New Books Network

About Marshall Poe

Marshall Poe has done a lot of things, some of them good.

Marshall Poe is the founder and editor of the New Books Network. He can be reached at marshallpoe@newbooksnetwork.com.

NBN Episodes hosted by Marshall:

Grinnell College: Authors and Artists January 17, 2022

The Upstairs House

A Novel

Julia Fine

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Today I had the pleasure of talking to Julia Fine about her new book The Upstairs House: A Novel (Harper Collins, 2021). We talked about a lot of things, including how Goodnight …
Grinnell College: Authors and Artists January 3, 2022

Spectacle of Grief

Public Funerals and Memory in the Civil War Era

Sarah J. Purcell

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Spectacle of Grief: Public Funerals and Memory in the Civil War Era (UNC Press, 2022) examines how the public funerals of major figures from the Civil War era shaped public memories …
Russian and Eurasian Studies December 30, 2021

Putin's Attempt to Hide the Crimes of Stalinism

A Talk with Benjamin Nathans about the Suppression of "Memorial"

Benjamin Nathans

Hosted by Marshall Poe
For the past 30 years, a group of Russian scholars have dedicated themselves to uncovering the crimes of Stalinism. Their organization, Memorial, has in that time made great strides in …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast December 15, 2021

"Bambi" isn't about what you think it's about

Jack Zipes explains what it's really about

Jack Zipes

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Most of us think we know the story of Bambi—but do we? The Original Bambi: The Story of a Life in the Forest (Princeton UP, 2022) is an all-new, illustrated …
Grinnell College: Authors and Artists December 15, 2021

A Talk with George Drake

President Emeritus (1979-1991) of Grinnell College

George Drake

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Today I had the pleasure of talking to George Drake, historian, professor emeritus and president emeritus of Grinnell College. George has written a memoir: Seventy Years in Academe. George brought a wealth of …
Biography December 9, 2021

There Is Nothing for You Here

Opportunity in an Age of Decline

Fiona Hill

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Today I talked to the remarkable Fiona Hill about her new memoir There Is Nothing for You Here: Opportunity in an Age of Decline (Mariner Books, 2021). We talked about the …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast December 1, 2021

Billy Wilder on Assignment

Dispatches from Weimar Berlin and Interwar Vienna

Noah Isenberg and Shelley Frisch

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Before Billy Wilder became the screenwriter and director of iconic films like Sunset Boulevard and Some Like It Hot, he worked as a freelance reporter, first in Vienna and then …
Grinnell College: Authors and Artists December 1, 2021

A Conversation with Anne F. Harris, Medieval Art Historian and President of Grinnell College

"Medieval Art 250-1450: Matter, Making, and Meaning" (Oxford UP, 2021)

Anne F. Harris

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Today I talked to Anne F. Harris. Anne wears two hats: she's a medieval art historian and president of Grinnell College. We talked about her new book Medieval Art 250-1450: Matter, Making, and Meaning …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast November 15, 2021

Why Trust Science?

Naomi Oreskes

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Do doctors really know what they are talking about when they tell us vaccines are safe? Should we take climate experts at their word when they warn us about the …
Scholarly Communication November 8, 2021

How University Presses Keep Up With Everything

A Discussion with Lisa Bayer

Lisa Bayer

Hosted by Marshall Poe
At the New Books Network, we love university presses. So we're happy to tell you about University Press Week, the annual celebration of UPs and their important work. Today I talked …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast November 1, 2021

When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People

How Philosophy Can Save Us from Ourselves

Steven Nadler and Lawrence Shapiro

Hosted by Marshall Poe
There is an epidemic of bad thinking in the world today. An alarming number of people are embracing crazy, even dangerous ideas. They believe that vaccinations cause autism. They reject …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast October 15, 2021

Career and Family

Women’s Century-Long Journey toward Equity

Claudia Goldin

Hosted by Marshall Poe
A century ago, it was a given that a woman with a college degree had to choose between having a career and a family. Today, there are more female college …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast October 1, 2021

Plagues upon the Earth

Disease and the Course of Human History

Kyle Harper

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Kyle Harper's book Plagues upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History (Princeton UP, 2021) is a monumental history of humans and their germs. Weaving together a grand …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast September 17, 2021

Princeton UP's Pedia Series

Beautiful, Short Books About Big, Important Subjects

Robert Kirk

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Today I talked to Robert Kirk, the publisher of Princeton University Press's "Pedia" book series. Encyclopedic in nature and miniature in form, these books explore the wonders of the natural world, from …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast September 1, 2021

Ice Rivers

A Story of Glaciers, Wilderness, and Humanity

Jemma Wadham

Hosted by Marshall Poe
The ice sheets and glaciers that cover one-tenth of Earth’s land surface are in grave peril. High in the Alps, Andes, and Himalaya, once-indomitable glaciers are retreating, even dying. Meanwhile …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast August 16, 2021

Moving Up Without Losing Your Way

The Ethical Costs of Upward Mobility

Jennifer Morton

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Upward mobility through the path of higher education has been an article of faith for generations of working-class, low-income, and immigrant college students. While we know this path usually entails …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast August 2, 2021

In Pursuit of the Perfect Portfolio

The Stories, Voices, and Key Insights of the Pioneers Who Shaped the Way We Invest

Andrew W. Lo and Stephen R. Foerster

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Is there an ideal portfolio of investment assets, one that perfectly balances risk and reward? In Pursuit of the Perfect Portfolio (Princeton UP, 2021) examines this question by profiling and interviewing ten …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast July 15, 2021

Émigrés

French Words That Turned English

Richard Scholar

Hosted by Marshall Poe
English has borrowed more words from French than from any other modern foreign language. French words and phrases—such as à la mode, ennui, naïveté and caprice—lend English a certain je-ne-sais-quoi …
World Affairs July 2, 2021

High Conflict

Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out

Amanda Ripley

Hosted by Marshall Poe
What’s the greatest crisis facing America today? — Racism and hate crimes, exploding government debt, climate change, or the mess at the border? It may be none of these. America …
In Conversation: An OUP Podcast July 1, 2021

Joseph Smith for President

The Prophet, the Assassins, and the Fight for American Religious Freedom

Spencer W. McBride

Hosted by Marshall Poe
By the election year of 1844, Joseph Smith, the controversial founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had amassed a national following of some 25,000 believers. Nearly …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast July 1, 2021

What Do the Ancients Have to Teach Us?

A Discussion to with Rob Tempio

Rob Tempio

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Today I talked to Rob Tempio, the editor of a wonderful collection of books from Princeton University Press called "Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers." The series presents the timeless and timely ideas …
In Conversation: An OUP Podcast June 15, 2021

The Chiefs Now in This City

Indians and the Urban Frontier in Early America

Colin Calloway

Hosted by Marshall Poe
During the years of the Early Republic, prominent Native leaders regularly traveled to American cities--Albany, Boston, Charleston, Philadelphia, Montreal, Quebec, New York, and New Orleans--primarily on diplomatic or trade business …
Princeton UP Ideas Podcast June 15, 2021

Taken for Granted

The Remarkable Power of the Unremarkable

Eviatar Zerubavel

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Why is the term "openly gay" so widely used but "openly straight" is not? What are the unspoken assumptions behind terms like "male nurse," "working mom," and "white trash"? Offering …
In Conversation: An OUP Podcast June 1, 2021

Newspaper Confessions

A History of Advice Columns in a Pre-Internet Age

Julie Golia

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Julie Golia's new book Newspaper Confessions: A History of Advice Columns in a Pre-Internet Age (Oxford UP, 2021) chronicles the history of the newspaper advice column, a genre that has shaped …