Shows / New Books in American Studies
New Books in American Studies
This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: newbooksnetwork.com Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/…
Episodes
- New Books in American Studies
R. J. M. Blackett, "Samuel Ringgold Ward: A Life of Struggle" (Yale UP, 2023)
Born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Samuel Ringgold Ward (1817–c. 1869) escaped enslavement and would become a leading figure in the struggle for Black…
- New Books in American Studies
Roger Biles and Mark H. Rose, "A Good Place to Do Business: The Politics of Downtown Renewal Since 1945" (Temple UP, 2022)
The “Pittsburgh Renaissance,” an urban renewal effort launched in the late 1940s, transformed the smoky rust belt city’s downtown. Working-class residents and…
- New Books in American Studies
Tisa Wenger and Sylvester A. Johnson, "Religion and US Empire: Critical New Histories" (NYU Press, 2022)
The United States has been an empire since the time of its founding, and this empire is inextricably intertwined with American religion. Religion and US…
- New Books in American Studies
Stephen Prothero, "God, the Bestseller: How One Editor Transformed American Religion a Book at a Time" (HarperOne, 2023)
New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed religion scholar, Stephen Prothero, captures the compelling and unique saga of twentieth-century America on an…
New Books in American StudiesThe Deception Dividend: FDR's Undeclared War
Sean Lynn-Jones, editor of International Security, interviews author John Schuessler, whose article "The Deception Dividend: FDR's Undeclared War" appears in…
New Books in American StudiesCherished and Cursed: Toward a Social History of "The Catcher in the Rye"
In light of J.D. Salinger's recent passing and on reflection of his literary contributions, The New England Quarterly took a trip back to its December 1997…
- New Books in American Studies
Damian Alan Pargas, "Freedom Seekers: Fugitive Slaves in North America, 1800–1860" (Cambridge UP, 2021)
In Freedom Seekers: Fugitive Slaves in North America, 1800–1860 (Cambridge UP, 2021), Damian Alan Pargas introduces a new conceptualization of 'spaces of…
- New Books in American Studies
Nicholas Carnes and Lilly J. Goren, "The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe" (UP of Kansas, 2022)
In The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (UP of Kansas, 2022), Drs. Nicholas Carnes and Lilly J. Goren ask what lessons does Marvel – a “hulking…
- New Books in American Studies
Traveling Black, A Story of Race and Resistance: A Conversation with Mia Bay
Mia Bay, the Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Chair in American History at the University of Pennsylvania, talks about her book Traveling Black: A Story of Race…
New Books in American Studies"Prettier Than They Used to Be”: Femininity, Fashion, and the Recasting of Radcliffe's Reputation, 1900-1950
Mary Kelley, member of the NEQ editorial board, interviews Deirdre Clemente about her article "'Prettier Than They Used to Be': Femininity, Fashion, and the…
- New Books in American Studies
Kelsey Klotz, "Dave Brubeck and the Performance of Whiteness" (Oxford UP, 2023)
How can we—jazz fans, musicians, writers, and historians—understand the legacy and impact of a musician like Dave Brubeck? It is undeniable that Brubeck…
- New Books in American Studies
Susan J. Stanfield, "Rewriting Citizenship: Women, Race, and Nineteenth-Century Print Culture" (U Georgia Press, 2022)
Rewriting Citizenship: Women, Race, and Nineteenth-Century Print Culture (U Georgia Press, 2022) provides an interdisciplinary approach to antebellum…
- New Books in American Studies
Alberto García, "Abandoning Their Beloved Land: The Politics of Bracero Migration in Mexico" (U California Press, 2023)
Abandoning Their Beloved Land: The Politics of Bracero Migration in Mexico (U California Press, 2023) offers an essential new history of the Bracero Program, a…
- New Books in American Studies
Brian Harker, "Sportin' Life: John W. Bubbles, an American Classic" (Oxford UP, 2022)
John W. Bubbles was an actor, singer, comedian, and most importantly, a dancer. Born in 1902, Bubbles was an innovator in the jazz tap style and half of the…
- New Books in American Studies
Robin L. Owens, "'My Faith in the Constitution Is Whole': Barbara Jordan and the Politics of Scriptures" (Georgetown UP, 2022)
US Congresswoman Barbara Jordan is well-known as an interpreter and defender of the Constitution, particularly through her landmark speech during Richard…
- New Books in American Studies
Theresa Runstedtler, "Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation That Saved the Soul of the NBA" (Bold Type Books, 2023)
Against a backdrop of ongoing resistance to racial desegregation and strident calls for Black Power, the NBA in the 1970s embodied the nation’s imagined…
