About Caleb Zakarin

Caleb Zakarin is the CEO and Publisher of the New Books Network. He lives in New York City.
Caleb Zakarin is the CEO and Publisher of the New Books Network.

NBN Episodes hosted by Caleb:

Alfie Marcus on How Great Companies Can Rise Again

September 4, 2026

Comeback

Alfred Marcus
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Alfie Marcus is ordinarily the host of On the Cusp Between Strategy and Ethics, where he interviews authors about the intersection of organizational s…

Inside Ink & Ribbon Press with Founder G.K. Allum and Poet Jan Noble

September 3, 2026

Inside Ink & Ribbon Press

G.K. Allum and Jan Noble
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

A year ago, Ink & Ribbon Press did not exist. Today it’s a nonprofit publisher with its first books in the world, a readership built largely throu…

Filmmaker Peter Santenello on Your Fellow Americans: Dispatches from Across the Country We Call Home

September 1, 2026

Your Fellow Americans

Peter Santenello
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Have you ever swapped stories on a porch with Amish snowbirds in Florida? Searched for reindeer with the Siberian Yupik in Alaska? Been a guest on a h…

An Honest Death: Life's End and Humanist Funerals with Matthew Engelke

August 28, 2026

An Honest Death

Matthew Engelke
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

A fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at non-religious funerals in contemporary London, An Honest Death: Life's End and Humanist Funerals (Princeton U…

Daniel Byman, "American Pogroms: How Forgotten Massacres Shape America" (Oxford UP, 2026)

August 14, 2026

American Pogroms

Daniel Byman
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Amidst heightened rhetoric and increasing polarization in the United States, American Pogroms: How Forgotten Massacres Shape America (Oxford Universit…

The Science of Memory with Steve Ramirez

July 30, 2026

The Science of Memory with Steve Ramirez

Steve Ramirez
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Today I’m speaking with neuroscientist Stave Ramirez about bullshit and memory. Steve is an associate professor at Boston University, where he runs a …

Steven K. Green, "American Infidelity: The Gilded Age Battle Over Freethought, Free Love, and Feminism" (Oxford UP, 2026)

July 29, 2026

American Infidelity

Steven K. Green
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Today I'm speaking with Steven K. Green, Fred H. Paulus Professor of Law and Affiliated Professor of History and Religious Studies at Willamette Unive…

Rory Cormac, "Fakers: A Top-Secret Tale of Phantoms and Forgeries on the Disinformation Front Line" (Oxford UP, 2026)

July 17, 2026

Fakers

Rory Cormac
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Fakers: A Top-Secret Tale of Phantoms and Forgeries on the Disinformation Front Line (Oxford UP, 2026) reveals the rise and fall of the mavericks runn…

Are Capitalism and Democracy Fundamentally Incompatible? A Conversation with Mordecai Kurz

July 15, 2026

Private Power and Democracy's Decline

Mordecai Kurz
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Today I'm speaking with Mordecai Kurz, Joan Kenney Professor of Economics Emeritus at Stanford University. We are discussing his latest book, Private …

What are the Limits of Political Speech? A Conversation with Erik J. Olsen

July 10, 2026

A New Approach to Political Speech

Erik J. Olsen
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

A New Approach to Political Speech: Democratic Theory, Constitutional Law, and Public Liberty After January 6 (de Gruyter, 2026) challenges convention…

Nicholas Freudenberg, "Fighting for New York: Activism for Health and Social Justice Since The 1960s" (Columbia UP, 2026)

July 7, 2026

Fighting for New York

Nicholas Freudenberg
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Today I'm speaking with Nicholas Freudenberg, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Public Health at the CUNY School of Public Health. We are discussing…

Thomas Paine at the Semiquincentennial: A Conversation with Gregory Claeys

July 1, 2026

Thomas Paine at the Semiquincentennial

Gregory Claeys
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Thomas Paine: Collected Writings (Princeton University Press, 2026) is the first major new edition of Paine’s works, bringing together all his writing…

