New Books in Technology
Episodes
Patrick Brodie and Darin Barney eds., "Media Rurality" (Duke UP, 2026)
03 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Media Rurality (Duke UP, 2026), edited by Darin Barney and Patrick Brodie, investigates the centrality of rural places and people within the media ...
A Shakeup Is Coming for the Nation-State: A Conversation with Stephen Sims
27 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Stephen Sims’ New Atlantis essay examines how emerging technologies are reshaping the structure and authority of the modern nation-state. He argue...
Roland Betancourt, "Disneyland and the Rise of Automation: How Technology Created the Happiest Place on Earth" (Princeton UP, 2026)
23 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When Disneyland opened to the public in 1955, it demystified the hidden world of factory automation through its extraordinary new attractions. In Dis...
Sarah Murray, "Powered by Smart: A Prehistory of Everyday AI" (NYU Press, 2026)
22 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Powered by Smart traces the techno-cultural evolutions that made artificial intelligence feel more familiar than futuristic. From wearables and strea...
Adrian Woolfson, "On the Future of Species: Authoring Life by Means of Artificial Biological Intelligence" (MIT Press, 2026)
20 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine a future where we grow houses rather than build them. Where smartphones are alive, clothing has opinions and all human knowledge fits into a s...
Michał Mycka, "Games User Research Cookbook: Tools and Techniques for Better Player Experience" (CRC Press, 2026)
19 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This book offers a comprehensive and practical guide to Games User Research (GUR). Blending theory and hands-on experience, it walks readers through m...
Security and Risk: Challenges for Economy and Business in the Global 20th Century: A Conversation with Marie Huber, Nina Kleinöder, and Christian Kleinschmidt
16 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The volume addresses issues of security and risk in economic and business history. A focus lies on the study of security in order to highlight the ce...
David Kirsch on the Dot Com Bubble and Bust
13 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We chat with historian David Kirsch, Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School, about ...
The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want
13 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Emily M. Bender, Alex Hanna, Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera and Alex Rivera Cartagena discuss the looming social, cultural, and knowledge catas...
Alberto Galasso, "The Management of Innovation: Managing and Creating Technology Capital" (Rotman-UTP Publishing, 2024)
12 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Despite the importance of innovation for the growth of firms, industries, and the national economy, the strategic tools available to effectively manag...
David Arditi, "Music Technology Panic Narratives Beyond Piracy: From Taping to Napster to TikTok" (Anthem Press, 2026)
07 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Who makes a living from the music industry? In Music Technology Panic Narratives Beyond Piracy: From Taping to Napster to TikTok (Anthem Press, 2...
Douglas H. Erwin, "The Origins of the New: Novelty and Innovation in the History of Life, Culture, and Technology" (Princeton UP, 2026)
06 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Origins of the New (Princeton University Press, 2026) presents a revolutionary approach to evolutionary success in all realms of life. In this g...
Wout Saelens, "Fossil Consumerism: Energy, Ecology and Everyday Life in the Early Modern Low Countries" (Leuven UP, 2026)
04 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Fossil Consumerism: Energy, Ecology and Everyday Life in the Early Modern Low Countries (Leuven UP, 2026) by Dr. Wout Saelens explores how the homes ...
Ben Collier on Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy
30 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, and guest host, Paula Bialski, Associate Professor of Digital Sociology at University of St. Gallen, talk to Ben Co...
Sam Illingworth and Rachel Forsyth, "GenAI in Higher Education: Redefining Teaching and Learning" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
17 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
GenAI in Higher Education: Redefining Teaching and Learning (Bloomsbury, 2026) provides practical guidance for higher education professionals lookin...
César A. Hidalgo, "The Infinite Alphabet: And the Laws of Knowledge" (Allen Lane, 2026)
16 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We all understand that knowledge shapes the fate of business and the growth of nations, but few of us are aware of the principles that govern its moti...
Marianna Dudley, "Electric Wind: An Energy History of Modern Britain by Marianna Dudley" (Manchester UP, 2025)
14 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Electric Wind: An Energy History of Modern Britain by Marianna Dudley (Manchester University Press, 2025) is a cutting-edge history of wind power in...
