Violence Made the Modern World" (U Chicago Press, 2025)

April 12, 2026

The Killing Age

Clifton Crais

A bracing account of how our current planetary crisis emerged from the worst cataclysmic destruction in human history, which Clifton Crais terms the M…

Alex Diamond, "Governing the Excluded: Rural Livelihoods Beyond Coca in Colombia's Peace Laboratory" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

April 6, 2026

Governing the Excluded

Alex Diamond
Hosted by Sneha Annavarapu

The Colombian village of Briceño might, at first glimpse, look like many communities in the rural Global South. Many of the people living there rely o…

Gregory Smits, "The Ryukyu Islands: A New History from the Stone Age to the Present" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

March 30, 2026

The Ryukyu Islands

Gregory Smits
Hosted by Ran Zwigenberg

The Ryukyu Islands between Japan and Taiwan consist of around 160 islands and are home to about 1.5 million inhabitants. Across the islands' history, …

Mark Hlavacik, "Willing Warriors: A New History of the Education Culture Wars" (U Chicago Press, 2025)

March 28, 2026

Willing Warriors

Mark Hlavacik
Hosted by Laura Kelly

How the rise of the culture wars afflicts the politics of education. On August 9, 2022, the Denton Independent School District held a meeting to add…

David Bather Woods, "Arthur Schopenhauer: The Life and Thought of Philosophy's Greatest Pessimist" (U Chicago Press, 2025)

March 23, 2026

Arthur Schopenhauer

David Bather Woods

Arthur Schopenhauer: The Life and Thought of Philosophy’s Greatest Pessimist by David Bather Woods An engaging biography of one of the most influenti…

Elizabeth Mitchell Elder, "Company Towns: Industry Power and the Historical Foundations of Public Mistrust" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

March 22, 2026

Company Towns

Elizabeth Mitchell Elder
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In Company Towns: Industry Power and the Historical Foundations of Public Mistrust (University of Chicago Press, 2026), Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell Elder …

Miriam Ticktin, "Against Innocence: Undoing and Remaking the World" (U Chicago Press, 2025)

March 19, 2026

Against Innocence

Miriam Ticktin
Hosted by Reighan Gillam

In this timely and bold book, Against Innocence: Undoing and Remaking the World (U Chicago Press, 2025), Miriam Ticktin explores how a concept that co…

Sunmin Kim, "The Unruly Facts of Race: The Politics of Knowledge Production in the Early Twentieth-Century Immigration Debate" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

March 19, 2026

The Unruly Facts of Race

Sunmin Kim
Hosted by Matt Dawson

What happens when theories of racial hierarchies interact with reality? How are they contested, refuted and changed in light of that encounter? What r…

Michael Bycroft, "Gems and the New Science: Matter and Value in the Scientific Revolution" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

March 11, 2026

Gems and the New Science

Michael Bycroft
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In Gems and the New Science: Matter and Value in the Scientific Revolution (U Chicago Press, 2026), Dr. Michael Bycroft argues that gems were connect…

George Frazier, "Riverine Dreams: Away to the Glorious and Forgotten Grassland Rivers of America" (U Chicago Press, 2025)

March 10, 2026

Riverine Dreams

George Frazier
Hosted by Michael Simpson

Dr. George Frazier is currently an assistant professor of Computer Information Sciences at Washburn University, where his research focuses on such top…

Jacob Stegenga, "Heart of Science: A Philosophy of Scientific Inquiry" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

March 10, 2026

Heart of Science

Jacob Stegenga

In Heart of Science: A Philosophy of Scientific Inquiry (University of Chicago Press, 2026), philosopher Jacob Stegenga breaks with the most dominant …