Podcasts about Cultural history

Today on Uncommon Sense, we're discussing the tragic state of the modern world.From the protests in Ireland to growing frustration across Western nations, many people feel as though their voices are no longer being heard by the institutions that claim to represent them. I'll share why I support the right of people to protest and why I believe the demonstrations in Ireland have resonated with so many people around the world.We'll also discuss what I see as a deeper spiritual crisis affecting modern society. Many of the political, cultural, and social problems we face today are symptoms of a broader moral and spiritual decline, one that cannot be solved through politics alone.In this episode:My thoughts on the protests in IrelandWhy so many citizens now feel disconnected from their governmentsThe growing divide between ordinary people and powerful institutionsThe role of faith, morality, and personal responsibility in rebuilding societyWhy I believe many of today's crises point to a deeper spiritual battleWhether you agree or disagree, this episode is an invitation to think critically about the direction of our culture, our governments, and our future.--https://www.youversion.com/bible-app

I don't tend to use the word "periodizing" for the project of This Is Your Afterlife, but when I ask my guests, "What's your coma?," I'm absolutely "categorizing the past into discrete, quantified, and named blocks of time for the purpose of study or analysis" (thanks, Wikipedia). Periodization is the explicit project of The Return of the 90s: A Cultural History of the Present, a new book edited by Sean O'Brien and TIYA friend Madeline Lane-McKinley. In another two-episode week, I'm talking to them about this cultural criticism project and personalizing it. What world did the 90s leave us with? What do we make of the decade's resurgence? And what does it mean if the world we remember never existed in the first place?First up is Sean's solo episode, in which I roll out the purple carpet to give him the same TIYA treatment Madeline got with her solo episode. Then on Friday, I talk to them both in a more free-form conversation about the book, so stay tuned!We talk: an intro to Marxism, the need for sleep, WIRED magazine, afterlife as anti-work utopia, prostrating at the altar of academia, lessons he learned from watching his mother die with grace.Support the show and get the TIYA After Dark feed on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/thisisyourafterlifeThe Return of the 90s: A Cultural History of the Present:https://www.plutobooks.com/product/the-return-of-the-90s/Follow Sean and find out about book events:https://twitter.com/sean_obeehttps://www.instagram.com/sean_ob/Listen to Sean on Genre Reveal Party!, my movie podcast with Madeline:https://pod.link/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5jYXB0aXZhdGUuZm0vZ2VucmUtcmV2ZWFsLXBhcnR5Lw/episode/N2VkOTY1M2ItOTgwMy00OWQwLWIyZmQtYzdlNDA2M2QyYTlmFollow/contact This Is Your Afterlife:https://thisisyourafterlife.com/https://www.instagram.com/thisisyourafterlife/thisisyourafterlifepodcast@gmail.comMusic by TIYA house band Lake Mary:https://lakemary.bandcamp.com/https://www.instagram.com/chaz.prymek/Artwork by Matt Sage:https://www.instagram.com/matthewjsage/

My guest this week is author Deborah Phillips whose new book is titled: AND THIS IS MY FRIEND SANDY — SANDY WILSON'S THE BOY FRIEND, LONDON THEATRE AND GAY CULTURE. Sandy Wilson's The Boyfriend — for which he wrote the book, music, & lyrics — is one of the most successful British musicals of all time. It emerged in 1952 out of London's secretive but vibrant gay theatrical subculture, at a time when you could be sent to prison for being homosexual.  By the following year both The Boyfriend and Sandy Wilson were the toast of London's West End, and created nearly as much excitement as Queen Elizabeth's coronation that same year. That original West End production ran for five years. Meanwhile, a hit American version of The Boyfriend opened on Broadway in 1954 and made a star out of Julie Andrews. The show was revived on Broadway in 1970 and made a star of Sandy Duncan, and two years later an ill-conceived film version was released, starring Twiggy and Tommy Tune and directed by Ken Russell. Despite all of this, prior to this book, very little has been written about Sandy Wilson. Deborah Phillips, who is Professor of Literature and Cultural History at the University of Brighton, is the first researcher to delve into Wilson's extensive archives out of which she has created an captivating portrait of Wilson as a both a key figure in post-war British theatre and the era's gay culture. This book and interview introduced me to a number of fascinating subjects I had never encountered before including the hilarious BBC radio series, Round The Horne, that inspired the book's title; the history of London's Players Theatre; and the secret gay language, Polari. Exploring all that sent me into several amazing internet rabbit holes and I will be posting articles and video clips that I found there in the Broadway Nation FaceBook Group. This episode is made possible in part through the generous support of Broadway Nation Patron Club members Anne Welsh, Chris Moad, and Bob Braun. Become A PATRON of Broadway Nation! This episode is made possible in part through the generous support of Broadway Nation Patron Club members Anne Welsh, Chris Moad, and Bob Braun. If you are a fan ofBroadway Nation, I invite you too to become a PATRON! For a just $7.00 a month you will receive exclusive access to never-before-heard, unedited versions of many of the discussion that I have with my guests — in fact I often record nearly twice as much conversation as ends up in the edited versions. And you will also have access to additional in-depth conversations with my frequent co-host Albert Evans that have not been featured on the podcast. And all patrons receive special “on-air” shout-outs and acknowledgement of your vital support of this podcast. And If you are very enthusiastic about Broadway Nation there are additional PATRON levels that come with even more benefits. If you would like to support the work of Broadway Nation and receive these exclusive member benefits, please just click on this link: ⁠https://broadwaynationpodcast.supercast.tech/⁠ Thank you in advance for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we look back on 250 years of American history, you might be inspired to look into your own history. Monica O. Montgomery believes it's important to preserve your family's legacy, as she did after her parents passed away. Out of her grief and healing journey grew the DiasporaDNA Story Center, an “un-museum” and cultural center offering workshops, talks, bus tours, and more experiences centered around discovering ancestral history on both a personal and cultural level. Learn more or book an experience at www.diasporadna.org. Then, Shara Dae Howard heads to Philly's Avenue of the Arts, as the Philadelphia Music Alliance celebrates their 2026 Walk of Fame inductees, including Sun Ra Arkestra, Lady B, Pablo Batista, and Earl Young receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award. She meets some of the honorees and their family, friends, and collaborators.

On April 22, 1922, jazz legend Charles Mingus was born. Known for his groundbreaking compositions and outspoken activism, Mingus helped shape modern jazz while challenging social injustice through his work and voice. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed with the latest news from a leading Black-owned & controlled media company: https://aurn.com/newsletter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this insightful interview, Amanda Lucia, Professor of Studies of Religion, discusses her book 'White Utopias' and explores the complex issues surrounding modern yoga, cultural appropriation, exoticism, and racial dynamics within the yoga community. The conversation delves into festival experiences, the impact of capitalism, and the importance of authentic cultural engagement. Main Topics: ·      Cultural appropriation in yoga ·      The role of festivals in modern yoga culture ·      Exoticism and orientalism in spiritual practices Websites: www.amandajeanlucia.com www.religionandsexualabuseproject.org Books:  Reflections of Amma: Devotees in a Global Embrace (2014) White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals (2020) A Cultural History of Hinduism: Age of Independence (1947-2017) (2024) SUPPORT KEEN ON YOGA Become a Patron: https://www.keenonyoga.com/patrons/ Buy us a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/infoRfCONNECT WITH ADAM Website: www.keenonyoga.com Instagram:  @keen_on_yoga | @adam_keen_ashtanga In person events: https://www.keenonyoga.com/all-events/  WATCH https://www.youtube.com/@keenonyoga

In this episode of History 102, 'WhatIfAltHist' creator Rudyard Lynch and co-host Austin Padgett explore America's regional sub-nations, tracing how ancestral "Albion's Seed" cultures and frontier geography shaped a feral national identity now clashing with modern managerial bureaucracy, mass migration, and a "mouse utopia" social collapse. -- FOLLOW ON X: @whatifalthist (Rudyard) @LudwigNverMises (Austin) @TurpentineMedia -- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (00:16) The Sub-Nation Thesis (06:45) The Six Pillars of Identity (21:37) American vs. European Psychology (39:29) Albion's Seed & Regional DNA (55:15) The Rise of Standard America (1:02:43) The Frontier & The 100th Parallel (1:23:05) Continental Migration & Assimilation (1:35:47) Social Scripts & The Mating Crisis (1:52:55) Managerial vs. Red State Civilizations (2:08:27) Technological Totalitarianism (2:16:15) Outro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Cultural History of the World's Most Revolutionary Structure. Get all the news you need by listening to WBZ - Boston's News Radio! We're here for you, 24/7. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TODAY on the GWA Podcast: the esteemed scholar, author, and art historian DIANE APOSTOLOS-CAPPADONA on MARY MAGDALENE! Professor Emerita of Religious Art & Cultural History and Haub Director of the Catholic Studies Program at Georgetown University, and Distinguished Visiting Scholar in the Art History Program at The George Washington University, Apostolos-Cappadona has written extensively on art history. The author of Mary Magdalene: A Visual History (2023); A Guide to Christian Art (2020); Encyclopedia of Women in Religious Art (1996); Dictionary of Christian Art (1994); and The Spirit and the Vision: The Influence of Christian Romanticism on the Development of 19th-Century American Art (1995), and “In Search of Mary Magdalene: images and traditions” (2002)... Apostolos-Cappadona is one of the leading scholars in the world on religious art and, in particular, the image of Mary Magdalene. So - today - unlike in episodes where we deep-dive into a single artist, we will be taking an approach like we've previously done with Marina Warner on Eve, or Natalie Haynes on Medusa, and deep-diving into one of the most popular yet enigmatic figures in art: Mary Magdalene, who has been documented by artists in paint, sculpture, and more, for the past 16 centuries – and counting… and who seems to be portrayed differently every time. After all, Apostolos-Cappadona has referred to her as the most flexible figure in art. Look at images of her and you'll see a reader, preacher, follower and witness; crying at the foot of the Cross, washing Christ's feet or looking up to the heavens – repenting her sins with pearl-like tears – and too often conveniently exposing her chest. Sometimes identified by her jar of ointment or red robe (a contrast to the sanctified Virgin Mary's blue), she is most popularly known, today, as Christ's lover or a prostitute, despite no passage in the Bible describing her as such. Yet, the truth is we don't know who she was, and it seems artists have adopted her in ways that coincide with their needs, and the needs of the time. THIS EPISODE IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY THE LEVETT COLLECTION: https://www.famm.com/en/ https://www.instagram.com/famm_mougins // https://www.merrellpublishers.com/9781858947037 Follow us: Katy Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel Sound editing by Tory Peters and Nada Smiljanic. Music by Ben Wetherfield