Britt Paris, "Radical Infrastructure: Imagining the Internet from the Ground Up" (U California Press, 2025)
09 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We are glad to talk to Britt Paris about her book Radical Infrastructure: Imagining the Internet from the Ground Up (U California Press, 2025). ...
Christiane Tristl, "Turning Water into Commodity: Digital Innovation and the Private Sector as Development Agent" (Bristol UP, 2025)
08 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I am in conversation with Dr Christiane Tristl, an economic geographer interested in heterodox economic geography. Their scholarship...
Amelia Acker, "Archiving Machines: From Punch Cards to Platforms" (MIT Press, 2025)
04 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We're so pleased to welcome Dr. Amelia Acker, author of Archiving Machines: From Punch Cards to Platforms (MIT Press, 2025) to the New Books Netw...
Alan J. McComas, "Consciousness: The Road to Reductionism" (American Scientist, 2025)
27 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Neuroscientific evidence increasingly shows that consciousness is a remarkable but explainable function of a machinelike brain. Alan J. McComas' discu...
Honghong Tinn, "Island Tinkerers: Innovation and Transformation in the Making of Taiwan's Computing Industry" (MIT Press, 2024)
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How Taiwan rose to global prominence in high tech manufacturing, from computer maker to the world's leading chip manufacturer. How did Taiwan, a for...
Fred Turner on Countercultures, Cybercultures, and Californian and Texan Ideologies
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, and guest host, Paula Bialski, Associate Professor of Digital Sociology at University of St. Gallen, talk to Fred T...
Subodhana Wijeyeratne, "The Islands and the Stars: A History of Japan's Space Programs" (Stanford UP, 2026)
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is among the six largest national space agencies in the world, along with China's CNSA, US's NASA, and R...
Marc Masters, "High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape" (UNC Press, 2023)
22 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The cassette tape was revolutionary. Cheap, portable, and reusable, this small plastic rectangle changed music history. Make your own tapes! Trade the...
Joe Williams, "Inequality in the Digital Economy: The Case for a Universal Basic Income" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024)
21 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Joe Williams speaks with Andrew White about how the digital economy is reshaping inequality, work, and the social contract. Drawing o...
Raiford Guins, "King PONG: How Atari Bounced Across Markets to Make Millions" (MIT Press, 2026)
20 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
PONG is one of the longest- and most consistently circulating video games. Released in 1972, it remains at our fingertips as Android or iOS app, hoste...
David King Dunaway, "A Four-Eyed World: How Glasses Changed the Way We See" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Eyeglasses have become so commonplace we hardly think about them—unless we can’t find them. Yet glasses have been controversial throughout history...
W. Patrick McCray, "README: A Bookish History of Computing from Electronic Brains to Everything Machines" (MIT Press, 2025)
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In README: A Bookish History of Computing from Electronic Brains to Everything Machines (MIT Press, 2025), historian Dr. Patrick McCray argues that ...
Ted Striphas, "Algorithmic Culture Before the Internet" (Columbia UP, 2023)
18 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Ted Striphas, Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera and Alex Rivera Cartagena discuss Algorithmic Culture Before the Internet (Columbia University Pr...
Yi-Ling Liu, "The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet" (Knopf, 2026)
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Not too long ago, in the 2000s and 2010s, many felt that the internet–even one behind the Great Firewall–would bring about a more open China. As P...
Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley et al. eds., "Routledge Handbook of Chinese Media" (Routledge, 2025)
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Studying Chinese media has never been a stable intellectual enterprise. As Professor Yuezhi Zhao once observed, it often resembles aiming at a target ...
Daniela Stockmann and Ting Luo, "Governing Digital China" (Cambridge UP, 2025)
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
China's approach to digital governance has gained global influence, often evoking Orwellian 'Big Brother' comparisons. Governing Digital China (Camb...
