New Books in Sociology

Benjamin Lorr, "The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket" (Penguin, 2020)

01 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This episode of the New Books in Economic and Business History is an interview with New York writer Benjamin Lorr. Benjamin Lorr is the author of Hel...

Jason Read, "The Politics of Transindividuality" (Haymarket Books, 2017)

31 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Many major political questions today revolve around questions of human nature; what sort of people we are and what sort of people we're capable of bei...

Kathleen Klaus, "Political Violence in Kenya: Land, Elections, and Claim-Making" (Cambridge UP, 2020)

31 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Kathleen Klaus, Assistant Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco has written a terrific book, Political Violence in Kenya: Land, Ele...

Hongwei Bao, “Queer Comrades: Gay Identity and Tongzhi Activism in Postsocialist China” (NIAS Press, 2018)

31 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hongwei Bao’s book is a thoughtful exploration of gay identity and queer activism in China. This work stems from the term and identity tongzhi, whi...

Carolyn Birdsall, "Radiophilia" (Bloomsbury, 2023)

31 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A century ago, the emergence of radio, along with organized systems of broadcasting, sparked a global fascination with the 'wonder' of sound transmiss...

Milton Gaither, "Homeschool: An American History" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017)

26 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With around two million children currently enrolled in home schools in the USA, no-one can doubt that the subject of Milton Gaither’s new book is ti...

Sukhmani Khorana, "Mediated Emotions of Migration: Reclaiming Affect for Agency" (Bristol UP, 2023)

25 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sukhmani Khorana's book Mediated Emotions of Migration: Reclaiming Affect for Agency (Bristol UP, 2023) unpacks how emotions and affect are key conc...

Jafari S. Allen, "There's a Disco Ball Between Us: A Theory of Black Gay Life" (Duke UP, 2022)

25 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In There's a Disco Ball Between Us: A Theory of Black Gay Life (Duke UP, 2022), Jafari S. Allen offers a sweeping and lively ethnographic and intell...

Nessette Falu, "Unseen Flesh: Gynecology and Black Queer Worth-Making in Brazil" (Duke UP, 2023)

24 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In Unseen Flesh: Gynecology and Black Queer Worth-Making in Brazil (Duke University Press, 2023) Nessette Falu explores how Black lesbians in Brazil...

Ben Jacobsen and David Beer, "Social Media and the Automatic Production of Memory: Classification, Ranking and the Sorting of the Past" (Bristol UP, 2023)

24 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Social media platforms hold vast amounts of biographical data about our lives. They repackage our past content as ‘memories’ and deliver them back...

Michelle J. Manno, "Denied: Women, Sports, and the Contradictions of Identity" (NYU Press, 2023)

23 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Women’s college basketball is big business—top teams bring in millions of dollars in revenue for their schools. Women’s NCAA games are broadcast...

James Cummings, "The Everyday Lives of Gay Men in Hainan: Sociality, Space and Time" (Palgrave MacMillan, 2023)

23 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Everyday Lives of Gay Men in Hainan: Sociality, Space and Time (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) by Dr. James Cummings explores the everyday lives of ga...

Devrim Adam Yavuz, "Democracy and Capitalism in Turkey: The State, Power, and Big Business" (Bloomsbury, 2023)

23 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While a positive correlation between capitalism and democracy has existed in Western Europe and North America, the example of late-industrializing nat...

The Future of Migration: A Discussion with Hein de Haas

23 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Immigration has become one of the biggest issues in all western democracies. And the debate is so charged it's hard to know who to believe. Which is w...

André Jansson, "Rethinking Communication Geographies: Geomedia, Digital Logistics and the Human Condition" (Edward Elgar, 2022)

23 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How are geographies of communication changing with contemporary digital media and data infrastructure? What is ‘geomedia’ and ‘transmedia’? Wh...

Adrienne E. Strong, "Documenting Death: Maternal Mortality and the Ethics of Care in Tanzania" (U California Press, 2020)

21 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Documenting Death: Maternal Mortality and the Ethics of Care in Tanzania (University of California Press, 2020) is a gripping ethnographic account of...

Talking to Strangers: A Discussion with Psychotherapist Charlotte Fox Weber

21 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Can the kindness of strangers help with the loneliness crisis? Whether you are a student, staff, or have gone alt-ac, you’ve likely had to move at l...

