American Studies

American Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of America about their new books.

Courtney Thorsson, "The Sisterhood: How a Network of Black Women Writers Changed American Culture" (Columbia UP, 2023)

May 13, 2024

The Sisterhood

Courtney Thorsson
Hosted by N'Kosi Oates

The Sisterhood: How a Network of Black Women Writers Changed American Culture (Columbia University Press, 2023) explores how an incredible group of Bl…

Kevin Woodson, "The Black Ceiling: How Race Still Matters in the Elite Workplace" (U Chicago Press, 2023)

May 13, 2024

The Black Ceiling

Kevin Woodson
Hosted by Deidre Tyler

America's elite law firms, investment banks, and management consulting firms are known for grueling hours, low odds of promotion, and personnel practi…

Denise Von Glahn, "Circle of Winners: How the Guggenheim Foundation Composition Awards Shaped American Music Culture" (U Illinois Press, 2023)

May 12, 2024

Circle of Winners

Denise Von Glahn
Hosted by Kristen Turner

Founded in 1925, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation provides support to what their current website says are "exceptional individuals in pur…

Maria Cristina Garcia, "State of Disaster: The Failure of U. S. Migration Policy in an Age of Climate Change" (UNC Press, 2022)

May 12, 2024

State of Disaster

Maria Cristina Garcia
Hosted by Katie Coldiron

Natural disasters and the dire effects of climate change cause massive population displacements and lead to some of the most intractable political and…

Cecily N. Zander, "The Army under Fire: The Politics of Antimilitarism in the Civil War Era" (LSU Press, 2024)

May 12, 2024

The Army under Fire

Cecily N. Zander
Hosted by Andrew Graybill

Cecily N. Zander’s The Army under Fire: The Politics of Antimilitarism in the Civil War Era (LSU Press, 2024) is a pathbreaking study focusing on the …

Pamela Aronson and Matthew R. Fleming, "Gender Revolution: How Electoral Politics and #MeToo are Reshaping Everyday Life" (Routledge, 2023)

May 12, 2024

Gender Revolution

Pamela Aronson and Matthew R. Fleming
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Gender Revolution: How Electoral Politics and #MeToo are Reshaping Everyday Life (Routledge, 2023) by Dr. Pamela Aronson and Matthew R. Fleming carefu…

Dan Chapman, "A Road Running Southward: Following John Muir's Journey Through an Endangered Land" (Island Press, 2022)

May 11, 2024

A Road Running Southward

Dan Chapman
Hosted by Matt Simmons

In 1867, John Muir set out on foot to explore the botanical wonders of the South, keeping a detailed journal of his adventures as he traipsed from Ken…

Kendra Y. Hamilton, "Romancing the Gullah in the Age of Porgy and Bess" (U Georgia Press, 2024)

May 10, 2024

Romancing the Gullah in the Age of Porgy and Bess

Kendra Y. Hamilton
Hosted by Latoya Johnson

Dr. Kendra Y. Hamilton’s Romancing the Gullah in the Age of Porgy and Bess (University of Georgia Press, 2024) is a literary and cultural history of t…

Robert K. D. Colby, "An Unholy Traffic: Slave Trading in the Civil War South" (Oxford UP, 2024)

May 10, 2024

An Unholy Traffic

Robert K. D. Colby

The Confederate States of America was born in defense of slavery and, after a four-year struggle to become an independent slaveholding republic, died …

Book Banning: A Discussion with Christine Emeran of the National Coalition Against Censorship

May 9, 2024

Book Banning

Christine Emeran

Book bans and book challenges are both on the rise. And they are increasing at unprecedented rates. But why is this happening? Dr. Christine Emeran of…

Recall This Story: Steve McCauley excavates John Cheever's "The Five-Forty-Eight" (JP)

May 9, 2024

Steve McCauley excavates John Cheever's "The Five-Forty-Eight"

Steve McCauley

We debut a new feature: Recall This Story, in which a contemporary writer picks out a bygone story to read and to analyze. Surely there is no better n…

Maggie Messitt, "Newspaper" (Bloomsbury, 2024)

May 9, 2024

Newspaper

Maggie Messitt
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Newspaper (Bloomsbury, 2024) by Dr. Maggie Messitt is about more than news printed on paper. It brings us inside our best and worst selves, from censo…

David Tal, "The Making of an Alliance: The Origins and Development of the US-Israel Relationship" (Cambridge UP, 2022)

May 8, 2024

The Making of an Alliance

David Tal
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Laying the foundation for an understanding of US-Israeli relations, this lively and accessible book provides critical background on the origins and de…

Battlefield to Big Sky

May 8, 2024

Battlefield to Big Sky: A Conversation with Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy

Tim Sheehy
Hosted by Annika Nordquist

Veteran and entrepreneur Tim Sheehy has led an action-packed life: a 2008 graduate of the Naval Academy, as a Navy SEAL he completed deployments in Ir…

Julia Havas, "Woman Up: Invoking Feminism in Quality Television" (Wayne State UP, 2022)

May 8, 2024

Woman Up

Julia Havas
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

While American television has long relied on a strategic foregrounding of feminist politics to promote certain programming's cultural value, Woman Up:…

Marion R. Casey, "The Green Space: The Transformation of the Irish Image" (NYU Press, 2024)

May 8, 2024

The Green Space

Marion R. Casey
Hosted by Aidan Beatty

Marion Casey is a professor at Glucksman Ireland House at New York University where she also serves as Director of Undergraduate Studies. She has publ…

Ariana Mangual Figueroa, "Knowing Silence: How Children Talk about Immigration Status in School" (U Minnesota Press, 2024)

May 7, 2024

Knowing Silence

Ariana Mangual Figueroa
Hosted by Laura Kelly

Learning from children about citizenship status and how it shapes their schooling. There is a persistent assumption in the field of education that c…

Eziaku Atuama Nwokocha, "Vodou en Vogue: Fashioning Black Divinities in Haiti and the United States" (UNC Press, 2023)

May 7, 2024

Vodou en Vogue

Eziaku Atuama Nwokocha
Hosted by Reighan Gillam

In Haitian Vodou, spirits impact Black practitioners' everyday lives, tightly connecting the sacred and the secular. As Eziaku Atuama Nwokocha reveals…

James Wolfinger, "If There Is No Struggle There Is No Progress: Black Politics in Twentieth-Century Philadelphia" (Temple UP, 2022)

May 6, 2024

If There Is No Struggle There Is No Progress

Stanley Keith Arnold, Alyssa Ribeiro, and James Wolfinger
Hosted by Susan Liebell

If There Is No Struggle There Is No Progress: Black Politics in Twentieth-Century Philadelphia (Temple UP, 2022) provides an in-depth historical anal…

Donald Stoker, "Why America Loses Wars: Limited War and US Strategy from the Korean War to the Present" (Cambridge UP, 2019)

May 5, 2024

Why America Loses Wars

Donald Stoker
Hosted by Charles Coutinho

In this provocative challenge to United States policy and strategy, former Professor of Strategy & Policy at the US Naval War College, and author or e…