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New Books in Biography & Memoir

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. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox:

society & culture

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46:54

Muy Lang Lim, "In the Shadow of the Khmer Rouge: A...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/09/01

As a child, Lim Muy Lang grew up in a prosperous Sino-Khmer family in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. When the Khmer Rouge seized power in April 1975, her family, along with the entire population of Phnom Penh, was forced to immediately leave the city for the countryside. What followed was a harrowing struggle for survival under the Khmer Rouge’s radical revolutionary regime, which led to the deaths of all of Muy Lang’s immediate family members, and much of her

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24:30

David Keohan, "The Wind Beneath the Stone: My Quest...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/09/01

When world kettle-belllifting champion David Keohan heard the old tales of stone-lifting, he was captivated, setting off on a quest to rediscover these famous stones and attempt the feats of heroes past by lifting them. Guided by a 1930s archive, the dúchas, in which schoolchildren shared their local folklore, Keohan began to travel the country in search of the stones, as documented in The Wind Beneath the Stone: My Quest to Unearth a Piece of Ireland's Folklore (Bloomsbury and Chelsea Green,

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42:18

Robyn Hitchcock, "Stranded in the Future" (Akashic...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/26

Robyn Hitchcock's second memoir,Stranded in the Future(Akashic Books, 2026), explores the formation of his seminal 1970s band the Soft Boys, and the obsessions that fueled his early creative output. Stranded in the Futureis a kind of dystopian self-portrait. It's about obsession, and obsessive behavior. Spanning from 1968 to 1978, it takes in the mythology surrounding Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett (though it doesn't name him) and hinges on Robyn Hitchcock's teenage girlfriend (she isn't named

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76:16

Brian Jay Jones, "George Lucas: A Life" (Little,...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/26

The essential biography of the influential and beloved filmmaker George Lucas. On May 25, 1977, a problem-plagued, budget-straining independent science-fiction film opened in a mere thirty-two American movie theaters. Conceived, written, and directed by a little-known filmmaker named George Lucas, the movie originally calledThe Star Warsquickly drew blocks-long lines, bursting box-office records and ushering in a new way for movies to be made, marketed, and merchandised. It is now one of the most

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58:52

Patricia A. Billingsley, "Lorca in Vermont: The...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/24

A groundbreaking reassessment of the relationship between Federico García Lorca and American poet Philip Cummings and its impact on the poems in Lorca's landmark collection,Poet in New York.In August 1929, Spanish poet Federico García Lorca left New York City to spend ten days with his friend and lover Philip Cummings at a lakeside cottage in northern Vermont.Lorca in Vermont: The Spanish Poet and His American Lover(High Road Books, 2026)tells the story of two young men with mismatched goals and

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70:08

Jessica Riskin, "The Power of Life: The Invention of...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/22

In the early nineteenth century, the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed the first evolutionary theory of life and, with it, a new science: biology. Yet for centuries, evolutionary theorists have endeavored to discredit Lamarck and his theory of self-transforming organisms, rejecting the idea that animals play an active role in shaping their own evolution. In his lifetime, he was mocked by his adversaries and personally insulted by Napoleon. In this virtuosic melding of biography,

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74:24

Ed Park, "Three Tenses" (Random House, 2026)

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/22

Three Tenses(Random House, 2026)by Ed Park is not quite a memoir, not quite fiction, not quite poetry and not quite prose—and yet it transcends the sum of all its not-quite parts as a resonant portrait of its young artist.Written when he was 28, Park’s “transmission from the nineties” displays his more earnest, more vulnerable version: a writer toiling away in upstart obscurity, working thankless New York jobs, who has yet to reach the triumph of publishing his first book.Three Tenseswould not be

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63:36

Jane Draycott, "Fulvia: The Woman Who Broke All the...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/22

Fulvia was born into wealth, privilege, and prestige around the year 80 BCE, yet there was nothing inherently special about her—she was not a saint, an empress, or a queen. But during the years leading up to the fall of the Roman Republic, Fulvia was moving in the most powerful social circles, and by her death in 40 BCE she had amassed a degree of political and military power unprecedented for a woman.Fulvia’s success came at considerable cost, however. None of her three marriages to politically

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43:20

Andrew Fisher, "Nathan Straus: From Macy's Magnate to...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/21

In New York City in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centauries, Nathan Straus was famous as a co-owner of the Macy’s and Abraham and Straus department stores. He was also a leading Zionist and briefly, in 1894, a Democratic nominee for mayor of New York. Yet his greatest achievement, Andrew Fisher argues inNathan Straus: From Macy’s Magnate to International Humanitarian, was his work in public heath—particularly for the pasteurization of milk. Straus, as Fisher shows, worked with serious

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93:50

Emile Chabal, "The Age of Hobsbawm: The Life of a...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/21

Eric Hobsbawm (1917–2012) was one of the foremost European intellectuals of the twentieth century. He published hundreds of articles on modern history and culture, and his books became canonical works and bestsellers on both sides of the Atlantic. His crystal-clear writing, vast erudition, and ability to make his Marxist analysis digestible to a wide audience brought him worldwide renown. Yet Hobsbawm was no academic hermit. Through his globetrotting journalism, he was embedded in an