Tom Bolton, "Atomic Albion: Journeys Around Britain’s Nuclear Power Stations" (Strange Attractor, 2025)
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The United Kingdom has sixteen nuclear power stations. Most go under the radar, but their presence is enormous, both physically and culturally. They d...
Jon R. Lindsay "Age of Deception: Cybersecurity as Secret Statecraft" (Cornell UP, 2025)
07 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
At the heart of cybersecurity lies a paradox: Cooperation makes conflict possible. In Age of Deception (Cornell University Press 2025), Jon R. Lind...
Tom Griffiths, "The Laws of Thought: The Quest for a Mathematical Theory of the Mind" (Henry Holt and Co., 2026)
04 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Laws of Thought: The Quest for a Mathematical Theory of the Mind (Henry Holt and Co., 2026) is an exploration of the quest to use mathematic...
Giuseppe Longo and Adam Nocek, "The Organism Is a Theory: Giuseppe Longo on Biology, Mathematics, and AI" (U Minnesota Press, 2026)
21 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A bold reimagining of life that bridges science, philosophy, cybernetics, and the complexities of biological existence The Organism Is a Theory: Gius...
Robert Dorschel, "The Social Codes of Tech Workers: Class Identity in Digital Capitalism" (MIT Press, 2025)
20 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Who are the people staffing the digital economy? In The Social Codes of Tech Workers: Class Identity in Digital Capitalism (MIT Press, 2025) Rob...
Emily Hund, "The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media" (Princeton UP, 2023)
19 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Before there were Instagram likes, Twitter hashtags, or TikTok trends, there were bloggers who seemed to have the passion and authenticity that tradit...
Aaron Bateman. "Weapons in Space: Technology, Politics, and the Rise and Fall of the Strategic Defense Initiative" (MIT Press, 2024)
06 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A new and provocative take on the formerly classified history of accelerating superpower military competition in space in the late Cold War and beyond...
Florentine Koppenborg, "Japan's Nuclear Disaster and the Politics of Safety Governance" (Cornell UP, 2023)
05 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Florentine Koppenborg’s Japan’s Nuclear Disaster and the Politics of Safety Governance (Cornell UP, 2023) begins with the understated observatio...
Jeremy Black, "A History of Artillery" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023)
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jeremy Black's book A History of Artillery (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023) traces the development of artillery through the ages, providing a thorough s...
Donna J. Drucker, "Fertility Technology" (MIT Press, 2023)
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A concise overview of fertility technology—its history, practical applications, and ethical and social implications around the world. In the late 18...
Luis Felipe Murillo, "Common Circuits: Hacking Alternative Technological Futures" (Stanford UP, 2025)
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A digital world in relentless movement—from artificial intelligence to ubiquitous computing—has been captured and reinvented as a monoculture by S...
Chaim Gingold, "Building SimCity: How to Put the World in a Machine" (MIT Press, 2024)
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Building SimCity explores the history of computer simulation by chronicling one of the most influential simulation games ever made: SimCity. As auth...
Thomas Haigh on the History of “AI” as a Brand
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Thomas Haigh, Professor and Chair of History and affiliate of the Department of Computer Science at Univ...
Reading the Bible with AI?: A Conversation with John Kaag, Philosopher and Co-Founder of Rebind AI
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rebind combines reading with AI-chat to deepen learning and simulate the experience of conversing with some of the greatest scholars and thinkers. Wit...
Jimmy Wales with Dan Gardner, "The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things That Last" (Crown Currency, 2025)
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In my interview with Jimmy Wales, father of Wikipedia, we celebrate his new book, The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things That Last...
Amanda Parrish Morgan, "Stroller" (Bloomsbury, 2022)
30 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Among the many things expectant parents are told to buy, none is a more visible symbol of status and parenting philosophy than a stroller. Although it...
Elisabetta Ferrari, "Appropriate, Negotiate, Challenge: Activist Imaginaries and the Politics of Digital Technologies" (U California Press, 2024)
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Activists utilize digital technologies to communicate, coordinate, and organize for social change. In Appropriate, Negotiate, Challenge: Activist ...
