New Books Network

About Luke Thompson

NBN Episodes hosted by Luke:

Buddhist Studies December 15, 2020

Chinese Esoteric Buddhism

Amoghavajra, the Ruling Elite, and the Emergence of a Tradition

Geoffrey C. Goble

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In his recent book, Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra, the Ruling Elite, and the Emergence of a Tradition (Columbia University Press, 2019), Geoffrey Goble examines the emergence and early history of …
Southeast Asian Studies February 11, 2019

The Buddha’s Wizards

Magic, Protection, and Healing in Burmese Buddhism

Thomas Patton

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In his recent monograph, The Buddha’s Wizards: Magic, Protection, and Healing in Burmese Buddhism (Columbia University Press, 2018), Thomas Patton examines the weizzā, a figure in Burmese Buddhism who is …
East Asian Studies February 7, 2018

Assembling Shinto

Buddhist Approaches to Kami Worship in Medieval Japan

Anna Andreeva

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In her recent monograph, Assembling Shinto: Buddhist Approaches to Kami Worship in Medieval Japan (Harvard University Asia Center, 2017), Anna Andreeva focuses on a complex network of religious sites, figures …
East Asian Studies December 4, 2017

Ritualized Writing

Buddhist Practice and Scriptural Cultures in Ancient Japan

Bryan D. Lowe

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In his recent monograph, Ritualized Writing: Buddhist Practice and Scriptural Cultures in Ancient Japan (University of Hawaii Press, 2017), Bryan D. Lowe examines eighth-century Japanese practices that ritualized writing, or …
East Asian Studies October 9, 2017

Anarchy in the Pure Land

Reinventing the Cult of Maitreya in Modern Chinese Buddhism

Justin R. Ritzinger

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In his recent monograph, Anarchy in the Pure Land: Reinventing the Cult of Maitreya in Modern Chinese Buddhism (Oxford University Press, 2017), Justin R. Ritzinger examines the cult of Maitreya …
American Studies April 2, 2017

Buddhism in America

Global Religion, Local Contexts

Scott A. Mitchell

Hosted by Luke Thompson
Scott A. Mitchell's recent monograph, Buddhism in America: Global Religion, Local Contexts (Bloomsbury, 2016), provides a much-needed up-to-date overview of Buddhism in the United States. To tackle such a large …
South Asian Studies March 3, 2017

Buddhism, Politics and the Limits of the Law

The Pyrrhic Constitutionalism of Sri Lanka

Benjamin Schonthal

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In his recent monograph, Buddhism, Politics and the Limits of Law: The Pyrrhic Constitutionalism of Sri Lanka (Cambridge University Press, 2016), Benjamin Schonthal examines the relationship between constitutional law and …
Southeast Asian Studies January 20, 2017

Deathpower

Buddhism's Ritual Imagination in Cambodia

Erik W. Davis

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In his recent monograph, Deathpower: Buddhism's Ritual Imagination in Cambodia (Columbia University Press, 2015), Erik W. Davis explores funerary ritual in contemporary Cambodian Buddhism and the way in which Buddhist …
Southeast Asian Studies May 16, 2016

Thailand's International Meditation Centers

Tourism and the Global Commodification of Religious Practices

Brooke Schedneck

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In her recent monograph, Thailand's International Meditation Centers: Tourism and the Global Commodification of Religious Practices (Routledge, 2015), Brooke Schedneck examines Buddhist meditation centers in Thailand and draws our attention …
East Asian Studies January 20, 2016

Real and Imagined

The Peak of Gold in Heian Japan

Heather Blair

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In her recent monograph, Real and Imagined: The Peak of Gold in Heian Japan (Harvard University Asia Center, 2015), Heather Blair explores the religious and institutional history of Kinpusen, a …
Gender Studies September 26, 2015

Love and Liberation

Autobiographical Writings of the Tibetan Buddhist Visionary Sera Khandro

Sarah H. Jacoby

Hosted by Luke Thompson
Sarah H. Jacoby's recent monograph, Love and Liberation: Autobiographical Writings of the Tibetan Buddhist Visionary Sera Khandro (Columbia University Press, 2014), focuses on the extraordinary life and times of the …
East Asian Studies June 27, 2015

