New Books in Philanthropy
Episodes
Rhea Rahman, "Racializing the Ummah: Muslim Humanitarians Beyond Black, Brown, and White" (U Minnesota Press, 2026)
29 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Racializing the Ummah: Muslim Humanitarians Beyond Black, Brown and White (U Minnesota Press, 2026) is an ethnography of Islamic Relief (IR), the ...
The Club: Where American Artists Found Refuge in Belle Epoque Paris
02 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In Belle Époque Paris, the Eiffel Tower was newly built, France was experiencing remarkable political stability, and American women were painting the...
Aidan Seale-Feldman, "The Work of Disaster: Crisis and Care Along a Himalayan Fault Line" (U Chicago Press, 2025)
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Work of Disaster: Crisis and Care Along a Himalayan Fault Line (U Chicago Press, 2025) is a compelling portrait of post-disaster imaginaries of ...
Jack Wertheimer, "Jewish Giving: Philanthropy and the Shaping of American Jewish Life" (NYU Press, 2025)
10 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The American Jewish philanthropic enterprise is unparalleled in scope, dynamism, and the diversity of funders and the causes they support. Yet even as...
What is Happening in the Mediterranean Right Now – And Why You Should Care
26 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since 2014 more than 32,000 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe. As the EU and its member states have been increasingly...
Democracy and Freedom: The Role of Philanthropy and Education
23 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we feature an episode with Dr. Alvaro Salas-Castro, President and CEO of the Reynolds Foundation, and Founder and Chairman of the Democracy...
Kathleen Smithers, "Tourism, Philanthropy and School Tours in Zimbabwe: Problematising "Win-Win" Discourses" (Routledge, 2024)
21 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Tourism, Philanthropy and School Tours in Zimbabwe: Problematising "Win-Win" Discourses (Routledge, 2024), Kathleen Smithers investigates the ten...
The end of aid? US, China, and the future of development
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In early 2025, headlines announced that the Trump administration would move to dramatically slash USAID—the United States’ flagship development ag...
Genocide Studies International Partners with New Books Network
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today I’m thrilled to announce a new partnership with Genocide Studies International. GSI is one of the preeminent journals in the field of Genocid...
Hali Lee, "The Big We" (Zando - Sweet July Books, 2025)
24 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hali Lee's The Big We (Zando, 2025) offers a compelling counterpoint to traditional billionaire-driven philanthropy (which she dubs "Big Phil"). In...
Mara Kardas-Nelson, "We Are Not Able to Live in the Sky: The Seductive Promise of Microfinance" (Metropolitan Books, 2024)
05 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this deeply researched and compelling narrative, journalist Mara Kardas-Nelson examines the complex history and impact of microfinance - the practi...
Adam Greenfield, "Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in a World on Fire" (Verso, 2024)
22 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Lifehouse: Taking Care of Ourselves in a World on Fire (Verso, 2024), Adam Greenfield presents a compelling vision for collective resilience in ...
Mercy Ships (with Reanne Newquist)
01 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Reanne Newquist tells me about her voyage on Mercy Ships bringing healthcare to some of the poorest people in the world, a mission started by Don Step...
Danny Sriskandarajah, "Power to the People: Use Your Voice, Change the World" (Headline Press, 2024)
17 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Power to the People: Use Your Voice, Change the World (Headline Press, 2024) is Danny Sriskandarajah‘s radical manifesto for change designed to ins...
Malcolm Macleod, "The Practice of Philanthropy: A Guide for Foundation Boards and Staff" (Barlow Publishing, 2024)
08 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In The Practice of Philanthropy: A Guide for Foundation Boards and Staff (Barlow Publishing, 2024), author Malcolm Macleod addresses the unique cha...
Nick Grono, "How to Lead Nonprofits: Turning Purpose into Impact to Change the World" (BenBella Books, 2024)
16 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Non-profit organizations play an indispensable role in the world today, and are consistently rated higher than governments, the media or businesses ...
Leslie Ramos, "Philanthropy in the Arts: A Game of Give and Take" (Lund Humphries, 2023)
11 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In an era where the financial stability of many arts organizations is increasingly precarious, arts philanthropy stands at a critical juncture. The re...
The GiveWell Method
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Caleb Zakarin and Uri Bram dive into the world of effective charitable giving through the lens of GiveWell, an organization known for...
Amy Schiller, "The Price of Humanity: How Philanthropy Went Wrong—And How to Fix It" (Melville House, 2023)
27 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Schiller, who spent a number of years working in both political and major gift fundraising, has a new book detailing some of the fundamental probl...
Rhodri Davies, "What Is Philanthropy For?" (Bristol UP, 2023)
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In recent years, philanthropy, the use of private assets for the public good, has come under renewed scrutiny. Do elite philanthropists wield too much...
