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New Books in Intellectual History

New Books Network

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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01:35:56

How Real Is Race?: Unraveling Race, Biology, and...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/09/28

Tune in to this discussion aboutHow Real Is Race?: Unraveling Race, Biology, and CulturebyCarol C. Mukhopadhyay, Rosemary Henze, and Yolanda T. Moses(Rowman & Littlefield, 2025)Biologically speaking, there is no such thing as race. Yet this seems to contradict the experiences of people in the United States and other countries where racial classification is used daily, by individuals and institutions. Race still matters, whether in wealth accumulation, educational achievement, health, the

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00:49:09

The Connoisseur: A Cultural History with Peter Burke...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/09/27

Eminent historian Peter Burke joins Jana Byars to discuss his new book, The Connoisseur: A Cultural History (Reaktion, 2026), considering the art connoisseur from the Renaissance to the present day. Connoisseurs have been an influential, if somewhat mysterious, figure in the history of art, responsible for making or breaking high-profile collections and reputations and influencing taste, the art market, and the field of art history with their pronouncements. But what did it take to become a

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01:28:31

Assemblage Theory and Affect with Ian Buchanan...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/09/25

From the inside flap:“In this lucid and inventive work, Ian Buchanan argues that the pivotal concepts ‘assemblage’ and ‘affect,’ which were separated at birth, need to be reunited. Indeed, it is only by bringing them back together that we can fully understand their meaning. of Assemblage Theory and Affect (Bloomsbury, 2026) proposes three agenda-setting arguments:1. Affect is a function of desire—its powers are the powers we attribute to desire. As such, like desire it should be considered a

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01:16:21

Aristotle Kallis, "Iconic Fascism: The Excess of...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/09/24

In Iconic Fascism: The Excess of Destruction and Creation in Interwar Radical Right-wing Politics(Bloomsbury, 2026)Aristotle Kallis uncovers the paradox at the heart of fascist politics: the simultaneous obsession with destroying and creating powerful symbols. This book demonstrates how fascists were simultaneously some of history's most passionate icon-lovers and most ruthless icon-breakers, wielding symbolic excess as both weapon and worship in their revolutionary project. Through a sweeping

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00:34:12

Angela Last, "Tainted Tools: New Materialisms As a...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/09/22

In Tainted Tools: New Materialisms As a Decolonial Project (Manchester University Press, 2026), Angela Last offers a provocative intervention into the tense relationship between new materialist and decolonial thought. Although both seek to challenge dominant European categories and hierarchies, they are often treated as incompatible. New materialisms, in particular, have been criticised for sustaining a white, universalised vision of the human and overlooking the racialised histories embedded in the

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00:46:10

Jared D Aldern and Theresa Lynn Gregor, "Landkeeping:...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/09/19

With rising temperatures, longer summers, drought, and more wildfires occurring in the United States and Canada, there is growing interest in the impact and efficacy of Indigenous fire and cultural burning practices. Indigenous communities throughout this region known as Turtle Island have long used fire to manage their homelands. An interdisciplinary anthology that includes extensive Native views, Landkeeping: Restoring Indigenous Fire Stewardship and Ecological Partnerships(OSU Press, 2026)

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00:38:51

Mark Peterson, "The Making and Breaking of the...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/09/14

Edward Blum interviews Mark Peterson on his new book The Making and Breaking of the American Constitution: A Thousand-Year History.The American Revolution occurred at a time when Britain’s constitutional order failed to adapt to the extraordinary growth of its colonies. The framers designed an American constitution to succeed where Britain’s had faltered, planning for continuous population and territorial expansion that would eventually cross the continent. Yet by the end of the nineteenth century,

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01:06:22

Christopher B. Patterson, "Domesticating Brown:...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/09/14

This episode features a conversation with Dr. Christopher B. Patterson, Professor of the Social Justice Institute at the University of British Columbia, discussing their recently published book, Domesticating Brown: Movements of Racial Imagination (Duke University Press, 2026). Domesticating Brown interrogates the slippery senses that brownness as a racial form has manifested over time, charting its transitions across historical colonial contexts and into the transpacific dynamics of contemporary

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86:42

Han Hsien Liew, "Preaching Pious Rulership in...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/09/12

Han Hsien Liew’s fascinating and insightful new book, Preaching Pious Rulership in Medieval Islam: Ibn al-Jawzi’s Political Thought (Cambridge University Press, 2026) offers a new way of understanding the political thought of one of medieval Islam’s most influential preachers, Ibn al-Jawzi. Although Ibn al-Jawzi is often remembered primarily as a preacher, moralist, and religious scholar, Han Hsien challenges conventional accounts of medieval Islamic political thought by showing how piety,

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75:14

A Nation Wrestles With God: American Prophets,...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/09/10