Elise Hu, "Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital" (Dutton, 2023)

21 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In August, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to complain about how U.S. regulations are holding local sunscreens back compared...

Emma Reay, "The Child in Videogames: From the Meek, to the Mighty, to the Monstrous" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023)

20 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Drawing across Games Studies, Childhood Studies, and Children’s Literature Studies, Emma Reay's book The Child in Videogames: From the Meek, to the...

Jenny Trinitapoli, "An Epidemic of Uncertainty: Navigating HIV and Young Adulthood in Malawi" (U Chicago Press, 2023)

20 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A decade-long study of young adulthood in Malawi demonstrates the impact of widespread HIV status uncertainty, laying bare the sociological implicatio...

Brian Brown and Virginia Kuulei Berndt, "Body Art" (Emerald Publishing, 2023)

19 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Body art, especially tattoos and piercings, has enjoyed an explosion of interest in recent years. However, the response of many health professionals a...

Laila Shereen Sakr, "Arabic Glitch: Technoculture, Data Bodies, and Archives" (Stanford UP, 2023)

18 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Laila Shereen Sakr's book Arabic Glitch: Technoculture, Data Bodies, and Archives (Stanford UP, 2023) explores an alternative origin story of twent...

June Hee Kwon, "Borderland Dreams: The Transnational Lives of Korean Chinese Workers" (Duke UP, 2023)

18 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Migration is a theme intertwined with hopes and dreams. In Borderland Dreams: The Transnational Lives of Korean Chinese Workers (Duke UP, 2023), Jun...

Cristina A. Pop, "The Cancer Within: Reproduction, Cultural Transformation, and Health Care in Romania" (Rutgers UP, 2022)

17 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In The Cancer Within: Reproduction, Cultural Transformation, and Health Care in Romania (Rutgers UP, 2022), Cristina Pop examines cervical cancer in...

Chetan Choithani, "Migration, Food Security and Development: Insights from Rural India" (Cambridge UP, 2023)

17 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Migration, Food Security and Development: Insights from Rural India (Cambridge UP, 2023) examines the role of migration as a livelihood strategy in i...

David S. Powers and Eric Tagliacozzo, "Islamic Ecumene: Comparing Muslim Societies" (Cornell UP, 2023)

16 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The essays in Islamic Ecumene: Comparing Muslim Societies (Cornell UP, 2023) address the ways in which Muslims from Morocco to Indonesia and from su...

Toward Equity in Science: A Discussion with Cassidy Sugimoto and Vincent Larivière

16 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Listen to this interview of Cassidy Sugimoto and Vincent Larivière, co-authors of Equity for Women in Science: Dismantling Systemic Barriers to Adva...

Jean Yen-chun Lin, "A Spark in the Smokestacks: Environmental Organizing in Beijing Middle-Class Communities" (Columbia UP, 2023)

14 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Environmental organising in Beijing emerged in an unlikely place in the 2000s: new gated residential communities. After rapid population growth and ho...

Stephen Boucher et al., "The Routledge Handbook of Collective Intelligence for Democracy and Governance" (Routledge, 2023)

13 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Routledge Handbook of Collective Intelligence for Democracy and Governance (Routledge, 2023) explores the concepts, methodologies, and implicati...

Julian Go, "Policing Empires: Militarization, Race, and the Imperial Boomerang in Britain and the US" (Oxford UP, 2023)

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The police response to protests erupting on America's streets in recent years has made the militarization of policing painfully transparent. Yet, prop...

Regina Lee Blaszczyk and David Suisman, "Capitalism and the Senses" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023)

11 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Regina Lee Blaszczyk and David Suisman's Capitalism and the Senses (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023) is the first edited volume to explore how the forces...

Jesse Dart, "Feeding the Hustle: Free Food & Care Inside the Tech Industry" (Lexington Books, 2022)

11 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Food is increasingly a subject of interest in social sciences: how we cook, consume, and share food is relevant to our social lives. In Feeding the H...

Sahana Ghosh, "A Thousand Tiny Cuts: Mobility and Security Across the Bangladesh-India Borderlands" (U California Press, 2023)

10 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Drawing on a decade of fieldwork in the borderlands of northern Bangladesh and eastern India, A Thousand Tiny Cuts: Mobility and Security Across the ...

