Podcasts about Popular culture

Political Scientists Christopher Federico, Stanley Feldman, and Christopher Weber have an important and fascinating new book from Oxford University Press focusing on understanding authoritarianism, especially in the American context. As experts in political psychology, the authors are keen to consider authoritarianism as a psychological concept, which is more about submitting to authority, as a kind of conformity, and less about a particular political regime structure. The Authoritarian Divide: Partisan Identity, Voting, and the Transformation of the American Electorate (Oxford UP, 2026) is about trying to understand voters and how some of them are attracted to this idea or concept, and how this attraction then works itself out within the electorate and within our contemporary political moment. In order to understand this theory of psychological authoritarianism, the authors trace the idea from origins in critical theory and pre-World War I European thinkers (Freud, Benjamin, etc.) who were examining the concepts of conformity vs. autonomy, and how these ideas functioned in political life. The authors also examined differing approaches to child-rearing, since this also reflects these same concepts of conformity and autonomy, but in how they are put into practice in bringing up children, either with more freedom or in a more rules bound approach. In using these measures, Federico, Feldman, and Weber also pulled together data from election surveys starting in the 1990s and moving forward that include questions that get at some of the same ideas. The authors also used experiments to test individual inclinations towards autonomy or uniformity. The thrust of voter's choices was not about economics or specific public policy in these analyses, but around social issue differentiation and social context. The research for The Authoritarian Divide is complex and brings together a variety of different methodological approaches in order to examine this political divide, and to tease out the impact of psychological authoritarianism in American politics. The Authoritarian Divide: Partisan Identity, Voting, and the Transformation of the American Electorate reveals that this inclination towards psychological authoritarianism is much more prevalent among white conservative voters than among other voting blocs in the United States. This has also led voters to sort themselves within the two parties accordingly, with far more of those who are inclined towards psychological authoritarianism moving into the Republican Party, and fewer moving into the Democratic Party. The result of this sorting has contributed to the rise in polarization within American politics over the past thirty years. The Authoritarian Divide explains a lot about voter thinking and approaches to American politics over the past three decades. It helps to decipher the entrenched polarization because the examination is not about policy distinctions or issues, it is about how individual voters think and why they are inclined to think in particular ways about politics. The authors clearly assess the distinctions within the voting populace of the United States, and, in so doing, unpack different approaches to voting and vote choices in different sectors of the electorate. The Authoritarian Divide really helps us to understand our current political climate and to see how the rise of Donald Trump fits into a temporally longer era of American politics, partisan politics, racial politics, and the tensions between democracy and authoritarianism. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social 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

Political Scientists Christopher Federico, Stanley Feldman, and Christopher Weber have an important and fascinating new book from Oxford University Press focusing on understanding authoritarianism, especially in the American context. As experts in political psychology, the authors are keen to consider authoritarianism as a psychological concept, which is more about submitting to authority, as a kind of conformity, and less about a particular political regime structure. The Authoritarian Divide: Partisan Identity, Voting, and the Transformation of the American Electorate (Oxford UP, 2026) is about trying to understand voters and how some of them are attracted to this idea or concept, and how this attraction then works itself out within the electorate and within our contemporary political moment. In order to understand this theory of psychological authoritarianism, the authors trace the idea from origins in critical theory and pre-World War I European thinkers (Freud, Benjamin, etc.) who were examining the concepts of conformity vs. autonomy, and how these ideas functioned in political life. The authors also examined differing approaches to child-rearing, since this also reflects these same concepts of conformity and autonomy, but in how they are put into practice in bringing up children, either with more freedom or in a more rules bound approach. In using these measures, Federico, Feldman, and Weber also pulled together data from election surveys starting in the 1990s and moving forward that include questions that get at some of the same ideas. The authors also used experiments to test individual inclinations towards autonomy or uniformity. The thrust of voter's choices was not about economics or specific public policy in these analyses, but around social issue differentiation and social context. The research for The Authoritarian Divide is complex and brings together a variety of different methodological approaches in order to examine this political divide, and to tease out the impact of psychological authoritarianism in American politics. The Authoritarian Divide: Partisan Identity, Voting, and the Transformation of the American Electorate reveals that this inclination towards psychological authoritarianism is much more prevalent among white conservative voters than among other voting blocs in the United States. This has also led voters to sort themselves within the two parties accordingly, with far more of those who are inclined towards psychological authoritarianism moving into the Republican Party, and fewer moving into the Democratic Party. The result of this sorting has contributed to the rise in polarization within American politics over the past thirty years. The Authoritarian Divide explains a lot about voter thinking and approaches to American politics over the past three decades. It helps to decipher the entrenched polarization because the examination is not about policy distinctions or issues, it is about how individual voters think and why they are inclined to think in particular ways about politics. The authors clearly assess the distinctions within the voting populace of the United States, and, in so doing, unpack different approaches to voting and vote choices in different sectors of the electorate. The Authoritarian Divide really helps us to understand our current political climate and to see how the rise of Donald Trump fits into a temporally longer era of American politics, partisan politics, racial politics, and the tensions between democracy and authoritarianism. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Political Scientists Christopher Federico, Stanley Feldman, and Christopher Weber have an important and fascinating new book from Oxford University Press focusing on understanding authoritarianism, especially in the American context. As experts in political psychology, the authors are keen to consider authoritarianism as a psychological concept, which is more about submitting to authority, as a kind of conformity, and less about a particular political regime structure. The Authoritarian Divide: Partisan Identity, Voting, and the Transformation of the American Electorate (Oxford UP, 2026) is about trying to understand voters and how some of them are attracted to this idea or concept, and how this attraction then works itself out within the electorate and within our contemporary political moment. In order to understand this theory of psychological authoritarianism, the authors trace the idea from origins in critical theory and pre-World War I European thinkers (Freud, Benjamin, etc.) who were examining the concepts of conformity vs. autonomy, and how these ideas functioned in political life. The authors also examined differing approaches to child-rearing, since this also reflects these same concepts of conformity and autonomy, but in how they are put into practice in bringing up children, either with more freedom or in a more rules bound approach. In using these measures, Federico, Feldman, and Weber also pulled together data from election surveys starting in the 1990s and moving forward that include questions that get at some of the same ideas. The authors also used experiments to test individual inclinations towards autonomy or uniformity. The thrust of voter's choices was not about economics or specific public policy in these analyses, but around social issue differentiation and social context. The research for The Authoritarian Divide is complex and brings together a variety of different methodological approaches in order to examine this political divide, and to tease out the impact of psychological authoritarianism in American politics. The Authoritarian Divide: Partisan Identity, Voting, and the Transformation of the American Electorate reveals that this inclination towards psychological authoritarianism is much more prevalent among white conservative voters than among other voting blocs in the United States. This has also led voters to sort themselves within the two parties accordingly, with far more of those who are inclined towards psychological authoritarianism moving into the Republican Party, and fewer moving into the Democratic Party. The result of this sorting has contributed to the rise in polarization within American politics over the past thirty years. The Authoritarian Divide explains a lot about voter thinking and approaches to American politics over the past three decades. It helps to decipher the entrenched polarization because the examination is not about policy distinctions or issues, it is about how individual voters think and why they are inclined to think in particular ways about politics. The authors clearly assess the distinctions within the voting populace of the United States, and, in so doing, unpack different approaches to voting and vote choices in different sectors of the electorate. The Authoritarian Divide really helps us to understand our current political climate and to see how the rise of Donald Trump fits into a temporally longer era of American politics, partisan politics, racial politics, and the tensions between democracy and authoritarianism. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics

