Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for New Books Network
NewsArts

New Books Network

New Books

Interviews with Authors about their New Books

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Play
Open in
  • 155 episodes
  • Avg 51 min
  • English

Episodes 155

NewestOldestLongest
All20Unplayed20In progress0Played0
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • Yesterday · 54 min

    An Honest Death: Life's End and Humanist Funerals with Matthew Engelke

    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 this effort, which is to face death with honesty based on the belief that this life is all we have. For the humanist celebrants and those they serve, this is what allows for a life with meaning and purpose. Written in a vivid style, the book centers on the lives and the funerals of particular people, from a three-year-old child to a man in his nineties. Anthropologist Matthew Engelke, who trained as a humanist celebrant as part of his research, describes how these officiants try to craft “sincere” funerals, avoiding language and music that might suggest that the person who died had any religious beliefs. The book also captures the highs and lows for humanist celebrants of working in the funeral business—a business that is, for many of them, a kind of vocational calling. Above all, An Honest Death draws out the tensions in secular humanist thought and practice between reason and the body, rationalism and materialism. Nothing matters more to the humanists than “daring to know” in the Enlightenment tradition, but nothing is so certainly known as the fact that we are finite and embodied creatures. Matthew Engelke is professor and chair of the Department of Religion at Columbia University. Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Yesterday · 1 hr 9 min

    Matthew Thomas Miller, "Feeling like Lovers: Affect in Medieval Sufism" (U California Press, 2026)

    Matthew Thomas Miller's new book Feeling like Lovers: Affect in Medieval Sufism (U California Press, 2026), and is available as an open access book (see link below), considers how for many medieval Sufis, Sufism was the “path of love”, and God was the Beloved, and so one had to become a lover of the Beloved on this path. And though there remains a rich corpus of Sufi texts from theological, legal to philosophical that speak to and about this trajectory, Miller re-focuses our attention to the felt and affective dimensions of the genre of poetry, especially of qalandariyyat or rogue poetry. In concentrating on these specific poems and their metaphoric and metaphysical treatments of beauty, sama‘ and ultimately fana’, we begin to the grasp the critical significance of how feelings and the felt dimension (experience) informs the path of love, particularly in how Sufis came to know the secret realities of the Beloved. In this way, the spectrum of emotion, aeffect (affect and effect) held in the body then help us restore the relationship between the mind-body in Sufi thought, according to Miller. This book will be of interest to those who enjoy Sufi and Persian poetry, as well as those who study history of emotion, affect, and literature as well as Sufism generally. A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press's Open Access publishing program. Visit here to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Yesterday · 1 hr

    Catherine Reyes-Housholder, "How Women Win Presidential Elections in Latin America" (Temple UP, 2026)

    Between 1990 and 2020, women candidates won only 6% of the world’s presidential races. How Women Win Presidential Elections in Latin America (Temple University Press, 2026) explains the factors, strategies, and perceptions that help (or hinder) women to democratically access their country’s highest political office. Dr. Catherine Reyes-Housholder introduces a theory of gendered incentives and perceived potential to reveal why a political party would break with tradition and nominate a woman. She also shows how citizens respond when women candidates are running in incumbent parties or competing to displace those in power. Drawing on comparative research on the presidency and gender, How Women Win Presidential Elections in Latin America examines the successful campaigns of Michelle Bachelet in Chile and Dilma Rousseff in Brazil, as well as why Blanca Ovelar lost her presidential race in Paraguay. Dr. Reyes-Housholder’s findings indicate that voter sexism is not a major factor; however, women do not triumph in these elections in the same ways that men do. Rather, the central unknown factor behind women’s victories is how they become candidates of major parties—and gender profoundly influences who parties nominate. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Yesterday · 57 min

    Elizabeth J. Letourneau and Luke Malone, "One in Five: Why Child Sexual Abuse Is Our Biggest Public Health Crisis—And What We Can Do to Stop It" (Basic Books, 2026)