Emily R. Aguiló-Pérez, "An American Icon in Puerto Rico: Barbie, Girlhood, and Colonialism at Play" (Berghahn Books, 2022)

08 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Since her debut in 1959, Barbie has transcended boundaries and transformed into a global symbol of femininity, capturing the imaginations of girls all...

Paul Fisher Davies, "Comics as Communication: A Functional Approach" (Palgrave MacMillan, 2019)

08 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Paul Fisher Davies' book Comics As Communication: A Functional Approach (Palgrave MacMillan, 2019) explores how comics function to make meanin...

Katharine M. Millar, "Support the Troops: Military Obligation, Gender, and the Making of Political Community" (Oxford UP, 2022)

08 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the past, it was assumed that men, as good citizens, would serve in the armed forces in wartime. In the present, however, liberal democratic states...

Genealogies of Modernity Episode 3: What Is Genealogy

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Genealogy, in Charles Darwin’s terms, is the study of “descent with modification.” Taken as an analogy for the study of history, genealogy can g...

Gregory J. Goalwin, "Borders of Belief: Religious Nationalism and the Formation of Identity in Ireland and Turkey" (Rutgers UP, 2022)

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Despite theories to the contrary, religious nationalism, and the use of religion to determine membership in the national community, has continued to p...

Dolly Kikon and Joel Rodrigues, "Food Journeys: Stories from the Heart" (Zubaan Books, 2023)

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Food Journeys: Stories from the Heart (Zubaan Books, 2023) is a powerful collection that draws on personal experiences, and the meaning of grief, ra...

James A. Chamberlain, "Undoing Work, Rethinking Community: A Critique of the Social Function of Work" (ILR Press, 2018)

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This revolutionary book presents a new conception of community and the struggle against capitalism. In Undoing Work, Rethinking Community: A Critique...

Amya Agarwal, "Contesting Masculinities and Women’s Agency in Kashmir" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022)

04 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What is the significance of gender and masculinities in understanding conflict? Through an ethnographic study conducted between 2013 and 2016, Amya Ag...

Anna M. Grzymała-Busse, "Sacred Foundations: The Religious and Medieval Roots of the European State" (Princeton UP, 2023)

03 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In Sacred Foundations: The Religious and Medieval Roots of the European State (Princeton University Press, 2023), political scientist Anna Grzymała...

Sara Byala, "Bottled: How Coca-Cola Became African" (Oxford UP, 2023)

03 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Travel to virtually any African country and you are likely to find a Coca-Cola, often a cold one at that. Bottled asks how this carbonated drink bec...

H. E. Sawyer, "I Am the Dark Tourist: Messenger of Remembrance" (Headpress, 2023)

03 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dark tourism is the practice of visiting sites associated with death and disaster. Participation is increasing, yet much of the machinations behind da...

Chhaya Kolavalli, "Well-Intentioned Whiteness: Green Urban Development and Black Resistance in Kansas City" (U Georgia Press, 2023)

02 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Chhaya Kolavalli's book Well-Intentioned Whiteness: Green Urban Development and Black Resistance in Kansas City (U Georgia Press, 2023) documents ho...

Too Much Communication?

02 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Listen to Episode No.2 of All We Mean, a Special Focus of this podcast. All We Mean is an ongoing discussion and debate about how we mean and why. ...

Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio, "Diversity Dividend" (MIT Press, 2023)

01 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From entry-level to the boardroom, what works to create large-scale change in organizations looking to accelerate their diversity, equity, and inclusi...

Astra Taylor, "The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart" (House of Anansi Press, 2023)

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

These days, everyone feels insecure. We are financially stressed and emotionally overwhelmed. The status quo isn’t working for anyone, even those wh...

Charlotte Al-Khalili, "Waiting for the Revolution to End: Syrian Displacement, Time and Subjectivity (UCL Press, 2023)

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Waiting for the Revolution to End: Syrian Displacement, Time and Subjectivity (UCL Press, 2023) by Dr. Charlotte Al-Khalili explores the Syrian revol...

Kevin F. Adler and Donald W. Burnes, "When We Walk By: Forgotten Humanity, Broken Systems, and the Role We Can Each Play in Ending Homelessness in America" (North Atlantic Books, 2023)

28 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Think about the last time that you saw or interacted with an unhoused person. What did you do? What did you say? Did you offer money or a smile, or di...

