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New Books in Critical Theory
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 Critical TheoryBeth Driscoll, "What Readers Do: Aesthetic and Moral Practices of a Post-Digital Age" (Bloomsbury, 2024)
What is reading? In What Readers Do: Aesthetic and Moral Practices of a Post-Digital Age (Bloomsbury, 2024) Beth Driscoll, an Associate Professor in…
New Books in Critical TheorySusan Greenhalgh, "Soda Science: Making the World Safe for Coca-Cola" (U Chicago Press, 2024)
Soda Science: Making the World Safe for Coca-Cola (U Chicago Press, 2024) takes readers deep inside the secret world of corporate science, where powerful…
New Books in Critical TheoryTadashi Dozono, "Discipline Problems: How Students of Color Trouble Whiteness in Schools" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2024)
Angel, a Black tenth-grader at a New York City public school, self-identifies as a nerd and likes to learn. But she’s troubled that her history classes leave…
New Books in Critical TheoryRonnie Grinberg, "Write like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals" (Princeton UP, 2024)
In the years following World War II, the New York intellectuals became some of the most renowned critics and writers in the country. Although mostly male and…
New Books in Critical TheoryBhaskar Sunkara, "The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality" (Basic Books, 2020)
In The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality (Basic Books, 2020), Bhaskar Sunkara explores socialism's history…
New Books in Critical TheoryLudovico Silva, "Marx's Literary Style" (Verso, 2023)
In Marx’s Literary Style, the Venezuelan poet and philosopher Ludovico Silva argues that much of the confusion around Marx’s work results from a failure to…
New Books in Critical TheoryMatt Brim, "Poor Queer Studies: Confronting Elitism in the University" (Duke UP, 2020)
In Poor Queer Studies: Confronting Elitism in the University (Duke UP, 2020), Matt Brim shifts queer studies away from its familiar sites of elite education…
New Books in Critical TheoryChristopher B. Patterson and Tara Fickle, "Made in Asia/America: Why Video Games Were Never (Really) about Us" (Duke UP, 2024)
Made in Asia/America: Why Video Games Were Never (Really) about Us (Duke UP, 2024) explores the key role video games play within the race makings of…
New Books in Critical TheoryNazmul Sultan, "Waiting for the People: The Idea of Democracy in Indian Anticolonial Thought" (Harvard UP, 2024)
Indians, their former British rulers asserted, were unfit to rule themselves. Behind this assertion lay a foundational claim about the absence of peoplehood in…
New Books in Critical TheoryBessie N. Rigakos and Wesley R. Bishop, "Liberating Fat Bodies: Social Media Censorship and Body Size Activism" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024)
Using a multidisciplinary and intersectional approach, Liberating Fat Bodies: Social Media Censorship and Body Size Activism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024) by Dr…
New Books in Critical TheoryClaire Carter et al., "Contemporary Vulnerabilities: Reflections on Social Justice Methodologies" (U Alberta Press, 2024)
Contemporary Vulnerabilities: Reflections on Social Justice Methodologies (U Alberta Press, 2024) centres on critical reflections about vulnerable moments in…
New Books in Critical TheoryJennifer Ponce de León, "Another Aesthetics Is Possible: Arts of Rebellion in the Fourth World War" (Duke UP, 2021)
In Another Aesthetics Is Possible: Arts of Rebellion in the Fourth World War (Duke UP, 2021), Jennifer Ponce de León examines the roles that art can play in…
New Books in Critical TheoryLiteratures beyond the West
In this episode Salman Sayyid talks to Ian Almond about his work in world literature, including his 2021 book World Literature Decentered which looks at…
New Books in Critical TheoryJoachim C. Häberlen, "Beauty Is in the Street: Protest and Counterculture in Post-War Europe" (Penguin, 2023)
In post-war Europe, protest was everywhere. On both sides of the Iron Curtain, from Paris to Prague, Milan to Wroclaw, ordinary people took to the streets…
New Books in Critical TheoryKaren Patel, "Craft as a Creative Industry" (Routledge, 2024)