    One in five children will be sexually abused before their eighteenth birthday. This isn't a problem confined to a single country, city, or neighborhood. It's something that happens everywhere, and what it costs can be enormous: depression, PTSD, and elevated long-term risk for physical illness, including heart disease and cancer. In One in Five: Why Child Sexual Abuse Is Our Biggest Public Health Crisis—And What We Can Do to Stop It (Basic Books, 2026), Elizabeth Letourneau and Luke Malone make the case that child sexual abuse is not inevitable. It is preventable, and at this moment in time, we have the tools to stop it before it begins. Letourneau and Malone don't stop at describing the problem. The book creates a clear picture of how much of the harm is caused by other children. They lay out a road map, built on years of research and real compassion, for keeping kids safe and reaching young people at risk of causing harm before anyone gets hurt. In this episode of the New Books Network, we follow that road map and ask what changes when prevention rather than punishment becomes the organizing idea behind child safety. The conversation is energized and respectful of survivors and their families, and it projects an urgency that does not lose hope. I hope you find it worth your time. I think you will, if you are interested in what child sexual abuse prevention can look like in 2026. - Aniss Benelmouffok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Yesterday · 56 min

    Srirupa Roy, "The Political Outsider: Indian Democracy and the Lineages of Populism" (Stanford UP, 2024)

    Defying the dire predictions that attended its birth as an independent nation-state in 1947, the Indian republic is more than seventy-five years old. And yet, it is a place where criticisms of actually existing democracy are intense and strident. In recent years, the trope of victimized people suffering at the hands of a predatory elite and political dysfunction has reaped rewards. The populist language of redemptive outsiders pledging to combat a corrupt system has been harnessed in successful electoral campaigns, like the majoritarian regime of Narendra Modi. Tracking the shift from postcolonial nation-building to democracy-rebuilding, Srirupa Roy shows how the political outsider came to be a valorized figure of late-twentieth century Indian democracy, tasked with the urgent mission of curing a broken democratic system—what Roy terms "curative democracy." Drawing attention to an ambivalent political field that folds together authoritarian and democratic forms and ideas, The Political Outsider: Indian Democracy and the Lineages of Populism (Stanford University Press, 2024) argues that the long 1970s were a crucial turning point in Indian politics, when democracy was suspended by the declaration of a national emergency and then subsequently restored. By tracing the crooked line that connects the ideals of curative democracy and the political outsider to the populist antipolitics and strongman authoritarian rule in present times, this book revisits democracy from India, and asks what the Indian experience tells us about the trajectory of global democratic politics. Dhiren Swain is a MIPA PhD Candidate, affiliated to The University of Melbourne and IIT Madras. His current research focuses on the Urban Policies and Community Politics in India and South Asia. He can be reached at kishoredhiren8@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Yesterday · 42 min

    Mark S. LeClair, "Foul Play in the Nonprofit Sector: Analyzing Corruption in US Charities" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024)

    It is quite easy to find corruption within nonprofits. This is particularly the case in the subsector of not-for-profits that are incorporated as traditional 501(c)(3) entities. With the continuing erosion of public confidence in charities, these institutions must act now, both individually and collectively, to bolster trust and ensure public support for nonprofits that has been a hallmark of American democracy. This book explores the causes of malfeasance in the nonprofit realm. It examines how the current inadequate regulatory environment—together with inherent “agency” problems―can lead organizations astray as they turn away from fulfilling donor wishes to instead act in their own self-interest. The book highlights the distinction between “soft corruption” in the nonprofit sector and “hard corruption.” The former includes the misuse of donor funds that do not cross the line into illegality and the latter covers explicitly illegal misappropriation of contributions. In Foul Play in the Nonprofit Sector: Analyzing Corruption in US Charities (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024), economist Mark S. LeClair provides constructive overviews regarding charity evaluation. Is it truly fair to judge nonprofits on their financials? The financial figures so frequently dictate the value of a nonprofit, and this often isn’t the best way to judge a charity’s performance. The manuscript includes suggestions for internal sectoral changes and regulatory reforms that can deter corruption at nonprofits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Yesterday · 37 min

    Holly Crawford Pickett, "The Drama of Serial Conversion in Early Modern England" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2024)

