New Books Network

About Rachel Hopkin

Rachel Hopkin PhD is a UK born, US based folklorist and radio producer and is currently a PhD candidate at the Ohio State University.

NBN Episodes hosted by Rachel:

Folklore December 14, 2020

Life as a Folklorist and Folklore Studies

A Discussion with Jack Zipes

Jack Zipes

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
Today I talked with Jack Zipes about a life in Folklore Studies, about some of his many publications, and about publishing fairy tales. Jack Zipes is Professor Emeritus of German at the …
Folklore August 25, 2020

Body and Tradition in Nineteenth-Century France

Félix Arnaudin and the Moorlands of Gascony, 1870-1914

William G. Pooley

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
The moorlands of Gascony are often considered one of the most dramatic examples of top-down rural modernization in nineteenth-century Europe. From an area of open moors, they were transformed in …
Folklore May 26, 2020

Rhythms of Revolt

European Traditions and Memories of Social Conflict in Oral Culture

Éva Guillorel

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
The culture of insurgents in early modern Europe was primarily an oral one; memories of social conflicts in the communities affected were passed on through oral forms such as songs …
Folklore May 25, 2020

The Poetry of Everyday Life

Storytelling and the Art of Awareness

Steve Zeitlin

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
This is a book of encounters. Part memoir, part essay, and partly a guide to maximizing your capacity for fulfillment and expression, The Poetry of Everyday Life: Storytelling and the …
Folklore July 30, 2019

Implied Nowhere

Absence in Folklore Studies

Shelley Ingram, Willow G. Mullins, and Todd Richardson

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
In Implied Nowhere: Absence in Folklore Studies (University Press of Mississippi, 2019) authors Shelley Ingram, Willow G. Mullins, and Todd Richardson talk about things folklorists don't usually talk about. They …
Folklore July 2, 2019

The Folkloresque

Reframing Folklore in a Popular Culture World

Michael Dylan Foster and Jeffrey A. Tolbert

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
This volume introduces a new concept to explore the dynamic relationship between folklore and popular culture: the "folkloresque." With "folkloresque," Foster and Tolbert name the product created when popular culture …
Folklore May 7, 2019

Black Lives Matter and Music

Protest, Intervention, Reflection

Fernando Orejuela and Stephanie Shonekan, eds.

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
Music has always been integral to the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, with songs such as Kendrick Lamar’s "Alright," J. Cole’s "Be Free," D’Angelo and the Vanguard's …
Folklore April 17, 2019

The Secret Life of a Black Aspie

A Memoir

Anand Prahlad

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
Anand Prahlad was born on a former plantation in Virginia in 1954. This memoir, vividly internal, powerfully lyric, and brilliantly impressionistic, is his story. For the first four years of …
Art March 4, 2019

Cræft

An Inquiry into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts

Alexander Langlands

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
Alexander Langlands is a British archaeologist, historian, writer, and broadcaster. His most recent book, Cræft: An Inquiry into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts, was published by Norton …
Folklore January 31, 2019

Tradition, Urban Identity, and the Baltimore 'Hon'

The Folk in the City

David J. Puglia

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
Folklorist David J. Puglia is an assistant professor at the City University of New York and in his latest book - Tradition, Urban Identity, and the Baltimore “Hon": The Folk …
Folklore December 14, 2018

Right to the Juke Joint

A Personal History of American Music

Patrick B. Mullen

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
On its back cover, Patrick B. Mullen’s Right to the Juke Joint: A Personal History of American Music (University of Illinois Press, 2018) is aptly described as “part scholar's musings …
Folklore November 14, 2018

Czech Bluegrass

Notes from the Heart of Europe

Lee Bidgood

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
Although bluegrass music is typically associated with the bluegrass state of Kentucky and Appalachia, the genre is actually played in many pockets all around the world. In Czech Bluegrass: Notes …
Folklore November 9, 2018

Consuming Katrina

Public Disaster and Personal Narrative

Kate Parker Horigan

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
Kate Parker Horigan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology at Western Kentucky University, and a co-editor of the Journal of American Folklore. In Consuming …
Folklore August 22, 2018

Folksongs of Another America

Field Recordings from the Upper Midwest, 1937–1946

James P. Leary

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
Folksongs of Another America: Field Recordings from the Upper Midwest, 1937–1946 (University of Wisconsin Press) first appeared in 2015 when it comprised of a hardback book, five CDs, and one …
Art July 25, 2018

Quilts and Health

Marsha MacDowell, Clare Luz, and Beth Donaldson

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
In Quilts and Health (Indiana University Press, 2017), Marsha MacDowell and her colleagues examine the phenomenon of health-related quilts, of which there are millions around the world. In fact, and …
Folklore May 30, 2018

Burley

Kentucky Tobacco in a New Century

Ann K. Ferrell

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
Ann K. Ferrell is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Folk Studies program at Western Kentucky University, and also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of American Folklore. Her first …
Architecture May 8, 2018

Built with Faith

Italian American Imagination and Catholic Material Culture in New York City

Joseph Sciorra

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
Folklore scholar Joseph Sciorra is the Director for Academic and Cultural Programs at the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute in Queens College which is part of the City University …
Architecture March 28, 2018

Singular Spaces

From the Eccentric to the Extraordinary in Spanish Art Environments

Jo Farb Hernandez

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
Singular Spaces: From the Eccentric to the Extraordinary in Spanish Art Environments (Raw Vision, 2013) is an audacious tome. A comprehensive survey of 45 art environments on the Spanish mainland …
Folklore March 8, 2018

Peggy Seeger

A Life of Music, Love, and Politics

Jean R. Freedman

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
When folklorist Jean Freedman first met Peggy Seeger in 1979, Freedman was an undergraduate on her junior year abroad in London, while her American compatriot had been living in the …
Folklore February 8, 2018

If You Don't Laugh, You'll Cry

The Occupational Humor of White Wisconsin Prison Workers

Claire Schmidt

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
Claire Schmidt is not a prison worker, rather she is a folklorist and an Assistant Professor at Missouri Valley College. However, many members of her extended family in her home …
Folklore January 10, 2018

Pinery Boys

Songs and Songcatching in the Lumberjack Era

Franz Rickaby with Gretchen Dykstra and James P. Leary

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
Gretchen Dykstra's career to date has been both impressive and wide-ranging. She was the founding President of the Times Square Alliance, the former Commissioner of the NYC Department of Consumer …
Folklore December 25, 2017

Voices of the People in Nineteenth-Century France

David Hopkin

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
The author of this book, David Hopkin, is Professor of European Social History at Hertford College, Oxford. He is also my brother. However, I'm not featuring him on New Books …
Gender Studies December 8, 2017

On Second Thought

Learned Women Reflect on Profession, Community, and Purpose

Luisa Del Giudice

Hosted by Rachel Hopkin
On Second Thought: Learned Women Reflect on Profession, Community, and Purpose (University of Utah Press, 2017) is a collection of thirteen essays by women, all in the second half of …