Political Scientists Christopher Federico, Stanley Feldman, and Christopher Weber have an important and fascinating new book from Oxford University Press focusing on understanding authoritarianism, especially in the American context. As experts in political psychology, the authors are keen to consider authoritarianism as a psychological concept, which is more about submitting to authority, as a kind of conformity, and less about a particular political regime structure. The Authoritarian Divide: Partisan Identity, Voting, and the Transformation of the American Electorate (Oxford UP, 2026) is about trying to understand voters and how some of them are attracted to this idea or concept, and how this attraction then works itself out within the electorate and within our contemporary political moment. In order to understand this theory of psychological authoritarianism, the authors trace the idea from origins in critical theory and pre-World War I European thinkers (Freud, Benjamin, etc.) who were examining the concepts of conformity vs. autonomy, and how these ideas functioned in political life. The authors also examined differing approaches to child-rearing, since this also reflects these same concepts of conformity and autonomy, but in how they are put into practice in bringing up children, either with more freedom or in a more rules bound approach. In using these measures, Federico, Feldman, and Weber also pulled together data from election surveys starting in the 1990s and moving forward that include questions that get at some of the same ideas. The authors also used experiments to test individual inclinations towards autonomy or uniformity. The thrust of voter's choices was not about economics or specific public policy in these analyses, but around social issue differentiation and social context. The research for The Authoritarian Divide is complex and brings together a variety of different methodological approaches in order to examine this political divide, and to tease out the impact of psychological authoritarianism in American politics. The Authoritarian Divide: Partisan Identity, Voting, and the Transformation of the American Electorate reveals that this inclination towards psychological authoritarianism is much more prevalent among white conservative voters than among other voting blocs in the United States. This has also led voters to sort themselves within the two parties accordingly, with far more of those who are inclined towards psychological authoritarianism moving into the Republican Party, and fewer moving into the Democratic Party. The result of this sorting has contributed to the rise in polarization within American politics over the past thirty years. The Authoritarian Divide explains a lot about voter thinking and approaches to American politics over the past three decades. It helps to decipher the entrenched polarization because the examination is not about policy distinctions or issues, it is about how individual voters think and why they are inclined to think in particular ways about politics. The authors clearly assess the distinctions within the voting populace of the United States, and, in so doing, unpack different approaches to voting and vote choices in different sectors of the electorate. The Authoritarian Divide really helps us to understand our current political climate and to see how the rise of Donald Trump fits into a temporally longer era of American politics, partisan politics, racial politics, and the tensions between democracy and authoritarianism. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Political Scientists Christopher Federico, Stanley Feldman, and Christopher Weber have an important and fascinating new book from Oxford University Press focusing on understanding authoritarianism, especially in the American context. As experts in political psychology, the authors are keen to consider authoritarianism as a psychological concept, which is more about submitting to authority, as a kind of conformity, and less about a particular political regime structure. The Authoritarian Divide: Partisan Identity, Voting, and the Transformation of the American Electorate (Oxford UP, 2026) is about trying to understand voters and how some of them are attracted to this idea or concept, and how this attraction then works itself out within the electorate and within our contemporary political moment. In order to understand this theory of psychological authoritarianism, the authors trace the idea from origins in critical theory and pre-World War I European thinkers (Freud, Benjamin, etc.) who were examining the concepts of conformity vs. autonomy, and how these ideas functioned in political life. The authors also examined differing approaches to child-rearing, since this also reflects these same concepts of conformity and autonomy, but in how they are put into practice in bringing up children, either with more freedom or in a more rules bound approach. In using these measures, Federico, Feldman, and Weber also pulled together data from election surveys starting in the 1990s and moving forward that include questions that get at some of the same ideas. The authors also used experiments to test individual inclinations towards autonomy or uniformity. The thrust of voter's choices was not about economics or specific public policy in these analyses, but around social issue differentiation and social context. The research for The Authoritarian Divide is complex and brings together a variety of different methodological approaches in order to examine this political divide, and to tease out the impact of psychological authoritarianism in American politics. The Authoritarian Divide: Partisan Identity, Voting, and the Transformation of the American Electorate reveals that this inclination towards psychological authoritarianism is much more prevalent among white conservative voters than among other voting blocs in the United States. This has also led voters to sort themselves within the two parties accordingly, with far more of those who are inclined towards psychological authoritarianism moving into the Republican Party, and fewer moving into the Democratic Party. The result of this sorting has contributed to the rise in polarization within American politics over the past thirty years. The Authoritarian Divide explains a lot about voter thinking and approaches to American politics over the past three decades. It helps to decipher the entrenched polarization because the examination is not about policy distinctions or issues, it is about how individual voters think and why they are inclined to think in particular ways about politics. The authors clearly assess the distinctions within the voting populace of the United States, and, in so doing, unpack different approaches to voting and vote choices in different sectors of the electorate. The Authoritarian Divide really helps us to understand our current political climate and to see how the rise of Donald Trump fits into a temporally longer era of American politics, partisan politics, racial politics, and the tensions between democracy and authoritarianism. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day

Political Scientists Christopher Federico, Stanley Feldman, and Christopher Weber have an important and fascinating new book from Oxford University Press focusing on understanding authoritarianism, especially in the American context. As experts in political psychology, the authors are keen to consider authoritarianism as a psychological concept, which is more about submitting to authority, as a kind of conformity, and less about a particular political regime structure. The Authoritarian Divide: Partisan Identity, Voting, and the Transformation of the American Electorate (Oxford UP, 2026) is about trying to understand voters and how some of them are attracted to this idea or concept, and how this attraction then works itself out within the electorate and within our contemporary political moment. In order to understand this theory of psychological authoritarianism, the authors trace the idea from origins in critical theory and pre-World War I European thinkers (Freud, Benjamin, etc.) who were examining the concepts of conformity vs. autonomy, and how these ideas functioned in political life. The authors also examined differing approaches to child-rearing, since this also reflects these same concepts of conformity and autonomy, but in how they are put into practice in bringing up children, either with more freedom or in a more rules bound approach. In using these measures, Federico, Feldman, and Weber also pulled together data from election surveys starting in the 1990s and moving forward that include questions that get at some of the same ideas. The authors also used experiments to test individual inclinations towards autonomy or uniformity. The thrust of voter's choices was not about economics or specific public policy in these analyses, but around social issue differentiation and social context. The research for The Authoritarian Divide is complex and brings together a variety of different methodological approaches in order to examine this political divide, and to tease out the impact of psychological authoritarianism in American politics. The Authoritarian Divide: Partisan Identity, Voting, and the Transformation of the American Electorate reveals that this inclination towards psychological authoritarianism is much more prevalent among white conservative voters than among other voting blocs in the United States. This has also led voters to sort themselves within the two parties accordingly, with far more of those who are inclined towards psychological authoritarianism moving into the Republican Party, and fewer moving into the Democratic Party. The result of this sorting has contributed to the rise in polarization within American politics over the past thirty years. The Authoritarian Divide explains a lot about voter thinking and approaches to American politics over the past three decades. It helps to decipher the entrenched polarization because the examination is not about policy distinctions or issues, it is about how individual voters think and why they are inclined to think in particular ways about politics. The authors clearly assess the distinctions within the voting populace of the United States, and, in so doing, unpack different approaches to voting and vote choices in different sectors of the electorate. The Authoritarian Divide really helps us to understand our current political climate and to see how the rise of Donald Trump fits into a temporally longer era of American politics, partisan politics, racial politics, and the tensions between democracy and authoritarianism. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social

