Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchLorraine Besser, "The Art of the Interesting: What We Miss in Our Pursuit of the Good Life and How to Cultivate It" (Balance, 2024)
Episode 1487
What is a good life? Traditionally, philosophers have seen it as an equation: The Good Life = Happiness + Meaning. But, if it's really that simple, w…
1 year ago
John R. Davis, "Keep Your Ear to the Ground: A History of Punk Fanzines in Washington, DC" (Georgetown UP, 2025)
Episode 1486
John R. Davis's Keep Your Ear to the Ground (Georgetown University Press, 2025) is the first history of the fanzines that emerged from Washington, DC…
1 year ago
Meghan Crnic, "The Beach Cure: A History of Healing on Northeastern Shores" (U Washington Press, 2025)
Episode 1485
For centuries, the ocean was seen as a place of danger and work, but by the late nineteenth century, northeastern shores of the United States became …
1 year ago
In The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift Addresses Love, Glamour, and Grit
Episode 1484
It’s The Pop Culture Professors, and we review Taylor Swift’s new album “The Life of a Showgirl.” We consider the album’s themes: love, nostalgia, ho…
1 year, 1 month ago
Audrey Golden, "Shouting Out Loud: Lives of the Raincoats" (Da Capo Press, 2025)
Episode 1483
In Shouting Out Loud: Lives of The Raincoats (Da Capo Press, 2025) Audrey Golden traces the history of the iconic band The Raincoats staring of the f…
1 year, 1 month ago
Eric T. Jennings, "Vanilla: The History of an Extraordinary Bean" (Yale UP, 2025)
Episode 1482
Vanilla is one of the most expensive of flavorings—so valuable that it was smuggled or stolen by pirates in the early days—and yet it is everywhere. …
1 year, 1 month ago
Kathleen B. Casey, "The Things She Carried: A Cultural History of the Purse in America" (Oxford UP, 2025)
Episode 1481
Kathleen Casey joins Jana Byars to talk about The Things She Carried: A Cultural History of the Purse in America (Oxford UP, 2025). Purses and bags h…
1 year, 1 month ago
Roddy Bottum, "The Royal We" (Akashic Books, 2025)
Episode 1480
The Royal We (Akashic Books, 2025) is a poetic survey of a time set in a magical city that once was and is no more. It is a memoir written by Roddy B…
1 year, 1 month ago
Disco Sucks
Episode 1479
On July 12, 1979, Chicago’s Comiskey Park erupted into chaos during what was supposed to be a quirky baseball promotion. Shock radio jock Steve Dahl’…
1 year, 1 month ago
Nick Katsiadas and Carl Sell eds., "Tolkien's Medievalism in Ruins: The Function of Relics and Ruins in Middle-earth" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Episode 1478
The structural and symbolic purposes of ruins in literary texts have a long history, yet few scholars explore their importance within J. R. R. Tolkie…
1 year, 1 month ago