New Books in American Studies

Interviews with Scholars of America about their New Books

Society & Culture
History
5126
Brian D. Laslie, “Architect of Air Power: Gener...
We have all seen pictures of the “Big Three” (Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin) at their historic meeting Yalta in February 1945. The three leaders command the viewer’s attention, naturally, but in the background of the various versions of that photo are o...
37 min
5127
Freeden Blume Oeur, “Black Boys Apart: Racial U...
How do schools empower but also potentially emasculate young black men? In his new book, Black Boys Apart: Racial Uplift and Respectability in All-Male Public Schools (University of Minnesota Press, 2018), Freeden Blume Oeur uses observational and inte...
66 min
5128
Jonathan W. White, “Lincoln on Law, Leadership,...
Jonathan W. White, an associate professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University, is the author of Lincoln on Law, Leadership, and Life (Cumberland House, 2015). In this work White reveals the moral character of Abraham Lincoln through h...
35 min
5129
M. Cooper Harriss, “Ralph Ellison’s Invisible T...
Ralph Ellison’s 1952 novel Invisible Man is a milestone of American literature and the idea of invisibility has become a key way for understanding social marginalization. In Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Theology (NYU Press, 2017), M. Cooper Harriss,
57 min
5130
Spencer Piston, “Class Attitudes in American Po...
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 do well in this land of opportunity–explains, at least in part,
28 min
5131
Keri Leigh Merrit and Matthew Hild, eds., “Reco...
In their new edited volume Reconsidering Southern Labor History: Race, Class, and Power (University Press of Florida, 2018), Keri Leigh Merritt and Matthew Hild provide an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the historical development of southe...
48 min
5132
Seymour M. Hersh, “Reporter: A Memoir” (Knopf, ...
In about 1978, I found myself in my high school library. I don’t know why I was there except to say I was probably on detention; I didn’t do a lot of reading in those days. In any event, I was wandering around the stacks and I found a book...
59 min
5133
Jan M. Padios, “A Nation on the Line: Call Cent...
Jan M. Padios‘ new book A Nation on the Line: Call Centers as Postcolonial Predicaments in the Philippines (Duke University Press, ) sheds light on the industry of offshore call centers in the Philippines, and attempts to understand the narratives cast...
62 min
5134
B. T. Gervais and I. L. Morris, “Reactionary Re...
There’s been a lot written about the Tea Party, but nothing focused on members of Congress like the new book, Reactionary Republicans: How the Tea Party in the House Paved the Way for Trump’s Victory (Oxford University Press, 2018) by Bryan T.
22 min
5135
Jessica Johnson, “Biblical Porn: Affect, Labor,...
In her book Biblical Porn: Affect, Labor, and Pastor Mark Driscoll’s Evangelical Empire (Duke University Press, 2018), Dr. Jessica Johnson chronicles the rise and fall of Mars Hill Church, an evangelical megachurch that started in Seattle in the 1990’s...
61 min
5136
Leigh Eric Schmidt, “Village Atheists: How Amer...
A much-maligned minority throughout American history, atheists have been cast as a threat to the nation’s moral fabric, barred from holding public office, and branded as irreligious misfits in a nation chosen by God. Yet,
64 min
5137
Christopher Grasso, “Skepticism and American Fa...
Christopher Grasso is a professor of history at the College of William and Mary. His book Skepticism and American Faith: From the Revolution to the Civil War (Oxford University Press, 2018) explores the tensions and ongoing dialogue between religious f...
57 min
5138
Stephanie Elizondo Griest, “All the Agents and ...
In the United States, contemporary discourse concerning “the border” almost always centers around the country’s southern boundary shared with Mexico. Rarely, in conversations public or private among Americans is there any discussion of the nation’s nor...
57 min
5139
Marc Leeds, “The Vonnegut Encyclopedia” (Delaco...
Originally published in 1994, Marc Leeds’ The Vonnegut Encyclopedia (Delacorte Press, 2016) was initially conceived of as a comprehensive A-Z guide to the expansive oeuvre of the American author Kurt Vonnegut.
98 min
5140
Teishan A. Latner, “Cuban Revolution in America...
Cuba’s grassroots revolution prevailed on America’s doorstep in 1959, fueling intense interest within the multiracial American Left even as it provoked a backlash from the U.S. political establishment. In this groundbreaking book,
34 min
5141
Seth Archer, “Sharks Upon the Land: Colonialism...
In Sharks Upon the Land: Colonialism, Indigenous Health, and Culture in Hawai’i, 1778-1855 (Cambridge University Press, 2018), Utah State University Assistant Professor of History Seth Archer traces the cultural impact of disease and health problems in...
85 min
5142
D. G. Surdam and M. J. Haupert, “The Age of Rut...
Today we are joined by David George Surdam, co-author with Michael J. Haupert of the book The Age of Ruth and Landis: The Economics of Baseball during the Roaring Twenties (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). In this work,
50 min
5143
Harold Morales, “Latino and Muslim in America: ...
Harold Morales, an associate professor of Religion at Morgan State University, is the author of the momentous new book, Latino and Muslim in America: Race, Religion, and the Making of a New Minority (Oxford University Press, 2018).
44 min
5144
Louis Warren, “God’s Red Son: The Ghost Dance R...
Historians and other writers often portray the Ghost Dance religious movement and massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890 as endings, the final gasps of armed Native resistance and their older ways of life. This interpretation is backwards for several reasons...
77 min
5145
Millington W. Bergeson-Lockwood, “Race Over Par...
Boston’s political culture is most known within the frame of antebellum political struggles over the institution of slavery. What about Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction era Black Bostonian politics though? That story is made clear by the Dr.
47 min
5146
Samira Mehta, “Beyond Chrismukkah: The Christia...
With rates of interfaith marriage steadily increasing since the middle of the twentieth century, interfaith families have become a permanent and significant feature of the religious landscape in the United States. In her recent book,
55 min
5147
Sarah E. Igo, “The Known Citizen: A History of ...
Sarah E. Igo is an associate professor of history at Vanderbilt University and the author of The Known Citizen: A History of Privacy in Modern America (Harvard University Press, 2018). Igo provides a legal and social history of the idea of privacy and ...
54 min
5148
Peter James Hudson, “Bankers and Empire: How Wa...
Histories of banking and finance aren’t particularly well-known for being riveting, adventurous reads: they tend to be technical at the expense of being strongly narrative-driven. Peter James Hudson’s Bankers and Empire: How Wall Street Colonized the C...
62 min
5149
Michele Margolis, “From Politics to the Pews: H...
On this American Political Science Association special podcast, we welcome a special guest host – and former guest of the podcast – Andy Lewis. In addition to his recent book, The Rights Turn in Conservative Christian Politics,
21 min
5150
Skip Desjardin, “September 1918: War, Plague, a...
Today we are joined by Skip Desjardin, author of the book September 1918: War, Plague, and the World Series (Regnery History, 2018). In this work, which blends sports and history together, Desjardin looks at the historic and turbulent events of Septemb...
69 min