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About Caleb Zakarin

Caleb Zakarin is the Assistant Editor of the New Books Network.

NBN Episodes hosted by Caleb:

Military History March 19, 2023

Mercy

Humanity in War

Cathal J. Nolan

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
Mercy: Humanity in War (Oxford University Press, 2022) gathers and explores acts of singular mercy, giving them form and substance across wars, causes, and opposing uniforms. These acts demand our attention …
Intellectual History March 14, 2023

Who's Black and Why?

A Hidden Chapter from the Eighteenth-Century Invention of Race

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Andrew S. Curran

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
Who's Black and Why?: A Hidden Chapter from the Eighteenth-Century Invention of Race (Harvard University Press, 2022) is the first translation and publication of sixteen submissions to the notorious eighteenth-century Bordeaux essay …
Law March 6, 2023

A People's Constitution

The Everyday Life of Law in the Indian Republic

Rohit De

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
Rohit De examines four important cases that set legal precedents: a Parsi journalist’s contestation of new alcohol prohibition laws, Marwari petty traders’ challenge to the system of commodity control, Muslim …
Journalism March 6, 2023

The Los Angeles Review of Books

A Conversation with Michelle Chihara and Annie Berke

Michelle Chihara and Annie Berke

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
Today I talked to Michelle Chihara, Editor-in-Chief of the Los Angeles Review of Books and Annie Berke, the Film Editor at the Los Angeles Review of Books. We talked about book reviewing in …
Finance February 23, 2023

The Rise of Central Banks

State Power in Financial Capitalism

Leon Wansleben

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
While central banks have gained remarkable influence over the past fifty years, promising more stability, global finance has gone from crisis to crisis. How do we explain this development? Drawing …
General History February 20, 2023

The Fires of Philadelphia

Citizen-Soldiers, Nativists, and the 1844 Riots Over the Soul of a Nation

Zachary M. Schrag

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
Zachary M. Schrag's The Fires of Philadelphia: Citizen-Soldiers, Nativists, and the 1844 Riots Over the Soul of a Nation (Pegasus, 2021) is a gripping and masterful account of the moment one of America's …
Technology February 18, 2023

Pegasus

How a Spy in Your Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy

Laurent Richard and Sandrine Rigaud

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
Pegasus: How a Spy in Your Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy (Henry Holt, 2023) is the inside story of a worldwide investigation, sparked by the leak which …
Chinese Studies February 15, 2023

The King's Harvest

A Political Ecology of China from the First Farmers to the First Empire

Brian Lander

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
The King's Harvest: A Political Ecology of China from the First Farmers to the First Empire (Yale UP, 2021) is a multidisciplinary study of the ecology of China's early political systems up to …
General History February 11, 2023

A Line of Blood and Dirt

Creating the Canada-United States Border Across Indigenous Lands

Benjamin Hoy

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
A Line of Blood and Dirt: Creating the Canada–United States Border across Indigenous Lands (Oxford UP, 2021), is the recipient of the AHA’s Albert Corey Prize in the history of Canadian–American …
General History February 10, 2023

Until Justice Be Done

America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction

Kate Masur

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
The half-century before the Civil War was beset with conflict over equality as well as freedom. Beginning in 1803, many free states enacted laws that discouraged free African Americans from …
Jewish Studies February 4, 2023

The Jewish Reformation

Bible Translation and Middle-Class German Judaism As Spiritual Enterprise

Michah Gottlieb

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
The Jewish Reformation: Bible Translation and Middle-Class German Judaism as Spiritual Enterprise (Oxford University Press, 2021) was the 2022 winner of the AHA’s Dorothy Rosenberg Prize in the history of Jewish …
Literature January 26, 2023

Charles Street Trio

A Novel in Three Voices

Anthony Valerio, Kate Farrell, and Pamela Manché Pearce

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
Charles Street Trio: A Novel in Three Voices (2022) is a series of books that collectively form a tapestry of life in the form of a sprawling epic of a …
American Studies January 25, 2023

Generation Gap

Why the Baby Boomers Still Dominate American Politics and Culture

Kevin Munger

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
In Generation Gap: Why the Baby Boomers Still Dominate American Politics and Culture (Columbia UP, 2022), Kevin Munger marshals novel data and survey evidence to argue that generational conflict will define the politics …
Politics & Polemics January 20, 2023

The American Imperative

Reclaiming Global Leadership through Soft Power

Daniel F. Runde

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
In The American Imperative: Reclaiming Global Leadership through Soft Power (Bombardier, 2023), Washington insider Daniel Runde makes the case for building a new global consensus through vigorous internationalism and the judicious …
Animal Studies December 31, 2022

Justice for Animals

Our Collective Responsibility

Martha C. Nussbaum

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
A revolutionary new theory and call to action on animal rights, ethics, and law from the renowned philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum.  Animals are in trouble all over the world. Whether …
General History December 31, 2022

The Princeton Guide to Historical Research

Zachary Schrag

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
The essential handbook for doing historical research in the twenty-first century The Princeton Guide to Historical Research (Princeton UP, 2021) provides students, scholars, and professionals with the skills they need …
Scholarly Communication December 26, 2022

The Partially Examined Life

A Conversation with Wes Alwan

Wes Alwan

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
"The Partially Examined Life" is a philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it." In …
American Studies December 25, 2022

The Jeffersonians

Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe, 1801-1825

Kevin R. C. Gutzman

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
Kevin R. C. Gutzman's The Jeffersonians: The Visionary Presidencies of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe (St. Martin's Press, 2022) marks the first chronicle of the only consecutive trio of two-term presidencies …
British Studies December 23, 2022

The London Revolution 1640 – 1643

Class Struggles in 17th-Century England

Michael Sturza

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
The London Revolution 1640-1643: Class Struggles in 17th-Century England examines the political upheavals that occurred during the reign of Charles the First in London and England more broadly. Michael Sturza offers …
Mathematics December 19, 2022

Seduced by Mathematics

The Enduring Fascination of Mathematics

James D. Stein

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
Seduction is not just an end result, but a process -- and in mathematics, both the end results and the process by which those end results are achieved are often …
Eastern European Studies December 19, 2022

Turkey-Russia Relations in the Twenty-First Century

Cooperation and Competition Amid Systemic Turbulence

Muhammet Koçak

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
Turkey and Russia are two of the most significant powerhouses in Eurasia. The foreign policies of two countries directly impact the regional dynamics in Black Sea, Central Asia, Middle East …
Finance December 18, 2022

States and the Masters of Capital

Sovereign Lending, Old and New

Quentin Bruneau

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
Today, states' ability to borrow private capital depends on stringent evaluations of their creditworthiness. While many presume that this has long been the case, Quentin Bruneau argues that it is …
Economics December 8, 2022

The Federal Reserve

A New History

Robert L. Hetzel

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
In The Federal Reserve: A New History (University of Chicago Press, 2022), Robert Hetzel draws on a 43-year career as an economist in the central bank to trace the influence of …
Digital Humanities November 30, 2022

Ourboox

A Conversation with Mel Rosenberg

Mel Rosenberg

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin
In this interview, Mel Rosenberg discusses his love for children's literature, what makes for a memorable picture book, and the company he created, Ourboox. Ourboox is a free site that …