Shows / New Books in Popular Culture
New Books in Popular Culture
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 Popular Culture
Chinatown
“Forget it, Jake—it’s Chinatown.” This piece of advice is as famous as it is useless: Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) will never be able to forget what he’s seen…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Brook Flagg, "I Go There with You: The U2 Sites of Southern California, from Significant to Sacred" (Nine Criteria, 2025)
U2 is a band from the north side of Dublin that became a global phenomenon-and while its four members have traveled the world over for almost fifty years, some…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Constance Bailey et al. "Get It While It's Hot: Gas Station, Roadside, and Convenience Cuisine in the U.S. South" (LSU Press, 2026)
Get It While It’s Hot (LSU Press, 2026) is an innovative collection that examines an increasingly commonplace belief across the U.S. South—that some of the…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Jes Battis, "It's Only Forever: Labyrinth" (ECW Press, 2026)
Jes Battis' new book, It's Only Forever. Labyrinth (ECW Press, 2026) is a wild, intimate, and political deep dive into Jim Henson’s 1986 classic starring David…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Michael Lee Nirenberg, "Cinematic Immunity" (Feral House, 2026)
The unbelievable insider stories of how they “got the shot,” Cinematic Immunity tells the story of New York City's movie industry from the crew members who…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Roland Betancourt, "Disneyland and the Rise of Automation: How Technology Created the Happiest Place on Earth" (Princeton UP, 2026)
When Disneyland opened to the public in 1955, it demystified the hidden world of factory automation through its extraordinary new attractions. In Disneyland…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Eileen G'Sell, "Lipstick" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
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 of…
- New Books in Popular Culture
The Shawshank Redemption in China: An Interview with Matti Lehtonen
How can an entirely foreign cast perform the American “The Shawshank Redemption” in the Chinese language across China? In this episode of the Nordic Asia…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Jerry West and Jonathan Coleman, "West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life" (Little, Brown and Co, 2011)
He is one of basketball's towering figures: "Mr. Clutch," who mesmerized his opponents and fans. The coach who began the Lakers' resurgence in the 1970s. The…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Kate Crane, "Whatever Happened to Eddy Crane?: A Memoir and an Investigation" (Hanover Square Press, 2026)
Kate Crane's new memoir, Whatever Happened to Eddy Crane?: A Memoir and an Investigation" (Hanover Square Press, 2026) starts when Crane was in eighth grade…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Daphne A. Brooks, "Blackstar Rising and the Purple Reign: The Sonic Afterlives of David Bowie and Prince" (Duke UP, 2026)
Blackstar Rising and the Purple Reign: The Sonic Afterlives of David Bowie and Prince (Duke UP, 2026) is the first critical anthology dedicated to exploring…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Paul Robichaud, "Stories of the Stones: Imagining Prehistory in Britain, Ireland and Brittany" (Reaktion, 2026)
Stories of the Stones: Imagining Prehistory in Britain, Ireland and Brittany (Reaktion, 2026) by Dr. Paul Robichaud explores how ancient monuments – standing…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Matthew Bothwell, "The Invisible Universe: Why There's More to Reality than Meets the Eye" (Simon and Schuster, 2021)
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 look with…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Margaret Heffernan, "Embracing Uncertainty: How Writers, Musicians and Artists Thrive In An Unpredictable World" (Policy Press, 2025)
Most people hate and fear uncertainty. It causes such stress and anxiety that we often choose certain surrender over doubt, becoming passive, dependent…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Peter D. McDonald, "The Impossible Reversal: A History of How We Play" (U Minnesota Press, 2026)
Tracing the cultural history of play--from Fluxus to SimCity Games and gamified activities have become ubiquitous in many adults' lives, and play is widely…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Jan Yager, "Time Masters: Eleven Secrets to Greater Productivity and Life Fulfillment" (Hannacroix Craft Books, 2026)
Jan Yager's latest book, Time Masters: Eleven Secrets to Greater Productivity and Life Fulfillment (Hannacroix Craft Books, 2026), examines the question: Ever…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Pavel Brunssen, "The Making of 'Jew Clubs': Performing Jewishness and Antisemitism in European Football and Fan Cultures" (Indiana UP, 2025)
Today we are joined by Pavel Brunssen, a Research Associate and Alfred Landecker Lecturer at the Research Center on Antigypsyism at Heidelberg University and…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Is "For All Mankind" the Most Ambitious Show on Television?