Jace welcomes writer Ben H. Winters and Oni Press President and Publisher Hunter Gorinson for an in-depth conversation about the new Archie #1 and the beginning of Oni Press' ambitious Archie publishing program. Hunter explains how the partnership with Archie Comics developed, why Oni is launching the line carefully with Archie, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Archie in Hell, and how the publisher plans to preserve the characters' history while giving every book a distinct modern identity. Ben discusses writing Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and the Riverdale cast, drawing inspiration from raising three teenagers, balancing humor with authentic adolescent anxiety and finding the humanity beneath the characters' familiar relationships. They also explore Archie's enormous influence on popular culture, the importance of joyful comics, Fábio Moon's interpretation of Riverdale and what Oni has planned for San Diego Comic-Con. Archie #1 is scheduled for release September 2, 2026.   Chapters 00:00 Introducing Oni Press' New Archie Era 00:32 How the Oni and Archie Partnership Happened 03:12 Why Ben H. Winters Said Yes to Archie 05:20 Modernizing Archie for Every Generation 07:34 Choosing Fábio Moon and Kano 11:38 Betty or Veronica? 13:45 Building a Sustainable Archie Publishing Line 16:28 Balancing Teenage Drama, Humor and Optimism 18:50 Jughead's Journal 20:15 Why Archie Comics Are So Hard to Write 23:55 Making Comics Fun Again 27:19 The Fizz of Teenage Potential 29:38 Finding Archie Andrews' Voice 31:31 Archie's Influence on Popular Culture 33:00 The Responsibility of Publishing an Icon 35:16 What Makes Oni's Archie #1 Different 37:40 San Diego Comic-Con Plans 39:35 Why Comic Conventions Matter 42:46 Final Thoughts and Preordering Archie #1   Find more interviews, reviews and comic news from The Comic Source: https://linktr.ee/thecomicsource

Put on your blindfolds, fill a wine glass to the brim and get ready to listen to the blather of a 35,000-year-old Lemurian god/warrior named Ramtha. It is only possible through the body of JZ Knight, a former cable television saleswoman who channeled that old dude after placing a paper pyramid on her head in 1977. And she has made millions off of it. Strange Country cohosts Beth and Kelly discuss the supposed enlightenment JZ shills as Ramtha's mouthpiece and whether channeling Ramtha might be the cure for Kelly's perimenopausal symptoms. Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands. Cite your sources: Aldred, Lisa. ""Money is just Spiritual Energy": Incorporating the New Age." Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 35, no. 4, 2002, pp. 61-74. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/money-is-just-spiritual-energy-incorporating-new/docview/195365462/se-2.  Braga, Michael. "FDA crackdown on alternative health - From fringes, growing distrust of feds' motives." USA TODAY (Arlington, VA), FIRST ed., sec. NEWS, 15 Sept. 2020, p. 1A. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/17D81F89B606B428. Accessed 23 June 2026.  Brunner, Jim. "Guess who's a big Trump fan? Ramtha, as channeled by Democratic donor JZ Knight." The Seattle Times, 4 April 2017, https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/guess-whos-a-big-trump-fan-ramtha-as-channeled-by-democratic-donor-jz-knight/. Accessed 18 June 2026. Buchanan, Susy. "Ramtha Riled." Southern Poverty Law Center, 24 May 2014, https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/ramtha-riled/. Accessed 18 June 2026. Egan, Timothy. "Worldly and the Spiritual Clash in New Age Divorce." New York Times, 25 Sept. 1992. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A174939497/STND?u=nysl_sc_ahs&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=e41ec71f. Accessed 18 June 2026. Eric, Scerri. "What the #$'! Do They Know?" Skeptical Inquirer, September/October 2004, https://skepticalinquirer.org/2004/09/what-the-do-they-know/. Accessed 23 June 2026. Hosenball, Mark. "The guru and the FAA." Newsweek, vol. 125, no. 10, 6 Mar. 1995, p. 32. Gale OneFile: High School Edition, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A16642039/STOM?u=nysl_sc_cayuga&sid=bookmark-STOM&xid=07d4682f. Accessed 23 June 2026.  J. Z. Knight Divorce Trial Reveals Workings of Channeling Bu." The Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 17, no. 3, Spring, 1993, pp. 253. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/j-z-knight-divorce-trial-reveals-workings/docview/219263409/se-2.  Mackay, Rob. "Shocking allegations from former JZ Knight follower." FOX 13 Seattle, 18 April 2014, https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/shocking-allegations-from-former-jz-knight-follower. Accessed 23 June 2026. "Madame Blavatsky and Theosophy." Expedition Magazine 29, no. 2 (July, 1987): -. Accessed June 18, 2026. https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/madame-blavatsky-and-theosophy/ "Ramtha is Solely Knight's, Court Says." The Seattle Times, 12 June 1997, https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19970612/2544252/ramtha-is-solely-knights-court-says. Accessed 17 June 2026. "Ramtha School of Enlightenment Promotes Natural Healing - Three Students report nontraditional recoveries from serious conditions thanks to RSE." PR Newswire (USA), 5 Apr. 2012. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/13DF7B30E8151FA8. Accessed 23 June 2026.  Reiss, Adam, and Dareh Gregorian. "Steve Bannon pleads guilty in New York 'We Build the Wall' case." NBC News, 11 February 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/steve-bannon-pleads-guilty-new-york-build-wall-case-rcna191672. Accessed 17 June 2026. RHODES, ELIZABETH. "STATE OF MIND JZ KNIGHT PREACHES SELF-LOVE THROUGH A 35,000- YEAR-OLD-SPIRIT." THE SEATTLE TIMES, SUNDAY ed., sec. SCENE, 25 Oct. 1987, p. K1. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/0EB5328A5EA73AE1. Accessed 23 June 2026.  Sagan, Carl. The Demon-Haunted World. pgs. 204-5, Random House Publishing Group, 1997. Sailor, Craig. "Ramtha channeler J.Z. Knight apparently has donated $10,000 to Mexican border wall campaign." The News Tribune, 21 December 2018, https://www.thenewstribune.com/latest-news/article223435620.html. Accessed 17 June 2026. "' School of Enlightenment' Subpoenas Facebook for Information on Former Members." Tacoma Examiner (WA), sec. Tacoma Private Schools Examiner, 30 Mar. 2013. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/1455FCEBF1D3C0A8. Accessed 23 June 2026.  Scott, Marion. "SHE'S SOME PROFIT!; The blonde who'll tell you the secrets of a 35,000 year old man ... for pounds 1,000 a go." Sunday Mail [Glasgow, Scotland], 23 May 1999, p. 20. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A60213035/STND?u=nysl_sc_ahs&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=ccd425a2. Accessed 18 June 2026.  Schrader, Jordan. "Appeals court upholds most of ruling for JZ Knight." Olympian, The (WA), 1st State ed., sec. News, 22 Jan. 2016, p. 14A. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/15A8BE1384485BF8. Accessed 23 June 2026.  Sommer, Will. "QAnon Teams Up With Alleged Cult Leader." Daily Beast, The, sec. Right Richter, 21 May 2019. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/173945FB34159670. Accessed 23 June 2026.  Sottile, Leah. Blazing Eye Sees All: Love Has Won, False Prophets, and the Fever Dream of the American New Age. Grand Central Publishing, 2025. "Testing Concludes That JZ Knight and Ramtha Have Distinct, Separate DNA - Results confirmed by three separate labs in different locations." PR Newswire (USA), 12 Mar. 2015. NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0FA0729FAB9D3500&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/154063EF485623D8. Accessed 23 June 2026.  Williams, Allison. "The Ancient Spirit That Settled in Small-Town Washington." Seattle Met, 15 November 2022, https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-city-life/2022/11/jz-knight-ramtha-yelm-washington-school-of-enlightenment. Accessed 18 June 2026.

This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author Cole Burgett about his article, “Against the Wind: Grief and ‘Supergirl'”. Coming Soon! [Editor's Note: This review contains spoilers for Supergirl.] https://www.equip.org/articles/against-the-wind-grief-and-supergirl/This is also part of Cole's ongoing Cultural Apologetics Column.One way you can support our online articles and podcasts is by leaving us a tip. A tip is just a small amount, like $3, $5, or $10, which is the cost of a latte, lunch out, or coffee drink. To leave a tip, click here.Please see related articles and podcasts below:Episode 504: American Alien: The Mythology of ‘Disclosure Day'“American Alien: The Mythology of ‘Disclosure Day'“.Episode 502: By the Power of Nostalgia: ‘Masters of the Universe' and the Haunting of Popular Culture“By the Power of Nostalgia: ‘Masters of the Universe' and the Haunting of Popular Culture”.Episode 501: The Man Beneath the Beskar: Fatherhood and Masculinity in ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu'“The Man Beneath the Beskar: Fatherhood and Masculinity in ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu‘”. Don't miss an episode; please subscribe to the Postmodern Realities podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Please help spread the word about Postmodern Realities by giving us a rating and review when you subscribe to the podcast. The more ratings and reviews we have, the more new listeners can discover our content.

