New Books in American Studies

Interviews with Scholars of America about their New Books

Society & Culture
History
5801
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, “An Indigenous Peoples’ H...
When Howard Zinn published A People’s History of the United States in 1980, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz was thrilled. “I used it as a text immediately,” she remembers. Comrades in the movement anti-war movement, Zinn and Dunbar-Ortiz shared a belief that a ra...
71 min
5802
Leah Wright Rigueur, “The Loneliness of the Bla...
Leah Wright Rigueur is an assistant professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Her book The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power (Princeton University Press,
67 min
5803
Brian P. Murphy, “Building the Empire State: Po...
Brian P. Murphy is the author of Building the Empire State: Political Economy in the Early Republic (Penn Press, 2015). Murphy is Associate Professor of History at Baruch College, City University of New York. While the Broadway musical, Hamilton,
47 min
5804
Gyanendra Pandey, “A History of Prejudice: Race...
A History of Prejudice: Race, Caste, and Difference in India and the United States (Cambridge University Press, 2013) is the latest book by Gyanendra Pandey. The book analyses prejudice and democracy through a comparison of African Americans and Indian...
55 min
5805
D. D. Guttenplan, “The Nation: A Biography” (Th...
The Nation magazine turned 150 this year, a striking achievement for a publication that is firmly on the left of the political spectrum. It was founded in 1865 just months after the Civil War ended and Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.
50 min
5806
Alexandra Minna Stern, “Telling Genes: The Stor...
Due in part to lobbying efforts on behalf of the human genome project, human genes tend to be thought of in light of the present–genetic components of human disease and differential risks associated with genetic individuals–before the future,
68 min
5807
Kattie Oxx, “The Nativist Movement in America: ...
Narratives of American history are often centered around the idea of oppression and liberation, with groups such as ethnic minorities, women, and workers struggling with, and (at least to some degree) overcoming prejudice.
66 min
5808
James Turner, “Philology: The Forgotten Origins...
James Turner is Cavanaugh Professor of Humanities, Emeritus, at Notre Dame University. His book Philology: The Forgotten Origins of the Modern Humanities (Princeton University Press, 2014) recovers the significance of philology, the study of language,
64 min
5809
Preston Lauterbach, “Beale Street Dynasty: Sex,...
Following the Civil War, Memphis emerged a center of black progress, optimism, and cultural ferment, after a period of turmoil. Preston Lauterbach joins host Jonathan Judaken for an in-depth discussion in advance of the launch of Lauterbach’s latest bo...
34 min
5810
Kristin Soltis Anderson, “The Selfie Vote: Wher...
With over a dozen Republican candidates in the summer news, what will it take for one to emerge from the pack? Kristen Soltis Anderson‘s new book, The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (And How Republicans Can Keep Up) (Broadside Books...
20 min
5811
Craig Martin, “Capitalizing Religion: Ideology ...
Whether you need help being more focused at work, are having a spiritual crisis, or want to understand how you can change your inner self for the better, the popular self-help and spiritual well-being market has got you covered.
60 min
5812
Laura F. Edwards, “A Legal History of the Civil...
In this podcast I talk with Laura F. Edwards, Peabody Family Professor of History at Duke University about her book, A Legal History of the Civil War and Reconstruction: A Nation of Rights (Cambridge University Press 2015).
66 min
5813
Tomas Summers Sandoval, “Latinos at the Golden ...
Since the mid-19th century, San Francisco (or Yerba Buena as it was known during the Spanish colonial period) has been considered a gateway city ideally situated along the western edge of the North American continent and central in the development of g...
73 min
5814
Raf De Bont, “Stations in the Field: A History ...
While museums, labs, and botanical gardens have been widely studied by historians of science, field stations have received comparatively little attention.Raf De Bont‘s new book rectifies this oversight, turning our attention to the importance of biolog...
59 min
5815
David George Surdham, “The Big Leagues Go to Wa...
David George Surdham is the author of The Big Leagues Go to Washington: Congress and Sports Antitrust, 1951-1989 (University of Illinois Press, 2015). Surdham is Associate Professor of Economics at Northern Iowa University.
16 min
5816
William LeoGrande and Peter Kornbluh, “Back Cha...
In December 2014, Cuba and the United States announced their renewed efforts to normalize relations. Diplomatic ties were severed in 1961 following the rise of Fidel Castro and the intensification during the Cold War.
40 min
5817
Michael Ray FitzGerald, “Native Americans on Ne...
In his new book Native Americans on Network TV: Stereotypes, Myths, and the ‘Good Indian’ (Rowman and Littlefield, 2013), Michael Ray FitzGerald reviews how television represented Native Americans, including in both positive and negative stereotypes.
53 min
5818
Megan Threlkeld, “Pan-American Women: U.S. Inte...
Megan Threlkeld is an associate professor of history at Denison University. Her book Pan-American Women: U.S. Internationalists and Revolutionary Mexico (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014) provides a rich transnational examination of the years fol...
59 min
5819
Kyle G. Volk, “Moral Minorities and the Making ...
Kyle G. Volk is an associate professor of history at the University of Montana. His book Moral Minorities and the Making of American Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2014) provides a compelling narrative of how nineteenth-century Americans negotiate...
57 min
5820
William Elliott III and Melinda Lewis, “Real Co...
Dr. William Elliott III, associate professor in the School of Social Welfare at the University of Kansas, and Melinda Lewis, associate professor of practice in the School of Social Welfare at the University of Kansas,
30 min
5821
Carlos Kevin Blanton, “George I. Sanchez: The L...
Although the designation now applies to American citizens of Mexican ethnicity writ large, the term Mexican American (hyphenated or not) also refers to the rising generation of ethnic Mexicans born and raised in the U.S.
87 min
5822
Julian E. Zelizer, “The Fierce Urgency of Now: ...
Julian E. Zelizer is the author of The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society (Penguin Press, 2015). Zelizer is the Malcom Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princet...
17 min
5823
Jonathan Eig, “The Birth of the Pill: How Four ...
Jonathan Eig is a New York Times best-selling author of four books and former journalist for the Wall Street Journal. His book The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution (W.W. Norton,
48 min
5824
Caseen Gaines, “We Don’t Need Roads: The Making...
On the thirtiethanniversary of the film, Caseen Gaines has written We Don’t Need Roads: The Making of the Back to the Future Trilogy (Plume, 2015). The book is an engaging history of the Back to the Future series,
70 min
5825
Jennifer L. Lawless and Richard L. Fox, “Runnin...
Jennifer L. Lawless and Richard L. Fox are the authors of Running from Office: Why Young Americans Are Turned off to Politics (Oxford UP,2015). Lawless is a Professor of Government and the Director of the Women & Politics Institute at American Universi...
15 min