This is the second of a series of posts about the literary alchemy of J. K. Rowling, a discussion jumpstarted by a post by ‘Iris' at a Strike fan website, an article that championed a Jungian perspective on this subject. The first post in this series, Literary Alchemy – A Primer for Those Interested in J. K. Rowling's Artistry, both explained what the ‘Iris' post asserted and reviewed much of the critical literature that the brevity of the S&E Files article prevented her from discussing. See that post for links to this material. The conversation between Nick Jeffery and John Granger above was recorded in the same spirit as the first post was written, namely, simultaneously a welcome to Strike fans and Rowling readers who have learned about literary alchemy only recently and an introduction to the work of the last twenty five years on this subject. Upcoming posts in the series will include a counter-point discussion in the debate Rowling is fostering about whether a psychological or spiritual perspective is better for understanding art and life and a review of the alchemical signatures that crowd Rowling-Galbraith's Hallmarked Man.This post is largely links to sources for points Nick and John discuss in their naturally enthusiastic and contrarian conversation, question by question. Enjoy!1. Welcome to the Conversation! (Nick) I just sent out an article about literary alchemy, John, in response to an article written by ‘Iris' and posted on the Strike-Ellacott Files website, a piece titled ‘What is Literary Alchemy? Spotting symbols that map Strike and Robin's growth.' What advice or guidance would you give to, say, Cormoran Strike readers who are brand new to the subject? * There are three types of alchemy and it is important to understand the common ground they share and the differences between them;* The first type is alchemy proper, which is to say ‘metallurgical alchemy,' the sacred science of purifying metals and the adept's soul via the creation of a Philosopher's Stone that will transform lead to gold and exude an elixir of life, the drinking of which will bestow immortality;* The second and third types of alchemy derive from interpretations of metallurgical alchemy's aims and the symbolic texts detailing the work in the hermetic laboratory;* Literary alchemy is the use of metallurgical alchemy's language, colors, sequences, and symbols in plays, poetry, and story to foster an edifying and transformative experience in the artist's theater or reading audience;* Psychological alchemy is Carl Jung's use of metallurgical alchemy's texts during and after WWII to illustrate his ideas of the integration of the conscious and unconscious aspects of the human mind;* Metallurgical alchemy was practiced in China, the Levant, India, and Europe within the revealed religious traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity until its degeneration in the late Medieval period and eventual evolution into the strictly materialist chemistry we know today;* Literary alchemy has been a continuous stream in literature from Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, and the Metaphysical poets through to Dickens, Yeats, the Inklings, Joyce, Nabokov, and J. K. Rowling;* The academic study of “alchemy in literature” was the province of Baconian and allegorical readings of Shakespeare (cf., Beryl Pogson, Peter Dawkins, Martin Lings) until the late 20th Century and the advent of academic specialists in ‘Hermetic Studies,' e.g., Stanton Linden, Lyndy Abraham, and Charles Nicholl (cf., Cauda Pavonis: A Journal of Hermetic Studies, 1982-2000).* Jung and his followers used their psychological interpretations of metallurgical alchemy as allegories of the soul to interpret mythology (cf., Erich Neumann, Marie-Louise Von Franz, Robert Johnson);* Jungian analysis of story using Jung's ideas of subconscious archetypes within a collective unconscious was popularized by Joseph Campbell in his guides to Joyce's Ulysses and his more well known works on mythology (e.g., The Hero With a Thousand Faces);* ‘Isis' in her S&E Files article, ‘What is Literary Alchemy?,' suggests that Rowling-Galbraith is writing an allegory of soul transformation in the Cormoran Strike series using metallurgical alchemy's symbols and sequences as understood by Carl Jung and his disciples rather than as used by English writers since the 13th Century;* It's a challenging theory, the depth of which is hard to grasp without an appreciation of the types of alchemy, what they have in common, and their differences in approach and subject matter.2. The Lake: (John) What I found most fascinating in your post, Nick, was your best guesses about where Rowling would have learned about literary alchemy. She claimed in 1998 that she'd read a lot of alchemical texts from which she set the “magical parameters” of the Hogwarts Saga; if you had only three chances to name one of those books, what would you choose? * Charles Nicholl's The Chemical Theatre;* Titus Burckhardt's Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul (or Mirror of the Intellect: Essays on Traditional Acience and Sacred Art);* Lyndy Abraham Summerhaze's Marvell and Alchemy or her Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery;* Martin Lings' The Secret of Shakespeare3. Carl Jung, Alchemy: (Nick) I see you're chafing at the bit, John, with book titles I haven't mentioned so let me name-drop the author not on my list because, as you pointed out, he wasn't really a literary alchemist so much as a psychologist who discussed alchemy as a means of illustrating his own ideas about the ‘Great Work.' You've written, though, that literary alchemy as with metallurgical alchemy is a subset of soul-allegories or Psychomachia. Don't Jung's ideas jibe with that? * Yes and no!* Jung's ideas of the soul and archetypes (or archetypal forms) are based on late 19th Century Volkischer German ideas, which is to say, modern and materialist (some say ‘vitalist') premises. His hostility to Christianity and Judaism was grounded in his acceptance of Darwinian evolution and derived philosophically from Nietzsche (see Richard Noll's The Jung Cult and The Aryan Christ).* He conflates the spiritual with the psychological, consequently, and embraces integrated individual psychological health as the telos of human existence, none of which is consistent with traditional metallurgical or literary alchemy (see Titus Burckhardt's Mirror of the Intellect, Philip Sherrard's ‘An Introduction to the Religious Thought of C. G. Jung,' and Harry Oldmeadow's ‘C.G. Jung & Mircea Eliade: ‘Priests without Surplices'? Reflections on the Place of Myth, Religion and Science in Their Work.'* Psychological alchemy, insomuch as it is ‘Jungian,' is well removed from the other two types of alchemy. Which is not to say that Rowling is not a Jungian and hence a Jungian psychological alchemist.4. Back into the Lake: (John) You covered in your article, though, Nick, the several reasons to think it possible, even probable that the evidence from Rowling's life suggests she is using Jungian ideas in her literary alchemy. Iris over at S&E Files obviously thinks that is the case. What are the for and against ideas with respect to Rowling being a Jungian? There's Plenty of Evidence That Rowling IS a Jungian Writer:John Granger's discussion in Troubled Blood: A Jungian Reading* Robin's name-dropping Jung in conversation about astrology;* The Jungian notes sounded throughout Strike 5: Archetypes, Synchronicity, Persona;* The connection between Jung's illustrated ‘New Book' and Talbot's ‘True Book;' and* Pointers to Cupid-Psyche myth as understood by Jungians (see below)The Advent of Prudence Dunleavy, Jungian Psychologist, in Ink Black Heart* Hard to imagine a more sympathetic portrait of a Jungian than half-sister Prudence!* She clearly was the genius behind the Rokeby reconciliation in Hallmarked ManThe Cupid and Psyche myth underpinning the Strike series* A Mythological Key to Cormoran Strike? The Myth of Eros, Psyche, and Venus (note the discussion here of the Jungian understanding of this specific myth)* Ink Black Heart: Strike as Zeus to Robin's Leda and as Cupid to Mads' Psyche* ‘Rowling Points to Myth of Cupid and Psyche in order to Console Strike Fans Disappointed with Hallmarked Man‘* The Hallmarked Man‘s Mythological Template (Nick Jeffery, John Granger)Anything Else? Oh, yeah —* Rowling studied mythology in her ‘Classical Studies' program at UExeter and almost certainly encountered Jungian interpretation of myths there (e.g. the work of Neumann, Johnson, Campbell).* Rowling told Val McDermid if she had not become a successful writer she would have sought training and certification as a psychologist. * Her work reflects a broad reading in psychology (cf., Louise Freeman Davis' ‘J. K. Rowling and the Phantoms in the Brain,' ‘Cormoran Strike and the Itch that Cannot Be Scratched') and it is likely that she has read her fair share of Jung and Jungian authors during her studies.* Rowling benefited from psychological therapy and exercises herself when suffering from depression, the experience of and recovery from which she depicted in story via the Azkaban Dementors and Robin Ellacott's treatment for PTSD in Lethal White.And There is Plenty of Evidence That Rowling Is NOT a Jungian Writer:* Rowling has never been asked or revealed how she learned about literary alchemy; this includes, of course, any reference to Carl Jung, whose work was not focused on literary alchemy per se but a psychological interpretation or explanation of metallurgical alchemy's symbolism.* All that Rowling has revealed about her experiences as a patient seeking help with depression are about Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), which treatment modality owes nothing to Jung or to Jung's students.* It is possible that Rowling encountered esoteric metallurgical alchemy, the precursor to literary alchemy, in her study of astrology, the complementary traditional sacred science to alchemy, a skill-set with which we know she was accomplished. That route to alchemy would have led her to Perennialist interpretations of alchemy, most notably Titus Burckhardt‘s Alchemy, Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul; the paperback cover of the Penguin Metaphysical Library edition of that book (1974) features an androgynous giant named REBIS standing on a dragon and a winged golden sphere (i.e., Rubeus, Norbert, Snitch).* As mentioned above, it is more likely that she encountered literary alchemy in her study of Shakespeare. The year she was studying for her A Levels, she traveled to see a production of King Lear which has prompted the idea that it was on her list of texts to prepare for her tests. The most challenging interpretation of Lear then in print was Charles Nicholl's The Chemical Theatre (1980), a book that explains almost every scene in perhaps Shakespeare's greatest tragedy as a parallel step in the Great Work of alchemy. If the budding astrologer was fascinated by this allegorical interpretation of the Bard, the most popular work in print at that time that championed reading Shakespeare as the author of soul allegories was Perennialist Martin Lings‘ The Secret of Shakespeare (1984).* Literary Alchemy is a tool set employed not only by Shakespeare but by a host of Rowling favorite authors to include Dickens, Nabokov, Lewis, and Tolkien. This view of alchemy, that is, as an allegorical depiction of the soul's transformation that affects that same cathartic experience in its theater or reading audiences, is the one found in Rowling's work, which is well removed from psychological alchemy, an analytic art which, though it springs from metallurgical alchemical texts, does not aim at the transformation at work in the sacred art or the science of traditional alchemy. * Rowling's use of chiastic structures and psychomachian allegory, tools that complement literary alchemy in spiritual perspective and aim, make a Jungian rather than a literary and Perennialist view of alchemy seem unlikely.* Alchemy: Jung, Burckhardt, or Maclean? John Granger, April 2007* Rowling's Soul Triptych Psychomachia: Is It From Shakespeare's ‘Macbeth'? John Granger, September 20245. The Debate at King's Cross: (Nick) So, John, you've mentioned Jung quite a few times in your posts about the Mythological framework of the Strike series and even written about the Jungian ideas of animus and anima with respect to Cormoran and Robin's relationship. You seem fairly confident, though, that Rowling is writing from the traditional esoteric ideas of alchemy a la Shakespeare rather than Jung's. Why is that? * Everything you just said!* As noted, Jung's ideas are modern and psychological while the stream of literary alchemy in English Literature is almost exclusively more Medieval and pointedly spiritual;* The Most Notable Exception: Angela Carter's The Passion of the New Eve (1977), that reads like a Jungian ‘Red Book' slide-show (think Bombyx Mori) or a transgender Odyssey written for feminists. Rowling has never mentioned her to my knowledge but it would be surprising if she hadn't read this book more than once. What Alana Bolton Cooke wrote about Carter's Passion could be said about Rowling's literary alchemy if she is a Jungian writer (or about Galbraith's fictional Elizabeth Tassel?):Angela Carter in The Passion of New Eve (1977) uses the exoteric phases of alchemy and Carl G. Jung's theory of esoteric alchemy as a means of demonstrating allegorically the idea ofrebirth and renewal. The purpose of this allegorical method is to produce an 'alchemical' change of thought in the reader about sexuality and gender associated with women's repression and liberation. In the novel Carter develops themes and ideas explored in her essay, The Sadeian Woman: An Exercise in Cultural History (1979), an analysis of the Marquis de Sade's pornography and its affect on the roles of men and women in society. The clash of opposites involved in combining alchemical symbolism, feminism and pornography within the fiction can be seen as representative of the state of chaos present in alchemy before the beginning of change. The circular narrative and alchemical structure of the fiction creates a literary version of the alchemical process as it brings together opposites involved in chaos, represented by events and characterisation that the protagonist, Evelyn/Eve, experiences, until, in the manner of alchemy, harmony is reached. The harmony created represents women's empowerment. Carter uses Evelyn's individuation process to encourage growth within the reader by altering patterns of thought to bring about change through self-confrontation and self-knowledge. The structure of Carter's fiction, thus, corresponds to the process of esoteric alchemy contained within the structure, imagery and symbolism of exoteric alchemy. The fiction is designed to stimulate the unconscious of the reader and make conscious hitherto unknown and repressed thoughts about gender and sexuality to bring about change in the lives of men and women.* I think what Rowling said she was trying to do with Harry Potter's meeting with Dumbledore at the dream-like King's Cross strongly suggests she is aware of the two approaches and wants readers to discuss them – but that she has made her own choice, however conflicted she may be.* In her 2008 interview with Adeel Amini, Rowling said that her hope for Harry's post-mortem conversation with Dumbledore at King's Cross was to stimulate “a debate” among readers about whether it was a psychological moment, that is, a fantasy in which Harry understands what he's been missing all along, or a spiritual event in which he is actually speaking with the late Headmaster:Enough Potter-plot, I think. Moving on to a slightly more contentious issue, Rowling has categorically said that she does believe in a higher power, a statement reinforced by her childhood church-going (“Till I was 17,” she clarifies). It must be difficult to reconcile her religious beliefs with those that denounce Harry Potter as anti-Christian, I wonder aloud. Rowling's expression does not change a fraction. “There was a Christian commentator who said, which I thought was very interesting, that Harry Potter had been the Christian church's biggest missed opportunity. And I thought, there's someone who actually has their eyes open.“I think he said it before the publication of the seventh book, and with the publication of the seventh book I think that clarified a lot of people's view on where I was standing. But I should emphasise that I am not pushing a specifically Christian agenda, and indeed till the very last moment in book seven, one can interpret what happens to Harry after he presents himself with death as him going into an unconscious state in which his subconscious reveals to him what he already knew.” I hum in faux-comprehension of what she's referring to; luckily my clued-in companion is nodding wildly. Proceed. “Any re-reading of Chapter 35 will show you that there's nothing that the Dumbledore he sees tells him that he couldn't have guessed for himself or already realised, and of course there's a key piece of information that Dumbledore doesn't articulate that Harry has realised. So you can deliberately interpret it that way, or you can say that he did go into a state of limbo beyond which there was another life, and that idea was expressed repeatedly, and most explicitly at the end of book five, Order of the Phoenix, where Harry understands that there is an ‘on', that you do go on. “I wanted there to be a debate there, so of my three main characters - when they come into the room which examines death at the Ministry of Magic - Hermione, the ultimate sceptic and a hyperrational person, hears nothing behind the veil and is scared of it. Ron is just uneasy; Ron is someone who does not grapple with anything deeper than beer, if he can avoid it. Harry's drawn to it, and therein lies Harry's slightly reckless, almost morbid streak, because Harry does have a hint of that dangerous adolescent trait which is the attraction to death.” Heavy. Obviously with this ambiguity, you do get a fair degree of misinterpretation as well; there is a certain section that does dislike Harry Potter intensely. “Oh, vehemently,” says Rowling, before muttering under her breath “…and they send death threats.”* I think that “debate” she's trying to foster is between the psychological, call it ‘Jungian' “just inside your head” subconscious perspective, and the authentically spiritual view of her work (well, of art and human existence, too, of course). And that this debate is one she has had for most of her life. Check out her comments about the “greatest missed opportunity” and explain to me how that doesn't line up with her preferring the spiritual, albeit “not explicitly Christian,” to the psychological and humanist. 7. Jungian Readings of Rowling's Work: (Nick) John, you're familiar with what has been written by Potter Pundits because of your PhD critical literature surveys; what are the better ones about Rowling and Jungian psychology and what do they emphasize? Here are seven off the top of my head (and Thesis ‘Works Cited' drafts):* Grynbaum, G.A. (2000). The Secrets of Harry Potter. The San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal: Reviews From a Jungian Perspective of Books, Films and Culture, [online] 19 (4) pp. 17-48* Patrick, Christopher and Sarah (2007), ‘Exploring the Dark Side: Harry Potter and the Psychology of Evil,' in Mulholland (ed.), The Psychology of Harry Potter, BenBella Books, pp 221-232* Gerhold, C. (2011). The Hero's Journey Through Adolescence: A Jungian Archetypal Analysis of “Harry Potter.” PsyD. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. * Rectenwald, Bob (2019). ‘Carl Jung's Impact on the Work of J. K. Rowling' * Skipper, Alicia and Kate Fulton (2021) ‘Out from the Shadows into the Light: Persona and Shadow in Harry Potter‘ in Anne Mamary (ed.) The Alchemical Harry Potter: Essays on Transfiguration in J. K. Rowling's Novels, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2021, pp 79-96* The Unfolding Journey, Jung's Shadow Self in Harry Potter: Confronting the Darkness Within (YouTube video)* My own Troubled Blood: A Jungian ReadingBob Rectenwald's piece is the best of the six I didn't write but it shares the several faults all the Jungian pieces make:* the first failing of even the best Jungian readers is the assumption that Rowling is a Jungian, which is an open question;* the next is that Jung's ideas (and Joseph Campbell's) are indisputably true; and* the last is, when alchemy is mentioned, the critics do not clarify either the commonalities of or the differences between literary alchemy, psychological alchemy, and Jungian analytic psychology. * Note, though, that Rowling, while aware of such Jungian tropes as the Hero's Journey, tweeks it shamelessly, adding a symbol of Christ and resurrection scene in every Potter story (cf., How Harry Cast His Spell, ‘The Harry's Journey,' pp 21-28).* Read her brief PotterMore piece on alchemy and note that it is written in such a way that it can be read as confirmation of either a psychological or spiritual perspective on alchemy and art:One interpretation of the ‘instructions' left by the alchemists is that they are symbolic of a spiritual journey, leading the alchemist from ignorance (base metal) to enlightenment (gold). There seems to have been a mystical element to the work the alchemist was engaged upon, which set it apart from chemistry (of which it was undoubtedly both an offshoot and forerunner).This “original writing” by Rowling, especially the words “spiritual” and “mystical,” suggests that she is a Perennialist rather than a Jungian, at least with respect to her understanding of alchemy. But the debate is still possible with Jungians who read those words as cyphers for the subsconscious contact they hold we have with archetypes.8. Back to the Alchemy: (John) I think the real question of whether Rowling's literary alchemy is predominantly literary and spiritual or psychological in orientation comes down to the postmodern confusion about the immaterial aspects of the human person, which is to say, the soul (or mind, psyche) and the spirit. Rowling's recent work may seem prosaic or secular to a casual reader who compares it to the relatively otherworldly and “obviously” symbolic Potter books, but she loads each Strike book with Shakespearean romance of soul and spirit, i.e., alchemical dramas, and hermetic tropes. I'm writing a piece now about the lions, dogs, incest, and the red man and white woman in Hallmarked Man, each of which are touchstones of alchemy. I think, though, that your work with Rowling's favorite books and her epigraph sources, Nick, point to a strong spiritual rather than psychological foundation in Rowling's work —* Louisa May Alcott, Little Women* Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle* The Victorian Women Poets in Running Grave* Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh* Robert Browning, The Ring and the Book* The Jungian love of the I Ching, Running Grave's epigraph source9. Jung in Running Grave: (Nick) Rowling's favorite writers, from Shakespeare and Nabokov to C. S. Lewis and Victorian Women poets, all clearly believe in a world-transcending spiritual realm. Given the quantity of the Jungian scholarship in Rowling Studies that Iris referred to and you've mentioned, it's curious -- if Rowling is aware of it and is resistant to it -- that she doesn't push back against it explicitly in her work. Can you think of a character that seems something like Jung in the books, someone as bad as Prudence Dunleavey is good? I can think of three:* United Humanitarian Church's guru Jonathan Wace in Running Grave: his “psychologizing of religion,” the comparative religion avenue to denial of any true faith, the psychological critical analysis of a patient using mythological tropes (”Artemis”), the cult leader, and the abuser of women and children -- he's a ringer for Jung! * Paul Satchwell, one-eyed serpent with a one-track mind, in Leamington Spa, a true Jungian artist working psycho-sexual motifs graphically on canvas:Naked figures twisted and cavorted in scenes from Greek mythology. Persephone struggled in the arms of Hades as he carried her down into the underworld; Andromeda strained against chains binding her to rock as a dragonish creature rose from the waves to devour her; Leda lay supine in bulrushes as Zeus, in the form of a swan, impregnated her.Two lines of Joni Mitchell floated back to Robin as she looked at the paintings: “When I first saw your gallery, I liked the ones of ladies…”Except that Robin wasn't sure she liked the paintings. The female figures were all black-haired, olive-skinned, heavy-breasted and partially or entirely naked. The paintings were accomplished, but Robin found them slightly lascivious. Each of the women wore a similar expression of vacant abandon, and Satchwell seemed to have a definite preference for those myths that featured bondage, rape or abduction. (Troubled Blood, 542)* And then there are the Masons, kind of an old school Jungian cult in Hallmarked Man. Like the UHC and “harmless” fraternal and charitable group with Christian touches but which doesn't change a man or human nature per Hardacre (and which harbors the rich and powerful like Lord Branfoot). * Coupled with Prudence, the Front of Jungian Beliefs, we get the front and back of Jung in Rowling's work, a characteristic touch of Rowling nuance as she did with Islam in Hallmarked Man.10. Conclusion: (John) I'm obviously not a Jung fan and I don't think Rowling is writing Jungian psychomachia in alchemical symbols a la Angela Carter, but I see how people would come to a contrary conclusion; Rowling's ‘spiritual not religious' public statements and political positions with respect to Same Sex Attraction and abortion line up much more easily with New Age and Jungian types than with any kind of orthodox Christianity. The great thing about essays like Isis' at S&E Files is that it brings more people into the conversation of what literary alchemy is and the various approaches to it. You've been reading about literary alchemy for several years now, Nick; what do you think the person whose first encounter with the subject was the S&E Files article do to hone their alchemy detection skills? * “Read your books and online talks, John!”* How Metallurgical Alchemy Worked and How it Became Literary Alchemy (from Deathly Hallows Lectures, Chapter 1):Alchemy, in a nutshell, was the science for the perfection or sanctification of the alchemist's soul. This heroic venture I need to say straight off is all but impossible today because the way we look at reality, at ‘things' per se makes the Great Work itself almost an absurdity. Unlike the medieval alchemists, we moderns and postmoderns see things with a clear subject/object distinction, that is, we believe that you and I and that table are entirely different things and between them is there is no connection or relation. The knowing subject is one thing and the observed object is completely ‘other.'To the alchemist that is not the case. His efforts in changing lead to gold are based on the premise that he as the subject will go through the same types of changes and purifications as the materials he is working with. In sympathy with these metallurgical transitions and resolutions of contraries, his soul will be purified in correspondence as long as he is working in a prayerful state within the Mysteries (sacraments) of his revealed tradition.Now, historically there was an Arabic alchemy, a Chinese alchemy, a Kabbalistic, as well as a Christian alchemy; each differs superficially with respect to their spiritual traditions but in every one, the alchemist was working with a sacred natural science or physics to advance his spiritual purification. This was only possible because he looked at the metal he was working with as something with which he was not ‘other' but with which he was in relationship, artifex and artifact in sacred art imitating and accelerating the work of the Creator creating a bridge, so that, as lead changes to gold or material perfection, his soul was going through similar transformations and purifications.The common ground is the logos in every created thing, to include persons (cf. John 1:9), which are all continuous with the Logos fabric of reality. As much as the alchemist identifies with this metaphysical ground, purifying himself of the ‘old man' or ego-driven individual and identifying himself with the spiritual Heart or light within him, that light will become his dominant quality, hence his “illumination” or “enlightenment”. And lead or solid darkness turning into gold, hard light.How does this edifying magic become the scaffolding for Harry's adventures? Largely through the genius of William Shakespeare. Hermetic wisdom and alchemical efforts were such commonplaces in Elizabethan England that Shakespeare and his contemporaries recognized, I think. that the magic of staged drama is essentially alchemical. If we groundlings are all watching what's going on up on the stage and everything is working the way it's supposed to, the subject-object distinction dissolves inasmuch as we identify with the characters and their agonies through our logos-imaginations. As they go through their changes, like the metals in a crucible, we identify with them and pass through the same cathartic moment.As the great dramatists of that period realized, “if what we're doing is alchemical, why don't we use alchemical imagery and language, too?” And, voila, literary alchemy is born. This stream of English literature in which narrator or characters and the reader or audience in correspondence pass through the stages of the alchemical work, the black the white and the red (basically dissolution, purification, and then perfection) runs through the next five centuries of poetry, stage work, stories and novels. You may not have recognized it, but its a big part of things you have read.* Literary Alchemy: Sacred Science, Sacred Art, and ‘The Alembic of Story':A Perennialist Explanation of J. K. Rowling's Signature Hermetic Symbolism This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to Cheers with Nat – the podcast dedicated to cheering on women in drinks. In today's episode, you'll hear from beer historian, Dr. Christina Wade. We start by discussing how she turned her childhood dream of being a "castle person" into a career as a historian, and how the history of beer – and women in beer more specifically – became her focus. Christina then shares how her award-winning books came to life, the beer history myth she's determined to bust, and what she's working on next. We also learn why she believes it's so important to share her work outside of academia and how she rewired her writing style for a broader audience. Lastly, you'll hear about some of the new hobbies that keep her grounded outside of work, given that her hobby eventually became her work. --- What stuck with me from this conversation: On her childhood dream: "My family saved up lots and lots of money to be able to take me to Ireland after that because I just fell in love with medieval history. And I went to Bunratty Castle and, I think I must have been 10, and I looked at my mother and I said 'I want to be a castle person', you know I want to study this, this is what I want to do. And I want to do it here." On citing sources as a historian: "It was really important to me to make sure that I had sources that other people could read. I'm not just saying this and you can trust me. You shouldn't trust me. You shouldn't trust anybody unless they can provide their sources and you should look at those sources, if you're so inclined." On how her first book came about: "I really want to read this book, so I'm going to write this book, because I want to read it." On writing for different audiences: "You're gatekeeping to some degree. You're choosing what information to include and what not. And your audience is trusting you with that and that's a lot of power. So you want to make sure that you're writing something that's worthy of that, that they can engage with, that's still having the academic rigour that you would write for an academic audience but then in a way that speaks to them. So I write how I speak, so I write like I'm talking to my friends in the pub over a pint. And if I can't say it out loud and have people understand it, then it needs to be re-written." On the importance of listening in her work: "… it's also being able to gauge what your audience wants by not only speaking to your audience, but listening. I think that's a really important part. So it's not only writing the media, its also consuming the media. And listening to people's voices and seeing what are they interested in." Check out the episode to hear how this influenced the focus of The Devil's in the Draught Lines!   Links & things: What we're drinking A nice little write up on both beers from The Beer Nut Collaborator Liam K's website, IrishBeerHistory The brewers, Trouble Brewing Christina's work Braciatrix blog The Devil's in the Draught Lines: 1000 Years of Women in Britain's Beer History (CAMRA, 2024) Winner of The British Guild of Beer Writers Best Book in 2024 Filthy Queens: A History of Beer in Ireland (Nine Bean Rows, 2025) Winner of The British Guild of Beer Writers Best Book in 2025 Shortlisted for The André Simon Award 2025, selected from over 140 submissions Beer Ladies Podcast Ladies Craft Beer Society of Ireland Recognition for Christina's work In addition to the awards for her books, mentioned above, Christina was also named Beer Expert of the Year in the 2025 inaugural Women in Beer Awards People who inspired Christina's future work Teresa McCullah Liz Garibay And the rest of the Beer Culture Center team Christina's book reccs – a shout out to fellow Irish beer writers! The Dublin Pub: A Social and Cultural History by Donal Fallon A Compendium of Irish Pints by Ali Dunworth What she's watching His & Hers Stranger Things   Recording info: January 2026 in Dublin Sorry for some of the background noises, we had the window open in my hotel room