    After mounting London’s outdoor pulpit known as St. Paul’s Cross on 8th December, 1588, Anthony Tyrrell found himself perched before a skeptical audience. He stood in the shadow of St. Paul’s Cathedral to declare his recantation of Catholicism and return to England’s official Protestant Church. The trouble was he had been there before – in January of the same year, in fact – to do the same thing. On that occasion, however, he had shocked on-lookers by delivering an anti-Protestant tirade instead of his promised recantation. How could Tyrrell, a serial convert, who eventually changed church affiliation as many as ten times, overcome the doubts of his suspicious audience? Tyrrell and similar converts who made multiple conversions understandably aroused suspicions of hypocrisy that made the performative character of public recantation troublingly evident. Yet as Holly Pickett argues in The Drama of Serial Conversion in Early Modern England (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2024), these performative elements are actually indispensable to any conversion, whether an individual’s first or fifteenth. Serial converts served as uncomfortable reminders to their contemporaries that religious identity is always unverifiable. The first study to explore serial conversion as a discrete phenomenon in this era, The Drama of Serial Conversion in Early Modern England challenges confessional divisions within much early modern historiography by analyzing the surprising convergence of Protestant and Catholic in the figure of the serial convert. It also reveals a neglected strain of religious discourse in early modern England that valued mutability and flexibility even in the midst of hardening and increasingly narrow understandings of conversion. Michael Shaw is a PhD student in Historical Theology at Union College, Belfast, and a Visiting Tutor at the Irish Baptist College. His research focuses on the thought of the Independent Puritan theologian Jeremiah Burroughs (1599–1646). His primary research interests lie in historical theology, particularly early modern Baptist and Congregationalist theology and ecclesiology. He also serves as the Associate Pastor at Strandtown Baptist Church, Belfast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Yesterday · 1 hr 10 min

    Diego Galego, "Queering Public Policy: A Disruptive Yet Inclusive Framework for Policymaking" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026)

    For years, LGBTQ+ policies worldwide have been crafted based on heteronormative views, needs, and practices. However, this has gradually changed over the last two decades as LGBTQ+ individuals have become key players in the development of gender-based policies. Diego Galego's Queering Public Policy: A Disruptive Yet Inclusive Framework for Policymaking (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026) examines these political and social changes, evaluates how actors have successfully integrated LGBTQ+ needs into the mainstream policy agenda, and provides a comprehensive guide to understanding the policymaking processes from an LGBTQ+ perspective. Drawing on data from Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and the USA, it presents a systematic framework for understanding "queering public policy" as a policy process. The final chapter offers a roadmap for scholars interested in exploring this evolving field further. This book will appeal to anyone interested in public policy, public administration, and queer studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Thursday · 43 min

    Jamie L. Brummitt, "Protestant Relics in Early America" (Oxford UP, 2025)

    Edward Blum interviews Dr. Jamie L. Brummitt on how new book Protestant Relics in Early America. In Protestant Relics in Early America (Oxford UP, 2025), Jamie L. Brummitt upends long-held assumptions about religion and material culture in the early United States. Brummitt chronicles how American Protestants cultivated a lively relic culture centered around collecting supernatural memory objects associated with dead Christian leaders, family members, and friends. These objects materialized the real physical presences of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and souls of the dead on earth. As Brummitt demonstrates, people of nearly all Protestant denominations and walks of life--including members of Congress, college presidents, ministers, mothers, free Black activists, schoolchildren, and enslaved people--sought embodied and supernatural sense experiences with relics. They collected relics from deathbeds, stole relics from tombs, made relics in schools, visited relics at pilgrimage sites like George Washington's Mount Vernon, purchased relics in the marketplace, and carried relics into the American Revolution and the Civil War. Locks of hair, blood, bones, portraits, daguerreotypes, post-mortem photographs, memoirs, deathbed letters, Bibles, clothes, embroidered and painted mourning pieces, and a plethora of other objects that had been touched, used, or owned by the dead became Protestant relics. These relic practices were so pervasive that they shaped systems of earthly and heavenly power, from young women's education to national elections to Protestant-Catholic relations to the structure of freedom and families in the afterlife. In recovering the forgotten history and presence of Protestant relics in early America, Brummitt demonstrates how material practices of religion defined early American politics and how the Enlightenment enhanced rather than diminished embodied presence. Moreover, Brummitt reveals how the secular historical method has obscured the supernatural significance of relics for the Protestants who made, collected, exchanged, treasured, and passed them down. This book will be an essential resource for scholars and students of early American history, religion, politics, art, and popular culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Thursday · 46 min

    Thinking About Leaving Academia?