How can we diversify the creative industries? In Craft as a Creative Industry (Routledge, 2024), Karen Patel, an Associate Professor in Media and Director of…
New Books in Critical TheoryPeter Allen, “The Political Class: Why It Matters Who Our Politicians Are” (Oxford UP, 2018)
Who is in charge? In The Political Class: Why It Matters Who Our Politicians Are (Oxford University Press, 2018), Peter Allen, a Reader in Comparative Politics…
New Books in Critical TheoryRaj Jayadev, "Protect Your People: How Ordinary Families Are Using Participatory Defense to Challenge Mass Incarceration" (New Press, 2023)
Over two million Americans are currently in prison or jail. Another 4.5 million are on probation or parole. And nearly one in two Americans have a family…
New Books in Critical TheorySudhir Kakar, "The Indian Jungle: Psychoanalysis and Non-Western Civilizations" (Karnac, 2024)
In this podcast, Ashis Roy (Psychoanalyst (IPA) and author of the recently published book Intimacy in Alienation: A Psychoanalytic Study of Hindu-Muslim…
New Books in Critical TheoryMatthew Archer, "Unsustainable: Measurement, Reporting, and the Limits of Corporate Sustainability" (NYU Press, 2024)
In recent years, companies have felt the pressure to be transparent about their environmental impact. Large documents containing summaries of yearly emissions…
New Books in Critical TheoryAnthony Abraham Jack, "Class Dismissed: When Colleges Ignore Inequality and Students Pay the Price" (Princeton UP, 2024)
Elite colleges are boasting unprecedented numbers with respect to diversity, with some schools admitting their first majority-minority classes. But when the…
New Books in Critical TheoryDecoloniality
This episode is the third one this series where we look back over the first principles of the ReOrient project. In previous episodes we have discussed…
New Books in Critical TheoryPolicing and White Power with Daniel Kryder and David Cunningham (JP, EF)
This June 2020 episode, originally part of a Global Policing series, was Recall this Book's first exploration of police brutality, systemic and personal racism…
New Books in Critical TheoryMiguel Montalva Barba, "White Supremacy and Racism in Progressive America: Race, Place, and Space" (Policy Press, 2024)
White Supremacy and Racism in Progressive America: Race, Place, and Space (Policy Press, 2024) examines the connections between race, place, and space, and…
New Books in Critical TheoryTehila Sasson, "The Solidarity Economy: Nonprofits and the Making of Neoliberalism after Empire" (Princeton UP, 2024)
After India gained independence in 1947, Britain reinvented its role in the global economy through nongovernmental aid organisations. Utilising existing…
New Books in Critical TheoryCraig Gent, "Cyberboss: The Rise of Algorithmic Management and the New Struggle for Control at Work" (Verso, 2024)
Across the world, algorithms are changing the nature of work. Nowhere is this clearer than in the logistics and distribution sectors, where workers are…
New Books in Critical TheorySoar and Chill
Why do certain musical sounds move us while others leave us cold? Are musical trends simply that—or do they contain insights into the culture at large? Our…
New Books in Critical TheorySpencer Piston, “Class Attitudes in American Politics: Sympathy for the Poor, Resentment of the Rich, and Political Implications” (Cambridge UP, 2018)
It has long been a truism that Americans’ disdain for poor people–our collective sense that if they only worked harder or behaved more responsibly they would…
New Books in Critical TheoryFrederick Luis Aldama, "Decolonizing Latinx Masculinities" (U Arizona Press, 2020)
An early wave of research helped make visible the complex dynamics of sexuality and gender norms in Latino life, but a new generation of scholars is bringing…
New Books in Critical TheoryNeoliberalism and the University, Part 2
This is the Global Media & Communication podcast series. This podcast is a multimodal project powered by the Center for Advanced Research in Global…
New Books in Critical TheoryAlice Mah, "Petrochemical Planet: Multiscalar Battles of Industrial Transformation" (Duke UP, 2023)
Is a green future possible? In Petrochemical Planet: Multiscalar Battles of Industrial Transformation (Duke UP, 2023), Alice Mah, a Professor in Urban and…