Cultists, your Horror Hosts are declaring July Werewolf Month, since both episode releases fall on Werewolf Wednesdays. First up we're putting Hammer's contribution to the genre on Exam Table, 1961's The Curse Of The Werewolf.  Based on Guy Endore's novel The Werewolf of Paris, but moving the action to Spain to make use of existing sets. Please join us for the Dissection.  Dissection Topic https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054777/?ref_=ext_shr  https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B009CG1NRW/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r  Unholy Sacrament  Lichen IPA, American IPA - Grand Fir Brewing https://untp.beer/blLX3  Dark Tidings  Ken Russell's The Devils restored and heading to Cannes film festival (theatrical re-release and physical media to follow) https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/ken-russells-the-devils-directors-cut-heading-to-cannes-with-4k-restoration-of-banned-cult-classic/  Marvel Comics announces The Midnight Universe https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/midnight-universe-series-announcement-fall-2026  https://www.globalcomix.com/  Vault of Darkness  From The World of John Wick: Ballerina (Wiseman, 2025) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7181546/?ref_=ext_shr  https://www.hbomax.com/movies/from-the-world-of-john-wick-ballerina/a1a7a642-fcfa-4825-9d63-3726e4e1a82f  Wolves and Werewolves in History and Popular Culture by Shannon Scott https://a.co/d/06ZCoD3V  #thecurseofthewerewolf, #curseofthewerewolf, #terencefisher, #oliverreed, #cliffordevans, #yvonneromain, #catherinefeller,  #richardwordsworth, #royashton,  #hammerfilms, #hammerhorror, #hammerhorrorfilms, #werewolfwednesday, #classichorror, #classicmonsters, #thewerewolfofparis, #werewolfmovies, #lycanthropy, #wolfman, #werewolf, 

This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author Cole Burgett about his article, “American Alien: The Mythology of ‘Disclosure Day'“.Note: This is a Feature Film Review and Social Commentary[Editor's Note: This review contains spoilers for Disclosure Day.] This is also part of Cole's ongoing Cultural Apologetics Column. https://www.equip.org/articles/american-alien-the-mythology-of-disclosure-day/One way you can support our online articles and podcasts is by leaving us a tip. A tip is just a small amount, like $3, $5, or $10, which is the cost of a latte, lunch out, or coffee drink. To leave a tip, click here.Please see related articles and podcasts belowEpisode 502: By the Power of Nostalgia: ‘Masters of the Universe' and the Haunting of Popular Culture“By the Power of Nostalgia: ‘Masters of the Universe' and the Haunting of Popular Culture”.Episode 501: The Man Beneath the Beskar: Fatherhood and Masculinity in ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu'“The Man Beneath the Beskar: Fatherhood and Masculinity in ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu‘”.Episode 494: Before Baker Street: An Evaluation of Amazon Prime's ‘Young Sherlock'Before Baker Street: An Evaluation of Amazon Prime's ‘Young Sherlock'Don't miss an episode; please subscribe to the Postmodern Realities podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Please help spread the word about Postmodern Realities by giving us a rating and review when you subscribe to the podcast. The more ratings and reviews we have, the more new listeners can discover our content.

In an age obsessed with expertise, certainty, and endless self-optimization, author and journalist Simone Stolzoff invites audiences to rediscover the power of curiosity, humility, and not having all the answers. His new book, How to Not Know, challenges the cultural pressure to define ourselves by what we do or what we know—and instead celebrates the richness of uncertainty as a pathway to creativity, empathy, and authentic connection. [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 41267]

In an age obsessed with expertise, certainty, and endless self-optimization, author and journalist Simone Stolzoff invites audiences to rediscover the power of curiosity, humility, and not having all the answers. His new book, How to Not Know, challenges the cultural pressure to define ourselves by what we do or what we know—and instead celebrates the richness of uncertainty as a pathway to creativity, empathy, and authentic connection. [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 41267]

In an age obsessed with expertise, certainty, and endless self-optimization, author and journalist Simone Stolzoff invites audiences to rediscover the power of curiosity, humility, and not having all the answers. His new book, How to Not Know, challenges the cultural pressure to define ourselves by what we do or what we know—and instead celebrates the richness of uncertainty as a pathway to creativity, empathy, and authentic connection. [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 41267]

Use our link for a free Month of Elite on TradeMagic.gg https://trademagic.gg/eternaldurdles Channel Art Assets by: https://www.instagram.com/jonthetallone/ Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/EternalDurdles TCGPLAYER AFFILIATE LINK: https://partner.tcgplayer.com/OexAAn With Marvel officially arriving in a Magic: The Gathering, we thought it was the perfect time to answer a simple question: Where should you start with Marvel Comics? Zac is joined by two longtime comic book veterans and former Legends comic shop crew members, Marc Leone and Rob Messick, to build the ultimate Marvel reading list for newcomers. From Spider-Man and Daredevil to Wolverine, the X-Men, Infinity Gauntlet, Earth X, and Marvels, we explore the stories that shaped the Marvel Universe and explain why they still matter today. We discuss: 00:00 Introduction & Comic Shop Memories 02:08 Where Should New Readers Start? 02:51 Why Spider-Man Is the Gateway Character 04:04 Marvel Comes to Magic: The Gathering 06:32 Universes Beyond & Trading Card Games 12:25 Building a Marvel Reading List 15:11 Marvel's Rise in Popular Culture 17:08 Kraven's Last Hunt 18:35 Infinity Gauntlet & MCU Inspirations 22:20 Daredevil: The Man Without Fear 25:30 Daredevil Recommendations & Frank Miller 29:00 Wolverine: Not Dead Yet 32:00 Enemy of the State & Wolverine Classics 35:00 Earth X Deep Dive 42:00 What If...? and Alternate Universes 47:00 Future Imperfect & Maestro 52:00 Elektra: Assassin 56:00 Fantastic Four and Alex Ross 01:00:00 Marvels and Marvel History 01:05:00 Cosmic Marvel Recommendations 01:10:00 Silver Surfer, Thanos & Cosmic Ghost Rider 01:15:00 More Essential Marvel Reads 01:20:00 Final Recommendations 01:24:00 Closing Thoughts 00:00 Introduction & Comic Shop Memories02:08 Where Should New Readers Start?02:51 Why Spider-Man Is the Gateway Character04:04 Marvel Comes to Magic: The Gathering06:32 Universes Beyond & Trading Card Games12:25 Building a Marvel Reading List15:11 Marvel's Rise in Popular Culture17:08 Kraven's Last Hunt18:35 Infinity Gauntlet & MCU Inspirations22:20 Daredevil: The Man Without Fear25:30 Daredevil Recommendations & Frank Miller29:00 Wolverine: Not Dead Yet32:00 Enemy of the State & Wolverine Classics35:00 Earth X Deep Dive42:00 What If...? and Alternate Universes47:00 Future Imperfect & Maestro52:00 Elektra: Assassin56:00 Fantastic Four and Alex Ross01:00:00 Marvels and Marvel History01:05:00 Cosmic Marvel Recommendations01:10:00 Silver Surfer, Thanos & Cosmic Ghost Rider01:15:00 More Essential Marvel Reads01:20:00 Final Recommendations01:24:00 Closing ThoughtsWhether you're a lifelong comic fan or someone discovering Marvel through Magic, this episode is packed with recommendations, nostalgia, and stories from the comic shop era that helped shape an entire generation of nerd culture. What Marvel comic would you hand to someone who has never read one before? #Marvel #MarvelComics #MagicTheGathering #SpiderMan #XMen #ComicBooks Pinned Comment You can only recommend ONE Marvel comic to a brand-new reader. What's your pick?

