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
2026
Brad Stoddard and Craig Martin, “Stereotyping R...
Our culture is full of popular stereotypes about religion, both positive and negative...
42 min
2027
Vivian Percy, "Saving Jenny: Rescuing Our Youth...
Vivian Percy's new book is the narration of a mother and daughter’s long painful journey from tragedy, through opioid addiction, toward redemption...
56 min
2028
Bhikkhu Anālayo, "Rebirth in Early Buddhism and...
Bhikkhu Anālayo skillfully analyzes the early Buddhist doctrine of rebirth before discussing the debate around rebirth throughout Buddhist history...
40 min
2029
Ward Keeler, "The Traffic in Hierarchy: Masculi...
Ward Keeler joins New Books in Southeast Asian Studies to discuss egalitarianism and autonomy, anthropology and audience, clientelism and communism, and how the study of Java and Bali informed his thinking about Burma...
48 min
2030
Joel Elliot Slotkin, "Sinister Aesthetics: The ...
Why did creative writers in early modern England write so forcefully about the relationship between aesthetics and morality?
31 min
2031
Bruce Van Orden, "We’ll Sing and We’ll Shout: T...
If you’re a Latter Day Saint, you’ve probably heard of W. W. Phelps, and no doubt, you’ve probably sung some of his hymns...
78 min
2032
Deborah E. Lipstadt, "Antisemitism: Here and No...
Over the past decade, and especially in the last several years, anti-Semitic crimes have increased significantly...
51 min
2033
Jules Evans, "The Art of Losing Control: A Phil...
Evans sets out to discover how people find ecstasy in a post-religious culture, how it can be good for us, and also harmful...
71 min
2034
Linda K. Wertheimer, "Faith Ed: Teaching About ...
Teaching about religion in a public school in the United States is rewarding, but very difficult...
57 min
2035
Ira Helderman, "Prescribing the Dharma: Psychot...
Ira shows that psychotherapists approaches to Buddhist traditions are moulded by how they relate to what is and is not religion...
61 min
2036
Ira Helderman, "Prescribing the Dharma: Psychot...
Ira shows that psychotherapists approaches to Buddhist traditions are moulded by how they relate to what is and is not religion...
61 min
2037
Borayin Larios, "Embodying the Vedas: Tradition...
Larios probes the backbone of what makes Hinduism the world’s oldest living tradition: the unbroken chain of transmission of Vedic texts composed over 3,000 years ago, originating circa 1750-1200 BCE...
64 min
2038
Margaret Arnold, "The Magdalene in the Reformat...
Mary Magdalene’s story of conversion from sinner to saint is one of Christianity’s most compelling and controversial stories...
39 min
2039
Discussion of Massive Online Peer Review and Op...
In the information age, knowledge is power. Hence, facilitating the access to knowledge to wider publics empowers citizens and makes societies more democratic...
29 min
2040
Nathan McGovern, "The Snake and The Mongoose: T...
Nathan McGovern draws on ancient texts to problematize the distinction between Brahman and non-Brahman in this era, shedding light on the presence of various Buddhist, Jain and Vedic groups who equally identified as Brahmans.
51 min
2041
Gregory Dawes, "Galileo and the Conflict betwee...
Open conflict between religion and science may not be inevitable, but a germ of discord resides in some of the fundamental commitments of both...
44 min
2042
Claire Pamment, "Comic Performance in Pakistan:...
Claire Pamment’s book is a fantastic new book centered on the Punjabi folk art of the Bhānd, or comic performance...
52 min
2043
Jessica Hardin, "Faith and the Pursuit of Healt...
Hardin explores how Pentecostal Christians manage chronic illness...
81 min
2044
Democratic Faith and Social Change with Eddie G...
An interview with Eddie Glaude, Jr.
32 min
2045
Whitney G. Gamble, "Christ and the Law: Antinom...
The Westminster Assembly (1643-53) was one of the most important ecclesiastical councils in the history of Reformed Protestantism, but until very recently it had received little in the way of scholarly attention...
33 min
2046
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
2047
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
2048
Michael Ruse, "The Problem of War: Darwinism, C...
What accounts for the antagonism between Christianity and Darwinism?
55 min
2049
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
2050
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