New Books in Critical TheoryJacob Soll, "Free Market: The History of an Idea" (Basic Books, 2022)
After two government bailouts of the American economy in less than twenty years, free market thought is due for serious reappraisal. Free Market: The History…
New Books in Critical TheoryThe Role of Psychoanalytic Mechanisms of Defense; What They Are and How They Work
Using one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s major ideas as a springboard for their discussion, “The truth will set you free,” the host and co-host discussed…
New Books in Critical TheoryAnne Gray Fischer, "The Streets Belong to Us: Sex, Race, and Police Power from Segregation to Gentrification" (UNC Press, 2022)
Anne Gray Fischer speaks about her path to and through research, including how sex workers informed her analysis of policing and state violence, the role of…
New Books in Critical TheoryDouglas Greene, "The New Reformism and the Revival of Karl Kautsky: The Renegade's Revenge" (Routledge, 2024)
Returning to the New Books Network is Doug Greene, here to discuss his book The New Reformism and the Revival of Karl Kautsky (Routledge, 2024). Split into…
New Books in Critical TheoryLaura Beers. "Orwell’s Ghosts Wisdom and Warnings for the 21st Century" (Norton, 2024)
Is Orwell still relevant today? In Orwell’s Ghosts Wisdom and Warnings for the 21st Century (Norton, 2024), Laura Beers, a Professor of History at American…
New Books in Critical TheorySusan Stryker, "When Monsters Speak: A Susan Stryker Reader" (Duke UP, 2024)
Susan Stryker is a foundational figure in trans studies. When Monsters Speak: A Susan Stryker Reader (Duke UP, 2024) showcases the development of Stryker’s…
New Books in Critical TheoryNeoliberalism and the University, Part 1
This is the Global Media & Communication podcast series. This podcast is a multimodal project powered by the Center for Advanced Research in Global…
New Books in Critical TheoryBernard E. Harcourt. "Cooperation: A Political, Economic, and Social Theory" (Columbia UP, 2023)
Liberal democracy is in crisis around the world, unable to address pressing problems such as climate change. There is, however, another path—cooperation…
New Books in Critical TheoryJan Eeckhout, "The Profit Paradox: How Thriving Firms Threaten the Future of Work" (Princeton UP, 2021)
It is a truth universally acknowledged that as a society we want successful, profitable companies because, as Jan Eeckhout says in The Profit Paradox: How…
New Books in Critical TheoryMusa al-Gharbi, "We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite" (Princeton UP, 2024)
How a new "woke" elite uses the language of social justice to gain more power and status--without helping the marginalized and disadvantaged. Society has never…
New Books in Critical TheoryJonathan Branfman, "Millennial Jewish Stars: Navigating Racial Antisemitism, Masculinity, and White Supremacy" (NYU Press, 2024)
Jewish stars have longed faced pressure to downplay Jewish identity for fear of alienating wider audiences. But unexpectedly, since the 2000s, many millennial…
New Books in Critical TheoryGavriel D. Rosenfeld and Janet Ward, "Fascism in America: Past and Present" (Cambridge UP, 2023)
Has fascism arrived in America? In Fascism in America: Past and Present (Cambridge UP, 2023), Gavriel D. Rosenfeld and Janet Ward have gathered experts to…
New Books in Critical TheoryArie Perliger, "American Zealots: Inside Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism" (Columbia UP, 2020)
In an unsettling time in American history, the outbreak of right-wing violence is among the most disturbing developments. In recent years, attacks originating…
New Books in Critical TheoryBreanne Fahs, "Burn It Down: Feminist Manifestos for the Revolution" (Verso, 2020)
Burn It Down: Feminist Manifestos for the Revolution (Verso, 2020), Breanne Fahs has curated a comprehensive collection of feminist manifestos from the…
New Books in Critical TheoryLucia Hulsether, "Capitalist Humanitarianism" (Duke UP, 2023)
The struggle against neoliberal order has gained momentum over the last five decades – to the point that economic elites have not only adapted to the Left's…
New Books in Critical TheoryUjju Aggarwal, "Unsettling Choice: Race, Rights, and the Partitioning of Public Education" (U Minnesota Press, 2024)