The #MeToo revelations put a twenty-first-century stamp on the age-old story of women's mistreatment in Hollywood. In Women in Hollywood's Dream Factory: Tales of Inequality, Abuse, and Resistance (U Illinois Press, 2026) Karen McNally edits a collection focused on examining and revising film history in the aftermath of the women's stories, past and present, that have come to light.The collection begins with essays on the interplay between reality and imagination in narratives and representations of women's experiences of unequal treatment. In Part 2, contributors discuss how the gendered attitudes of the media's stories enable inequality in Hollywood and look at the forces that arise whenever women resist these media assaults. The next section addresses the structures that built the inequalities and mistreatment while Part 4 revisits established narratives to challenge, renew, and expand upon our understanding of film history through women's stories. Essays in the final section address the combination of inequality and resistance that defines women's experiences in Hollywood. Editor of book: Karen McNally is Professor of American Film, Television and Cultural History at London Metropolitan University. Her research focuses on issues of stardom, gender, race, and American identity as they relate to Hollywood, Amer­ican television, and US history, culture, and politics. She has published widely in volumes and journals including Journal of American Studies and European Journal of American Culture, and she is the author, editor, or co-editor of five books, in­cluding, most recently, The Stardom Film (2020) and American Television during a Television Presidency (2022). Professor McNally was awarded a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship in 2023 for the three-year interdisciplinary research project “Lana Turner, a Historical Biography.” Bio note of host Dr Priyam Sinha is an Alexander Von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Asian and African Studies, Humboldt University in Berlin. Her research interests lie at the intersection of critical media industry studies, disability studies, gender studies, affect studies, production culture studies, and anthropology of the body. So far, her articles have been published in the European Journal of Cultural Studies, Media, Culture and Society; Communication, Culture and Critique; South Asian Diaspora, among others. She is also a regular podcast host at NewBooksNetwork and has been published in public writing forums like the Economic and Political Weekly, FemAsia, Asian Film Archive, among others. More information on her ongoing projects can be found on her website www.priyamsinha.com and you can follow her on X here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The #MeToo revelations put a twenty-first-century stamp on the age-old story of women's mistreatment in Hollywood. In Women in Hollywood's Dream Factory: Tales of Inequality, Abuse, and Resistance (U Illinois Press, 2026) Karen McNally edits a collection focused on examining and revising film history in the aftermath of the women's stories, past and present, that have come to light.The collection begins with essays on the interplay between reality and imagination in narratives and representations of women's experiences of unequal treatment. In Part 2, contributors discuss how the gendered attitudes of the media's stories enable inequality in Hollywood and look at the forces that arise whenever women resist these media assaults. The next section addresses the structures that built the inequalities and mistreatment while Part 4 revisits established narratives to challenge, renew, and expand upon our understanding of film history through women's stories. Essays in the final section address the combination of inequality and resistance that defines women's experiences in Hollywood. Editor of book: Karen McNally is Professor of American Film, Television and Cultural History at London Metropolitan University. Her research focuses on issues of stardom, gender, race, and American identity as they relate to Hollywood, Amer­ican television, and US history, culture, and politics. She has published widely in volumes and journals including Journal of American Studies and European Journal of American Culture, and she is the author, editor, or co-editor of five books, in­cluding, most recently, The Stardom Film (2020) and American Television during a Television Presidency (2022). Professor McNally was awarded a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship in 2023 for the three-year interdisciplinary research project “Lana Turner, a Historical Biography.” Bio note of host Dr Priyam Sinha is an Alexander Von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Asian and African Studies, Humboldt University in Berlin. Her research interests lie at the intersection of critical media industry studies, disability studies, gender studies, affect studies, production culture studies, and anthropology of the body. So far, her articles have been published in the European Journal of Cultural Studies, Media, Culture and Society; Communication, Culture and Critique; South Asian Diaspora, among others. She is also a regular podcast host at NewBooksNetwork and has been published in public writing forums like the Economic and Political Weekly, FemAsia, Asian Film Archive, among others. More information on her ongoing projects can be found on her website www.priyamsinha.com and you can follow her on X 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