    You’ve spent so many years earning your degrees. But how do you know if staying in academia is the right thing for you? Whether you hope to keep working on campus or chart a new path, this episode will help you take stock of what you need, and design the life you want. Questions this episode asks include: when are you at your best; when do you feel engaged and excited; when do you feel valued; and when are you making a contribution? It then asks you to make connections: where are you when you feel those things, and who are you with? We also explore what you can do to help yourself make career decisions: going on informational interviews, expanding your definition of “success,” becoming curious about what could make your life better, and considering how you can make adjustments to your current job so it works better for you. Guest: Dr. Jennifer Polk is a career coach, educator, and recognized expert in PhD careers. She facilitates professional development workshops and delivers keynote presentations at institutions across the US, Canada, and internationally. She’s published in University Affairs, Inside Higher Ed, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Globe and Mail, Academic Matters, and in three books. She earned her PhD in history from the University of Toronto. Host: Dr. Christina Gessler is an academic writing coach and editor. She is the producer and show host of the Academic Life podcast. Playlist for listeners: What Do You Want Out Of Life The Burnout Workbook Should I Quit My PhD Program? My What-if Year Career Services Leaving Academia & Pursuing Life Abroad Leaving Academia: A Practical Guide Considering Leaving Academia? The Entrepreneurial Scholar Chasing Chickens Managing Your Mental Health During Your Ph.D. The End of an Academic Dream Being Well in Academia The Good- Enough Life Welcome to Academic Life, the podcast for your academic journey—and beyond! You help support the show by downloading and sharing episodes. Join us again to learn from more experts inside and outside the academy, and around the world. Missed any of the 300+ Academic Life episodes? Find them here. And thank you for listening! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Thursday · 46 min

    Yuri Pines, "China's Aristocratic Age: Politics and Power in the Springs-and-Autumns Period" (Princeton UP, 2026)

    The Springs-and-Autumns period is a strange period in Chinese history. Coming after the decline of the Zhou, and before the famous Warring States Period, this period of Chinese history features a large number of small states with no powerful hegemon, no strong sense of the mandate of heaven, rules of chivalry that wouldn’t seem out of place in medieval Europe, and roles passed down through lineage–and not awarded on the basis of merit. Historian Yuri Pines calls this period China’s "aristocratic age” in his book titled, appropriately, China's Aristocratic Age: Politics and Power in the Springs-and-Autumns Period (Princeton UP, 2026). Yuri Pines is the Michael W. Lipson Chair in Chinese Studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of The Everlasting Empire: The Political Culture of Ancient China and Its Imperial Legacy, The Book of Lord Shang: Apologetics of State Power in Early China, Zhou History Unearthed: The Bamboo Manuscript Xinian and Early Chinese Historiography, and other books. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of China’s Aristocratic Age. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Thursday · 55 min

    Kanchana N. Ruwanpura and Wilfried Swenden eds., "Protecting Workers? Crisis, COVID-19 and South Asia" (Helsinki UP, 2026)

    In our recent conversation about Protecting Workers? Crisis, COVID-19 and South Asia, the editors Kanchana N. Ruwanpura and Wilfried Swenden reflect on the need to move beyond treating the pandemic as a singular, isolated shock. Our discussion reflected on the deeper mechanics of knowledge production, how we reflect on crisis beyond its immediate occurrence, how we conceptualize South Asia today, and the process of bringing such a dynamic volume together. A central theme was the necessity of examining crisis as a revealing, prolonged condition rather than a temporary disruption. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed pre-existing structural vulnerabilities across Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Theorizing through this moment meant examining how state strategies and worker realities collided when formal safety nets faltered, forcing us to rethink South Asia not merely as a fixed geographic region, but as a shared space of cascading socio-economic pressures and labor struggles. While this volume traces state policy and institutional shifts, the core strength of the volume lies in highlighting the resourcefulness and claim-making capacities of workers fighting for justice. Assembling these regional perspectives provides a critical blueprint for rethinking state-society relations, labor rights, and collective action in post-pandemic South Asia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Thursday · 1 hr 9 min

    John Davie, "Greek To Us: The Fascinating Ancient Greek That Shapes Our World" (Bloomsbury, 2026)