In this episode, Professor Mouse and the Cosmologist discuss mistaken identity, mayoral races, and some sweet sweet recs. 

Anna O. Law, the Herbert Kurz Chair in Constitutional Rights in the Department of Political Science at City University of New York-Brooklyn Campus, has a deeply researched and important new book that weaves together different approaches to understanding American citizenship, especially in context of immigration and migration in the first century of the U.S. republic. Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship: African Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants (Oxford University Press, 2026) engages three different disciplines, including Political Science, History, and Legal Studies/Law, to unpack the many different approaches to citizenship in the new republic. Law noted as we spoke that she had not intended to write a book about slavery, but it was impossible to think about or understand immigration in the United States, especially in the first century of the United States, without examining the particular place and role of those who were enslaved, since they were also immigrants to the United States, though it was a forced immigration, against their will and without their consent. Part of what Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship focuses on is that prior to the Civil War and the post-war constitutional Amendments, immigration was a patchwork, designed state by state, without a national standard or structure. Thus, we see a form of federalism that shifts from the states to the national government after the 14th and 15th Amendments, and after a number of pieces of legislation passed in the 1880s by Congress. Immigration becomes a more centralized issue and process as Congress passed a raft of restrictive laws focused mostly on Chinese individuals. These moves took the power to manage immigration away from the individual states and nationalized policies and regulations. At the same time, the story of American immigration is incomplete without understanding how the national government forcefully took land belonging to Native Americans and compelled their migration to other areas of the United States. In much the same way that we cannot understand immigration without understanding how slavery was intertwined with it, we also can't understand immigration to the United States without the history of how newly arrived immigrants displaced Native Americans and were given stolen land through national and state level regulations and policies. This is another entire area of history, policy, law, and regulation that Law unpacks to explore the interaction between Native Americans, sovereignty, land claims, and federalism in context of American citizenship and the complexity of who was and was not considered to be a citizen. Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship is a masterful work that helps us understand the contemporary battles over citizenship. As the Supreme Court is set to make yet another determination of how the 14th Amendment is to be applied to individuals born in the United States, Law's research and analysis has particular relevance and importance as we grapple with these ongoing disputes. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social 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

Anna O. Law, the Herbert Kurz Chair in Constitutional Rights in the Department of Political Science at City University of New York-Brooklyn Campus, has a deeply researched and important new book that weaves together different approaches to understanding American citizenship, especially in context of immigration and migration in the first century of the U.S. republic. Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship: African Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants (Oxford University Press, 2026) engages three different disciplines, including Political Science, History, and Legal Studies/Law, to unpack the many different approaches to citizenship in the new republic. Law noted as we spoke that she had not intended to write a book about slavery, but it was impossible to think about or understand immigration in the United States, especially in the first century of the United States, without examining the particular place and role of those who were enslaved, since they were also immigrants to the United States, though it was a forced immigration, against their will and without their consent. Part of what Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship focuses on is that prior to the Civil War and the post-war constitutional Amendments, immigration was a patchwork, designed state by state, without a national standard or structure. Thus, we see a form of federalism that shifts from the states to the national government after the 14th and 15th Amendments, and after a number of pieces of legislation passed in the 1880s by Congress. Immigration becomes a more centralized issue and process as Congress passed a raft of restrictive laws focused mostly on Chinese individuals. These moves took the power to manage immigration away from the individual states and nationalized policies and regulations. At the same time, the story of American immigration is incomplete without understanding how the national government forcefully took land belonging to Native Americans and compelled their migration to other areas of the United States. In much the same way that we cannot understand immigration without understanding how slavery was intertwined with it, we also can't understand immigration to the United States without the history of how newly arrived immigrants displaced Native Americans and were given stolen land through national and state level regulations and policies. This is another entire area of history, policy, law, and regulation that Law unpacks to explore the interaction between Native Americans, sovereignty, land claims, and federalism in context of American citizenship and the complexity of who was and was not considered to be a citizen. Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship is a masterful work that helps us understand the contemporary battles over citizenship. As the Supreme Court is set to make yet another determination of how the 14th Amendment is to be applied to individuals born in the United States, Law's research and analysis has particular relevance and importance as we grapple with these ongoing disputes. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social 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

Anna O. Law, the Herbert Kurz Chair in Constitutional Rights in the Department of Political Science at City University of New York-Brooklyn Campus, has a deeply researched and important new book that weaves together different approaches to understanding American citizenship, especially in context of immigration and migration in the first century of the U.S. republic. Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship: African Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants (Oxford University Press, 2026) engages three different disciplines, including Political Science, History, and Legal Studies/Law, to unpack the many different approaches to citizenship in the new republic. Law noted as we spoke that she had not intended to write a book about slavery, but it was impossible to think about or understand immigration in the United States, especially in the first century of the United States, without examining the particular place and role of those who were enslaved, since they were also immigrants to the United States, though it was a forced immigration, against their will and without their consent. Part of what Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship focuses on is that prior to the Civil War and the post-war constitutional Amendments, immigration was a patchwork, designed state by state, without a national standard or structure. Thus, we see a form of federalism that shifts from the states to the national government after the 14th and 15th Amendments, and after a number of pieces of legislation passed in the 1880s by Congress. Immigration becomes a more centralized issue and process as Congress passed a raft of restrictive laws focused mostly on Chinese individuals. These moves took the power to manage immigration away from the individual states and nationalized policies and regulations. At the same time, the story of American immigration is incomplete without understanding how the national government forcefully took land belonging to Native Americans and compelled their migration to other areas of the United States. In much the same way that we cannot understand immigration without understanding how slavery was intertwined with it, we also can't understand immigration to the United States without the history of how newly arrived immigrants displaced Native Americans and were given stolen land through national and state level regulations and policies. This is another entire area of history, policy, law, and regulation that Law unpacks to explore the interaction between Native Americans, sovereignty, land claims, and federalism in context of American citizenship and the complexity of who was and was not considered to be a citizen. Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship is a masterful work that helps us understand the contemporary battles over citizenship. As the Supreme Court is set to make yet another determination of how the 14th Amendment is to be applied to individuals born in the United States, Law's research and analysis has particular relevance and importance as we grapple with these ongoing disputes. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/native-american-studies

