Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchJim Downs, "Maladies of Empire: How Colonialism, Slavery, and War Transformed Medicine" (Harvard UP, 2023)
Episode 1793
Jim Downs’ most recent book is Maladies of Empire: How Colonialism, Slavery, and War Transformed Medicine. Professor Downs is the Gilder Lehrman-Nati…
6 months, 3 weeks ago
Eileen G'Sell, "Lipstick" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
Episode 1792
From Revlon to Glossier, from Marilyn to Gaga, lipstick is as shape-shifting and unwieldy as femininity itself.
Who wears lipstick today – as a matter…
6 months, 3 weeks ago
Miranda Banks and Kate Fortmueller, "Boom to Bust: How Streaming Broke Hollywood Workers" (U California Press, 2026)
Episode 1791
Boom to Bust is a timely investigation into the rise of Peak TV and the perfect storm that caused a rapid decline in Hollywood work.
When Hollywood w…
6 months, 3 weeks ago
Emely Rumble, "Bibliotherapy in The Bronx" (Row House, 2025)
Episode 1790
Bibliotherapy in The Bronx (Row House, 2025) by Emely Rumble, LCSW, is a groundbreaking exploration of the healing power of literature in the lives o…
6 months, 3 weeks ago
Lewis Sage-Passant, "Beyond States and Spies: The Security Intelligence Services of the Private Sector" (Edinburgh UP, 2024)
Episode 1789
Scholars have long viewed intelligence as the preserve of nation states. Where the term ‘private sector intelligence’ is used, the focus has been ove…
6 months, 3 weeks ago
Alisa Kessel, "Rape Fantasies: Rape Culture and the Persistence of Sexual Violence" (Oxford UP, 2025)
Episode 1788
Political theorist Alisa Kessel (University of Puget Sound) has an important and impressive new book, Rape Fantasies: Rape Culture and the Persistenc…
6 months, 4 weeks ago
Keith Cooper, "Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact" (Reaktion, 2025)
Episode 1787
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to watch a double sunset on Tatooine, stand among the sand dunes of Arrakis or gaze at the gas-giant pla…
6 months, 4 weeks ago
Daphne A. Brooks, "Blackstar Rising and the Purple Reign: The Sonic Afterlives of David Bowie and Prince" (Duke UP, 2026)
Episode 1786
Blackstar Rising and the Purple Reign: The Sonic Afterlives of David Bowie and Prince (Duke UP, 2026) is the first critical anthology dedicated to ex…
6 months, 4 weeks ago
Money Beyond Borders with Barry Eichengreen
Episode 1785
Doubts about the international dominance of the dollar are only growing amid worries about tariffs, political dysfunction, and fraying international …
7 months ago
Matthew Bothwell, "The Invisible Universe: Why There's More to Reality than Meets the Eye" (Simon and Schuster, 2021)
Episode 1784
Since the dawn of our species, people all over the world have gazed in awe at the night sky. But for all the beauty and wonder of the stars, when we …
7 months ago