Why We Argue

Political Science September 20, 2021

Life after Privacy

Reclaiming Democracy in a Surveillance Society

Firmin DeBrabander

Hosted by Susan Liebell

As governments and corporations mine our “entrenched culture of sharing” to invade privacy (down to Target creating an algorithm to figure out which shoppers are in the 2nd trimester of …

Ideas Roadshow Podcast September 20, 2021

Pants on Fire

On Lying in Politics

Martin Jay

Hosted by Howard Burton

Pants on Fire: On Lying in Politics is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and renowned intellectual historian Martin Jay, UC Berkeley. A thought-provoking book in dialogue …

Israel Studies September 20, 2021

Yiddish in Israel

A History

Rachel Rojanski

Hosted by Ari Barbalat

Yiddish in Israel: A History (Indiana UP, 2020) challenges the commonly held view that Yiddish was suppressed or even banned by Israeli authorities for ideological reasons, offering instead a radical …

Philosophy September 20, 2021

Jewel of Reflection on the Truth about Epistemology

A Complete and Annotated Translation of the Tattva-cintā-maṇi

Stephen Phillips (trans.)

Hosted by Malcolm Keating

In the first complete English translation of a monumental 14th century Sanskrit philosophical text, the Jewel of Reflection on the Truth about Epistemology (Bloomsbury 2020), Stephen Phillips introduces modern readers to …

Russian and Eurasian Studies September 20, 2021

Writing Resistance

Revolutionary Memoirs of Shlissel’burg Prison

Sarah J. Young

Hosted by Steven Seegel

In 1884, sixty-eight prisoners convicted of terrorism and revolutionary activity were transferred to a new maximum-security prison at Shlissel'burg Fortress near St. Petersburg. Inhuman conditions in the prison caused severe …

South Asian Studies September 20, 2021

Love and Reparation

A Theatrical Response to the Section 377 Litigation in India

Danish Sheikh

Hosted by Saronik Bosu

Two plays about the legal battle to decriminalize homosexuality in India. On September 6, 2018, a decades-long battle to decriminalize queer intimacy in India came to an end. The Supreme …

Medieval History September 20, 2021

Cross-cultural Interaction Between Byzantium and the West, 1204-1669

Whose Mediterranean Is It Anyway?

Angeliki Lymberopoulou

Hosted by Evan Zarkadas

The early modern Mediterranean was an area where many different rich cultural traditions came in contact with each other, and were often forced to co-exist, frequently learning to reap the …

Drugs, Addiction and Recovery September 20, 2021

Treating Heroin Addiction in Norway

The Pharmaceutical Other

Aleksandra Bartoszko

Hosted by Geert Slabbekoorn

Focusing on the world of Norwegian Opioid Substitution Treatment (OST) in the aftermath of significant reforms, Aleksandra Bartoszko's book Treating Heroin Addiction in Norway: The Pharmaceutical Other (Routledge, 2021) casts a critical light …

The Future of Higher Education September 20, 2021

A Discussion with Ben Nelson (Part 2)

Founder of the Minerva Project and Minerva University

Ben Nelson

Hosted by David Finegold

In Part II of our discussion with Ben Nelson, he shares information on the outcomes for the first Minerva graduates and how Minerva has diversified its business model with new …

Nordic Asia Podcast September 20, 2021

Outgoing Prime Minister Suga and Japan's Liberal Democratic Party

Giulio Pugliese

Hosted by Satoko Naito

On September 3, 2021, Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide announced that he would not seek reelection as the president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), effectively declaring his resignation …

Popular Culture September 20, 2021

A Very Nervous Person's Guide to Horror Movies

Mathias Clasen

Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

Horror fans are attracted to movies designed to scare us, but others shudder already at the thought of the sweat-drenched nightmares that terrifying movies often trigger. The fear of sleepless nights …

Christian Studies September 20, 2021

The Clergy in Early Modern Scotland

Chris R. Langley, Catherine E. McMillan, and Russell Newton

Hosted by Crawford Gribben

The Clergy in Early Modern Scotland (Boydell Press, 2021), edited by Chris R. Langley, Catherine E. McMillan and Russell Newton, is an outstanding and agenda-setting volume that puts the experience …

American West September 20, 2021

American Prophet

The Life and Work of Carey McWilliams

Peter Richardson

Hosted by Barbara Berglund Sokolov

Historian Kevin Starr described Carey McWilliams as "the finest nonfiction writer on California—ever" and "the state's most astute political observer." But as Peter Richardson argues in American Prophet: The Life and …

Politics & Polemics September 17, 2021

Sensuous Knowledge

A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone

Minna Salami

Hosted by Lee Pierce

Minna Salami's book Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone (Amistad/HarperCollins, 2021) is a collection of thought provoking essays that explore questions central to how we see ourselves, our history, and …

Architecture September 17, 2021

The Speculative City

Art, Real Estate, and the Making of Global Los Angeles

Susanna Phillips Newbury

Hosted by Bryan Toepfer

Underlying every great city is a rich and vibrant culture that shapes the texture of life within. In The Speculative City: Art, Real Estate, and the Making of Global Los …

Psychology September 17, 2021

Shameless Parenting

Everything You Need to Raise Shame-free Confident Kids & Heal Your Shame Too!

Tina Schermer Sellers

Hosted by Meg Gambino

Shameless Parenting: Everything You Need to Raise Shame-free Confident Kids & Heal Your Shame Too! (2021) is the 21st-century book parents have been asking for! It highlights the trickiest parts …

Critical Theory September 17, 2021

Lenin and the Logic of Hegemony

Political Practice and Theory in the Class Struggle

Alan Shandro

Hosted by Stephen Dozeman

Few figures stand as prominently in Marxist theory and history as V.I. Lenin. The revolutionary who played a pivotal role in one of the most important events in world …

East Asian Studies September 17, 2021

The Global White Snake

Liang Luo

Hosted by Huiying Chen

Liang Luo's book The Global White Snake (U Michigan Press, 2021) examines the Chinese White Snake legends and their extensive, multidirectional travels within Asia and across the globe. Such travels across …

Anthropology September 17, 2021

Margaret Mead

Paul Shankman

Hosted by Adam Bobeck

Tracing Mead’s career as an ethnographer, as the early voice of public anthropology, and as a public figure, this elegantly written biography links the professional and personal sides of her …

Ideas Roadshow Podcast September 17, 2021

The Derveni Papyrus

Richard Janko