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About New York Institute for the Humanities

Since 1977, the New York Institute for the Humanities has brought together distinguished scholars, writers, artists, and publishing professionals to foster crucial discussions around the public humanities. Through weekly seminars and public events, the NYIH nurtures conversations and collaborations among its network of fellows to broaden the intellectual vision informing and enlivening public culture. For more information and to support the NYIH, visit nyihumanities.org.

Since 1977, the New York Institute for the Humanities has brought together distinguished scholars, writers, artists, and publishing professionals to foster crucial discussions around the public humanities. For more information and to support the NYIH, visit nyihumanities.org.

NBN Episodes hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities:

The Vault August 25, 2023

The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI

A Lecture by Betty Medsger

Betty Medsger

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
Listen:
In this 2014 episode from the Institute’s Vault, we hear from Betty Medsger. Medsger was a Washington Post reporter in March 1971, and received a cache of stolen FBI files …
The Vault August 23, 2023

Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity

A Lecture by Rebecca Goldstein

Rebecca Goldstein

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
In this episode from the Institute’s Vault we hear from Rebecca Goldstein, an American philosopher, novelist, and public intellectual. She holds a Ph.D. in philosophy of science from Princeton University …
The Vault August 2, 2023

Transaction Man

The Rise of the Deal and the Decline of the American Dream

Nicholas Lemann

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
Listen:
Nicholas Lemann is a staff writer at the New Yorker and a professor of journalism at Columbia. He is the author of four books, the most recent of which is …
The Vault August 1, 2023

The Happiness Myth

A Talk by Jennifer Michael Hecht

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
Listen:
In 2006, Jennifer Michael Hecht spoke to the Institute about her book, The Happiness Myth: Why What We Think Is Right Is Wrong. Hecht is a poet and historian, who holds a …
The Vault July 29, 2023

Year Zero: A History of 1945

A Lecture by Ian Buruma

Ian Buruma

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
Ian Buruma is the author, co-author and editor of over a dozen books. He has been an editor at the Far Eastern Economic Review and The New York Review of …
The Vault July 28, 2023

The Intellectual Life of Edmund Burke

A Lecture by David Bromwich

David Bromwich

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
Listen:
In April 2014, David Bromwich spoke at the Institute about his forthcoming book, The Intellectual Life of Edmund Burke: From the Sublime and Beautiful to American Independence (Harvard UP, 2014) …
The Vault July 1, 2023

Deirdre Bair on Artist Saul Steinberg

Deirdre Bair

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
Listen:
In this episode from the Institute’s Vault, we hear a 2011 talk by Deirdre Bair about the artist Saul Steinberg. Bair received the 1978 National Book Award for her biography …
The Vault June 18, 2023

The End of Books

A Lecture by Robert Coover

Robert Coover

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
Listen:
Robert Coover spoke at the Institute in the spring of 2006. Coover is the author of over a dozen postmodern novels, including The Public Burning and Pinochio in Venice. He …
The Vault February 2, 2023

Sennett and Foucault on Sexuality and Solitude (1979)

Richard Sennett and Michel Foucault

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
In 1979, sociologist and NYIH founder Richard Sennett, and philosopher Michel Foucault, discussed the connections between the history of sexuality and self consciousness. In this episode from the Vault, the …
The Vault January 9, 2023

Rousseau's Ideas About Censorship in the Arts

A Lecture by Richard Sennett

Richard Sennett

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
In 1982, the Institute held a multi day discussion of censorship. In this session from the Vault, sociologist Richard Sennett talks about Jean Jacques Rousseau’s ideas about censorship in the …
The Vault January 5, 2023

On W. H. Auden

A Discussion with Christopher Isherwood and Stephen Spender

Christopher Isherwood and Stephen Spender

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
In 1983, ten years after W. H. Auden’s death, the New York Institute for the Humanities organized a series of readings and discussions of his work. In this episode from …
The Vault January 3, 2023

Why are Insects so Scary? On Insects in Films.

A Lecture by May Berenbaum

May Berenbaum

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
This episode from the Vault is a lecture by May Berenbaum about why insects are so scary. Professor Berenbaum is an American entomologist whose research focuses on the chemical interactions …
The Vault January 3, 2023

Why are Insects so Scary? On Insects in Films.

A Lecture by May Berenbaum

May Berenbaum

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
This episode from the Vault is a lecture by May Berenbaum about why insects are so scary. Professor Berenbaum is an American entomologist whose research focuses on the chemical interactions …
The Vault January 1, 2023

Comedies of 'Fair Use'

Lewis Hyde on Owning Art and Ideas

Lewis Hyde

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
In April 2006, The Institute held a two day symposium about copyright and intellectual property, titled Comedies of Fair Use. In this session, Lewis Hyde talks about owning art and …
The Vault December 30, 2022

Edmund Leach on Roman Jakobson's Contributions to Linguistics

Edmund Leach

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
In this episode from the Institute’s Vault, we hear the1982 Gallatin Lecture, in which Sir Edmund Leach discussed the work of Roman Jakobson, who he met in 1960, at Stanford’s …
The Vault December 28, 2022

"Gone with the Wind" Revisited

A Lecture by Molly Haskell

Molly Haskell

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
In this week’s episode from the Institute’s Vault, Molly Haskell talks about her 2009 book, Frankly, My Dear: "Gone with the Wind" Revisited, published by Yale University Press. Haskell grew …
The Vault December 27, 2022

The Role and Revival of Narrative in History

A Lecture by Laurence Stone

Laurence Stone

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
In this week’s episode from the Institute’s Vault, we hear a lecture on the revival of narrative in history by Laurence Stone. Professor Stone taught at Princeton from 1963 to …
The Vault December 6, 2022

Second Thoughts on Consistency

A Lecture by Hans Magnus Enzensberger

Hans Magnus Enzensberger

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
In October 1981, Hans Magnus Enzensberger gave the Institute’s James lecture, titled “Second  Thoughts on Consistency.” Enzensberger, who died in November, 2022, at the age of 93, was a German translator …
NYIH Conversations December 5, 2022

Dirty Work

Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality in America

Eyal Press

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
In the episode of Conversations from the Institute, we hear from Eyal Press, who is the author of Absolute Convictions: My Father, a City, and the Conflict that Divided America …
The Vault October 25, 2022

Leonardo da Vinci and Vassari’s "Lives of the Painters"

A Lecture by Harry Berger

Harry Berger

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
In this episode of the Vault, we hear Harry Berger’s talk about Leonardo da Vinci and Vassari’s "Lives of the Painters." Harry Berger was a scholar of Renaissance English literature …
The Vault October 10, 2022

Eric Hobsbawm on "Literacy and the Tower of Babel"

Eric Hobsbawm

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
In this episode from the Vault, we hear from historian Eric Hobsbawm, a frequent visitor at the New York Institute for the Humanities. His talk, Literacy and the Tower of …
The Vault October 3, 2022

Clothes in Literature

A Talk by Anne Hollander

Anne Hollander

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
In this 2008 episode from the Vault we hear from fashion historian Anne Hollander, a longtime member of the Institute, and former president of the PEN American Center. Hollander was …
The Vault September 19, 2022

Tod Gitlin on the Recovery of American Ideals

Tod Gitlin

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
In this episode from the Institute’s Vault, we hear from Tod Gitlin. Gitlin was president of the Students for a Democratic Society, and went on to become a sociologist, political …
The Vault August 23, 2022

Greil Marcus on the Death of His Father

Greil Marcus

Hosted by New York Institute for the Humanities
In this 2008 episode of The Vault, Greil Marcus reads from a Three Penny Review essay about the death of his father, who went down with the USS Hull in …