    Ancient Greek lives on in our culture in surprising ways. Sometimes funny - the word for an actor, hupokrites, gives us 'hypocrite'; sometimes beautiful - an astronaut is literally a sailor of the skies. And that's before we get to the myths which gave us our Achilles heel or our Midas Touch. And what about crocodile tears, which comes from the Greek's belief that crocodiles cried while eating their victims! Greek To Us: The Fascinating Ancient Greek That Shapes Our World (Bloomsbury, 2026) is a learned but always entertaining journey through the world of the Ancient Greeks, their extraordinary language and how it has shaped our own understanding of the world today. After all, what is language but the frame through which we understand the world? Davie aims to bring more than just humour, he seeks to trace the thread of ancient Greek thought that runs through our own civilization, always with the lightness of touch and fascinating etymology. We meet Eros and Aphrodite, Alexander the Great and Oscar Wilde, the stoics, Epicurus and Sparta. While this is a book about language and the touching and illuminating presence of the ancient Greeks in our current words, it's also about how Ancient Greece shapes our culture today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Thursday · 50 min

    Ukrainian Men Fleeing Conscription: A Discussion with Writer Dan Storyev

    Our conversation focuses on a groundbreaking article by Dan Storyev recently published in The Nation: “Millions of Ukrainian Men Are Fleeing a Cruel Conscription System.” Storyev was on the ground in Odesa to report firsthand for this piece, drawing on encounters with Ukrainian men in flight from the officers of the Ukrainian state agency, known as TCR, in charge of mobilizing fighting-age men for the war in Ukraine against Russia’s invading army. It’s an important story, yet one, as he told me, that few outlets in the Western press want to publish. And as we note, Russia also is experiencing great difficulties in conscripting men for this war. Storyev is a Russian-American writer and the co-author, with Maria Kuznetsova, of the forthcoming book How to Survive Authoritarianism: A Russian’s Phrasebook for Everyday Live in America (W.W. Norton), to be published in September. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Thursday · 15 min

    China Office of Finnish Industries

    Why have Finland’s biggest multinationals teamed up to create a globally unique analysis hub just to decode the future of China? Meet the analysts who are nurturing the next generation of Finnish expertise to bridge the gap between Nordic business and Chinese policy. In this episode, Julie Yu-Wen Chen at the University of Helsinki talks to Kevin Broady, Marleena Makkonen and Anton Karppanen, three analysts from the China Office of Finnish Industries to understand their mission. The China Office of Finnish Industries acts as a unique nonprofit designed to assist Finnish multinational corporations in navigating the complex geopolitical and economic landscape of the People’s Republic of China. Established in 2022, the organization provides deep strategic analysis on shifting Chinese industrial policies, labor market trends, and the inherent risks of doing business in an increasingly politicized global market. Their work focuses on helping companies understand growing political complexities amid trade tensions while adapting to China's growing influence on international trade. The office is also dedicated to nurturing the next generation of Finnish China analysts through a specialized trainee program for university students. By bridging the gap between academic expertise and corporate decision-making, the team fosters a more sophisticated understanding of how Chinese domestic developments impact Nordic prosperity. Julie Yu‑Wen Chen is Professor of Chinese Studies and Director of the Master’s Programme in Area and Cultural Studies at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Her new book, Global Knowledge Production about China, explores how the practice of “China‑watching” has evolved over the decades. The book is freely accessible online. The Nordic Asia Podcast is a collaboration sharing expertise on Asia across the Nordic region, brought to you by the following academic partners: Asia Centre, University of Tartu (Estonia), Asian studies, University of Helsinki (Finland), Centre for Asian Studies, Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania), Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Turku (Finland), Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University (Sweden) and Centre for South Asian Democracy, University of Oslo (Norway). We aim to produce timely, topical and well-edited discussions of new research and developments about Asia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Thursday · 28 min

    Michelle A. Amazeen, "Content Confusion: News Media, Native Advertising, and Policy in an Era of Disinformation" (MIT Press, 2025)

    We often blame social media for the rampant problem of disinformation, but the truth is that mainstream news media is often equally at fault. Not only do news outlets disguise paid content to look like online news articles, a practice called “native advertising,” but new research suggests that this form of advertising even influences the real journalism that appears next to it—both perceptions of the journalism as well as its actual substance. In Content Confusion: News Media, Native Advertising, and Policy in an Era of Disinformation (MIT Press, 2025), Michelle Amazeen explores the origins and evolution of this mainstream media practice, how it affects audiences and the industry, and what the implications are for an accurately informed democracy. For policy makers, in particular, the book highlights the longstanding principles from governmental regulation as well as industry professional codes that serve to support clear identification of the provenance of content, an issue that will no doubt intensify with the release of generative artificial intelligence in the wild. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Thursday · 43 min

    Theo Wildcroft and Beverley Nolan, "Leading Safe and Simple Yoga Nidras: A Yoga Teacher's Guide" (Singing Dragon, 2026)