It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and we analyze the first two episodes of season five of For All Mankind, Apple+TV’s alternate history show about a world in…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Jordan Treske, "Building the Milwaukee Bucks: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, and the Rapid Rise of an NBA Franchise, 1968-1975" (McFarland, 2025)
In three short years, the Milwaukee Bucks went from merely an idea to NBA champions. What started as a quest by Marvin Fishman and eventually Wesley Pavalon to…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Fiction’s Lost Ambition with Writer Sam Kahn
Fiction has “lost its ambition,” and not only that, “its centrality to the culture,” Sam Kahn says in a recent piece on “Castalia,” his popular Substack…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Katharine K. Wilkinson, "Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home" (Amber Lotus Publishing, 2026)
When maps come up short and the path ahead is uncertain, how do we find our way? Visionary climate leader Katharine K. Wilkinson offers a compassionate and…
- New Books in Popular Culture
David Arditi, "Music Technology Panic Narratives Beyond Piracy: From Taping to Napster to TikTok" (Anthem Press, 2026)
Who makes a living from the music industry? In Music Technology Panic Narratives Beyond Piracy: From Taping to Napster to TikTok (Anthem Press, 2026) David…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Peter Richardson, "Brand New Beat: The Wild Rise of Rolling Stone Magazine" (U California Press, 2026)
Rolling Stone's first decade was truly rock and roll: chaotic, wild, and unpredictable. Brand New Beat: The Wild Rise of Rolling Stone Magazine (U California…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Daniel Rachel, "This Ain't Rock 'n' Roll: Pop Music, the Swastika, and the Third Reich" (Akashic Books, 2026)
Over the last seven decades, some of rock 'n' roll's most celebrated figureheads have flirted with the imagery and theater of the Third Reich. From Keith Moon…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Eleanor Houghton, "Charlotte Brontë's Life in Clothes" (Bloomsbury 2026)
Eleanor Houghton, in conversation with Duncan McCargo and Alexis Wolf Meet the real, thinking, feeling woman that was Charlotte Brontë, as told in this…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Beth Derderian, "Art Capital: Museum Politics and the Making of the Louvre Abu Dhabi" (Stanford UP, 2026)
Museums often served nationalist and imperialist interests in the past, but the primary force in the 21st century is the market. Museum franchising—exemplified…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Eivind Røssaak, "The Cory Arcangel Hack: Digital Culture and Aesthetic Practice" (MIT Press, 2025)
The first in-depth exploration of the work of artist Cory Arcangel, a pioneer of DIY-new media art whose influential “hacks” subvert the confines of Big Tech…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Chiang Mai 2015
The Gastronomica podcast returns to the air, bringing listeners new interviews with authors from the latest issues of Gastronomica: The Journal for Food…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Marty Friedman with Jon Wiederhorn, "Dreaming Japanese" (Permuted Press, 2024)
Marty Friedman is a multi-platinum recording artist and government-appointed Ambassador to Japan Heritage. He has written three books in Japanese and had long…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Robert Parish with Jake Uitti, "The Chief: The Story of the Boston Celtics’ Most Enigmatic Icon" (Triumph, 2026)
A memoir of basketball, dedication, and longevity from Boston Celtics legend Robert Parish Growing up in the heart of Louisiana, Robert Parish and his three…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Melissa Auf der Maur, "Even the Good Girls Will Cry: A '90s Rock Memoir" (DaCapo, 2026)
Melissa Auf der Maur's new memoir, Even the Good Girls Will Cry: A '90s Rock Memoir(DaCapo, 2026) is a remarkably open-hearted, clear-eyed memoir of the '90s…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Michael Mann Reconsidered: Heat and Collateral
It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and in this show we conclude our series on the films of Michael Mann. Structured as a knock-out tournament, we have set his…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Robert Hall, "Building Resilient Futures" (Austin Macauley, 2023)
Explore resilience from personal, organizational, and national perspectives with expert Robert Hall in this discussion of his book Building Resilient Futures…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Jeffrey Wasserstrom, "Everything You Wanted to Know about China*: * But Were Afraid to Ask" (Brixton Ink, 2025)
What does Xi Jinping share with Mao Zedong? Why is Confucius still central to a communist state? What really happened in Tiananmen Square—and why is it still a…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Michael Allan, "Cinema before the World: The Global Routes of the Lumière Brothers" (Fordham UP, 2026)
Cinema Before the World: The Global Routes of the Lumière Brothers (Fordham UP, 2026) investigates the transnational origins of filmmaking by focusing on a…
- New Books in Popular Culture
The 50th Anniversary Tour of Patti Smith's Horses: A Conversation with Caryn Rose
Caryn Rose's Three Chords and Blessed Noise (2026) is an ode to the lost art of the tour diary. In November of 2025, Patti Smith and her band embarked on a…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Michael Mann Reconsidered: Ali and The Last of the Mohicans
It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and in this show we start a series on the films of Michael Mann. Structured as a knock-out tournament, we set his eight most…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Sarah Jaffe, "Work Won't Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone" (Bold Type Books, 2021)
In Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone (Bold Type Books, 2021), Sarah Jaffe argues that modern culture…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Alan McDougall, "Dreams and Songs to Sing: A People's History of Liverpool FC from Shankly to Klopp" (Cambridge UP, 2025)