The #MeToo revelations put a twenty-first-century stamp on the age-old story of women's mistreatment in Hollywood. In Women in Hollywood's Dream Factory: Tales of Inequality, Abuse, and Resistance (U Illinois Press, 2026) Karen McNally edits a collection focused on examining and revising film history in the aftermath of the women's stories, past and present, that have come to light.The collection begins with essays on the interplay between reality and imagination in narratives and representations of women's experiences of unequal treatment. In Part 2, contributors discuss how the gendered attitudes of the media's stories enable inequality in Hollywood and look at the forces that arise whenever women resist these media assaults. The next section addresses the structures that built the inequalities and mistreatment while Part 4 revisits established narratives to challenge, renew, and expand upon our understanding of film history through women's stories. Essays in the final section address the combination of inequality and resistance that defines women's experiences in Hollywood. Editor of book: Karen McNally is Professor of American Film, Television and Cultural History at London Metropolitan University. Her research focuses on issues of stardom, gender, race, and American identity as they relate to Hollywood, Amer­ican television, and US history, culture, and politics. She has published widely in volumes and journals including Journal of American Studies and European Journal of American Culture, and she is the author, editor, or co-editor of five books, in­cluding, most recently, The Stardom Film (2020) and American Television during a Television Presidency (2022). Professor McNally was awarded a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship in 2023 for the three-year interdisciplinary research project “Lana Turner, a Historical Biography.” Bio note of host Dr Priyam Sinha is an Alexander Von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Asian and African Studies, Humboldt University in Berlin. Her research interests lie at the intersection of critical media industry studies, disability studies, gender studies, affect studies, production culture studies, and anthropology of the body. So far, her articles have been published in the European Journal of Cultural Studies, Media, Culture and Society; Communication, Culture and Critique; South Asian Diaspora, among others. She is also a regular podcast host at NewBooksNetwork and has been published in public writing forums like the Economic and Political Weekly, FemAsia, Asian Film Archive, among others. More information on her ongoing projects can be found on her website www.priyamsinha.com and you can follow her on X here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies

The #MeToo revelations put a twenty-first-century stamp on the age-old story of women's mistreatment in Hollywood. In Women in Hollywood's Dream Factory: Tales of Inequality, Abuse, and Resistance (U Illinois Press, 2026) Karen McNally edits a collection focused on examining and revising film history in the aftermath of the women's stories, past and present, that have come to light.The collection begins with essays on the interplay between reality and imagination in narratives and representations of women's experiences of unequal treatment. In Part 2, contributors discuss how the gendered attitudes of the media's stories enable inequality in Hollywood and look at the forces that arise whenever women resist these media assaults. The next section addresses the structures that built the inequalities and mistreatment while Part 4 revisits established narratives to challenge, renew, and expand upon our understanding of film history through women's stories. Essays in the final section address the combination of inequality and resistance that defines women's experiences in Hollywood. Editor of book: Karen McNally is Professor of American Film, Television and Cultural History at London Metropolitan University. Her research focuses on issues of stardom, gender, race, and American identity as they relate to Hollywood, Amer­ican television, and US history, culture, and politics. She has published widely in volumes and journals including Journal of American Studies and European Journal of American Culture, and she is the author, editor, or co-editor of five books, in­cluding, most recently, The Stardom Film (2020) and American Television during a Television Presidency (2022). Professor McNally was awarded a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship in 2023 for the three-year interdisciplinary research project “Lana Turner, a Historical Biography.” Bio note of host Dr Priyam Sinha is an Alexander Von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Asian and African Studies, Humboldt University in Berlin. Her research interests lie at the intersection of critical media industry studies, disability studies, gender studies, affect studies, production culture studies, and anthropology of the body. So far, her articles have been published in the European Journal of Cultural Studies, Media, Culture and Society; Communication, Culture and Critique; South Asian Diaspora, among others. She is also a regular podcast host at NewBooksNetwork and has been published in public writing forums like the Economic and Political Weekly, FemAsia, Asian Film Archive, among others. More information on her ongoing projects can be found on her website www.priyamsinha.com and you can follow her on X here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/film

The #MeToo revelations put a twenty-first-century stamp on the age-old story of women's mistreatment in Hollywood. In Women in Hollywood's Dream Factory: Tales of Inequality, Abuse, and Resistance (U Illinois Press, 2026) Karen McNally edits a collection focused on examining and revising film history in the aftermath of the women's stories, past and present, that have come to light.The collection begins with essays on the interplay between reality and imagination in narratives and representations of women's experiences of unequal treatment. In Part 2, contributors discuss how the gendered attitudes of the media's stories enable inequality in Hollywood and look at the forces that arise whenever women resist these media assaults. The next section addresses the structures that built the inequalities and mistreatment while Part 4 revisits established narratives to challenge, renew, and expand upon our understanding of film history through women's stories. Essays in the final section address the combination of inequality and resistance that defines women's experiences in Hollywood. Editor of book: Karen McNally is Professor of American Film, Television and Cultural History at London Metropolitan University. Her research focuses on issues of stardom, gender, race, and American identity as they relate to Hollywood, Amer­ican television, and US history, culture, and politics. She has published widely in volumes and journals including Journal of American Studies and European Journal of American Culture, and she is the author, editor, or co-editor of five books, in­cluding, most recently, The Stardom Film (2020) and American Television during a Television Presidency (2022). Professor McNally was awarded a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship in 2023 for the three-year interdisciplinary research project “Lana Turner, a Historical Biography.” Bio note of host Dr Priyam Sinha is an Alexander Von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Asian and African Studies, Humboldt University in Berlin. Her research interests lie at the intersection of critical media industry studies, disability studies, gender studies, affect studies, production culture studies, and anthropology of the body. So far, her articles have been published in the European Journal of Cultural Studies, Media, Culture and Society; Communication, Culture and Critique; South Asian Diaspora, among others. She is also a regular podcast host at NewBooksNetwork and has been published in public writing forums like the Economic and Political Weekly, FemAsia, Asian Film Archive, among others. More information on her ongoing projects can be found on her website www.priyamsinha.com and you can follow her on X here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-west