Sayan Dey, "Performing Memories and Weaving Archives: Creolized Cultures across the Indian Ocean" (Anthem Press, 2023)

27 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Usually, discourses on the planetary evolution and the movements of slaves remain restricted within the narratives and scholarships of the Trans-Atlan...

Ceri Houlbrook,"‘Ritual Litter' Redressed" (Cambridge UP, 2022)

27 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ritual deposition is not an activity that many people in the Western world would consider themselves participants of. The enigmatic beliefs and magica...

Dan Senor and Saul Singer, "The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World" (Simon and Schuster, 2023)

26 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How has a small nation of 9 million people, forced to fight for its existence and security since its founding and riven by ethnic, religious, and econ...

Saran Stewart et al., "Each One Teach One: Parental Involvement and Family Engagement in Jamaica's Education System" (U West Indies Press, 2022)

25 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Each One Teach One: Parental Involvement and Family Engagement in Jamaica’s Education System (University of the West Indies Press, 2022) is a colle...

Leontina Hormel, "Trailer Park America: Reimagining Working-Class Communities" (Rutgers UP, 2023)

24 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In rural northern Idaho in the winter of 2013-2014, Syringa Mobile Home Park’s water system was contaminated by sewage, resulting in residents’ wa...

Daniel Shea and Nicholas F. Jacobs, "The Rural Voter: The Politics of Place and the Disuniting of America" (Columbia UP, 2023)

24 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The widening gulf between rural and urban America is becoming the most serious political divide of our day. Support for Democrats, up and down the bal...

Sarah E. Stoller, "Inventing the Working Parent: Work, Gender, and Feminism in Neoliberal Britain" (MIT Press, 2023)

24 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah E. Stoller, Inventing the Working Parent: Work, Gender, and Feminism in Neoliberal Britain (MIT Press, 2023) is the first historical examinati...

Robin Phylisia Chapdelaine et al., "When Will the Joy Come?: Black Women in the Ivory Tower" (U Massachusetts Press, 2023)

23 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How do Black women in higher education create, experience, and understand joy? What sustains them? While scholars have long documented sexism, racism,...

Boris Heersink, "National Party Organizations and Party Brands in American Politics" (Oxford UP, 2023)

23 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Political Scientist Boris Heersink’s new book guides the reader through over a century of politics and national parties in the United States. Heersi...

Jessi Streib, "The Accidental Equalizer: How Luck Determines Pay After College" (U Chicago Press, 2023)

23 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are jobs fair? In The Accidental Equalizer: How Luck Determines Pay after College (U Chicago Press, 2023), Jessi Streib, an associate Professor of...

The Future of the Rural-Urban Divide: A Discussion with Nicholas F. Jacobs and Daniel M. Shea

20 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The town/countryside split has always been a feature of democratic Western politics and has impacted party choice. The advent of rust belts may have a...

Lidia Katia C. Manzo, "Gentrification and Diversity: Rebranding Milan's Chinatown" (Springer, 2023)

20 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Lidia Katia C. Manzo's book Gentrification and Diversity: Rebranding Milan's Chinatown (Springer, 2023) examines lived experiences of making, inhab...

Andrew Brandel, "Moving Words: Literature, Memory, and Migration in Berlin" (U Toronto Press, 2023)

19 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Berlin has re-emerged as a global city in large part thanks to its reputation as a literary city –...

Jason Puskar, "The Switch: An Off and On History of Digital Humans" (U Minnesota Press, 2023)

18 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From the telegraph to the touchscreen, how the development of binary switching transformed everyday life and changed the shape of human agency. The Sw...

Konstantinos Retsikas, "A Synthesis of Time: Zakat, Islamic Micro-finance and the Question of the Future in 21st-Century Indonesia" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020)

17 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In A Synthesis of Time: Zakat, Islamic Micro-finance and the Question of the Future in 21st-Century Indonesia (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), Konstanti...

Terah J. Stewart, "Sex Work on Campus" (Routledge, 2022)

17 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Terah J. Stewart's book Sex Work on Campus (Routledge, 2022) examines the experiences of college students engaged in sex work and sparks dialogue ab...