Carl Benedikt Frey, "How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation, and the Fate of Nations" (Princeton UP, 2025)
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation, and the Fate of Nations (Princeton University Press, 2025), Carl Benedikt Frey challenges the convent...
Cory Doctorow on Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this special livestream edition of Peoples & Things, host Lee Vinsel and very special guest host, danah boyd, formerly of Microsoft Research, prese...
Hilary Allen, "Fintech Dystopia: A Summer Beach Read about Silicon Valley Ruining Things" (2025)
11 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Silicon Valley wants to disrupt finance, and it might just succeed. In FinTech Dystopia, professor Hilary Allen offers an accessible, irreverent, and...
Christopher Ali, "Farm Fresh Broadband: The Politics of Rural Connectivity" (MIT, 2021)
09 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As much of daily life migrates online, broadband—high-speed internet connectivity—has become a necessity. The widespread lack of broadband in rura...
The Technological Soul: Alex Priou on Modernity, Ideology, and the Limits of Reason
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of International Horizons, RBI acting director Eli Karetny speaks with Alex Priou, Professor of Political Philosophy at the University...
AI, News, and the State: Reinstitutionalising Journalism in Global China’s Algorithmic Age: A conversation with Dr. Joanne Kuai
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How is artificial intelligence transforming journalism as both a profession and an institution? In this episode, Ning Ao speaks to Dr. Joanne Kuai, ex...
Muhammad Atique, "Algorithmic Saga: Understanding Media, Culture, and Transformation in the AI Age" (Atique Mindscape Publishing, 2024)
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In an age when digital media permeates every aspect of our lives, understanding its influence is more critical than ever. Algorithmic Saga: Understan...
Xiao Huang et. al, "GeoAI and Human Geography: The Dawn of a New Spatial Intelligence Era" (Springer, 2025)
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
GeoAI and Human Geography: The Dawn of a New Spatial Intelligence Era (Springer, 2025) outlines a comprehensive journey into how geospatial artifici...
Gaurav Suri and Jay McClelland, "The Emergent Mind: How Intelligence Arises in People and Machines" (Basic Books, 2025)
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When we are trying to solve a problem, what happens? We find ourselves weighing arguments, or relying on intuition, then reaching a conscious decision...
Brian Potter, "The Origins of Efficiency" (Stripe Press, 2025)
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Efficiency is the engine that powers human civilization. It's the reason rates of famine have fallen precipitously, literacy has risen, and humans are...
Kate Epstein on How Twentieth-Century Technology Theft Built the National-Security State" (U Chicago Press, 2024)
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I sit down with Kate Epstein, an associate professor of history at Rutgers University-Camden, as she details her research on the inter...
Scott D. Anthony, "Epic Disruptions: 11 Innovations That Shaped Our Modern World" (Harvard Business Review Press, 2025)
24 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Epic Disruptions: 11 Innovations That Shaped Our Modern World (Harvard Business Review Press, 2025) arrives at the perfect moment as artificial inte...
Alice Lovejoy, "Tales of Militant Chemistry: The Film Factory in a Century of War" (U California Press, 2025)
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The history of film calls to mind unforgettable photographs, famous directors, and the glitz and hustle of the media business. But there is another ta...
Nathan E. Sanders and Bruce Schneier, "Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship" (MIT Press, 2025)
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
AI is changing democracy. We still get to decide how.AI’s impact on democracy will go far beyond headline-grabbing political deepfakes and automated...
José Marichal, "You Must Become an Algorithmic Problem: Renegotiating the Socio-Technical Contract" (Policy Press, 2025)
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the age of AI, where personal data fuels corporate profits and state surveillance, what are the implications for democracy? This incisive book Yo...
David Eliot, "Artificially Intelligent: The Very Human Story of AI" (Aevo UTP, 2025)
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The story of AI isn't finished yet. The question is: how will you be part of it? With the unprecedented adoption of artificial intelligence and its f...
Madeleine Chalmers, "French Technological Thought and the Nonhuman Turn" (Edinburgh UP, 2024)
13 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
French Technological Thought and the Nonhuman Turn (Edinburgh University Press, 2024) traces a genealogy of thinking and writing about technology, ...