The Kingdom of Kongo establishes a rare partnership with an up-and-coming European power, Portugal, to the point that the King of Kongo and his family embrace Christianity and take Portuguese royal names. However, this partnership will also be ground zero for one of the greatest atrocities in human history. Sources:Almeida, Marcos Abreu Lelitão de. “Speaking of Slavery: Slaving Strategies and Moral Imaginations in the Lower Congo” (Doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University, September 2020).Bosma, Ulbe. The World of Sugar: How the Sweet Stuff Transformed Our Politics, Health, and Environment over 2,000 Years (Harvard University Press, 2023).Etherington, Norman. “Christian Missions in Africa", The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to African Religions, ed. Elias Kifon Bongba (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012).Garretson, Peter P. "A Note on Relations Between Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Aragon in the Fifteenth Century." Rassegna di studi etiopici 37 (1993): 37-44.Gondola, Ch. Didier. The History of Congo (Greenwood Press, 2002).Hanno. “Gorilla Warfare.” Lapham's Quarterly, Last accessed: 3/12/2026. https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/animals/gorilla-warfare Klein, Herbert S. The Atlantic Slave Trade, 2nd edition (Cambridge University Press, 2012). MacGaffey, Wyatt. “Economic and Social Dimensions of Kongo Slavery (Zaire)", Slavery in Africa: Historical and Anthropological Perspectives, eds. Suzanne Miers and Igor Kopytoff (University of Wisconsin Press, 1977).Russell-Wood, A.R. The Portuguese Empire, 1415-1808: A World on the Move (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998).Thornton, John. A Cultural History of the Atlantic World, 1250-1820 (Cambridge University Press, 2012).___________. Afonso I,  Mvemba a Nzinga, King of Kongo: His Life and Correspondence, trans. Luis Madureira (Hackett Publishing Co., 2023). Support this project: turningmodern.com/contact

The world has a northern bias: our politics, culture, and literature all tend to view the northern viewpoint as the default position, leaving the far southern latitudes (Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and Southern Africa among others), as a faraway land full of strangeness. But what if you live in those lands? How can a strange, faraway place be home? In this episode, Jacke talks to Elleke Boehmer about her book Southern Imagining: A Literary and Cultural History of the Far Southern Hemisphere, which analyzes the impact of the world's northern bias on literature and culture--and offers an alternative perspective to the way we usually look at the world. PLUS John McMurtrie (Literary Journeys: Mapping Fictional Travels Across the World of Literature) stops by to discuss his choice for the last book he will ever read. The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠gabrielruizbernal.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Help support the show at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/literature⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠historyofliterature.com/donate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Save 10% on your next Fleshlight with promo code 10PRIVATE at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fleshlight.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For the 249th episode of Private Parts Unknown, host Courtney Kocak welcomes journalist and author Elyssa Goodman. Elyssa is the author of Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City, a sweeping look at more than 150 years of drag—from 19th-century male impersonators and mafia-run clubs to the rise of RuPaul's Drag Race and today's political backlash. Through rich archival research and interviews with contemporary performers, Elyssa reveals drag as not just spectacle, but survival strategy, community lifeline, and radical art form. In this episode, we talk about the forgotten history of drag kings, how queer communities carved out space under criminalization, the impact of mainstream visibility, and why today's moral panic around drag is part of a cyclical pattern. We also get into what gives Elyssa hope about the future of drag. This episode is a glitter-soaked reminder that gender has always been a performance—and that drag, in its many-splendored forms, has always been here. For more from today's guest, Elyssa Goodman: Buy Elyssa's book Glitter and Concrete Follow Elyssa on Instagram @missmanhattanny Subscribe to Elyssa's Substack, Miss Manhattan www.miss-manhattan.com Get your copy of Girl Gone Wild from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Psst, Courtney has an 0nIyFan$, which is a horny way to support the show: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/cocopeepshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Private Parts Unknown is a proud member of the Pleasure Podcast network. This episode is brought to you by: VB Health offers doctor-formulated sexual health supplements designed to elevate your sex life. Their lineup includes Soaking Wet, a blend of vitamins and probiotics that support vaginal health; Load Boost, which promotes male fertility and enhances semen volume and taste; and Drive Boost, formulated to increase libido and sexual desire for all genders. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vb.health⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and use code PRIVATE for 10% off. Our Sponsor, FLESHLIGHT, can help you reach new heights with your self-pleasure. Fleshlight is the #1 selling male sex toy in the world. Looking for your next pocket pal? Save 10% on your next Fleshlight with Promo Code: PRIVATE10 at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fleshlight.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. STDCheck.com is the leader in reliable and affordable lab-based STD testing. Just go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ppupod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, click STDCheck, and use code Private to get $10 off your next STI test. Explore yourself and say yes to self-pleasure with Lovehoney. Save 15% off your next favorite toy from Lovehoney when you go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lovehoney.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and enter code AFF-PRIVATE at checkout. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/PrivatePartsUnknownAds⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you love this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and sexy review! Psst... sign up for the Private Parts Unknown newsletter for bonus content related to our episodes! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠privatepartsunknown.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Let's be friends on social media! Follow the show on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@privatepartsunknown⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@privatepartsun⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Connect with host Courtney Kocak ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@courtneykocak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram and Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 'A Four-Eyed World: How Glasses Changed the Way We See,' David King Dunaway offers the first cultural history of eyewear, tracing how lenses have shaped science, society, media, and our very notions of sight. Far from a niche topic, this book mixes fascinating historical episodes, cultural analysis, and Dunaway's own reflections on living with and without his glasses, revealing the deep ways eyewear has altered how we see ourselves and each other.

It's easy to roll your eyes at a heritage month.To assume it's corporate. Performative. Political. A logo swap and a themed menu and then back to business as usual.But when you step back and really look at the data — at tourism dollars, small business revenue, museum attendance, school engagement, public programming — you start to see something deeper. Heritage months aren't just symbolic. They move cities. They fund institutions. They spotlight artists, historians, chefs, and community leaders who might otherwise be overlooked.And more importantly? They create space.Space for stories that were erased.Space for traditions that survived anyway.Space for communities to see themselves reflected in the place they call home.In a city like Chicago — layered, immigrant-built, migration-shaped, neighborhood-defined — heritage months are not side notes. They're essential chapters. They help us understand who built what, who cooked what, who organized, who resisted, who preserved.This episode explores why these months matter beyond the headlines. We dig into the numbers. The impact. The intention. And we ask a bigger question: What would it look like if we carried this same energy all year long?Sources:https://www.cps.edu/strategic-initiatives/black-student-success/https://consortium.uchicago.edu/news-item/Chicago-Public-Schools-and-segregation#:~:text=The%20City%20of%20Chicago%20and%20its%20Board,and%20White%20students%20to%20attend%20separate%20schools.https://statisticalatlas.com/place/Illinois/Chicago/Educational-AttainmentSend a textSupport the showAlso, catch Dario on the new season of Netflix's "High On the Hog" here!!If you have anything you'd like us to talk about on the podcast, food or history, please email us at ⁠media@77flavorschi.com⁠ WATCH US ON YOUTUBE ⁠HERE⁠! Visit our website ⁠https://www.77flavorschi.com⁠ Follow us on IG: 77 Flavors of Chicago ⁠@77flavorschi⁠ Dario ⁠dariodurhamphoto Sara @sarafaddah

Last November Nick and John introduced Dimitra Fimi, the magnificent maven of Tolkien Studies and Professor of Fantasy and Children's Literature at the University of Glasgow, to students of J. K. Rowling's work. In that discussion, ‘Reading Rowling as Myth Maker and Myth Re-Writer: A Conversation with Dr Dimitra Fimi,' she shared her thoughts about Rowling's creative use of mythology in Harry Potter but especially in the Cormoran Strike series.The Hogwarts Professor team asked her to join us again because of Rowling's yuletide charm bracelet gift to Strike fandom and the recent announcement of the Strike 9 title, Sleep Tight, Evangeline. Her insights about the Longfellow poem as a possible even likely source of the next book's epigraphs are engaging, but it is her expertise in the arcane area of miniature books as well as mythology and the light each shines on the two items attached to the last link of the charm bracelet that open up exciting possibilities.Her idea is that the Psalter on the ninth link of the charm bracelet may actually be, unlike the other tokens on the bracelet's nine links, an object that will play a part in the story, a miniature book. It turns out that one inch high books were something of an industry as curios in the 19th and early 20th century, a means of demonstrating technological mastery.Dr Fimi discussed several projects she has been a part of in conjunctions with nano-technologists and the librarians at the University of Glasgow's special collections division. The one that has the most obvious link to English literature is the ‘Tiny Alice project,' a contemporary effort to minituarize Lewis Carroll's Alice stories to unfathomable minuteness:The Tiny Alice Project has produced one of the world's smallest books: a tiny reproduction of Lewis Carroll's children's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). All 78 pages and 26,764 words of the story have been transposed on to a tiny silicon chip, with each page just the width of a human hair (60 microns). Each individual letter is just two microns high, and made from pure gold!Click on the icons below to find out more about the project, the technology behind it, and Lewis Carroll and his interest in the minuscule. Via the tabs above you can also discover the long tradition of miniature books, and teaching resources.Clip: Twixter link to tweet aboveYou can read Dr Fimi's write-up of ‘Tiny Alice' and the Miniature Book exhibition she curated at the University of Glasgow to highlight their special collection of these treasures at her 2019 blog post about them. Pictures that include annotated miniature books — copies in which their owners made notes in the miniscule margins of the printed pages — can be seen here.Later this week, Nick will be sharing his thoughts on Robert Browning's The Ring and the Book as the Ironbridge Murder story's template within Hallmarked Man, John, Nick, Sandy Hope, and Ed Shardlow will be parsing the ring within Strike8's Part Seven, and more about Longfellow's Evangeline — stay tuned!The Ten Questions Guiding Today's Conversation with Dr Fimi with the Necessary Links for Fun Follow-Up:(Intro) So everything Serious Strikers are thinking and talking about this month made me think of you, Dimitra, and to write you hat-in-hand with an invitation for your return to HogwartsProfessor to share your perspective, knowledge, and first impressions. Thank you for making time to join us!1. (John) Jumping right in, then, two of the charms on the Strike9 or ‘Evangeline' bracelet are Fimi areas of unique expertise: the Psalter and the Head of Persephone. I had urged readers to read your Miniature Books in Children's Fantasy at A Kind of Elvish Craft: The Dimitra Fimi Substack Site in the links after our conversation here last November but I confess to being surprised still when you asked for the dimensions of the Psalter charm after Nick and I posted our thoughts on the subject. For those who haven't read your ‘Miniature Books' post, please share how one of the world authorities on the writing of J. R. R. Tolkien became interested in the smallest of texts, the ‘Little Books' of 19th century printing.2. (Nick) So you asked for the dimensions of the Psalter, you weren't thinking as we were that the Psalter charms would be a box holding a folded up paper with a psalm, maybe two, inside it. You're thinking it might actually be a complete Coverdale Psalter? Is that possible?3. (John) What Nick and I hope to contribute to the nascent field of Rowling Studies, as you know, is a refocusing of the scholarship and the serious reader attention about her work on to her Lake Springs -- the biographical part of story inspiration -- her Shed Tools or intentional artistry, and the Golden Threads, the plot points and themes that run throughout her work, i.e., to bring Rowling Studies more in line with all literary scholarship about notable authors, living and dead.One of the Golden Threads we talked about in our Kanreki series last summer was the ‘Embedded Text,' the books inside a book topos that is in almost every book Rowling writes (Kanreki Golden Thread posts one and two). Detective fiction is always about an embedded text, the narrative ‘written' by the criminal to prevent the detective from reading the real story of what happened and Rowling-Galbraith often makes this narrative an actual book (Dumbledore Chocolate Frog Card, Tales of Beedle the Bard, Bombyx Mori, Talbot's ‘True Book,' The Predictions of Tycho Dodonus, etc.). How do you think a Psalter miniaturized book would appear in a Strike novel?4. (Nick) Has an author used a miniaturized book before in this way? Were there 19th Century Psalters that people wore as talismans or carried as the original Pocket Books?5. (John) And what about the Head of Persephone charm on that bracelet? It's on the ninth and last link, paired with that Psalter. You shared your first thought about the Persephone charm, a hopeful note, on the comment thread here. As our go-to authority on Greek mythology, I'm dying to know more of your thinking about (a) the specific charm and its relation to the Cupid and Psyche myth-template to the Strike series, (b) its pairing with the Psalter, and (c) its position as the last charm on the bracelet. Do you still think it's a sign that Robin will survive Sleep Tight, Evangeline?6. (Nick) As someone immersed in mythological studies and more than familiar with Rowling's use of myth, do you think the Jungian interpretation of that myth as the ‘actualization of feminine identity' is a better lens through which to read that embedded text or is the Spenserian lens of Eros/Anteros, False Cupid and Cupid more helpful? Or is this not a case of Either/Or but Both/And? Valentines Day Special7. (John) Rowling is a close reader and admirer of J. R. R. Tolkien, though that is more evident in the clear pointers to his work in her own work than from her interviews. How does her use of myth contrast with that of Tolkien and Lewis? (See John's 2008 post about Rowling's debts to Tolkien and the two part podcast with Tolkien scholars and Rowling Readers Dr Amy H Sturgis and Dr Sara Brown here and here for more on that influence.)8. (Nick) In an in-person meeting with UK Serious Strikers last week, Rowling shared with them and later via X with everyone the title of the ninth Strike novel, Sleep Tight, Evangeline. We're pretty sure that title refers to a song by an American Blues group called ‘The Whiskey Shambles' (story of the hunt, why Whiskey Shambles is a good bet). There is a famous poem, though, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called ‘Evangeline,' one perhaps not as famous as ‘Aurora Leigh' or ‘The Ring and the Book,' other texts Rowling may have used as back-drops to her novels, but still another poem very famous in its own time akin to those epics. Is its subject matter as good a match-up with the possible direction of Sleep Tight as the Victorian poetry back-drop is with other Rowling models?9. (John) You're a native Greek speaker; what does ‘Evangeline' mean in Greek? Is it a common name in Greece or is it a ‘Virtue Name' in the Puritan tradition of grace-filled names (cf., Credence Barebone is probably a reference to an Englishman named “Praise-God Barebone, whose son Nicholas may have been given the name If-Jesus-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned[3]“).10. (Nick) Don't leave before trying to tie together the pieces of this conversation! Is there a thread joining the Psalter, the Head of Persephone, miniaturized books, and the title Sleep Tight, Evangeline?Dimitra Fimi is Professor of Fantasy and Children's Literature at the University of Glasgow and Co-Director of the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic. Her Tolkien, Race and Cultural History won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Inklings Studies and she co-edited the critical edition of A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages which won the Tolkien Society Award for Best Book. Her Celtic Myth in Contemporary Children's Fantasy won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies. Other work includes co-editing Sub-creating Arda: World-building in J.R.R. Tolkien's Work, its Precursors and its Legacies and Imagining the Celtic Past in Modern Fantasy. She has contributed articles for the TLS and The Conversation, and has appeared on numerous radio and TV programs.When the rightly famous and beloved ‘The Great Courses' series decided to offer a Lord of the Rings entry for their catalog of the very best in scholarship for adult-learners, they asked Dimitra Fimi to create ‘The World of J. R. R. Tolkien,' one of their most popular courses and one you can enjoy in an Audible edition.Links Promised in Conversation:A Kind of Elvish Craft: The Dimitra Fimi Substack Site* Miniature Books in Children's Fantasy* Parabasis: A Tribute to Dionysis Stavvopoulos* On Tolkien's Letter 131 (4): “Romance” vs. ScienceDimitra Fimi articles at ‘The Conversation'* After 150 years, we still haven't solved the puzzle of Alice in Wonderland (2015) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe

In this enlightening conversation, host Shayla Oulette Stonechild and renowned author Robin Wall Kimmerer explore the profound connections between Indigenous wisdom, language, and the natural world. You Robin shares her journey understanding the strength of the earth through plants and the importance of intergenerational knowledge. They discuss the responsibility we have towards the land, the healing power of nature, and the significance of curiosity in fostering relationships with the environment. The conversation also touches on the challenges of urban living, the importance of rituals for resilience, and the concept of two-eyed seeing, which integrates Indigenous and Western knowledge systems. Robin emphasizes the need for a grassroots movement to support the environment and advocates for the idea of 'land back' as a means of healing and restoration. More About Robin and Her Work: Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of  Bud Finds Her Gift, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, which has earned Kimmerer wide acclaim. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, and her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and numerous scientific journals. In 2022, Braiding Sweetgrass was adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith. This new edition reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth's oldest teachers: the plants around us.  Her website: robinwallkimmerer.com Her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robinwallkimmerer/ Her movement Plant, Baby, Plant: plantbabyplant.com Photo credit: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Chapters: (00:00) Introduction to Indigenous Wisdom and Healing (03:22) The Power of Language and Medicine (05:14) Childhood Connections to Nature (08:01) Responsibility Towards the Land (11:33) Intergenerational Knowledge and Healing (14:24) Embodied Healing Through Nature (17:53) Curiosity and Connection with the Natural World (20:30) Finding Grounding in Urban Spaces (24:42) Rituals for Resilience and Service (27:07) Two-Eyed Seeing and Indigenous Knowledge (29:24) Indigenous Futurism and Land Back Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a message!Let's explore the origins of Japanese mythology, from the creation of the islands to the emergence of the Gods. Music is by Alexander Nakarada.Support the show

Author and historian Chris Adams (Out for Blood: A Cultural History of Carrie the Musical) joins Andrew in the ITBR to dig deep into the strange, bloody, and endlessly fascinating legacy of Carrie. From the moment Chris first encountered Stephen King's novel, his obsession was born—one that would eventually lead him straight to the infamous 1988 Broadway musical.Chris unpacks how Carrie went from a catastrophic flop to a full-blown cult phenomenon, asking the question fans still can't stop debating: if it failed so spectacularly, why are we still talking about it decades later? He also shares behind-the-scenes stories from interviewing cast and creative team members from both the 1988 original and the 2012 revival—many of whom opened up for the very first time about their complicated relationship with the show on the Out for Blood podcast.Together, Chris and Andrew explore why Carrie's twisted fairytale resonates so deeply, especially within the LGBTQ+ community, where its themes of alienation, repression, and explosive self-discovery hit close to home.Get your hands on Chris' book here: ⁠https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/out-for-blood-9781350320536/⁠Follow Chris and Holly's "Out for Blood" podcast on Instagram, ⁠@outforbloodpodcast ⁠Listen to the "Out for Blood" podcast here:⁠ https://broadwaypodcastnetwork.com/podcast/out-for-blood/⁠

A lively and entertaining cultural history of a supremely annoying intellectual vice Intellectuals have long provoked scorn and irritation, even downright aggression. Many learned individuals have cast such hostility as a badge of honor, a sign of envy, or a form of resistance to inconvenient truths. On Pedantry: A Cultural History of the Know-it-All (Princeton University Press, 2025) offers an altogether different perspective, revealing how the excessive use of learning has been a vice in Western culture since the days of Socrates. Taking readers from the academies of ancient Greece to today's culture wars, Arnoud Visser explains why pretentious and punctilious learning has always annoyed us, painting vibrant portraits of some of the most intensely irritating intellectuals ever known, from devious sophists and bossy savantes to hypercritical theologians, dry-as-dust antiquarians, and know-it-all professors. He shows how criticisms of pedantry have typically been more about conduct than ideas, and he demonstrates how pedantry served as a weapon in the perennial struggle over ideas, social status, political authority, and belief. Shifting attention away from the self-proclaimed virtues of the learned to their less-than-flattering vice, Visser makes a bold and provocative contribution to the history of Western thought. Drawing on a wealth of sources ranging from satire and comedy to essays, sermons, and film, On Pedantry sheds critical light on why anti-intellectual views have gained renewed prominence today and serves as essential reading in an age of rising populism across the globe. Arnoud S. Q. Visser is professor of textual culture in the Renaissance at Utrecht University and director of the Huizinga Institute, the Dutch national research school for cultural history. 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

A lively and entertaining cultural history of a supremely annoying intellectual vice Intellectuals have long provoked scorn and irritation, even downright aggression. Many learned individuals have cast such hostility as a badge of honor, a sign of envy, or a form of resistance to inconvenient truths. On Pedantry: A Cultural History of the Know-it-All (Princeton University Press, 2025) offers an altogether different perspective, revealing how the excessive use of learning has been a vice in Western culture since the days of Socrates. Taking readers from the academies of ancient Greece to today's culture wars, Arnoud Visser explains why pretentious and punctilious learning has always annoyed us, painting vibrant portraits of some of the most intensely irritating intellectuals ever known, from devious sophists and bossy savantes to hypercritical theologians, dry-as-dust antiquarians, and know-it-all professors. He shows how criticisms of pedantry have typically been more about conduct than ideas, and he demonstrates how pedantry served as a weapon in the perennial struggle over ideas, social status, political authority, and belief. Shifting attention away from the self-proclaimed virtues of the learned to their less-than-flattering vice, Visser makes a bold and provocative contribution to the history of Western thought. Drawing on a wealth of sources ranging from satire and comedy to essays, sermons, and film, On Pedantry sheds critical light on why anti-intellectual views have gained renewed prominence today and serves as essential reading in an age of rising populism across the globe. Arnoud S. Q. Visser is professor of textual culture in the Renaissance at Utrecht University and director of the Huizinga Institute, the Dutch national research school for cultural history. 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/history

A lively and entertaining cultural history of a supremely annoying intellectual vice Intellectuals have long provoked scorn and irritation, even downright aggression. Many learned individuals have cast such hostility as a badge of honor, a sign of envy, or a form of resistance to inconvenient truths. On Pedantry: A Cultural History of the Know-it-All (Princeton University Press, 2025) offers an altogether different perspective, revealing how the excessive use of learning has been a vice in Western culture since the days of Socrates. Taking readers from the academies of ancient Greece to today's culture wars, Arnoud Visser explains why pretentious and punctilious learning has always annoyed us, painting vibrant portraits of some of the most intensely irritating intellectuals ever known, from devious sophists and bossy savantes to hypercritical theologians, dry-as-dust antiquarians, and know-it-all professors. He shows how criticisms of pedantry have typically been more about conduct than ideas, and he demonstrates how pedantry served as a weapon in the perennial struggle over ideas, social status, political authority, and belief. Shifting attention away from the self-proclaimed virtues of the learned to their less-than-flattering vice, Visser makes a bold and provocative contribution to the history of Western thought. Drawing on a wealth of sources ranging from satire and comedy to essays, sermons, and film, On Pedantry sheds critical light on why anti-intellectual views have gained renewed prominence today and serves as essential reading in an age of rising populism across the globe. Arnoud S. Q. Visser is professor of textual culture in the Renaissance at Utrecht University and director of the Huizinga Institute, the Dutch national research school for cultural history. 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/intellectual-history