    In Leading Safe and Simple Yoga Nidras: A Yoga Teacher's Guide (Singing Dragon, 2026), experienced yoga teachers Theo Wildcroft and Beverley Nolan provide a comprehensive guide to teaching yoga nidras. While there are many resources available teaching you how to deliver another teacher's yoga nidras, few are designed to take you step by step through the process of learning to create and deliver your own. Focusing on accessibility and simplicity, and with the participant's safety at the centre of their method, Wildcroft and Nolan present all the necessary tools to craft your own yoga nidras. From the science of sleep to the process of crafting a content structure, practical tips on how to avoid and resolve common difficulties and audio examples - this book is the essential guide to help you grow on your journey to becoming a competent and confident yoga teacher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Wednesday · 52 min

    Speech and the City

    In this episode of the Language on the Move Podcast, Ingrid Piller speaks with Yaron Matras about his new book Speech and the City. In this timely book, Yaron shows that cities can provide an important counter-weight to political polarization by forging civic identities that embrace diversity. The book traces the emergence of a city language narrative that embraces and celebrates multilingualism and helps forge a civic identity. He critiques linguaphobic discourses at a national level that regard multilingualism as deficient citizenship. Drawing on his research in Manchester, he examines the 'multilingual utopia', looking at multilingual spaces across sectors in the city that support access, heritage, skills and celebration. The book explores the tensions between decolonial approaches that inspire activism for social justice and equality, and the neoliberal enterprise that appropriates diversity for reputational and profitability purposes, prompting critical reflection on calls for civic university engagement. Beyond telling the story of the Multilingual Manchester project, the book also offers an intriguing glimpse into the author’s distinguished career as a linguist, scholar, and activist. Reference Matras, Y. (2024). Speech and the City: Multilingualism, Decoloniality and the Civic University. Cambridge University Press. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

  • Wednesday · 26 min

    How to Write a Book Proposal and Make Your Manuscript Work with Laura Portwood-Stacer

    Are you a scholar sitting on a manuscript that you think could be a book — but you have no idea where to start? In this episode of The Publishing Playbook, host Sarah Russo sits down with Laura Portwood-Stacer, founder of Manuscript Works and author of two books about academic publishing: “The Book Proposal Book” and “Make Your Manuscript Work.” Laura shares what pulled her out of academia and into editorial consulting, and why “publish or perish” no longer guarantees the payoff it once promised. She breaks down the essential elements of a strong academic book proposal, the real differences between the types of publishers out there, and why authors and editors are on the same team more often than they realize. Laura also dishes on whether academic authors actually need a literary agent, and how generative AI is reshaping trust in publishing. Plus: what it was really like competing on “Jeopardy!” For more information on Laura’s work, please visit Manuscript Works. Books mentioned in this episode: “The Book Proposal Book” by Laura Portwood-Stacer “Make Your Manuscript Work” by Laura Portwood-Stacer “Trans Technologies” by Oliver Haimson (both Laura and the Page One team worked with Oliver on his book) “The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” by Bettany Hughes Key Moments 00:00 – “That’s Not the Answer” 😤 Laura names the fantasy that finishing a book will magically change your life, and why that unrealistic expectation sets writers up for disappointment. 03:25 – “Publish or Perish” Isn't So Simple Anymore 📚 Laura explains why the old academic career formula has broken down: you can do everything right and still lose the job, the promotion, or the department. 07:12 - The Anatomy of a Strong Book Proposal 📝 Laura walks through exactly what publishers are looking for, breaking down the unspoken checklist most scholars never see. 10:40 – “You’re on the Same Team” 🤝 Laura pushes back on the idea that authors and editors are adversaries, arguing most writers misunderstand just how aligned they actually are with their publisher. 16:37 - Trade, Academic Trade, or Monograph? 🎯 Sarah and Laura unpack the three buckets publishers sort academic books into, and why so many authors overestimate how “trade” their book really is. 20:33 - Do You Actually Need an Agent? 🙋 Laura levels with authors chasing representation: most scholars publishing with university or academic presses don’t need one at all. 21:13 - AI Has Made Everyone a “Paranoid Reader” 🤖 Laura gets candid about how generative AI is eroding trust between editors and authors — and why she resents having become an accidental AI expert. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Showing 1–20 of 155 episodes