Rescued from the Nation

Anagarika Dharmapala and the Buddhist World

Steven E. Kemper

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In his recent book, Rescued from the Nation: Anagarika Dharmapala and the Buddhist World (University of Chicago Press, 2015), Steven E. Kemper examines the Sinhala layman Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933) and …
East Asian Studies May 7, 2015

Experimental Buddhism

Innovation and Activism in Contemporary Japan

John K. Nelson

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In his recent book, Experimental Buddhism: Innovation and Activism in Contemporary Japan (University of Hawaii Press, 2013), John K. Nelson delves into the historical circumstances that have led to the …
East Asian Studies April 25, 2015

Conceiving the Indian Buddhist Patriarchs in China

Stuart Young

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In Conceiving the Indian Buddhist Patriarchs in China (University of Hawai'i Press, 2015), Stuart Young examines Chinese hagiographic representations of three Indian Buddhist patriarchs--Asvaghosa (Maming), Nagarjuna (Longshu), and Aryadeva (Sheng …
East Asian Studies March 18, 2015

The History of Chinese Buddhist Bibliography

Censorship and Transformation of the Tripitaka

Tanya Storch

Hosted by Luke Thompson
Tanya Storch's recent book, The History of Chinese Buddhist Bibliography: Censorship and Transformation of the Tripitaka (Cambria, 2014), focuses on the development of Chinese Buddhist catalogs from their first appearance …
East Asian Studies February 11, 2015

India in the Chinese Imagination

Myth, Religion, and Thought

Meir Shahar and John Kieschnick, eds.

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In India in the Chinese Imagination: Myth, Religion, and Thought (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), eleven scholars (including editors John Kieschnick and Meir Shahar) examine the Chinese reception of Indian …
East Asian Studies February 6, 2015

Miracles of Book and Body

Buddhist Textual Culture and Medieval Japan

Charlotte Eubanks

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In Miracles of Book and Body: Buddhist Textual Culture and Medieval Japan (University of California Press, 2011), Charlotte Eubanks examines the relationship between Mahāyāna Buddhist sÅ«tras and the human body …
Literary Studies January 23, 2015

Wondrous Brutal Fictions

Eight Buddhist Tales from the Early Japanese Puppet Theater

R. Keller Kimbrough

Hosted by Luke Thompson
In his recent book, Wondrous Brutal Fictions: Eight Buddhist Tales from the Early Japanese Puppet Theater (Columbia University Press, 2013), R. Keller Kimbrough provides us with eight beautifully translated sekkyō …
Southeast Asian Studies January 8, 2015

The Birth of Insight

Meditation, Modern Buddhism, and the Burmese Monk Ledi Sayadaw

Erik Braun

Hosted by Luke Thompson
Erik Braun's recent book, The Birth of Insight: Meditation, Modern Buddhism, and the Burmese Monk Ledi Sayadaw (University of Chicago Press, 2013), examines the spread of Burmese Buddhist meditation practices …
Central Asian Studies December 25, 2014

The Taming of the Demons

Violence and Liberation in Tibetan Buddhism

Jacob Dalton

Hosted by Luke Thompson
Jacob Dalton's recent book, The Taming of the Demons: Violence and Liberation in Tibetan Buddhism (Yale University Press, 2011), examines violence (both symbolic and otherwise) in Tibetan Buddhism. Dalton focuses …
East Asian Studies November 11, 2014

Secrecy's Power

Cover Shin Buddhists in Japan and Contradictions of Concealment

Clark Chilson

Hosted by Luke Thompson
Clark Chilson's new book, Secrecy's Power: Covert Shin Buddhists in Japan and Contradictions of Concealment (University of Hawai'i Press, 2014) examines secret groups of Shin (i.e., True Pure Land Buddhist) …
East Asian Studies October 27, 2014

The Body Incantatory

Spells and the Ritual Imagination in Medieval Chinese Buddhism

Paul Copp

Hosted by Luke Thompson
Paul Copp's new book, The Body Incantatory: Spells and the Ritual Imagination in Medieval Chinese Buddhism (Columbia University Press, 2014), focuses on Chinese interpretations and uses of two written dharani …
East Asian Studies October 14, 2014

Passing the Light

The Incense Light Community and Buddhist Nuns in Contemporary Taiwan

Chun-fang Yu

Hosted by Luke Thompson
Chan-fang Yu's new book, Passing the Light: The Incense Light Community and Buddhist Nuns in Contemporary Taiwan (University of Hawaii Press, 2013), focuses on a community of nuns in Taiwan …