A lively and entertaining cultural history of a supremely annoying intellectual vice Intellectuals have long provoked scorn and irritation, even downright aggression. Many learned individuals have cast such hostility as a badge of honor, a sign of envy, or a form of resistance to inconvenient truths. On Pedantry: A Cultural History of the Know-it-All (Princeton University Press, 2025) offers an altogether different perspective, revealing how the excessive use of learning has been a vice in Western culture since the days of Socrates. Taking readers from the academies of ancient Greece to today's culture wars, Arnoud Visser explains why pretentious and punctilious learning has always annoyed us, painting vibrant portraits of some of the most intensely irritating intellectuals ever known, from devious sophists and bossy savantes to hypercritical theologians, dry-as-dust antiquarians, and know-it-all professors. He shows how criticisms of pedantry have typically been more about conduct than ideas, and he demonstrates how pedantry served as a weapon in the perennial struggle over ideas, social status, political authority, and belief. Shifting attention away from the self-proclaimed virtues of the learned to their less-than-flattering vice, Visser makes a bold and provocative contribution to the history of Western thought. Drawing on a wealth of sources ranging from satire and comedy to essays, sermons, and film, On Pedantry sheds critical light on why anti-intellectual views have gained renewed prominence today and serves as essential reading in an age of rising populism across the globe. Arnoud S. Q. Visser is professor of textual culture in the Renaissance at Utrecht University and director of the Huizinga Institute, the Dutch national research school for cultural history. Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A lively and entertaining cultural history of a supremely annoying intellectual vice Intellectuals have long provoked scorn and irritation, even downright aggression. Many learned individuals have cast such hostility as a badge of honor, a sign of envy, or a form of resistance to inconvenient truths. On Pedantry: A Cultural History of the Know-it-All (Princeton University Press, 2025) offers an altogether different perspective, revealing how the excessive use of learning has been a vice in Western culture since the days of Socrates. Taking readers from the academies of ancient Greece to today's culture wars, Arnoud Visser explains why pretentious and punctilious learning has always annoyed us, painting vibrant portraits of some of the most intensely irritating intellectuals ever known, from devious sophists and bossy savantes to hypercritical theologians, dry-as-dust antiquarians, and know-it-all professors. He shows how criticisms of pedantry have typically been more about conduct than ideas, and he demonstrates how pedantry served as a weapon in the perennial struggle over ideas, social status, political authority, and belief. Shifting attention away from the self-proclaimed virtues of the learned to their less-than-flattering vice, Visser makes a bold and provocative contribution to the history of Western thought. Drawing on a wealth of sources ranging from satire and comedy to essays, sermons, and film, On Pedantry sheds critical light on why anti-intellectual views have gained renewed prominence today and serves as essential reading in an age of rising populism across the globe. Arnoud S. Q. Visser is professor of textual culture in the Renaissance at Utrecht University and director of the Huizinga Institute, the Dutch national research school for cultural history. Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A lively and entertaining cultural history of a supremely annoying intellectual vice Intellectuals have long provoked scorn and irritation, even downright aggression. Many learned individuals have cast such hostility as a badge of honor, a sign of envy, or a form of resistance to inconvenient truths. On Pedantry: A Cultural History of the Know-it-All (Princeton University Press, 2025) offers an altogether different perspective, revealing how the excessive use of learning has been a vice in Western culture since the days of Socrates. Taking readers from the academies of ancient Greece to today's culture wars, Arnoud Visser explains why pretentious and punctilious learning has always annoyed us, painting vibrant portraits of some of the most intensely irritating intellectuals ever known, from devious sophists and bossy savantes to hypercritical theologians, dry-as-dust antiquarians, and know-it-all professors. He shows how criticisms of pedantry have typically been more about conduct than ideas, and he demonstrates how pedantry served as a weapon in the perennial struggle over ideas, social status, political authority, and belief. Shifting attention away from the self-proclaimed virtues of the learned to their less-than-flattering vice, Visser makes a bold and provocative contribution to the history of Western thought. Drawing on a wealth of sources ranging from satire and comedy to essays, sermons, and film, On Pedantry sheds critical light on why anti-intellectual views have gained renewed prominence today and serves as essential reading in an age of rising populism across the globe. Arnoud S. Q. Visser is professor of textual culture in the Renaissance at Utrecht University and director of the Huizinga Institute, the Dutch national research school for cultural history. Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of the New Books Network.

A lively and entertaining cultural history of a supremely annoying intellectual vice Intellectuals have long provoked scorn and irritation, even downright aggression. Many learned individuals have cast such hostility as a badge of honor, a sign of envy, or a form of resistance to inconvenient truths. On Pedantry: A Cultural History of the Know-it-All (Princeton University Press, 2025) offers an altogether different perspective, revealing how the excessive use of learning has been a vice in Western culture since the days of Socrates. Taking readers from the academies of ancient Greece to today's culture wars, Arnoud Visser explains why pretentious and punctilious learning has always annoyed us, painting vibrant portraits of some of the most intensely irritating intellectuals ever known, from devious sophists and bossy savantes to hypercritical theologians, dry-as-dust antiquarians, and know-it-all professors. He shows how criticisms of pedantry have typically been more about conduct than ideas, and he demonstrates how pedantry served as a weapon in the perennial struggle over ideas, social status, political authority, and belief. Shifting attention away from the self-proclaimed virtues of the learned to their less-than-flattering vice, Visser makes a bold and provocative contribution to the history of Western thought. Drawing on a wealth of sources ranging from satire and comedy to essays, sermons, and film, On Pedantry sheds critical light on why anti-intellectual views have gained renewed prominence today and serves as essential reading in an age of rising populism across the globe. Arnoud S. Q. Visser is professor of textual culture in the Renaissance at Utrecht University and director of the Huizinga Institute, the Dutch national research school for cultural history. 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/education

A lively and entertaining cultural history of a supremely annoying intellectual vice Intellectuals have long provoked scorn and irritation, even downright aggression. Many learned individuals have cast such hostility as a badge of honor, a sign of envy, or a form of resistance to inconvenient truths. On Pedantry: A Cultural History of the Know-it-All (Princeton University Press, 2025) offers an altogether different perspective, revealing how the excessive use of learning has been a vice in Western culture since the days of Socrates. Taking readers from the academies of ancient Greece to today's culture wars, Arnoud Visser explains why pretentious and punctilious learning has always annoyed us, painting vibrant portraits of some of the most intensely irritating intellectuals ever known, from devious sophists and bossy savantes to hypercritical theologians, dry-as-dust antiquarians, and know-it-all professors. He shows how criticisms of pedantry have typically been more about conduct than ideas, and he demonstrates how pedantry served as a weapon in the perennial struggle over ideas, social status, political authority, and belief. Shifting attention away from the self-proclaimed virtues of the learned to their less-than-flattering vice, Visser makes a bold and provocative contribution to the history of Western thought. Drawing on a wealth of sources ranging from satire and comedy to essays, sermons, and film, On Pedantry sheds critical light on why anti-intellectual views have gained renewed prominence today and serves as essential reading in an age of rising populism across the globe. Arnoud S. Q. Visser is professor of textual culture in the Renaissance at Utrecht University and director of the Huizinga Institute, the Dutch national research school for cultural history. Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the season three premiere of We Disrupt This Broadcast, Jeffrey Jones, Executive Director of The Peabody Awards, leads a live-recorded conversation with this year's Peabody Trailblazer Award winner, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. Thompson is a musician, documentarian, author, podcaster, feature filmmaker, and DJ. As the co-founder and drummer of The Roots, he revolutionized hip-hop by introducing live instrumentation and blending genres, helping shape the Neo-Soul movement. He's also become a cultural curator and historian through his Oscar and Peabody-winning documentary Summer of Soul, as well as Sly Lives!, a documentary on musician Sly Stone. Questlove also produced the documentary on the musical performances of Saturday Night Live. Jones spoke with Questlove about his personal record collection, his documentary work, and his advice for young artists. In this wide-ranging interview, they discuss the pressure and perils of Black genius, the importance of joy during moments of cultural upheaval and struggle, and the metaphysics of the band Earth, Wind, and Fire.

Waarin we vanop een spectaculaire wereldtentoonstelling een laatste keer terugblikken op ons verhaal van de lange negentiende eeuw, Parijs als een stad van extremen leren kennen en een zenuwachtige internationale concurrentiestrijd met argusogen volgen.WIJ ZIJN: Jonas Goossenaerts (inhoud en vertelstem), Filip Vekemans (montage), Benjamin Goyvaerts (inhoud) en Laurent Poschet (inhoud). MET BIJDRAGEN VAN: Laurens Luyten (kroniek, programmaboekje expo, getuigenis expo). WIL JE ONS EEN FOOI GEVEN? Fooienpod - Al schenkt u tien cent of tien euro, het duurt tien seconden met een handige QR-code. WIL JE ADVERTEREN IN DEZE PODCAST? Neem dan contact op met adverteren@dagennacht.nl MEER WETEN? Onze geraadpleegde en geciteerde bronnen:- Boeken:Altena, D. (2003). Vrijheid en rede. Geschiedenis van de westerse samenlevingen (1750-1989). Uitgeverij Verloren. Hilversum.Blom, P. (2008). De duizelingwekkende jaren. Europa 1900-1914. De Bezige Bij. Amsterdam.Evans, R. J. (2016). De eeuw van de macht: Europa 1815–1914. Hollands diep. Amsterdam.Draye, G. (e.a.) (2009). De negentiende eeuw. 1815-1914. Uitgeverij Averbode. Averbode. Ginderachter, Van, M. (2025). Arm Vlaanderen. Honger, ziekte en globalisering in het midden van de 19de eeuw. Horizon. Antwerpen.Kalifa, D. (2021). The Belle Époque: A Cultural History, Paris and Beyond. Columbia University Press. New York, NY. Mabire, J.-C. (2000). L'exposition universelle de 1900. L'harmattan. Parijs.Mandell, R.D. (1967). Paris 1900. The great World's Fair. University of Toronto Press. Toronto.Osterhammel, J. (2022). De metamorfose van de wereld. Een mondiale geschiedenis van de 19de eeuw. Atlas Contact. Amsterdam.Palmer, R. R., Colton, J., & Kramer, L. (2013). A History of Europe in the Modern World. McGraw Hill Higher Education. Columbus, Ohio. - Websites:The Exposition Universelle of 1900. The Eclectic Light Company. https://eclecticlight.co/2020/06/04/finale-the-exposition-universelle-of-1900-1/? (Geraadpleegd op 16/01/2026.)Van fictie naar werkelijkheid. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.nl/geschiedenis-archeologie/a63219344/jules-verne (Geraadpleegd op 16/01/2026.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send us a message!In this first episode, we step into the world of Japanese mythology. From ancient creation stories to modern anime, we explore how Shinto spirits, Buddhist legends, and centuries‑old texts shaped a vibrant, living tradition that still echoes through Japan today. Music is by Alexander Nakarada.Support the show

Waarin we een überburgerlijk dagje in het laatnegentiende-eeuwse Wenen doorbrengen en, tussen een opera en enkele koffietjes door, proberen door te dringen tot het mens- en wereldbeeld van de bourgeoisie.WIJ ZIJN: Jonas Goossenaerts (inhoud en vertelstem), Filip Vekemans (montage), Benjamin Goyvaerts (inhoud) en Laurent Poschet (inhoud). MET BIJDRAGEN VAN: Prof. Kaat Wils (geschiedenis humane en biomedische wetenschappen, onderwijsgeschiedenis, religiegeschiedenis, cultuurgeschiedenis 19de eeuw - KULeuven), Prof. Henk De Smaele (cultuurgeschiedenis 19de eeuw, politieke geschiedenis, geschiedenis van gender en lichamelijkheid - UAntwerpen), Alejandra Theus (etiquetteregels), Robbie Cleiren (documentairestem opera) en Michiel Clerckx (literaire bronfragmenten). WIL JE ONS EEN FOOI GEVEN? Fooienpod - Al schenkt u tien cent of tien euro, het duurt tien seconden met een handige QR-code. WIL JE ADVERTEREN IN DEZE PODCAST? Neem dan contact op met adverteren@dagennacht.nl MEER WETEN? Onze geraadpleegde en geciteerde bronnen:Historische werken en bronnen:Altena, D. (2003). Vrijheid en rede. Geschiedenis van de westerse samenlevingen (1750-1989). Uitgeverij Verloren. Hilversum.Armstrong, G. (red.) (2010). The Pocket Enquire Within. A Guide to the Niceties and Necessities of Victorian Domestic Life. Random House Books. Londen.Evans, R. J. (2016). De eeuw van de macht: Europa 1815–1914. Hollands diep. Amsterdam.Draye, G. (e.a.) (2009). De negentiende eeuw. 1815-1914. Uitgeverij Averbode. Averbode. Kalifa, D. (2021). The Belle Époque: A Cultural History, Paris and Beyond. Columbia University Press. New York, NY. Palmer, R. R., Colton, J., & Kramer, L. (2013). A History of Europe in the Modern World. McGraw Hill Higher Education. Columbus, Ohio. Literaire en filosofische bronnen:Flaubert, G. Editions de la correspondance - 21 augustus 1853 à Louise Collet. Gustave Flaubert Université de Rouen. 21 août 1853 – de Gustave Flaubert à Louise Colet · Centre Gustave Flaubert Schnitzler, A. (1981–2000). Tagebuch 1879–1931. Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. Wenen. Om het standpunt van Herbert Spencer weer te geven, hebben we geparafraseerd uit volgende werken: Spencer, H. (1884). The Man versus the State. Online Library of Liberty. The Man versus the State (1885 ed.) | Online Library of Liberty Spencer, H. (1887). The Principles of Ethics. Online Library of Liberty. The Principles of Ethics, vol. 2 (LF ed.) | Online Library of LibertyZweig, S. (vert. Van Toorn, W.) (2022). De wereld van gisteren. Herinneringen van een Europeaan.(Oorspr. titel: Die Welt von Gestern. Erinnerungen eines Europäers. 1942.) De Arbeiderspers. Amsterdam.Aanvulling. Het verschil tussen agnosticisme en atheïsme is in onze bespreking niet duidelijk uitgewerkt. Een agnost meent dat het niet met zekerheid te weten is of God al dan niet bestaat. De realiteit geeft alleszins geen aanleiding om het bestaan van God aan te nemen. Misschien bestaat God, maar z'n bestaan kan je uit feitelijkheden niet afleiden. Een atheïst ontkent resoluut het bestaan van God. Kort samengevat: Het agnosticisme gaat over de onzekerheid van kennis over God, en het atheïsme over ongeloof in het bestaan van God.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the festive season approaching in parts of the world, Ruth Alexander explores what's actually happening in the body during a hangover, why some people suffer more than others, and whether common remedies make any real difference. How the body processes alcohol and why that can make you feel so bad is explained by Andrew Scholey, Professor of Human Psychopharmacology at Northumbria University in the UK and member of the Alcohol Hangover Research Group. Marisa Moll, a registered nutritionist from Paraguay, shares her recommendations on what to consume before you drink alcohol to try to reduce the risk of a hangover. And Jonathon Shears, Professor of English Literature at Keele University in the UK and author of The Hangover, a Literary and Cultural History, reflects on the cultural history of the hangover. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk. Producer: Izzy Greenfield Sound engineer: Andrew Mills Image: A woman looks at empty bottles of alcohol (credit: Getty)