Digital Expressions of the Self(ie): The Social Life of Selfies in India
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Selfies are more than fleeting images—across India, they shape how people imagine themselves, connect with others, and inhabit spaces. In this epis...
Richard Duncan, "The Money Revolution: How to Finance the Next American Century" (John Wiley & Sons, 2022)
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In The Money Revolution: How to Finance the Next American Century, economist and bestselling author Richard Duncan lays out a farsighted strategy to ...
Michael Fernandez and Amauri Serrano, "Streaming Video Collection Development and Management" (Bloomsbury Libraries Unlimited, 2025)
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Streaming video is not new to the library environment, but recent years have seen an exponential growth in the number of platforms and titles availabl...
Daniel K. Sodickson, "The Future of Seeing: How Imaging is Changing the World" (Columbia UP, 2025)
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Over the centuries, we have learned to peer into what was once invisible. Imaging devices like cameras, telescopes, microscopes, and MRI machines map ...
Cass R. Sunstein, "Imperfect Oracle: What AI Can and Cannot Do" (APS Press, 2025)
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Imperfect Oracle is about the promise and limits of artificial intelligence. The promise is that in important ways AI is better than we are at making...
Mark Seligman, "AI and Ada: Artificial Translation and Creation of Literature" (First Hill Books, 2025)
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Taking recent spectacular progress in AI fully into account, Mark Seligman's AI and Ada: Artificial Translation and Creation of Literature (Anthem ...
Samuel Arbesman, "The Magic of Code: How Digital Language Created and Connects Our World—and Shapes Our Future" (PublicAffairs, 2025)
13 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the tradition of classics such as The Lives of a Cell, a bold reframing of our relationship with technology that argues code is "a universal force...
Jessica Urwin, "Contaminated Country: Nuclear Colonialism and Aboriginal Resistance in Australia" (U of Washington Press, 2025)
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Though a nonnuclear state, Australia was embroiled in the military and civilian nuclear energy programs of numerous global powers across the twentieth...
Human Leadership for Humane Technology
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we spoke with Cornelia C. Walther about her three books examining technology's role in society. Walther, who spent nearly two decades...
Milan Janosov, "Geospatial Data Science Essentials: 101 Practical Python Tips and Tricks" (2024)
06 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Geospatial Data Science Essentials is your hands-on guide to mastering the science of geospatial analytics using Python. Designed for practitioners an...
Dan Roche, "Eyes by Hand: Prosthetics of Art and Healing" (MIT Press, 2025)
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Eyes by Hand: Prosthetics of Art and Healing (MIT Press, 2025) is a book about artificial eyes—about the artisans and artists who make them, and ab...
Anthony Bonato, "Dots and Lines: Hidden Networks in Social Media, AI, and Nature" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2025)
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can networks unlock secrets of AI or make sense of a social media mess? A behind-the-scenes look at how networks reveal reality. According to mathema...
Tia Sahrakorpi on a Use-Based History of Electricity in Finland
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Tiia Sahrakorpi, Visiting Professor at Weber State University, about her interesting book project, Our ...
Ben Connable, "Ground Combat: Puncturing the Myths of Modern War" (Georgetown UP, 2025)
23 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ground Combat: Puncturing the Myths of Modern War (Georgetown UP, 2025) reveals the gritty details of land warfare at the tactical level and challen...
Noah Giansiracusa, "Robin Hood Math: Take Control of the Algorithms That Run Your Life" (Penguin, 2025)
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Everything we do today is recorded as data that’s sold to the highest bidder. Plugging our personal data into impersonal algorithms has made governm...
Gary Rivlin, "AI Valley: Microsoft, Google, and the Trillion-Dollar Race to Cash In on Artificial Intelligence" (Harper Collins, 2025)
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A veteran Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist shadows the top thinkers in the field of Artificial Intelligence, introducing the breakthroughs and develo...