Laurence Ralph Reckons With Police Violence (EF, JP)

16 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the third episode of our Global Policing series, Elizabeth and John spoke back in 2020 with anthropologist Laurence Ralph about The Torture Let...

Huping Ling, "Chinese Americans in the Heartland: Migration, Work, and Community" (Rutgers UP, 2022)

16 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This episode features a conversation with Dr. Huping Ling on her two latest books, Chinese Americans in the Heartland: Migration, Work, and Community...

Stefan Tanaka, "History without Chronology" (Lever Press, 2019)

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this interview, we talk with Stefan Tanaka, professor emeritus of UCSD and a specialist in modern Japanese history. He is author of two books on ...

Briana L. Wong, "Cambodian Evangelicalism: Cosmological Hope and Diasporic Resilience" (Pennsylvania State UP, 2023)

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Cambodian Civil War and genocide of the late 1960s and ’70s left the country and its diaspora with long-lasting trauma that continues to reverbe...

Pavitra Sundar, "Listening with a Feminist Ear: Soundwork in Bombay Cinema" (U Michigan Press, 2023)

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Pavitra Sundar's book Listening with a Feminist Ear: Soundwork in Bombay Cinema (U Michigan Press, 2023) is a study of the cultural politics and pos...

Martin Jay, "Immanent Critiques: The Frankfurt School under Pressure" (Verso, 2023)

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Frankfurt School’s own legacy is best preserved by exercising an immanent critique of its premises and the conclusions to which they often led. ...

Emily H. C. Chua, "The Currency of Truth: Newsmaking and the Late-Socialist Imaginaries of China's Digital Era" (U Michigan Press, 2023)

13 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

China’s news sector is a place where newsmakers, advertising executives, company bosses, and Party officials engage one another in contingent and ev...

Alison Halsall, "Growing Up Graphic: The Comics of Children in Crisis" (Ohio State UP, 2023)

12 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Halsall’s Growing Up Graphic: The Comics of Children in Crisis (Ohio State UP, 2023) has four primary objectives.  One, it explores this visu...

Stephanie K. Kim, "Constructing Student Mobility: How Universities Recruit Students and Shape Pathways between Berkeley and Seoul" (MIT Press, 2023)

12 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Constructing Student Mobility: How Universities Recruit Students and Shape Pathways between Berkeley and Seoul (MIT Press, 2023) challenges the popul...

Cecilia Márquez, "Making the Latino South: A History of Racial Formation" (UNC Press, 2023)

12 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The presence of Latinx people in the American South has long confounded the region's persistent racial binaries. In Making the Latino South: A Histor...

Laleh Khalili, "Corporeal Life of Seafaring" (MACK, 2023)

11 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The body of the seafarer is a fulcrum upon which global systems of power, longstanding maritime traditions, and gendered and racialised pressures all ...

Huwy-min Lucia Liu, "Governing Death, Making Persons: The New Chinese Way of Death" (Cornell UP, 2023)

10 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Governing Death, Making Persons: The New Chinese Way of Death (Cornell UP, 2023) tells the story of how economic reforms and changes in the manageme...

Curtis Smith, "Homelessness and Housing Advocacy: The Role of Red-Tape Warriors" (Routledge, 2022)

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Through compelling ethnography, Homelessness and Housing Advocacy: The Role of Red-Tape Warriors (Routledge, 2022) reveals the creative and ambitio...

Chad Randl and D. Medina Lasansky, "Playing Place: Board Games, Popular Culture, Space" (MIT Press, 2023)

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

An essay collection exploring the board game's relationship to the built environment, revealing the unexpected ways that play reflects perceptions of ...

What Reality TV Says About Us

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Reality TV shapes and reflects how we see ourselves, and what we regard as normal. Professor Danielle J. Lindemann watched thousands of hours of reali...

Kathleen Mcphillips and Naomi Goldenberg, "The End of Religion: Feminist Reappraisals of the State" (Routledge, 2020)

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Feminist theory has enhanced and expanded the agency, influence, status and contributions of women throughout the globe. However, feminist critical an...

Colin McFarlane, "Waste and the City: The Crisis of Sanitation and the Right to Citylife" (Verso, 2023)

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In an age of pandemics the relationship between the health of the city and good sanitation has never been more important. Colin McFarlane, through W...

