New Books in Religion

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.

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Religion & Spirituality
1926
Meido Moore, "The Rinzai Zen Way: A Guide to Pr...
In 2008 Meido Roshi received inka shomei ("mind seal"), designating him an 86th-generation Zen dharma heir and a 48th-generation holder of the lineage descended from Rinzai Gigen...
51 min
1927
Joyce Antler, "Jewish Radical Feminism: Voices ...
The book demonstrates the rich contribution of Jewish values and identity had on the women’s liberation movement and how in turn they changed Jewish life in America...
49 min
1928
Michael Ruse, "The Problem of War: Darwinism, C...
What accounts for the antagonism between Christianity and Darwinism?
55 min
1929
Jeffrey D. Long, "Perspectives on Reincarnation...
What happens after you die? The book brings together fascinating theological and religious studies perspectives on a controversial yet pervasive idea: reincarnation...
70 min
1930
Guy Axtell, "Problems of Religious Luck: Assess...
Our lives are shot through with contingency – where, when, and into what circumstances we are born is largely a matter of chance...
59 min
1931
Richard Salomon, "The Buddhist Literature of An...
One of the great archeological finds of the 20th century, the Gandhāran Buddhist Texts, dating from the 1st century CE, are the oldest Buddhist manuscripts ever discovered...
55 min
1932
Matthew Bowman, "Christian: The Politics of a W...
The intersection of religion and politics in the United States is one of the nation's most enduring conversations...
58 min
1933
Martin Demant Frederiksen, "An Anthropology of ...
Frederiksen's book is an “exploration of what goes missing when one looks for meaning."
40 min
1934
Geraldine Heng, "The Invention of Race in the E...
In creating a detailed impression of the medieval race-making that would be reconfigured into the biological racism of the modern era, Heng reaches beyond medievalists and race-studies scholars to anyone interested in the long history of race.
58 min
1935
Matthew Bingham, "Orthodox Radicals: Baptist Id...
Bingham argues against several centuries of historical interpretation of the new religious movement that emerged in London in the late 1630s and now numbers around 35 million adherents worldwide...
35 min
1936
Alexandre Kojève, "Atheism," trans by Jeff Love...
Ranging across Heidegger, Buddhism, Christianity, German idealism, Russian literature, and mathematics, Kojève advances a novel argument about freedom and authority...
75 min
1937
Adriaan C. Neele, "Before Jonathan Edwards: Sou...
Jonathan Edwards is by now widely recognised as America’s most important early philosopher and theologian...
35 min
1938
Religious and Political Identities with Michele...
An interview with Michele F. Margolis
30 min
1939
Gil Ben-Herut, "Śiva’s Saints: The Origins of D...
Studies of Hindu saints tend to focus primarily on the saints themselves—their words, teachings, and practices—rather than tending to the often complex and complicated world of texts and traditions about those saints...
68 min
1940
Samuel Hayim Brody, "Martin Buber's Theopolitic...
Martin Buber is known as one of the 20th century's greatest Jewish scholars and thinkers, but he is less well known for his political theory and activism...
37 min
1941
Duncan Williams, “American Sutra: A Story of Fa...
American Sutra is also an inspiring account of how Japanese-Americans embodied faith, ingenuity and sacrifice in the face of great adversity...
87 min
1942
Justine Howe, “Suburban Islam” (Oxford UP, 2018)
Howe examines the social and spiritual contexts of Muslims living outside of Chicago...
65 min
1943
R. B. Jamieson, "Jesus’ Death and Heavenly Offe...
When and where did Jesus offer himself to God?
47 min
1944
Caleb Simmons, "Nine Nights of the Goddess: The...
This work maps manifestations of the festival across historical periods and local celebrations over the regions of West Bengal, Odish...
39 min
1945
Thomas Patton, "The Buddha’s Wizards: Magic, Pr...
Thomas Patton examines the weizzā, a figure in Burmese Buddhism who is possessed with extraordinary supernatural powers, usually gained through some sort of esoteric practice...
67 min
1946
Fred S. Naiden, "Soldier, Priest, and God: A Li...
Alexander’s religious practices were a vital part of his legitimacy as a ruler of his people, and were interwoven into his daily activities...
46 min
1947
Kevin Ingram, "Converso Non-Conformism in Early...
Ingram sets out to account for the experience of those Spanish Jews, perhaps one-third of the total Spanish Jewish population, who converted to Catholicism after the Reconquista...
32 min
1948
Richard Gombrich, "Buddhism and Pali" (Mud Pie ...
Far more than just an introductory book, Richard argues not only that the Pali Canon records the words of the Buddha, but that the Buddha himself is responsible for the Pali language...
68 min
1949
Adrienne Mayor, "Gods and Robots: Myths, Machin...
The first robot to walk the earth was a bronze giant called Talos...
39 min
1950
B.R. Ambedkar, "Annihilation of Caste: The Anno...
This landmark speech by Dr. B.R. Ambedakar is the pinnacle of his scholarly work and cements his legacy alongside Mahatma Gandhi in Indian politics...
67 min