What do universal rights to public goods like education mean when codified as individual, private choices? Is the “problem” of school choice actually not about…
New Books in Critical TheoryFreeman's Challenge: The Murder That Shook America's Original Prison for Profit
Today’s book is: Freeman’s Challenge: The Murder That Shook America’s Original Prison for Profit (U Chicago Press, 2024), by Dr. Robin Bernstein, which tells…
New Books in Critical TheoryMahjabeen Dhala, "Feminist Theology and Social Justice in Islam: A Study on the Sermon of Fatima" (Cambridge UP, 2024)
Fatima, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad, has an interesting legacy, one that is often shaped by sectarian differences and tensions. The sermon of Fatima…
New Books in Critical TheoryMichael Willrich, "American Anarchy: The Epic Struggle between Immigrant Radicals and the US Government at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century" (Basic Books, 2023)
In the early twentieth century, anarchists like Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman championed a radical vision of a world without states, laws, or private…
New Books in Critical TheoryKevin Leo Nadal, "Queering Law and Order: LGBTQ Communities and the Criminal Justice System" (Lexington Book, 2020)
Throughout US history, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people have been pathologized, victimized, and criminalized. Reports of lynching…
New Books in Critical TheoryMónica A. Jiménez, "Making Never-Never Land: Race and Law in the Creation of Puerto Rico" (UNC Press, 2024)
Myths about the powers held by the United States are often supported by the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, which derives its logic from the interpretation…
New Books in Critical TheoryMatt Houlbrook et al., "Men and Masculinities in Modern Britain: A History for the Present" (Manchester UP, 2024)
What does the history of men tell us about life today? In Men and Masculinities in Modern Britain: A History for the Present (Manchester UP, 2024), the editors…
New Books in Critical TheoryMaya Wind, "Towers of Ivory and Steel: How Israeli Universities Deny Palestinian Freedom" (Verso, 2024)
Israeli universities have long enjoyed a reputation as liberal bastions of freedom and democracy. Drawing on extensive research and making Hebrew sources…
New Books in Critical TheoryWendy Matsumura, "Waiting for the Cool Moon: Anti-Imperialist Struggles in the Heart of Japan's Empire" (Duke UP, 2024)
In Waiting for the Cool Moon: Anti-Imperialist Struggles in the Heart of Japan's Empire (Duke UP, 2024) Wendy Matsumura interrogates the erasure of colonial…
New Books in Critical TheoryJoanne Leow, "Counter-Cartographies: Reading Singapore Otherwise" (Liverpool UP, 2024)
Counter-Cartographies: Reading Singapore Otherwise (Liverpool UP, 2024) draws from a body of Anglophone and multilingual cultural texts created in contemporary…
New Books in Critical TheoryPaul Rekret, "Take This Hammer: Work, Song, Crisis" (Goldsmiths Press, 2024)
The emergence of the popular music industry in the early twentieth century not only drove a wedge between music production and consumption, it also underscored…
New Books in Critical TheorySasha Warren, "Storming Bedlam: Madness, Mental Health, and Revolt" (Common Notions, 2024)
Mental health care and its radical possibilities reimagined in the context of its global development under capitalism. The contemporary world is oversaturated…
New Books in Critical TheoryLaura Robson, "Human Capital: A History of Putting Refugees to Work" (Verso, 2023)
When Americans and other citizens of advanced capitalist countries think of humanitarianism, they think of charitable efforts to help people displaced by war…
New Books in Critical TheoryPremal Dharia et al., "Dismantling Mass Incarceration: A Handbook for Change" (FSG Originals, 2024)
In recent years, a searching national conversation has called attention to the social and racial injustices that define America’s criminal system. The…
New Books in Critical TheoryJonathan Judaken, "Critical Theories of Anti-Semitism" (Columbia UP, 2024)
Despite its persistence and viciousness, anti-Semitism remains undertheorized in comparison with other forms of racism and discrimination. How should…