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 June 29, 2021

The Museum as a Space of Social Care

Nuala Morse

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What is the future for the museum? In The Museum as a Space of Social Care (Routledge, 2020), Nuala Morse, a Lecturer in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, rethinks …
Critical Theory June 29, 2021

The Business of Birth Control

Contraception and Commerce in Britain before the Sexual Revolution

Claire L. Jones

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How does understanding business help us understand sex? In The Business of Birth Control: Contraception and Commerce in Britain before the Sexual Revolution (Manchester UP, 2020), Claire Jones, a Senior …
Critical Theory June 16, 2021

Book Wars

The Digital Revolution in Publishing

John B. Thompson

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What is the future of the book? In Book Wars: The Digital Revolution in Publishing (Polity, 2021) John Thompson, Professor of Sociology at the University of Cambridge, examines the impact …
Critical Theory June 16, 2021

Getting Signed

Record Contracts, Musicians, and Power in Society

Palgrave Macmillan

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How does the record industry work? In Getting Signed: Record Contracts, Musicians, and Power in Society (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), David Arditi, Associate Professor in Sociology and Anthropology at University of Texas at …
Critical Theory June 7, 2021

Violent Ignorance

Confronting Racism and Migration Control

Hannah Jones

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
Why does ignorance matter? In Violent Ignorance: Confronting Racism and Migration Control (Zed Books, 2021), Hannah Jones, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Warwick, thinks through …
Critical Theory May 27, 2021

Reconstructing Public Housing

Liverpool's Hidden History of Collective Alternatives

Matthew Thompson

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How can we develop solutions to the housing crisis? In Reconstructing Public Housing: Liverpool's Hidden History of Collective Alternatives (Liverpool UP, 2020), Matthew Thompson, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Heseltine …
Critical Theory May 26, 2021

The Good Glow

Charity and the Symbolic Power of Doing Good

Jon Dean

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
Why do people give to charity? In The Good Glow Charity and the Symbolic Power of Doing Good (Policy Press, 2020), Jon Dean, Associate Professor in Politics and Sociology at Sheffield Hallam …
Critical Theory May 21, 2021

The Digital Disconnect

The Social Causes and Consequences of Digital Inequalities

Ellen Helsper

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What are digital inequalities? In The Digital Disconnect: The Social Causes and Consequences of Digital Inequalities (Sage, 2021), Ellen Helsper, a Professor of Digital Inequalities in the Department of Media …
Critical Theory May 21, 2021

Violence

Toby Miller

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What is violence? In Violence Toby Miller, Stuart Hall Professor of Cultural Studies, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana–Cuajimalpa, Mexico offers a reconsideration of the concept, along with an overview of how the …
Critical Theory May 18, 2021

The Social Media Age

Zoetanya Sujon

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How has social media shaped contemporary society? In The Social Media Age (Sage, 2021),  Zoetanya Sujon, a Senior Lecturer and Programme Director in Communications and Media at London College of …
Critical Theory May 6, 2021

Creative Control

The Ambivalence of Work in the Culture Industries

Michael L. Siciliano

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How should we understand creative work? In Creative Control: The Ambivalence of Work in the Culture Industries (Columbia UP, 2021), Michael Siciliano, an assistant professor of sociology at Queen's University …
Critical Theory April 27, 2021

The Generic Closet

Black Gayness and the Black-Cast Sitcom

Alfred L. Martin, Jr.

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How do race and sexuality intersect in the American sitcom? In The Generic Closet: Black Gayness and the Black-Cast Sitcom (Indiana University Press, 2021),  Alfred L Martin, an assistant professor …
Critical Theory April 16, 2021

Redlining Culture

A Data History of Racial Inequality and Postwar Fiction

Richard Jean So

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What is the story of race in American fiction? In Redlining Culture: A Data History of Racial Inequality and Postwar Fiction (Columbia University Press, 2020), Richard Jean So, an assistant professor of …
Critical Theory April 2, 2021

Imperial Encore

The Cultural Project of the Late British Empire

Caroline Ritter

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What role did culture play in the British Empire? In Imperial Encore: The Cultural Project of the Late British Empire (University of California Press, 2021), Caroline Ritter, an Assistant Professor of …
Critical Theory March 24, 2021

Red Creative

Culture and Modernity in China

Justin O'Connor and Xin Gu

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
Red Creative: Culture and Modernity in China (Intellect Books, 2020) is an exploration of China’s cultural economy over the last twenty years, particularly through the lens of its creative hub of …
Critical Theory March 15, 2021

Serving a Wired World

London's Telecommunications Workers and the Making of an Information Capital

Katie Hindmarch-Watson

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How did telecommunications shape Victorian London? In Serving a Wired World London's Telecommunications Workers and the Making of an Information Capital Katie Hindmarch-Watson, an Assistant Professor in history at Johns …
Critical Theory March 5, 2021

Women’s Activism Behind the Screens

Trade Unions and Gender Inequality in the British Film and Television Industries

Frances Galt

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How can the history of women’s work in film and TV help address inequality today? In Women’s Activism Behind the Screens: Trade Unions and Gender Inequality in the British Film …
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 …