New Books in American StudiesA Yankee Rebellion? The Regulators, New England, and the New Nation
Bill Fowler, Chair of NEQ's Board of Directors, speaks with Bob Gross about the events leading up to Shays's Rebellion and how they relate to today's…
- New Books in American Studies
Jefferson Cowie, "Freedom's Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power" (Basic Book, 2022)
Jefferson Cowie discusses his book Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power (Basic Books, 2022), beginning with the book’s origin story…
- New Books in American Studies
Marion Turner, "The Wife of Bath: A Biography" (Princeton UP, 2023)
Ever since her triumphant debut in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath, arguably the first ordinary and recognisably real woman in English literature…
- New Books in American Studies
Ross Melnick, "Hollywood's Embassies: How Movie Theaters Projected American Power Around the World" (Columbia UP, 2022)
Beginning in the 1920s, audiences around the globe were seduced not only by Hollywood films but also by lavish movie theaters that were owned and operated by…
- New Books in American Studies
Chris Walley on Deindustrialization (EF, JP)
On a blustery fall morning back in 2019, RTB welcomed Christine Walley, anthropologist and author of Exit Zero: Family and Class in Postindustrial Chicago. In…
- New Books in American Studies
T. R. Johnson, "New Orleans: A Writer's City" (Cambridge UP, 2023)
New Orleans is an indispensable element of America's national identity. As one of the most fabled cities in the world, it figures in countless novels, short…
New Books in American StudiesThe Native American Veterans of Connecticut's Volunteer Regiments and the Union Army
Bill Fowler, Chair of The New England Quarterly Board of Directors, and author David Naumec discuss his article "From Mashantucket to Appomattox: The Native…
- New Books in American Studies
Elizabeth Cobbs, "Fearless Women: Feminist Patriots from Abigail Adams to Beyoncé" (Harvard UP, 2023)
In her latest book, Fearless Women: Feminist Patriots from Abigail Adams to Beyoncé (Harvard University Press, 2023), New York Times bestselling author…
- New Books in American Studies
Lillian Colon, "Lilly: The First Latina Rockette" (Lilly Enterprises, 2021)
Lilly: The First Latina Rockette (Lilly Enterprises, 2021) is the improbable story of a Puerto Rican toddler, confined by her father for 15 years to a Bronx…
- New Books in American Studies
Ryan Donovan, "Broadway Bodies: A Critical History of Conformity" (Oxford UP, 2023)
Broadway has body issues. What is a Broadway Body? Broadway has long preserved the ideology of the "Broadway Body": the hyper-fit, exceptionally able…
- New Books in American Studies
Jovan Scott Lewis, "Violent Utopia: Dispossession and Black Restoration in Tulsa" (Duke UP, 2022)
In Violent Utopia: Dispossession and Black Restoration in Tulsa (Duke UP, 2022), Jovan Scott Lewis retells the history and afterlife of the 1921 Tulsa race…
- New Books in American Studies
Nicola Rollock, "The Racial Code: Tales of Resistance and Survival" (Penguin, 2022)
Why do racial inequalities persist? In The Racial Code: Tales of Resistance and Survival (Penguin, 2023), Nicola Rollock, a Professor of Social Policy & Race…
- New Books in American Studies
Raina Lipsitz, "The Rise of a New Left: How Young Radicals Are Shaping the Future of American Politics" (Verso, 2022)
The mushrooming rolls of the Democratic Socialists of America, Marxist explainers in Teen Vogue, and the outsized impact of the youngest woman ever elected to…
New Books in American StudiesSafe Spaces, Brave Spaces: Diversity and Free Expression in Education
In this episode, Chris Gondek interviews author John Palfrey about how diversity and free expression can coexist on a modern campus. Safe spaces, trigger…
- New Books in American Studies
Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera, "Decolonizing American Spanish: Eurocentrism and the Limits of Foreignness in the Imperial Ecosystem" (U Pittsburgh Press, 2022)
Jeffrey joins the podcast to discuss the prevalence of English in the academic ecosystem and in research publishing. Jeffrey critiques the lackadaisical…
- New Books in American Studies
Marcus Rediker, "The Slave Ship: A Human History" (Penguin, 2008)
In this widely praised history of an infamous institution, award-winning scholar Marcus Rediker shines a light into the darkest corners of the British and…
- New Books in American Studies
Thomas Aiello, "Dixieball: Race and Professional Basketball in the Deep South, 1947-1979" (U Tennessee Press, 2019)
In Dixieball: Race and Professional Basketball in the Deep South, 1947-1979 (U Tennessee Press, 2019), Thomas Aiello considers the cultural function of…
- New Books in American Studies
Are We Done with Higher Education Rankings?
