Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchNick Butler, "The Trouble with Jokes: Humour and Offensiveness in Contemporary Culture and Politics" (Policy Press, 2023)
Episode 142
In this podcast, Nick Butler explores humour's complex and often controversial role in shaping modern political discourse, examining how jokes can ch…
1 year, 7 months ago
Tom Scott-Smith, "Fragments of Home: Refugee Housing and the Politics of Shelter" (Stanford UP, 2024)
Episode 196
Abandoned airports. Shipping containers. Squatted hotels. These are just three of the many unusual places that have housed refugees in the past decad…
1 year, 7 months ago
Sabrina Strings, "The End of Love: Racism, Sexism, and the Death of Romance" (Beacon Press, 2024)
Episode 43
More men than ever are refusing loving partnerships and commitment, and instead seeking out “situationships.” When these men deign to articulate what…
1 year, 7 months ago
Kevin B. Smith, "The Jailer's Reckoning: How Mass Incarceration Is Damaging America" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024)
Episode 24
How does a Black man in Austin get sent to prison on a 70-year sentence for stealing a tuna sandwich, likely costing Texas taxpayers roughly a millio…
1 year, 7 months ago
Lauren D. Olsen, "Curricular Injustice: How U.S. Medical Schools Reproduce Inequalities" (Columbia UP, 2024)
Episode 226
Medical schools have increasingly incorporated the humanities and social sciences into their teaching, seeking to make future physicians more empathe…
1 year, 7 months ago
Without Parents or Papers: A Discussion with Stephanie L. Canizales
Episode 240
Today’s book is: Sin Padres, Ni Papeles: Unaccompanied Migrant Youth Coming of Age in the United States (U California Press, 2024), a which explores …
1 year, 7 months ago
Petra Molnar, "The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in the Age of Artificial Intelligence" (New Press, 2024)
Episode 394
In 2022, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it was training “robot dogs” to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border against migrants. Four…
1 year, 7 months ago
Shalini Kakar, "Devotional Fanscapes: Bollywood Star Deities, Devotee-Fans, and Cultural Politics in India and Beyond" (Rowman and Littlefield, 2023)
Episode 364
Devotional Fanscapes: Bollywood Star Deities, Devotee-Fans, and Cultural Politics in India and Beyond (Rowman and Littlefield, 2023) examines how fan…
1 year, 7 months ago
Vivian Asimos, "Cosplay and the Dressing of Identity" (Reaktion, 2024)
Episode 202
Cosplay, born from the fusion of ‘costume’ and ‘play’, transcends mere dress-up by transforming enthusiasts of TV shows, movies, books or video games…
1 year, 7 months ago
Sasikumar Harikrishnan, "Social Spaces and the Public Sphere:: A Spatial-history of Modernity in Kerala" (Routledge, 2023)
Episode 249
What can social spaces tell us about social relations in society? How do everyday social spaces like teashops, reading rooms and libraries reify-or s…
1 year, 7 months ago