Anna O. Law, the Herbert Kurz Chair in Constitutional Rights in the Department of Political Science at City University of New York-Brooklyn Campus, has a deeply researched and important new book that weaves together different approaches to understanding American citizenship, especially in context of immigration and migration in the first century of the U.S. republic. Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship: African Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants (Oxford University Press, 2026) engages three different disciplines, including Political Science, History, and Legal Studies/Law, to unpack the many different approaches to citizenship in the new republic. Law noted as we spoke that she had not intended to write a book about slavery, but it was impossible to think about or understand immigration in the United States, especially in the first century of the United States, without examining the particular place and role of those who were enslaved, since they were also immigrants to the United States, though it was a forced immigration, against their will and without their consent. Part of what Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship focuses on is that prior to the Civil War and the post-war constitutional Amendments, immigration was a patchwork, designed state by state, without a national standard or structure. Thus, we see a form of federalism that shifts from the states to the national government after the 14th and 15th Amendments, and after a number of pieces of legislation passed in the 1880s by Congress. Immigration becomes a more centralized issue and process as Congress passed a raft of restrictive laws focused mostly on Chinese individuals. These moves took the power to manage immigration away from the individual states and nationalized policies and regulations. At the same time, the story of American immigration is incomplete without understanding how the national government forcefully took land belonging to Native Americans and compelled their migration to other areas of the United States. In much the same way that we cannot understand immigration without understanding how slavery was intertwined with it, we also can't understand immigration to the United States without the history of how newly arrived immigrants displaced Native Americans and were given stolen land through national and state level regulations and policies. This is another entire area of history, policy, law, and regulation that Law unpacks to explore the interaction between Native Americans, sovereignty, land claims, and federalism in context of American citizenship and the complexity of who was and was not considered to be a citizen. Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship is a masterful work that helps us understand the contemporary battles over citizenship. As the Supreme Court is set to make yet another determination of how the 14th Amendment is to be applied to individuals born in the United States, Law's research and analysis has particular relevance and importance as we grapple with these ongoing disputes. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Anna O. Law, the Herbert Kurz Chair in Constitutional Rights in the Department of Political Science at City University of New York-Brooklyn Campus, has a deeply researched and important new book that weaves together different approaches to understanding American citizenship, especially in context of immigration and migration in the first century of the U.S. republic. Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship: African Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants (Oxford University Press, 2026) engages three different disciplines, including Political Science, History, and Legal Studies/Law, to unpack the many different approaches to citizenship in the new republic. Law noted as we spoke that she had not intended to write a book about slavery, but it was impossible to think about or understand immigration in the United States, especially in the first century of the United States, without examining the particular place and role of those who were enslaved, since they were also immigrants to the United States, though it was a forced immigration, against their will and without their consent. Part of what Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship focuses on is that prior to the Civil War and the post-war constitutional Amendments, immigration was a patchwork, designed state by state, without a national standard or structure. Thus, we see a form of federalism that shifts from the states to the national government after the 14th and 15th Amendments, and after a number of pieces of legislation passed in the 1880s by Congress. Immigration becomes a more centralized issue and process as Congress passed a raft of restrictive laws focused mostly on Chinese individuals. These moves took the power to manage immigration away from the individual states and nationalized policies and regulations. At the same time, the story of American immigration is incomplete without understanding how the national government forcefully took land belonging to Native Americans and compelled their migration to other areas of the United States. In much the same way that we cannot understand immigration without understanding how slavery was intertwined with it, we also can't understand immigration to the United States without the history of how newly arrived immigrants displaced Native Americans and were given stolen land through national and state level regulations and policies. This is another entire area of history, policy, law, and regulation that Law unpacks to explore the interaction between Native Americans, sovereignty, land claims, and federalism in context of American citizenship and the complexity of who was and was not considered to be a citizen. Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship is a masterful work that helps us understand the contemporary battles over citizenship. As the Supreme Court is set to make yet another determination of how the 14th Amendment is to be applied to individuals born in the United States, Law's research and analysis has particular relevance and importance as we grapple with these ongoing disputes. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Anna O. Law, the Herbert Kurz Chair in Constitutional Rights in the Department of Political Science at City University of New York-Brooklyn Campus, has a deeply researched and important new book that weaves together different approaches to understanding American citizenship, especially in context of immigration and migration in the first century of the U.S. republic. Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship: African Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants (Oxford University Press, 2026) engages three different disciplines, including Political Science, History, and Legal Studies/Law, to unpack the many different approaches to citizenship in the new republic. Law noted as we spoke that she had not intended to write a book about slavery, but it was impossible to think about or understand immigration in the United States, especially in the first century of the United States, without examining the particular place and role of those who were enslaved, since they were also immigrants to the United States, though it was a forced immigration, against their will and without their consent. Part of what Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship focuses on is that prior to the Civil War and the post-war constitutional Amendments, immigration was a patchwork, designed state by state, without a national standard or structure. Thus, we see a form of federalism that shifts from the states to the national government after the 14th and 15th Amendments, and after a number of pieces of legislation passed in the 1880s by Congress. Immigration becomes a more centralized issue and process as Congress passed a raft of restrictive laws focused mostly on Chinese individuals. These moves took the power to manage immigration away from the individual states and nationalized policies and regulations. At the same time, the story of American immigration is incomplete without understanding how the national government forcefully took land belonging to Native Americans and compelled their migration to other areas of the United States. In much the same way that we cannot understand immigration without understanding how slavery was intertwined with it, we also can't understand immigration to the United States without the history of how newly arrived immigrants displaced Native Americans and were given stolen land through national and state level regulations and policies. This is another entire area of history, policy, law, and regulation that Law unpacks to explore the interaction between Native Americans, sovereignty, land claims, and federalism in context of American citizenship and the complexity of who was and was not considered to be a citizen. Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship is a masterful work that helps us understand the contemporary battles over citizenship. As the Supreme Court is set to make yet another determination of how the 14th Amendment is to be applied to individuals born in the United States, Law's research and analysis has particular relevance and importance as we grapple with these ongoing disputes. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law

There are many different methods that companies use to recycle those plastic water bottles you toss in the blue bin. One of those ways is called chemical recycling.But one company that was doing chemical recycling in central Ohio, is both using heat -- and taking heat and is now suspending operations.In the new Toy Story 5 movie, it's a battle for play time between beloved toys Woody, Buzz and the gang – and a tablet named Lily Pad.It's a dilemma that's playing out in real life, and that got us wondering about tech, animation, and pop culture.Apple promised in 2024 we would have AI-operated Siri. Two years later, they are finally delivering: not only new AI features, but also compensation for some customers who were told their new iPhones would have those features.We're discussing these topics during this week's Tech Tuesday.Guests:Doug Swift, assistant professor, Denison University/reporter, The Reporting ProjectTiffany Knoell, associate teaching professor, Department of Popular Culture, Bowling Green State UniversityRussell Holly, director of commerce content, CNET(photo: Keith Srakocic/AP)

There are many different methods that companies use to recycle those plastic water bottles you toss in the blue bin. One of those ways is called chemical recycling.But one company that was doing chemical recycling in central Ohio, is both using heat -- and taking heat and is now suspending operations.In the new Toy Story 5 movie, it's a battle for play time between beloved toys Woody, Buzz and the gang – and a tablet named Lily Pad.It's a dilemma that's playing out in real life, and that got us wondering about tech, animation, and pop culture.Apple promised in 2024 we would have AI-operated Siri. Two years later, they are finally delivering: not only new AI features, but also compensation for some customers who were told their new iPhones would have those features.We're discussing these topics during this week's Tech Tuesday.Guests:Doug Swift, assistant professor, Denison University/reporter, The Reporting ProjectTiffany Knoell, associate teaching professor, Department of Popular Culture, Bowling Green State UniversityRussell Holly, director of commerce content, CNET(photo: Keith Srakocic/AP)

In this episode, Professor Mouse and the Cosmologist discuss ball in the dumbest way possible. Happy World Cup. 

Karine Premont and Christopher Devine have a new edited volume focusing on the American Vice Presidency and analyzing not just the office and the officeholders, but also the role of vice presidential candidates in the campaigns for the presidency. Second in Command: Reevaluating the Role of Vice Presidents and Running Makes in Modern American Politics (U Michigan Press, 2026) is a fascinating exploration of the role and place of the vice president, the vice presidency, and the vice presidential running mate. Often this position and this job are dismissed—since the vice president has very few actual powers, besides his/her role as president of the Senate and tiebreaker in that body, and one of the certifiers of the Electoral College votes after an election. But in the contemporary political environment, vice presidents have grown in importance in terms of their role on the presidential ticket and in their role once elected to office. Second in Command is split into two parts, the first section focusing on the vice president in office, while the second part examines the vice presidential candidate and the role of being a running mate to a presidential candidate. In our conversation we discuss the fact that the vice president is often considered to be the “appendix” of American government, created at the Constitutional Convention to break a tie in the Senate, should there be one, and to solve the problem coming out of the newly designed Electoral College where two votes needed to be cast for president. But over the past fifty years, there has been tremendous change in terms of the inhabitants in the office, their relationship to the president and the presidency, and their activities on the campaign trail. Vice Presidents have become general advisors to the president. This precedent was established between President Jimmy Carter and his vice president, Walter Mondale. And since the 1970s, this newly engaged position and role for the vice president have generally been in place, with different approaches from different presidents/vice presidential pairs. The idea of trying to “balance” the ticket is still part of the selection dynamic, but it is as important as the working relationship that presidents have pursued with their vice presidential pick. We had a fascinating discussion of the history of the vice presidency as well as an analysis of the more modern dynamic. We talked about different parts of ticket balancing, since it is not necessarily about geography so much as constituent appeals: religious groups, gender, expertise/experience, and more. Second in Command: Reevaluating the Role of Vice Presidents and Running Mates in Modern American Politics is available from the University of Michigan Press via open access. Here is the link: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.14505045 It can, of course, also be purchased. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social 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