This Will Change Your Perspective on James Bond

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Bond movies have influenced portrayals of masculinity and femininity for decades, but the Daniel Craig-era saw a revolution in depictions of sex, ...

Vicki Howard, ed., "A Cultural History of Shopping in the Modern Age" (Bloomsbury, 2022)

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, I talk to Vicki Howard and Sarah Elvins, both contributors to Volume 6 of the anthology A Cultural History of Shopping. Jon Stobart...

Dannagal Goldthwaite Young, "Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive Our Appetite for Misinformation" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2023)

06 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Over the past 40 years, lawmakers in America's two major political parties have taken increasingly extreme positions on ideological issues. Voters fro...

Michael Kaler, "Get Shown the Light: Improvisation and Transcendence in the Music of the Grateful Dead" (Duke UP, 2023)

06 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Of all the musical developments of rock in the 1960s, one in particular fundamentally changed the music’s structure and listening experience: the in...

Rory Coulter, "Housing and Life Course Dynamics: Changing Lives, Places and Inequalities" (Policy Press, 2023)

06 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Deepening inequalities and wider processes of demographic, economic, and social change are altering how people across the Global North move between ho...

Coastlines, Climate, and Comics: In Conversation with Dr. V. Chitra

05 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How can we use comics to present ethnographic research in new and unique ways? In this episode, we talk with Dr V Chitra about the fieldwork and comic...

Jan Selling, "Romani Liberation: A Northern Perspective on Emancipatory Struggles and Progress" (Central European UP, 2022)

05 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Well-known for his work in Critical Romani Studies, Jan Selling talks with Lavinia Stan about his latest book. Centered on Scandinavia, Romani Liber...

Gitte Marianne Hansen and Fabio Gygi, "The Work of Gender: Service, Performance and Fantasy in Contemporary Japan" (NIAS, 2022)

04 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Work of Gender: Service, Performance and Fantasy in Contemporary Japan (NIAS Press, 2022) is an edited volume of ethnographic research organized ...

James K. Beggan, "How Our Love of Dogs Creates Social Conflict" (Lexington Books, 2022)

03 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For the last twenty-thousand years, dogs and people have shared a unique bond in the animal kingdom. In How Our Love of Dogs Creates Social Conflict ...

Graham Denyer Willis, "Keep the Bones Alive: Missing People and the Search for Life in Brazil" (U California Press, 2022)

03 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Every year at least 20,000 people go missing in São Paulo, Brazil. Many will be found, sometimes in mundane mass graves, but thousands will not. Kee...

Anthony Hodgson, "Ready for Anything: Designing Resilience for a Transforming World" (Triarchy Press, 2011)

03 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Recently I had a chance to sit down for a long overdue chat with Anthony (Tony) Hodgson. When we last spoke it happened to be for my very first episod...

Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neale, "Why Men?: A Human History of Violence and Inequality" (Hurst, 2023)

03 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How did humans, a species that evolved to be cooperative and egalitarian, develop societies of enforced inequality? Why did our ancestors create patri...

Alexandra Hudson, "The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves" (St. Martin's Press, 2023)

02 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Alexandra Hudson, daughter of the "Manners Lady," was raised to respect others. But as she grew up, Hudson discovered a difference between politeness-...

Akiko Takeyama, "Involuntary Consent: The Illusion of Choice in Japan’s Adult Video Industry" (Stanford UP, 2023)

02 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In a world dominated by the notion of autonomy, free choice, and consent, Akiko Takeyama takes us on a thought-provoking journey into the heart of Jap...

Gerard McCarthy, "Outsourcing the Polity: Non-State Welfare, Inequality, and Resistance in Myanmar" (Cornell UP, 2023)

01 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In late 2015 Daw Aung San Suu Kyi led Myanmar’s National League for Democracy to a smashing general election victory. In one of her first public app...

Daniele Lorenzini, "The Force of Truth: Critique, Genealogy, and Truth-Telling in Michel Foucault" (U Chicago Press, 2023)

01 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A groundbreaking examination of Michel Foucault’s history of truth. Many blame Michel Foucault for our post-truth and conspiracy-laden society. In t...

Michael Serazio, "The Authenticity Industries: Keeping It Real in Media, Culture, and Politics" (Stanford UP, 2023)

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In recent decades, authenticity has become an American obsession. It animates thirty years' worth of reality TV programming and fuels the explosive vi...