New Books in World Affairs

Interviews with Scholars of Global Affairs about their New Books

Society & Culture
History
1726
Marjorie Feld, “Nations Divided: American Jews ...
In Nations Divided: American Jews and the Struggle over Apartheid (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), Marjorie Feld, associate professor of history at Babson College, explores the tension between the particularist and universalist commitments many American Jew...
30 min
1727
Anthony Reid, “A History of Southeast Asia: Cri...
To write a comprehensive history of Southeast Asia is a task reserved for precious few scholars: historians of unrivaled skill and formidable knowledge. Anthony Reid is among them. His new book, A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads (Wiley B...
70 min
1728
Vicken Cheterian, "Open Wounds: Armenians, Turk...
An interview with Vicken Cheterian
91 min
1729
Aileen Moreton-Robinson, “The White Possessive:...
Owning property. Being property. Becoming propertyless. These are three themes of white possession that structure Aileen Moreton-Robinson’s brilliant new inquiry into the dynamics of race and Indigeneity in “postcolonizing” societies like Australia.
59 min
1730
Conference Report: Genocide In World History, B...
Today’s podcast marks the beginning of what I hope might become a regular feature on the podcast. The session was recorded live on the campus of Bryant University at the end of weekend conference with the title Genocide in World History,
37 min
1731
Edwin van de Haar, “Degrees of Freedom: Liberal...
“What exactly is liberalism?” The independent scholar Edwin van de Haar tackles this important question in his new book Degrees of Freedom: Liberal Political Philosophy and Ideology (Transaction Publishers, 2015). Setting the record straight,
80 min
1732
Jonathyne Briggs, “Sounds French: Globalization...
“Pop pop pop pop musik” -M Jonathyne Briggs‘ new book, Sounds French: Globalization, Cultural Communities, and Pop Music, 1958-1980(Oxford University Press, 2015) makes music the historical focus of the Fifth Republic’s first two decades.
59 min
1733
Eric Tagliacozzo, et al., “Asia Inside Out: Con...
Eric Tagliacozzo, Peter C. Perdue, and Helen F. Siu‘s “Asia Inside Out” project is a model for interdisciplinary and collaborative scholarship in all kinds of ways. Planned as a trilogy, the first two volumes were released this year.
47 min
1734
Jenny Shaw, “Everyday Life in the Early English...
Jenny Shaw‘s recent book Everyday Life in the Early English Caribbean: Irish, Africans, and the Construction of Difference (University of Georgia Press, 2013) analyzes how social, religious, and ethnic categories operated in Barbados and the Leeward Is...
48 min
1735
Neha Vora, “Impossible Citizens: Dubai’s Indian...
Neha Vora‘s Impossible Citizens: Dubai’s Indian Diaspora (Duke University Press, 2013) is a wonderfully rich and engaging account of middle class Indians who live and work, supposedly temporarily, in Dubai.
52 min
1736
Suzanna Reiss, “We Sell Drugs: The Alchemy of U...
Though the conventional history of the U.S.-led “War on Drugs” locates the origins of this conflict in a reaction to the domestic culture of excess of the 1960s, a new book argues that international drug control efforts are actually decades older,
41 min
1737
Phil Tiermeyer, “Plane Queer: Labor, Sexuality,...
Today’s guest discusses the history of sexuality in the workplace through the lens of male flight attendants. We speak with Phil Tiemeyer about the shifts and changes in the airline industry across the 20th century.
38 min
1738
Gordon H. Chang, “Fateful Ties: A History of Am...
“There was China before there was an America, and it is because of China that America came to be.” According to Gordon H. Chang‘s new book, the idea of “China” became “an ingredient within the developing identity of America itself.
69 min
1739
Carolyn Pedwell, “Affective Relations: The Tran...
What are the multiple meanings, ambivalences, possible risks, and potentials for transformation that arise from interrogating empathy on a transnational scale? Carolyn Pedwell (University of Kent) thinks through these complex questions in her new book,...
64 min
1740
Nicole Starosielski, “The Undersea Network” (Du...
Nicole Starosielski‘s new book brings an environmental and ecological consciousness to the study of digital media and digital systems, and it is a must-read. The Undersea Network (Duke University Press, 2015) looks carefully and imaginatively at the ge...
67 min
1741
Tom Jackson, “Chilled: How Refrigeration Change...
Tom Jackson‘s Chilled: How Refrigeration Changed the World and Might Do So Again (Bloomsbury, 2015) is a completely engrossing look into the history and technology of refrigeration.  This book reads like an expanded chapter of James Burke’s classic boo...
54 min
1742
Paul A. Christensen, “Japan, Alcoholism, and Ma...
Paul A. Christensen‘s new book is a thoughtful ethnography of drinking, drunkenness, and male sociability in modern urban Japan. Focusing on two major alcohol sobriety support groups in Japan, Alcoholics Anonymous and Danshukai, Japan, Alcoholism,
64 min
1743
Ellen Hazelkorn, “Rankings and the Reshaping of...
Ellen Hazelkorn, Policy Advisor to the Higher Education Authority (Ireland) and Director of the Higher Education Policy Research Unit (HEPRU), Dublin Institute of Technology, provides an in-depth analysis of higher educational rankings and what they me...
29 min
1744
Randy Nichols, “The Video Game Business” (Briti...
Video games have become an important cultural and economic force in our media environment. In his new book, The Video Game Business (British Film Institute, 2014), scholar Randy Nichols provides an overview of the increasingly diverse global market for...
49 min
1745
James Gelvin, “The Arab Uprisings: What Everyon...
Professor James Gelvin joins host Jonathan Judaken to discuss the Arab Uprisings, democratization in the Middle-East and Northern Africa, ISIS, al-Qaeda, terrorism, and America’s role imposing neo-liberal economic policies in the Middle East that have ...
30 min
1746
Mrinalini Chakravorty, “In Stereotype: South As...
In Stereotype: South Asia in the Global Literary Imaginary (Columbia University Press, 2014) is a masterful account of the importance of the stereotype in English language South Asian literature. Mrinalini Chakravorty explores such tropes as the crowd ...
41 min
1747
Kirsteen Kim and Sebastian C. H. Kim, “A Histor...
Korea presents a fascinating chapter in the history of Christianity. For instance, the first continuous Christian community in the peninsula was founded by Koreans themselves without any missionaries coming into the country. In their new book,
67 min
1748
Henry Shue, “Climate Justice: Vulnerability and...
How can a practical philosophical perspective concerned with justice and fairness help us address the problem of climate change? Henry Shue (Merton College, Oxford) tackles this essential question in his book Climate Justice: Vulnerability and Protecti...
59 min
1749
Eric Reed, “Selling the Yellow Jersey: The Tour...
The Tour de France is happening right now! The 2015 edition started on July 4th and will continue until July 26th. I’m excited to be able to share this interview with Eric Reed about his new book, Selling the Yellow Jersey: The Tour de France in the Gl...
68 min
1750
Sarah S. Bush, “The Taming of Democracy Assista...
Sarah S. Bush is the author of The Taming of Democracy Assistance: Why Democracy Promotion Does Not Confront Dictators (Cambridge University Press, 2015). Dunn is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Temple University.
22 min