Karine Premont and Christopher Devine have a new edited volume focusing on the American Vice Presidency and analyzing not just the office and the officeholders, but also the role of vice presidential candidates in the campaigns for the presidency. Second in Command: Reevaluating the Role of Vice Presidents and Running Makes in Modern American Politics (U Michigan Press, 2026) is a fascinating exploration of the role and place of the vice president, the vice presidency, and the vice presidential running mate. Often this position and this job are dismissed—since the vice president has very few actual powers, besides his/her role as president of the Senate and tiebreaker in that body, and one of the certifiers of the Electoral College votes after an election. But in the contemporary political environment, vice presidents have grown in importance in terms of their role on the presidential ticket and in their role once elected to office. Second in Command is split into two parts, the first section focusing on the vice president in office, while the second part examines the vice presidential candidate and the role of being a running mate to a presidential candidate. In our conversation we discuss the fact that the vice president is often considered to be the “appendix” of American government, created at the Constitutional Convention to break a tie in the Senate, should there be one, and to solve the problem coming out of the newly designed Electoral College where two votes needed to be cast for president. But over the past fifty years, there has been tremendous change in terms of the inhabitants in the office, their relationship to the president and the presidency, and their activities on the campaign trail. Vice Presidents have become general advisors to the president. This precedent was established between President Jimmy Carter and his vice president, Walter Mondale. And since the 1970s, this newly engaged position and role for the vice president have generally been in place, with different approaches from different presidents/vice presidential pairs. The idea of trying to “balance” the ticket is still part of the selection dynamic, but it is as important as the working relationship that presidents have pursued with their vice presidential pick. We had a fascinating discussion of the history of the vice presidency as well as an analysis of the more modern dynamic. We talked about different parts of ticket balancing, since it is not necessarily about geography so much as constituent appeals: religious groups, gender, expertise/experience, and more. Second in Command: Reevaluating the Role of Vice Presidents and Running Mates in Modern American Politics is available from the University of Michigan Press via open access. Here is the link: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.14505045 It can, of course, also be purchased. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Karine Premont and Christopher Devine have a new edited volume focusing on the American Vice Presidency and analyzing not just the office and the officeholders, but also the role of vice presidential candidates in the campaigns for the presidency. Second in Command: Reevaluating the Role of Vice Presidents and Running Makes in Modern American Politics (U Michigan Press, 2026) is a fascinating exploration of the role and place of the vice president, the vice presidency, and the vice presidential running mate. Often this position and this job are dismissed—since the vice president has very few actual powers, besides his/her role as president of the Senate and tiebreaker in that body, and one of the certifiers of the Electoral College votes after an election. But in the contemporary political environment, vice presidents have grown in importance in terms of their role on the presidential ticket and in their role once elected to office. Second in Command is split into two parts, the first section focusing on the vice president in office, while the second part examines the vice presidential candidate and the role of being a running mate to a presidential candidate. In our conversation we discuss the fact that the vice president is often considered to be the “appendix” of American government, created at the Constitutional Convention to break a tie in the Senate, should there be one, and to solve the problem coming out of the newly designed Electoral College where two votes needed to be cast for president. But over the past fifty years, there has been tremendous change in terms of the inhabitants in the office, their relationship to the president and the presidency, and their activities on the campaign trail. Vice Presidents have become general advisors to the president. This precedent was established between President Jimmy Carter and his vice president, Walter Mondale. And since the 1970s, this newly engaged position and role for the vice president have generally been in place, with different approaches from different presidents/vice presidential pairs. The idea of trying to “balance” the ticket is still part of the selection dynamic, but it is as important as the working relationship that presidents have pursued with their vice presidential pick. We had a fascinating discussion of the history of the vice presidency as well as an analysis of the more modern dynamic. We talked about different parts of ticket balancing, since it is not necessarily about geography so much as constituent appeals: religious groups, gender, expertise/experience, and more. Second in Command: Reevaluating the Role of Vice Presidents and Running Mates in Modern American Politics is available from the University of Michigan Press via open access. Here is the link: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.14505045 It can, of course, also be purchased. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Karine Premont and Christopher Devine have a new edited volume focusing on the American Vice Presidency and analyzing not just the office and the officeholders, but also the role of vice presidential candidates in the campaigns for the presidency. Second in Command: Reevaluating the Role of Vice Presidents and Running Makes in Modern American Politics (U Michigan Press, 2026) is a fascinating exploration of the role and place of the vice president, the vice presidency, and the vice presidential running mate. Often this position and this job are dismissed—since the vice president has very few actual powers, besides his/her role as president of the Senate and tiebreaker in that body, and one of the certifiers of the Electoral College votes after an election. But in the contemporary political environment, vice presidents have grown in importance in terms of their role on the presidential ticket and in their role once elected to office. Second in Command is split into two parts, the first section focusing on the vice president in office, while the second part examines the vice presidential candidate and the role of being a running mate to a presidential candidate. In our conversation we discuss the fact that the vice president is often considered to be the “appendix” of American government, created at the Constitutional Convention to break a tie in the Senate, should there be one, and to solve the problem coming out of the newly designed Electoral College where two votes needed to be cast for president. But over the past fifty years, there has been tremendous change in terms of the inhabitants in the office, their relationship to the president and the presidency, and their activities on the campaign trail. Vice Presidents have become general advisors to the president. This precedent was established between President Jimmy Carter and his vice president, Walter Mondale. And since the 1970s, this newly engaged position and role for the vice president have generally been in place, with different approaches from different presidents/vice presidential pairs. The idea of trying to “balance” the ticket is still part of the selection dynamic, but it is as important as the working relationship that presidents have pursued with their vice presidential pick. We had a fascinating discussion of the history of the vice presidency as well as an analysis of the more modern dynamic. We talked about different parts of ticket balancing, since it is not necessarily about geography so much as constituent appeals: religious groups, gender, expertise/experience, and more. Second in Command: Reevaluating the Role of Vice Presidents and Running Mates in Modern American Politics is available from the University of Michigan Press via open access. Here is the link: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.14505045 It can, of course, also be purchased. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This Postmodern Realities episode is a conversation with JOURNAL author Cole Burgett about his article, “By the Power of Nostalgia: ‘Masters of the Universe' and the Haunting of Popular Culture“.This is also part of Cole's ongoing Cultural Apologetics Column. https://www.equip.org/articles/by-the-power-of-nostalgia-masters-of-the-universe-and-the-haunting-of-popular-culture/One way you can support our online articles and podcasts is by leaving us a tip. A tip is just a small amount, like $3, $5, or $10, which is the cost of a latte, lunch out, or coffee drink. To leave a tip, click here. This podcast presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. As the flagship publication of the Christian Research Institute, the Journal seeks to equip followers of Christ to think and to live Christianly—to exercise truth and experience life. Truth, especially essential Christian doctrine, forms the basis for how we live our lives in Christ. As the apostle Paul instructed Timothy in 1 Tim. 4:16, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”The Christian Research Journal enjoyed a print incarnation of almost 45 years. Now exclusively an online publication, the Journal consists of thousands of free articles. We hope that through these audio articles you are not only equipped to proclaim and defend your faith but that as a disciple you also draw closer to Christ in your walk with Him.  You can find the written version of each article that is an episode of Christian Research Journal Reads at the website of the Christian Research Institute, equip.org. All Christian Research Journal articles at equip.org are completely free and do not require a subscription and are not under a paywall.All episodes are available at the following podcast platforms with more being added daily! You can help spread the word about this podcast by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on and telling others!You can view off our Website at the at this link and off our Journal main page. 