Why do most of the institutions of higher education in the United States participate in a rankings system? What do the rankings do? And what does it mean when…
- New Books in American Studies
Steve Kemper, "Our Man in Tokyo: An American Ambassador and the Countdown to Pearl Harbor" (Mariner Books, 2022)
In the years leading up to the Second World War, the U.S. was represented in Japan by Ambassador Joseph Grew: born from a patrician family, Harvard-educated…
- New Books in American Studies
Celeste Vaughan Curington et al., "The Dating Divide: Race and Desire in the Era of Online Romance" (U California Press, 2021)
The Dating Divide: Race and Desire in the Era of Online Romance (U California Press, 2021) is the first comprehensive look at "digital-sexual racism," a…
- New Books in American Studies
Damien M. Sojoyner, "Joy and Pain: A Story of Black Life and Liberation in Five Albums" (U California Press, 2022)
This highly original story reflects on how the carceral state shapes daily life for young Black people--and how Black Americans resist, find joy, and cultivate…
- New Books in American Studies
Lerone A. Martin, "The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover: How the FBI Aided and Abetted the Rise of White Christian Nationalism" (Princeton UP, 2023)
On a Sunday morning in 1966, a group of white evangelicals dedicated a stained glass window to J. Edgar Hoover. The FBI director was not an evangelical, but…
- New Books in American Studies
Margaret Hall, "Gemignani: Life and Lessons from Broadway and Beyond" (Applause Books, 2022)
Margaret Hall's Gemignani: Life and Lessons from Broadway and Beyond (Applause Books, 2022) is the definitive book on Broadway's greatest music director. From…
- New Books in American Studies
Richard McGahey, "Unequal Cities: Overcoming Anti-Urban Bias to Reduce Inequality in the United States" (Columbia UP, 2023)
Cities are central to prosperity: they are hubs of innovation and growth. However, the economic vitality of wealthy cities is marred by persistent and…
- New Books in American Studies
Helena Hansen et al., "Whiteout: How Racial Capitalism Changed the Color of Opioids in America" (U California Press, 2023)
In the past two decades, media images of the surprisingly white “new face” of the US opioid crisis abounded. But why was the crisis so white? Some argued that…
New Books in American StudiesMapping the American Right: A Conversation with the American Enterprise Institute’s Robert Doar
Annika sits down with Robert Doar, president of the American Enterprise Institute, one of Washington D.C.'s most prominent think-tanks, to discuss the state of…
- New Books in American Studies
Melvyn P. Leffler, "Confronting Saddam Hussein: George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq" (Oxford UP, 2023)
America's decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003 is arguably the most important foreign policy choice of the entire post-Cold War era. Nearly two decades after…
- New Books in American Studies
Saida Grundy, "Respectable: Politics and Paradox in Making the Morehouse Man" (U California Press, 2022)
How does it feel to be groomed as the "solution" to a national Black male "problem"? This is the guiding paradox of Respectable: Politics and Paradox in Making…
New Books in American StudiesWhat a City Is for: Remaking the Politics of Displacement
Matt Hern began to examine urban displacement when he first encountered an empty lot in the northeast sector of Portland, OR. This corner was the site of a…
- New Books in American Studies
Lara Gabrielle, "Captain of Her Soul: The Life of Marion Davies" (U California Press, 2022)
From Marion Davies's humble days in Brooklyn to her rise to fame alongside press baron William Randolph Hearst, the public life story of the film star plays…
- New Books in American Studies
Leslie M. Alexander, "Fear of a Black Republic: Haiti and the Birth of Black Internationalism in the United States" (U Illinois Press, 2022)
