New Books Network

About Dave O'Brien

Dave O'Brien is Chancellor's Fellow, Cultural and Creative Industries, at the University of Edinburgh's College of Art.

NBN Episodes hosted by Dave:

Critical Theory February 24, 2021

Penguin Books and Political Change

Britain's Meritocratic Moment, 1937–1988

Dean Blackburn

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
Why do books and publishing matter to the contemporary history of Britain? In Penguin Books and Political Change: Britain's Meritocratic Moment, 1937–1988 (Manchester UP, 2020), Dean Blackburn, a Lecturer in Modern …
Critical Theory January 29, 2021

Access All Areas

The Diversity Manifesto for TV and Beyond

Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How can we create a more equal media industry? In Access All Areas: The Diversity Manifesto for TV and Beyond, Marcus Ryder and Sir Lenny Henry, both founder members of …
Critical Theory January 29, 2021

A Cultural History of the Disneyland Theme Parks

Middle Class Kingdoms

Sabrina Mittermeier

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How should we understand the theme park in our globalised world? In A Cultural History of the Disneyland Theme Parks: Middle Class Kingdoms (Intellect, 2020), Dr. Sabrina Mittermeier, a postdoctoral researcher and …
Critical Theory December 18, 2020

Shakespearean Territories

Stuart Elden

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What can Shakespeare tell us about territory, and what can territory tell us about Shakespeare? In Shakespearean Territories (University of Chicago Press, 2018), Stuart Elden, Professor of Political Theory and Geography at …
Critical Theory November 30, 2020

The Empire Strikes Back

BFI Classics Series

Rebecca Harrison

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
Why does The Empire Strikes Back matter? In BFI Classics Series's The Empire Strikes Back (Bloomsbury, 2020), Rebecca Harrison, a lecturer in Film and Television Studies at the University of Glasgow, tells the …
Critical Theory November 20, 2020

The Crisis of the Meritocracy

Britain's Transition to Mass Education Since the Second World War

Peter Mandler

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How did public demand shape education in the 20th century? In The Crisis of the Meritocracy: Britain’s Transition to Mass Education since the Second World War (Oxford UP, 2020), Peter …
Critical Theory November 16, 2020

A Piece of the Action

Race and Labor in Post–Civil Rights Hollywood

Eithne Quinn

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What is the history of equal rights in Hollywood? In A Piece of the Action: Race and Labor in Post–Civil Rights Hollywood (Columbia UP, 2019), Eithne Quinn, a senior lecturer …
Art November 3, 2020

Art Schools and Place

Geographies of Emerging Artists and Art Scenes

Silvie Jacobi

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What is an art school? In Art Schools and Place: Geographies of Emerging Artists and Art Scenes (Rowman and Littlefield, 2020), Dr Silvie Jacobi, a researcher and head of education …
British Studies October 28, 2020

Brexitland

Identity, Diversity and the Reshaping of British Politics

Maria Sobolewska and Robert Ford

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What are the identity conflicts that define contemporary society? In Brexitland: Identity, Diversity and the Reshaping of British Politics (Cambridge UP, 2020) Maria Sobolewska and Robert Ford, professors of politics …
British Studies October 21, 2020

The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain

Francesca Sobande

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What are the possibilities and what are the inequalities of the digital world? In The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain (Palgrave, 2020), Francesca Sobande, a lecturer in Digital …
Music September 21, 2020

Selling Out

Culture, Commerce and Popular Music

Bethany Klein

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How does the music industry work in the modern world? In Selling Out: Culture, Commerce and Popular Music (Bloomsbury, 2020), Bethany Klein, a Professor of Media and Communication at the …
Critical Theory September 14, 2020

Metrics at Work

Journalism and the Contested Meaning of Algorithms

Angèle Christin

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How are algorithms changing journalism? In Metrics at Work: Journalism and the Contested Meaning of Algorithms (Princeton University Press), Angèle Christin, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at …
Popular Culture September 4, 2020

Global Cultural Economy

C. De Beukelaer and K. M. Spence

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How should we understand the role of cultural industries in contemporary society? In Global Cultural Economy (Routledge) Christiaan De Beukelaer, a senior lecturer in cultural policy at the University of …
Art August 12, 2020

The Politics of Expertise in Cultural Labour

Arts, Work and Inequalities

Karen Patel

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How has social media changed inequality in the cultural industries? In The Politics of Expertise in Cultural Labour: Arts, Work and Inequalities (Rowman and Littlefield, 2020), Karen Patel, AHRC Leadership …
Communications August 7, 2020

Making it Personal

Algorithmic Personalization, Identity, and Everyday Life

Tanya Kant

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How are algorithms shaping our experience of the internet? In Making it Personal: Algorithmic Personalization, Identity, and Everyday Life (Oxford University Press), Tanya Kant, a lecturer in Media And Cultural …
British Studies July 30, 2020

Bordering Britain

Law, Race and Empire

Nadine El-Enany

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How can we understand the legacy of colonialism within contemporary society? In Bordering Britain Law, Race and Empire (Manchester University Press, 2020), Nadine El-Enany, a senior lecturer in law at …
Music July 8, 2020

Composing Capital

Classical music in the Neoliberal Era

Marianna Ritchey

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What is the place of classical music in contemporary society? In Composing Capital: Classical Music in the Neoliberal Era (University of Chicago Press, 2019), Marianna Ritchey, an assistant professor of …
British Studies July 1, 2020

Black middle-class Britannia

Identities, repertoires, cultural consumption

Ali Meghji

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
Who are the Black middle-class in Britain? In Black Middle-Class Britannia: Identities, Repertoires, Cultural Consumption (Manchester University Press, 2019) Ali Meghji, a lecturer in social inequalities at the University of …
Critical Theory June 22, 2020

The Culture of Women in Tech

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman

Mariann Hardey

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What is the culture of the tech industry? In The Culture of Women in Tech: An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (Emerald, 2019), Mariann Hardey, an Associate Professor in Marketing …
British Studies June 17, 2020

Terraformed

Young Black Lives in the Inner City

Joy White

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How are black lives lived in the contemporary city? In Terraformed: Young Black Lives in the Inner City (Repeater Books, 2020), Dr. Joy White, a sociologist and ethnographer based in …
Communications May 28, 2020

Media Distortions

Understanding the Power Behind Spam, Noise, and Other Deviant Media

Elinor Carmi

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What is spam? In Media Distortions: Understanding the Power Behind Spam, Noise, and Other Deviant Media (Peter Lang, 2020), Dr Elinor Carmi, a postdoctoral research associate in digital culture and …
Music May 14, 2020

Digital Sampling

The Design and Use of Music Technologies

Paul Harkins

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How does technology shape music? In Digital Sampling: The Design and Use of Music Technologies (Routledge, 2019), Paul Harkins, a lecturer in music at Edinburgh Napier University, looks at the …
Architecture May 11, 2020

Why Cities Look the Way They Do

Richard Williams

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How should we understand our cities? In Why Cities Look the Way They Do (Polity, 2019), Richard Williams, Professor of Contemporary Visual Cultures in History of Art at the University …
Music April 24, 2020

It's a London Thing

How Rare Groove, Acid House and Jungle Remapped the City

Caspar Melville

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How does music help us to understand the contemporary city? In It's a London Thing: How Rare Groove, Acid House and Jungle Remapped the City (Manchester UP, 2019), Caspar Melville …