Laurence M. Geary, "The Land War in Ireland: Famine, Philanthropy and Moonlighting" (Cork UP, 2023)
15 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this interview, he discusses his new book The Land War in Ireland: Famine, Philanthropy and Moonlighting (Cork UP, 2023), a collection of interco...
Amy Schiller, "The Price of Humanity: How Philanthropy Went Wrong—And How to Fix It" (Melville House, 2023)
13 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Schiller's The Price of Humanity: How Philanthropy Went Wrong—And How to Fix It (Melville House, 2023) makes an attempt to rescue philanthrop...
Anelise Hanson Shrout, "Aiding Ireland: The Great Famine and the Rise of Transnational Philanthropy" (NYU Press, 2024)
22 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Famine brought ruin to the Irish countryside in the nineteenth century. In response, people around the world and from myriad social, ethnic, and relig...
The Enlightened Donor: How to Give Charity Wisely
22 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Motivated by compassion and hope, and the shared desire to make the world a better place, the immense amount of charitable giving stands as a testamen...
Jeanne K. Firth, "Feeding New Orleans: Celebrity Chefs and Reimagining Food Justice" (UNC Press, 2023)
09 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, many high-profile chefs in New Orleans pledged to help their city rebound from the flooding. Several formed their own...
On Muslim Philanthropy and the Pillars Fund
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Kashif Shaikh is the Co-Founder and President of Pillars Fund. In 2010, Kashif and a small group of Muslim philanthropists founded Pillars to strategi...
The Future of Philanthropy: A Conversation with Emma Saunders-Hastings
28 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Philanthropists are praise for their generosity but does their desire to keep control of what happens to their donations mean they exercise power in w...
Jaclyn Granick, "International Jewish Humanitarianism in the Age of the Great War" (Cambridge UP, 2021)
06 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Today I talked to Jaclyn Granick about her book International Jewish Humanitarianism in the Age of the Great War (Cambridge UP, 2021). In 1914, ...
Joan Marie Johnson, "Funding Feminism: Monied Women, Philanthropy, and the Women's Movement, 1870-1967" (UNC Press, 2020)
29 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Joan Marie Johnson examines an understudied dimension of women's history in the United States: how a group of affluent white women from the late ninet...
Paul Vallely, "Philanthropy: From Aristotle to Zuckerberg" (Bloomsbury Continuum, 2020)
08 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this magnum opus, Paul Vallely guides the reader on a journey through the history and meaning of giving in religion and society. Vivid with anecdot...
Patricia A. Banks, "Diversity and Philanthropy at African American Museums: Black Renaissance" (Routledge, 2019)
23 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What is the future, and what is the past, of the African American Museum? In Diversity and Philanthropy at African American Museums: Black Renaissance...
Rob Reich, "Just Giving: Why Philanthropy is Failing Democracy and How it Can Do Better" (Princeton UP, 2018)
05 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How political are private foundations? Are they good or bad for democracy? Such are the big questions taken up by Rob Reich in his new book Just Givin...
Amy Brown, “A Good Investment? Philanthropy and the Marketing of Race in an Urban Public School (U. Minnesota Press, 2015)
23 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There has been much talk in the news recently about funding for public education, the emergence of charter schools, and the potential of school vouche...
Megan Tompkins Stange, “Policy Patrons: Philanthropy, Education Reform, and the Politics of Influence” (Harvard Education Press, 2016)
19 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Megan Tompkins-Stange is the author of Policy Patrons: Philanthropy, Education Reform, and the Politics of Influence (Harvard Education Press, 2016). ...
Linsey McGoey, “No Such Thing as a Free Gift: The Gates Foundation and the Price of Philanthropy” (Verso, 2015)
04 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In No Such Thing as a Free Gift: The Gates Foundation and the Price of Philanthropy (Verso Books, 2015), Linsey McGoey proposes a new way of discussin...
Darrell M. West, “Billionaires: Reflection on the Upper Crust” (Brookings Institution Press, 2014)
20 Oct 2014
Contributed by Lukas
So how many billionaires are there in the world? And what do they have to do with politics? Darrell M. West has answered those questions in Billionai...
Olivier Zunz, “Philanthropy in America: A History” (Princeton UP, 2014)
16 Jun 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Olivier Zunz is the author of Philanthropy in America: A History (Princeton University Press 2014). The paperback addition of the book has recently be...
Barbara Bonner, “Inspiring Generosity” (Wisdom Publications, 2014)
27 Feb 2014
Contributed by Lukas
“You can measure the depth of people’s awakening by how they serve others.” This quotation by Kobo Daishi, the ninth-century Japanese Buddhist m...