The emergence of Haiti as a sovereign Black nation lit a beacon of hope for Black people throughout the African diaspora. Leslie M. Alexander’s study reveals…
- New Books in American Studies
The Story of American Vietnam War Resisters in Canada
The idea of moving to Canada figures prominently in the imagination of many disaffected Americans. Most recently, it was comedian Marc Maron who said he’s on…
- New Books in American Studies
Caroline Dodds Pennock, "On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe" (Knopf, 2023)
On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe (Knopf, 2023) by Dr. Caroline Dodds Pennock presents a landmark work of narrative history that…
- New Books in American Studies
Gary Alan Fine, "Fair Share: Senior Activism, Tiny Publics, and the Culture of Resistance" (U Chicago Press, 2023)
If you’ve ever been to a protest or been involved in a movement for social change, you have likely experienced a local culture, one with slogans, jargon, and…
- New Books in American Studies
Jen B. Larson, "Hit Girls: Women of Punk in the USA, 1975-1983" (Feral House, 2022)
In Hit Girls: Women of Punk in the USA, 1975-1983 (Feral House, 2023), Jen B. Larson takes readers throughout the United States on a punk history lesson…
- New Books in American Studies
Jonathan W. White and Lydia J. Davis, ed., "My Work Among the Freedmen: The Civil War and Reconstruction Letters of Harriet M. Buss" (U Virginia Press, 2021)
Between 1863 and 1871, Harriet M. Buss of Sterling, Massachusetts, taught former slaves in three different regions of the South, in coastal South Carolina…
- New Books in American Studies
Mary Crossley, "Embodied Injustice: Race, Disability, and Health" (Cambridge UP, 2022)
Black people and people with disabilities in the United States are distinctively disadvantaged in their encounters with the health care system. These groups…
- New Books in American Studies
Mitchell Schwarzer, "Hella Town: Oakland's History of Development and Disruption" (U California Press, 2022)
Oakland grew up on the shadow of the dynamo of the nineteenth century West, always the "other" city on San Francisco Bay. But as Mitchell Schwarzer, Professor…
- New Books in American Studies
Ron Hirschbein and Amin Asfari, "Jews and Muslims in the White Supremacist Conspiratorial Imagination" (Routledge, 2023)
Supremacists imagine that Jews and Muslims secretly strive to replace white, European civilization with an unspeakable tyranny. The authors, a Jew and a…
- New Books in American Studies
Stephen Bullivant, "Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America" (Oxford UP, 2022)
The United States is in the midst of a religious revolution. Or, perhaps it is better to say a non-religious revolution. Around a quarter of US adults now say…
- New Books in American Studies
Bernard D. Geoghegan, "Code: From Information Theory to French Theory" (Duke UP, 2023)
Bernard Dionysius Geoghegan traces the shared intellectual and political history of computer scientists, cyberneticists, anthropologists, linguists, and…
- New Books in American Studies
Britni de la Cretaz and Lyndsey D'Arcangelo, "Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women's Football League" (Bold Type Books, 2021)
Today we are joined by Frankie de la Cretaz, a sports journalist whose work focuses on the intersection of sport and gender, and one of the authors alongside…
- New Books in American Studies
Claire Bond Potter, "Political Junkies: From Talk Radio to Twitter, How Alternative Media Hooked Us on Politics and Broke Our Democracy" (Basic Books, 2020)
With fake news on Facebook, trolls on Twitter, and viral outrage everywhere, it's easy to believe that the internet changed politics entirely. In Political…
- New Books in American Studies
Gesine Bullock-Prado, "A Vermont Table: Recipes for All (Six) Seasons" (Countryman Press, 2023)
Vermont—arguably the OG farm-to-table state—is celebrated through 100+ recipes and stories from celebrated pastry chef Gesine Bullock-Prado. When Gesine…