Thomas Christian Bächle and Jascha Bareis eds., "The Realities of Autonomous Weapons (Bristol UP, 2025)
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Autonomous weapons exist in a strange territory between Pentagon procurement contracts and Hollywood blockbusters, between actual military systems and...
Petter Törnberg and Justus Uitermark, "Seeing Like a Platform: An Inquiry into the Condition of Digital Modernity" (Taylor & Francis, 2025)
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
'Seeing Like a Platform: An Inquiry into the Condition of Digital Modernity (Taylor & Francis, 2025)' by Petter Törnberg & Justus Uitermark In m...
Tatiana Bur, "Technologies of the Marvellous in Ancient Greek Religion" (Cambridge UP, 2025)
11 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tatiana Bur, Technologies of the Marvellous in Ancient Greek Religion (Cambridge UP, 2025) This open-access book investigates the ways that techno...
Vijay Selvam, "Principles of Bitcoin: Technology, Economics, Politics, and Philosophy" (Columbia UP, 2025)
11 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Principles of Bitcoin presents a holistic, first-principles-based framework for understanding one of the most misunderstood inventions of our time. B...
Paul Thagard, "Bots and Beasts: What Makes Machines, Animals, and People Smart?" (MIT Press, 2021)
09 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Octopuses can open jars to get food, and chimpanzees can plan for the future. An IBM computer named Watson won on Jeopardy! and Alexa knows our favo...
The Social Impact of Automating Translation
03 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Language on the Move Podcast, Tazin Abdullah speaks with Dr. Esther Monzó-Nebot, Associate Professor in Translation and Inter...
Gavin Williams, "Format Friction: Perspectives on the Shellac Disc" (U Chicago Press, 2024)
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With the rise of the gramophone around 1900, the shellac disc traveled the world and eventually became the dominant sound format in the first half of ...
On Bullshit in AI
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re continuing our series on Harry Frankfurt’s seminal work, On Bullshit. I have the privilege to speak with Arvind Narayanan co-author o...
Anil Ananthaswamy, "Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Maths Behind Modern AI" (Dutton, 2024)
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Machine learning systems are making life-altering decisions for us: approving mortgage loans, determining whether a tumor is cancerous, or deciding if...
Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna, "The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want" (Harper, 2025)
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is artificial intelligence going to take over the world? Have big tech scientists created an artificial lifeform that can think on its own? Is it goin...
How ClioVis is Transforming Education and Historical Research
19 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today I’m speaking with Marcus Golding, historian and Director of Educational Operations at ClioVis. ClioVis is an incredible software and learnin...
Meegan Kennedy, "Writing Embodiment in Victorian Microscopy: Beautiful Mechanism" (Oxford UP, 2025)
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Writing Embodiment in Victorian Microscopy: Beautiful Mechanism (Oxford UP, 2025) by Dr. Meegan Kennedy examines a revolutionary period in microscopi...
David S. Wall, "Cybercrime: The Transformation of Crime in the Information Age" (Polity, 2024)
13 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How has the digital revolution transformed criminal opportunities and behaviour? What is different about cybercrime compared with traditional criminal...
Edward Tenner, "Why the Hindenburg Had a Smoking Lounge: Essays in Unintended Consequences" (APS Press, 2025)
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How did the addition of lifeboats after the Titanic shipwreck contribute to another tragedy in Chicago harbor three years later? How efficient are wil...
Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling, "The Ghost Lab: How Bigfoot Hunters, Mediums, and Alien Enthusiasts Are Wrecking Science" (PublicAffairs, 2025)
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, New Books Network host Nina Bo Wagner talks to Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling about his recently published book The Ghost Lab: How Bigfoot...
Matthew Wisnioski on the History of the Idea and Culture of “Innovation” in the United States
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Matt Wisnioski, Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at Virginia Tech, about his new book, Eve...
Elliot Lichtman, "The Computer Always Wins: A Playful Introduction to Algorithms through Puzzles and Strategy Games" (MIT Press, 2025)
22 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In The Computer Always Wins: A Playful Introduction to Algorithms through Puzzles and Strategy Games (MIT Press, 2025), Elliot Lichtman will teach ...