Jonathan Schneer, "Nine Days in May: The General Strike Of 1926" (Oxford UP, 2026)

July 1, 2026

Nine Days in May

Jonathan Schneer
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

In May, 1926, nearly three million British workers downed tools to support nearly one million of their countrymen, miners whose employers meant to len…

Thomas S. Mullaney, "How We Disappear: A Personal History of Information" (W. W. Norton, 2026)

June 28, 2026

How We Disappear

Thomas S. Mullaney
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

This is the third time I have the great fortune of interviewing Tom Mullaney. I can hardly think of a more worthy ambassador for the history disciplin…

Robin Dembroff, "Real Men on Top: How Patriarchy Shapes Our Reality" (Oxford UP, 2026)

June 22, 2026

Real Men on Top

Robin Dembroff
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

In Real Men on Top: How Patriarchy Shapes Our Reality (Oxford University Press, 2026), Robin Dembroff shows us that we don't just live in a patriarcha…

Jackie M. Blount, "Straighten Up, Girls and Boys: How Schools Have Shaped Sexuality and Gender" (Harvard Education Press, 2026)

June 21, 2026

Straighten Up, Girls and Boys

Jackie M. Blount
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

In Straighten Up, Girls and Boys: How Schools Have Shaped Sexuality and Gender (Harvard Education Press, 2026), acclaimed historian and educator Jacki…

Inside the Mississippi Marathon: How Mississippi Dramatically Improved Its Education System with Rachel Canter

June 19, 2026

Inside the Mississippi Marathon

Rachel Canter
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

In 2008, Rachel Canter founded Mississippi First, an education non-profit with the mission of improving educational outcomes for students across the s…

How Does the Second-Hand Book Business Really Work? with WeBuyBooks Co-Founder Mike Lane

June 12, 2026

How Does the Second-Hand Book Business Really Work?

Mike Lane
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Today I’m speaking with Mike Lane, Managing Director and co-founder of WeBuyBooks about the economics of the second-hand book business. WeBuyBooks is …

AI, Algocracy, and Democracy's Challenging Road Ahead with Andrew Sorota

June 12, 2026

AI, Algocracy, and Democracy's Challenging Road Ahead

Andrew Sorota
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Like many people, I've been following the developments of AI, testing out new models and following the deluge of news stories about the fight for supr…

Julie J. Park, "Race, Class, and Affirmative Action: College Admissions in a New Era" (Harvard Education Press, 2026)

May 31, 2026

Race, Class, and Affirmative Action

Julie J. Park
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

In Race, Class, and Affirmative Action: College Admissions in a New Era (Harvard Education Press, 2026), Julie J. Park offers deft analysis of the cha…

Chloe Chapin, "Suitable: The Sartorial Revolution and the Fashioning of Modern Men" (Oxford UP, 2026)

May 31, 2026

Suitable

Chloe Chapin
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

How did black suits become so ubiquitous? Why has men's business clothing been so plain for the last 250 years? How did a style adopted by the Foundin…

Janani Balasubramanian and Natalie Gosnell, "Art-Science Undisciplined: A Playbook for Transformative Collaboration" (U California Press, 2026)

May 30, 2026

Art-Science Undisciplined

Janani Balasubramanian and Natalie Gosnell
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Art-Science Undisciplined invites us into a collaborative journey grounded in mutual exploration and transformation. Moving beyond transactional excha…

Annette Gordon-Reed ed., "Jefferson on Race: A Reader" (Princeton UP, 2026)

May 30, 2026

Jefferson on Race

Annette Gordon-Reed
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

From The New York Times–bestselling and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello, a groundbreaking collection of Thomas Jefferson’…

William R. Brody, "Uncommon Sense: Rethinking Ordinary Problems in Extraordinary Ways" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2026)

April 28, 2026

Uncommon Sense

William R. Brody
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Today I’m speaking with William R. Brody about his book, Uncommon Sense: Rethinking Ordinary Problems in Extraordinary Ways (Johns Hopkins University …