Today we are joined by Alan McDougall, Professor of History at the University of Guelph, and the author of Dreams and Songs To Sing: A People’s History of…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Michael Mann Reconsidered: Ferrari and Manhunter
It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and in this show we start a series on the films of Michael Mann. Structured as a knock-out tournament, we set his eight most…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Danny Bate, "Why Q Needs U: A History of Our Letters and How We Use Them" (Bonnier Books, 2025)
Every letter you’re reading right now has a fascinating story to tell, having been on a long linguistic, historical, political and social journey. The English…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Mike Huguenor, "Elvis Is Dead, I'm Still Alive: The Story of Asian Man Records" (Clash, 2026)
Sourced from over a hundred hours of interviews with musicians, producers, booking agents, label owners, writers, fans, employees, volunteers, friends and…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Karima Moyer-Nocchi, "The Epic History of Macaroni and Cheese: From Ancient Rome to Modern America" (Columbia UP, 2026)
Today, macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food, a staple of weeknight dinners, family gatherings, and Soul Food restaurants. Humble though the dish…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Emma Chapman, "Radio Universe: How to Explore Space Without Leaving Earth" (Hachette UK, 2026)
In Radio Universe: How to Explore Space Without Leaving Earth (Hachette UK, 2026) award-winning astrophysicist Emma Chapman takes us on an electrifying voyage…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Robert J. Coplan, "The Joy of Solitude: How to Reconnect with Yourself in an Overconnected World" (Simon and Schuster, 2025)
Solitude is part of the human experience. But just like other relationships, your relationship with solitude can be satisfying, intimate, and enhance your…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Michael Mann Reconsidered: Thief and The Insider
It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and in this show we start a series on the films of Michael Mann. Structured as a knock-out tournament, we set his eight most…
- New Books in Popular Culture
A Star Is Born (1937)
A Star Is Born has been filmed four times, but the first version is the best: a combination of Singin’ in the Rain and Death of a Salesman, David O…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Eurie Dahn, "Snack" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
In the hierarchy of foods, snacks are deemed trivial – perhaps even childish – especially in contrast to meals, which are seen as substantial and necessary…
- New Books in Popular Culture
An Evening with Philip Roth: A Conversation with Bernard Avishai, Igor Webb, and Steven Zipperstein
The YIVO Institute was pleased to present a special evening with acclaimed novelist Philip Roth. Roth read excerpts from his new novel, Nemesis (2010), which…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Austin McCoy, "Living in a D.A.I.S.Y. Age: The Music, Culture, and World De La Soul Made" (Atria/One Signal, 2026)
For fans of Dilla Time and The Chronicles of DOOM, a culturally connected celebration of the groundbreaking hip-hop group De La Soul, and how they changed the…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Carlin Wing, "Bounce: Balls, Walls, and Bodies in Games and Play" (MIT Press, 2026)
Bounce: Balls, Walls, and Bodies in Games and Play (MIT Press, 2026) follows an array of bouncing balls through the histories of nonelectronic and electronic…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Dana A. Williams, "Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship" (Amistad, 2025)
An insightful exploration that unveils the lesser-known dimensions of this legendary writer and her legacy, revealing the cultural icon's profound impact as a…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Glen Oglaza, "When I Stories" (Pegasus, 2024)
As news reporters, we are in the story-telling business, the eye witnesses to history, writing, it's said, ‘the first draft of history'. The fall of the…
- New Books in Popular Culture
The Tourist’s Guide to Lost Yiddish New York City with Henry Sapoznik
The Tourist’s Guide to Lost Yiddish New York City (SUNY Press, 2025) offers a new look at over a century of Yiddish culture in New York City. Author Henry H…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Tamara Kay, "Sesame Street Around the World: Culture, Politics, and Transnational Organizational Partnerships" (Oxford UP, 2025)
Given the sometimes extraordinary politicization of culture, it is surprising that Sesame Street has gained acceptance and legitimacy in more than fifty…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Michael James Roberts et al., "Roll and Flow: The Cultural Politics of Skateboarding and Surfing" (San Diego State UP, 2024)
In Roll and Flow: The Cultural Politics of Skateboarding and Surfing (San Diego State UP, 2024), Michael James Roberts, Kristin Lawler, and David P. Cline take…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Rachel Walther, "Born to Lose: The Misfits Who Made Dog Day Afternoon" (Headpress, 2026)
In her new book, Born to Lose: The Misfits Who Made Dog Day Afternoon (Headpress, 2026) film historian Rachel Walther draws on extensive archival research…
- New Books in Popular Culture
The Vet at the End of the Earth: Adventures with Animals in the South Atlantic
The role of a resident vet in the remote islands of the Falklands, St. Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha encompasses many wonderful complexities: caring…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Ani DiFranco and Lauren Coyle Rosen, "The Spirit of Ani: Reflections on Spirituality, Feminism, Music, and Freedom" (Akashic Books, 2026)
Rebekah Buchanan talks with Ani DiFranco about her latest collaborative work The Spirit of Ani: Reflections on Spirituality, Feminism, Music and Freedom…
- New Books in Popular Culture
Victor Navarro-Remesal, "Zen and Slow Games" (MIT Press, 2026)
A deep dive into the reflective modes of playfulness in video games. Slowness and reflectiveness have always been part of the video game medium, though they…