How has central London changed in the last 100 years? In Songs of Seven Dials An Intimate History of 1920s and 1930s London (Manchester UP, 2025), Matt Houlbrook, a Professor of Cultural History at the University of Birmingham, tells the story of a part of London that was the site for major contests over urban development, race, and the future of the city. Centred around a libel trial brought by a local café owner resisting the press' lies about the area. From this, the book explores the wider context of property investment, the circulation of capital, the impact of Empire, and the changing meaning of what is now one of London's most visited and most fashionable areas. The book will appeal to academic and general audiences, showing how the story of Seven Dials is still important to contemporary life. 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

How has central London changed in the last 100 years? In Songs of Seven Dials An Intimate History of 1920s and 1930s London (Manchester UP, 2025), Matt Houlbrook, a Professor of Cultural History at the University of Birmingham, tells the story of a part of London that was the site for major contests over urban development, race, and the future of the city. Centred around a libel trial brought by a local café owner resisting the press' lies about the area. From this, the book explores the wider context of property investment, the circulation of capital, the impact of Empire, and the changing meaning of what is now one of London's most visited and most fashionable areas. The book will appeal to academic and general audiences, showing how the story of Seven Dials is still important to contemporary life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

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The humble goat has played a surprising and important role throughout the history of the United States. Despite this, goats are often overlooked by many Americans, even if they have strong opinions about these complex creatures. In Goats in America: A Cultural History (Oregon State UP, 2025) Dr. Tami Parr calls attention to these disregarded animals, uncovering the remarkable stories behind everything from goat meat and milk to goat yoga and more. Since arriving in North America with cattle and other domesticated livestock in the sixteenth century, goats have provided people sustenance and valuable products, including milk, meat, and mohair. But humans did not appreciate the animals, and as a result, throughout much of American history goats were persecuted as public nuisances and symbols of degenerate behavior. Nevertheless, over the centuries the tenacious goat has overcome many of these stereotypes and secured a spot in the hearts and minds of modern Americans, who love goat cheese and embrace goats as social media stars. Examining key moments and notable developments in goat history and culture, Goats in America outlines the history and evolving role of goats in communities across the country, from San Francisco and New York City to rural Wisconsin and the Navajo Nation. Parr shows that the evolving reputation of goats in American society ultimately reveals more about humans than it does about goats themselves. So, the next time you are enjoying your favorite goat cheese, take a moment to consider the history and role of goats within American culture. 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

With rugby league's Ashes series imminent, part two of Rugby Reloaded's look at the cultural history of Anglo-Australian rugby league moves onto the post-World War 2 period. It was an era when the balance of power moved down under, with British players moving to Aussie clubs in the 1960s and 1970s, and the decline of Britain's ability to consistently compete with Australia in test matches. After 1970, the Lions never won a test series and British efforts to compete were hampered by changes in the British sports economy and poor leadership. But as we look toward the upcoming Ashes series, is there a way forward?

Nearly 30 years ago, Newport resident Kent Gibson headed out with his dog to the beach one day to look for agate and jasper, types of gemstones he collected as a hobby at the time. He picked up what looked like a baseball-sized rock, threw it for his dog to fetch and then took it home for his dog to play with. But it turns out it wasn’t a rock. It was a fossil of a skull from a porpoise that lived 20 million years ago.    That discovery sparked a new calling for Gibson as an amateur fossil collector. The Salem Statesman Journal shared that story and more in its recent profile of the retired Newport harbormaster and his amazing skill at finding fossils, mostly of prehistoric marine mammals and fish. Gibson estimates his collection now numbers between 5 and 6,000 fossils, some of which he can spend 100 hours or more painstakingly cleaning to reveal skulls, vertebrae, ribs or other prehistoric bones encased in sediment and rock.  Gibson hopes to donate his collection some day to the Condon Fossil Collection at the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History, but the facility doesn’t currently have the space to house it. Gibson joins us to talk about his amazing paleontological finds and tips for fellow fossil hunters.

In At the Vanguard of Vinyl, Darren Mueller examines how the advent of the long-playing record (LP) in 1948 revolutionized the recording and production of jazz in the 1950s. The LP's increased fidelity and playback capacity allowed lengthy compositions and extended improvisations to fit onto a single record, ushering in a period of artistic exploration. Despite these innovations, LP production became another site of negotiating the uneven power relations of a heavily segregated music industry. Exploring how musicians, producers, and other industry professionals navigated these dynamics, Mueller contends that the practice of making LPs significantly changed how jazz was created, heard, and understood in the 1950s and beyond. By attending to the details of audio production, he reveals how Black musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, and Charles Mingus worked to redefine prevailing notions of race and cultural difference within the United States. Mueller demonstrates that the LP emerges as a medium of sound and culture that maps onto the more expansive sonic terrain of Black modernity in the 1950s. Nathan Smith is a PhD candidate in Music Theory at Yale University nathan.smith@yale.edu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

In At the Vanguard of Vinyl, Darren Mueller examines how the advent of the long-playing record (LP) in 1948 revolutionized the recording and production of jazz in the 1950s. The LP's increased fidelity and playback capacity allowed lengthy compositions and extended improvisations to fit onto a single record, ushering in a period of artistic exploration. Despite these innovations, LP production became another site of negotiating the uneven power relations of a heavily segregated music industry. Exploring how musicians, producers, and other industry professionals navigated these dynamics, Mueller contends that the practice of making LPs significantly changed how jazz was created, heard, and understood in the 1950s and beyond. By attending to the details of audio production, he reveals how Black musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, and Charles Mingus worked to redefine prevailing notions of race and cultural difference within the United States. Mueller demonstrates that the LP emerges as a medium of sound and culture that maps onto the more expansive sonic terrain of Black modernity in the 1950s. Nathan Smith is a PhD candidate in Music Theory at Yale University nathan.smith@yale.edu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

In At the Vanguard of Vinyl, Darren Mueller examines how the advent of the long-playing record (LP) in 1948 revolutionized the recording and production of jazz in the 1950s. The LP's increased fidelity and playback capacity allowed lengthy compositions and extended improvisations to fit onto a single record, ushering in a period of artistic exploration. Despite these innovations, LP production became another site of negotiating the uneven power relations of a heavily segregated music industry. Exploring how musicians, producers, and other industry professionals navigated these dynamics, Mueller contends that the practice of making LPs significantly changed how jazz was created, heard, and understood in the 1950s and beyond. By attending to the details of audio production, he reveals how Black musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, and Charles Mingus worked to redefine prevailing notions of race and cultural difference within the United States. Mueller demonstrates that the LP emerges as a medium of sound and culture that maps onto the more expansive sonic terrain of Black modernity in the 1950s. Nathan Smith is a PhD candidate in Music Theory at Yale University nathan.smith@yale.edu 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

This week, we investigate the historical fashion trends written about in an 1884 Harper's Bazar article entitled “The Follies of Fashion.” Covering everything from Ancient Roman curling irons to Cleopatra's donkey milk baths to “barbarous” steel corsets, we decipher fashion fact from fashion fiction. Primary Sources Box for rouge and patches, 1750-55 Jean de la Bruyère's translation of The Characters of Theophrastus  Memoirs of Madame de la Tour de Pin Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia Secondary Sources: Sarah Bendall's Shaping Femininity: Foundation Garments, the Body and Women in Early Modern England Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell's Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette Donkey Milk article in Beverages  Micaela Higgs's “The Entirely False History of Tricking Men with Makeup” Kelly Olson's “Fashion and Adornment,” in A Cultural History of Hair in Antiquity Valerie Steele's The Corset: A Cultural History Caroline Weber's Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our ⁠website⁠ and ⁠classes⁠ Our ⁠Instagram⁠ Our ⁠bookshelf⁠ with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us as we discuss Puerto Rico's sovereignty with author, writer, linguist, polyglot, artist, and entrepreneur Javier A. Hernandez. Born in Rio Piedras, Javier is a pro-sovereignty advocate for Puerto Rico who wrote PREXIT: Forging Puerto Rico's Path to Sovereignty and Puerto Rico: The Economic Case for Sovereignty. He is also a former Diplomatic Security Special Agent with the U.S. Department of State (2009–2017) and an experienced international security professional specializing in counterterrorism, diplomatic protection, crisis management, foreign security training, and global embassy security. Javier's education includes a B.A. in Political Science & International Relations, an M.A. in International Communications, and an M.S. in Education. He brings extensive experience in geopolitics, strategic communications, education, and nation-state development – oh, and he's fluent in or conversant with 10 languages… This episode explores: Why Javier believes that Puerto Rico deserves to be its own country. The complicated and harsh history of Puerto Rico. The curriculum that Puerto Rican students learn from the Department of Education. How U.S. tax breaks in Puerto Rico impact the local economy. Want to find out why Javier is so passionate about Puerto Rican sovereignty, independence, national security, agriculture, maritime policy, and economic development? Click play now! You can follow along with Javier on X @PRexitBook! Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/30PvU9

Why modern communication still relies on ancient words and narratives.All communication and connection depend on one thing: language. That's why Laura Spinney says understanding language — where it comes from and how it evolves over time — can help us use it more effectively.“Language is incredibly powerful,” says Spinney, an author and journalist published in the Atlantic, National Geographic, Nature, and New Scientist. As “humanity's oldest tool,” language has evolved as we have, which Spinney explores in her latest book, Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global. In addition to the words themselves, there are also the stories that humans have carried with them for millennia. “Some stories that we still tell today,” Spinney notes, have remained stable for tens of thousands of years — providing more than just entertainment — shaping how we understand the world, share knowledge, and build community.In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Spinney and host Matt Abrahams discuss why language and storytelling are fundamental to being human, what makes a story compelling, and how our ever-evolving language continues to be our best tool for communication and connection.To listen to the extended Deep Thinks version of this episode, please visit FasterSmarter.io/premium.Episode Reference Links:Laura Spinney Laura's Books: Proto / Pale RiderEp.168 How Story Can Change Everything in Your CareerEp.91 Um, Like, So: How Filler Words Can Create More Connected, Effective Communication Connect:Premium Signup >>>> Think Fast Talk Smart PremiumEmail Questions & Feedback >>> hello@fastersmarter.ioEpisode Transcripts >>> Think Fast Talk Smart WebsiteNewsletter Signup + English Language Learning >>> FasterSmarter.ioThink Fast Talk Smart >>> LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTubeMatt Abrahams >>> LinkedInChapters:(00:00) - Introduction (02:24) - Power & Limits of Language (02:55) - Detecting Lies (04:46) - Origins of Storytelling (07:42) - What Makes a Great Story (10:31) - Proto-Indo-European Language (12:52) - Language Families & Connections (15:06) - Language Clues in History (17:17) - The Final Three Questions (21:56) - Conclusion  *****Thank you to our sponsors: Stanford Continuing Studies. Enroll today for my course starting September 30thStrawberry.me. Get $50 off coaching today at Strawberry.me/smartSupport Think Fast Talk Smart by joining TFTS Premium.