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43:23

Sandip Roy, "Chapal Rani, the Last Queen of Bengal"...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/20

Chapal Rani was one of India’s most famous performers ofjatra,Bengal’s popular theater. Traditionally, all the roles, including female roles, were played by men—and Chapal Rani was perhaps the most prominent performer of women on the stage.He’s also the subject of a new book from Sandip Roy, titledChapal Rani, the Last Queen of Bengal.Roy, who joins us the show today, tells the story of Chapal Rani’s life, from stardom to obscurity and later rediscovery; how Chapal Rani would transform himself

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43:33

Happy to Help: Adventures of a People Pleaser

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/20

As a big sister, Girl Scout, personal assistant, sitcom sidekick, and, finally, mother of three, Amy believed it was her destiny to be a people pleaser. She learned to put others first and to look like she had everything under control, even when she very much did not.Along the way, she started to wonder why doing it all had been her job. When she tried to hand over some of her to-dos, no one was interested in taking them. And when she asked for help in return, she got advice: have a sense of humor,

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63:58

Scott Peeples, "How Many Roads: A Life of Bob Dylan"...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/17

Scott Peeple'sHow Many Roads: A Life of Bob Dylan(Reaktion, 2026)chronicles Bob Dylan’s rise from apprenticeships in Minneapolis cafés and Greenwich Village folk clubs to international stardom as a breathtakingly original songwriter and singer. Scott Peeples follows Dylan through decades of radical shifts in his writing, recording and performing styles, from the intimate lo-fiBasement Tapesto the musical collage art and apocalyptic blues of the twenty-first century. Spanning Dylan’s entire

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47:16

Edward E. Andrews, "Newport Gardner's Anthem: A Story...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/17

Newport Gardner's Anthem: A Story of Slavery, Struggle, and Survival in Early America(Cornell UP, 2025)explores the remarkable life of Occramer Marycoo, an enslaved African who went on to become one of early America's most important Black leaders.In the mid-eighteenth century, Marycoo was taken from West Africa to Newport, Rhode Island, where he was forced into racial bondage and given a name that symbolized the power that his new city and new enslaver held over him: Newport Gardner. In this

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35:27

Echoes of Incense on the Shikoku Pilgrimage with Don...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/16

Amy Chavez talks to Don Weiss, currently mid-way through the Shikoku Pilgrimage — Japan's 1,300 km Buddhist route that has been walked for almost as many years. Pilgrims share their journey with Kobo Daishi, patron saint of the 88-temple circuit and founder of Shingon Buddhism in Japan. Don explains his "gratitude pilgrimage," what it means and why he is undertaking it. Along the way, he speaks with fellow pilgrims and priests at a number of temples to assess the experience for international

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43:00

Shimon Redlich, "Bridge Builder: My Life Since the...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/16

How do you build bridges after living through one of history's greatest ruptures? In this episode, Rabbi Marc Katz sits down with historian Shimon Redlich to discuss his memoirBridge Builder: My Life Since the Holocaust(Academic Studies Press, 2026), the concluding volume of his remarkable four-part autobiographical journey.Picking up in the late 1950s,Bridge Builderfollows Redlich from his years as a student in Jerusalem and the United States to his distinguished career as a professor at

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58:42

Caroline Bicks, "Monsters in the Archives: My Year of...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/14

After Caroline Bicks was named the University of Maineʼs inaugural Stephen E. King Chair in Literature, she became the first scholar to be granted extended access by King to his private archives, a treasure trove of manuscripts that document the legendary writerʼs creative process—most of them never before studied or published. The year she spent exploring King’s early drafts and hand-written revisions was guided by one question millions of Kingʼs enthralled and terrified readers (including her)

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52:38

Paul French, "The Last Emperor of China: Twilight of...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/13

The life of Puyi, the last emperor of China, often feels like a spectacle—in no small part due to the 1987 Oscar-winning filmThe Last Emperor. Yet the true story being Puyi, as well as his wife, the empress Wanrong, is more complicated. Two foreigners were asked to tutor both Puyi and Wanrong: Reginald Johnston and Isabel Ingram, both of whom provide fresh insights into how China’s final emperor and empress lived their lives. Historian Paul French draws upon these sources, and others, for his

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56:40

Why the Roman Empire Fell: On Edward Gibbon with Hugh...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/13

250 years ago when the United States declared independence, Edward Gibbon across the ocean published the first volume of his magisterial series,The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.Immediately his text caused a storm of controversy. Many readers thought that Gibbon had implied that the rise of Christianity caused the fall of the western empire. But is that the real story?To answer that question, in Episode 1 of Season 6, I have as our guestHugh Liebert. A Professor of Political Science at West

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55:41

Bridget Hourican on Frank Callanan's "James Joyce: A...

New Books in Biography & Memoir ·

2026/08/12

The young James Joyce (1882–1941) was forged in the smithy of Irish political controversies, and he took into his European exile a depth of political insight unrivalled among his fellow modernists. In this biography of Joyce in his youth and early exileJames Joyce: A Political Life(Princeton UP, 2026), acclaimed Irish historian and biographer Frank Callanan reveals a Joyce who is markedly more politically conscious, informed and complex than the Joyce of Richard Ellmann’s classic account. Written

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637 results

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