Spanning more than 400 years of spiritual transformation and imagination,A Nation Wrestles With God(Restless Books, 2026)collects diverse writers—poets, novelists, theologians, scientists, musicians, politicians, comedians, artists, mavericks, naturalists, futurists, and more—whose daring texts incited change and continue to influence a growing nation. In this anthology, you will find the stories, poems, letters, speeches, sermons, essays, song lyrics, comic strips, newspaper columns, and

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58:22

Leonhard Emmerling, "The Idiots: The History of the...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/09/09

In a world obsessed with expertise and control, the figure of the idiot illuminates deeper truths about society.In this interview,Morteza Hajizadeh interviewsLeonhard Emmerling about his bookThe Idiots: The History of the Homo Nullus(Seagull Books, 2026)Dostoevsky and Nietzsche wrote about him; Dadaists and punks idolized him; artists like Warhol and Beuys made him their icon. From holy fool to punk rebel, the idiot—a figure that traces its roots back to the Greekidiotes, a person who was

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71:23

Kevin Van Meter and Robert Ovetz eds. "Points of...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/09/07

“The general thrust of capitalist policy in this period aims at the intensified imposition of work in response to ongoing struggle against it.”—Harry Cleaver, “Work Is Still the Central Issue: New Words for New Worlds,” inPoints of Departure, ed. Robert Ovetz and Kevin Van Meter, p. 35. What changes if we begin the history of capitalism not with what capital does to workers, but with what workers force capital to do? This reversal helps set Harry Cleaver’s approach to Marxism apart from more

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45:31

Valeria Vázquez Guevara, "Truth Commissions and...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/09/04

Truth Commissions and International Law: Jurisdiction, Representation, Authority(Cambridge University Press, 2026) examines how truth commissions construct authoritative accounts of conflict, and how they account for the plurality of accounts across affected communities. Dr. Valeria Vázquez Guevara examines three of the earliest and most influential truth commissions: Argentina (1983–1984), Chile (1990–1991), and El Salvador (1992–1993), and examines how relevant cultural objects support or

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54:48

An Honest Death: Life's End and Humanist Funerals...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/08/28

A fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at non-religious funerals in contemporary London,An Honest Death:Life's End and Humanist Funerals(Princeton UP, 2026)is an intimate and moving ethnographic account of funerals for people who don’t believe in God or an afterlife. Focusing on secular funeral celebrants of the British Humanist Association (now called Humanists UK), the book examines how their ritual work is geared toward helping realize a secular world. There is a strong ethical commitment behind

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64:03

Divining the Past: How to Do Conjectural History with...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/08/26

Whether recovering a lost history or charting a new land, scholars and explorers alike often hit at frontiers not only of place, but also knowledge. When the evidence only goes so far, what is the right way to advance?The answer is to make a conjecture: an educated guess that discourses on what is likely the case. Historical examples range from Italian humanists stealing manuscripts from monasteries and reconstructing classical languages, to Jesuit missionaries speculating about land bridges to

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34:10

Eran Shalev, "The Star-Spangled Republic: Political...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/08/24

Why does the American flag use stars to represent the states? InThe Star-Spangled Republic: Political Astronomy and the Rise of the American Constellation(U Virginia Press, 2025), Eran Shalev answers this and many other questions, considering the cosmic imagery—so familiar today but so peculiar on reflection—that suffused the United States’ early political culture. In this comprehensive study, Shalev uncovers how “political astronomy”—the discussion and representation of politics through

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53:40

A.J.A. Woods, "The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy: Why...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/08/24

The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy: Why the Right Blames the Frankfurt School for the Decline of the West (Verso Books, 2026)is thedefinitive history of a dangerous right-wing conspiracy theory.“Cultural Marxism” is one of the far right’s favorite buzzwords. But despite its currency, the meaning and origins of the term are rarely investigated. This book uncovers the bizarre story of the cult leaders, right-wing intellectuals, and White House officials who believe a coterie of left-wing scholars

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93:50

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

New Books in Intellectual History ·

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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64:43

Roderick Beaton, "Europe: A New History" (Allen Lane,...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/08/19

What do we talk about when we talk about Europe? Is it defined by geography? Or is it politics, or shared culture? In Europe: A New History(Allen Lane, 2026),award-winning historian Roderick Beaton tells the story of Europe as never before—as the history of an idea, and a collective identity. Since its dramatic birth in ancient Greece, 'Europe' has been defined, and redefined, by its people. Through this powerful lens, and with the narrative drive and scope of a novelist, Beaton deftly

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44:53

Beronda L. Montgomery, "When Trees Testify: Science,...

New Books in Intellectual History ·

2026/08/18

The histories of trees in America are also the histories of Black Americans. Pecan trees were domesticated by an enslaved African named Antoine; sycamore trees were both havens and signposts for people trying to escape enslavement; poplar trees are historically associated with lynching; and willow bark has offered the gift of medicine. These trees, and others, testify not only to the complexity of the Black American narrative but also to a heritage of Black botanical expertise that, like Native

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