Explore the "middle" phase of intellectual property protection. The period between filing and final protection is a crucial phase where strategy, negotiation, and risk management take shape. Using pop culture references ranging from Quentin Tarantino films to Willy Wonka and Jurassic Park, hosts Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushe connect famous middle acts in entertainment to the middle stages of the patent, trademark, trade secret, and copyright processes. This episode of IP Goes Pop!® breaks down:  What "patent pending" actually means from publication to examination How the patent examination process can strengthen a patent How the "middle" for trade secrets effectively becomes the entire lifecycle of protection The importance of preserving trade secret rights via NDAs, restricted access, and confidentiality measures  Common law trademark rights versus federal registration Trademark examination process and USPTO requirements The crossovers between copyright process "middle" and trademarks Along the way, the hosts question whether Willy Wonka's factory tours would survive modern confidentiality practices and whether Jurassic Park had one of the least effective trade secret protection programs in movie history. Whether you are protecting technology, building a brand, or managing confidential business information, this episode offers a practical look at the "middle" phase of IP protection where rights are often shaped, tested, and strengthened the most. Key Moments: (00:55) IP First, Lasts, and Middles S7, EP 1: We're #1! Intellectual Property Firsts S7, EP 2: If You're Not Firsts, You're Lasts (01:40) "Stuck in the Middle With You" and Reservoir Dogs (05:01) Malcolm in the Middle and Famous "Middle" Stories   (07:31) Why The Empire Strikes Back Became the Most Famous Middle Movie (11:22) "Middles" in Intellectual Property: Obtaining a Patent Protection (17:10) Why Strong Patents Are "Battle Tested" (19:02) Expanding Patent Protection During "Patent Pending" Process (20:52) "Middles" in Intellectual Property: Trade Secrets (26:16) "Middles" in Intellectual Property: Trademarks (30:06) After Trademark Issuance (33:48) "Middles" in Intellectual Property: Copyrights Past IP Goes Pop! Episodes on Copyright S6 Ep 3: The (Copy)Right Tool for the Job- The Copyright Tool Kit S4 Ep 2: Streamlining Copyright Disputes: The Copyright Claims Board (CCB) S3 Ep 11: You Can't Do That-What IP Cannot Protect S3 Ep 1: Escape of the Famous Cartoon Characters- IP and the Public Domain S1 EP2: Intellectual Property Urban Legends -Taking on Myths About IP in Popular Culture (34:25) Final Thoughts   For full show notes and to explore more episodes, please visit www.vklaw.com/newsroom-podcasts. You can stay connected with us on Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter, and Instagram using the handle @volpeandkoenig.  

In this episode, Professor Mouse and the Cosmologist bombard you with recs. 

In this episode, Professor Mouse and the Cosmologist discuss the series finale of The Boys. 

The Story of a Sikh Museum: Heritage, Politics, Popular Culture, published by Cambridge University Press in July 2025, is a pioneering study on Sikh museums, a unique phenomenon of contemporary India—for their sheer numbers, distinctive display, malleability and presence in multiple cultural spheres and their political significance. This case study of Bhai Mati Das Museum at Gurdwara Sisganj, Delhi, examines the process of creation of Sikh heritage through history, paintings, and museums, unearths networks of patronage, and analyses the ways in which specific versions of the Sikh past are used to make present-day claims. It is based on interviews with artists and patrons, material from personal and institutional archives, a visual analysis of Sikh popular art and a critical examination of the museum's narrative. This book brings together Sikh history, popular art, politics and museums to discuss some of the most important current debates (of nation, identity and heritage) and reveals new ways in which we may understand museums, especially in a non-Western context. Kanika Singh is a historian, founder of Delhi Heritage Walks and Director at Centre for Writing & Communication at Ashoka University. Harleen Kaur is a historian and urban studies scholar who recently completed her Joint PhD from National University of Singapore and King's College London. 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 Story of a Sikh Museum: Heritage, Politics, Popular Culture, published by Cambridge University Press in July 2025, is a pioneering study on Sikh museums, a unique phenomenon of contemporary India—for their sheer numbers, distinctive display, malleability and presence in multiple cultural spheres and their political significance. This case study of Bhai Mati Das Museum at Gurdwara Sisganj, Delhi, examines the process of creation of Sikh heritage through history, paintings, and museums, unearths networks of patronage, and analyses the ways in which specific versions of the Sikh past are used to make present-day claims. It is based on interviews with artists and patrons, material from personal and institutional archives, a visual analysis of Sikh popular art and a critical examination of the museum's narrative. This book brings together Sikh history, popular art, politics and museums to discuss some of the most important current debates (of nation, identity and heritage) and reveals new ways in which we may understand museums, especially in a non-Western context. Kanika Singh is a historian, founder of Delhi Heritage Walks and Director at Centre for Writing & Communication at Ashoka University. Harleen Kaur is a historian and urban studies scholar who recently completed her Joint PhD from National University of Singapore and King's College London. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies

The Story of a Sikh Museum: Heritage, Politics, Popular Culture, published by Cambridge University Press in July 2025, is a pioneering study on Sikh museums, a unique phenomenon of contemporary India—for their sheer numbers, distinctive display, malleability and presence in multiple cultural spheres and their political significance. This case study of Bhai Mati Das Museum at Gurdwara Sisganj, Delhi, examines the process of creation of Sikh heritage through history, paintings, and museums, unearths networks of patronage, and analyses the ways in which specific versions of the Sikh past are used to make present-day claims. It is based on interviews with artists and patrons, material from personal and institutional archives, a visual analysis of Sikh popular art and a critical examination of the museum's narrative. This book brings together Sikh history, popular art, politics and museums to discuss some of the most important current debates (of nation, identity and heritage) and reveals new ways in which we may understand museums, especially in a non-Western context. Kanika Singh is a historian, founder of Delhi Heritage Walks and Director at Centre for Writing & Communication at Ashoka University. Harleen Kaur is a historian and urban studies scholar who recently completed her Joint PhD from National University of Singapore and King's College London. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/art

The Story of a Sikh Museum: Heritage, Politics, Popular Culture, published by Cambridge University Press in July 2025, is a pioneering study on Sikh museums, a unique phenomenon of contemporary India—for their sheer numbers, distinctive display, malleability and presence in multiple cultural spheres and their political significance. This case study of Bhai Mati Das Museum at Gurdwara Sisganj, Delhi, examines the process of creation of Sikh heritage through history, paintings, and museums, unearths networks of patronage, and analyses the ways in which specific versions of the Sikh past are used to make present-day claims. It is based on interviews with artists and patrons, material from personal and institutional archives, a visual analysis of Sikh popular art and a critical examination of the museum's narrative. This book brings together Sikh history, popular art, politics and museums to discuss some of the most important current debates (of nation, identity and heritage) and reveals new ways in which we may understand museums, especially in a non-Western context. Kanika Singh is a historian, founder of Delhi Heritage Walks and Director at Centre for Writing & Communication at Ashoka University. Harleen Kaur is a historian and urban studies scholar who recently completed her Joint PhD from National University of Singapore and King's College London. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/indian-religions

In this episode, Professor Mouse and the Cosmologist contemplate the composition of a worm. 

Erica Bornstein, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oregon (and Divisional Associate Dean), has a new book that delves into the regulatory reforms within the nonprofit sector in India. These reforms transpired over more than a decade, and Bornstein spent extended time developing this ethnographic study of not only the changes, but the institutional structures that manage nonprofit organizations and how the various regulatory decisions are made. The research explores the ways in which these changes happened, exploring the various actors within the discussions, and evaluating the process of change within the nonprofit sector in India. A Revolution of Rules: The Regulatory Reform of India's Nonprofit Sector (Stanford UP, 2025) is a deeply researched undertaking, paying attention not only to the shifts and changes that were happening in New Delhi, at the seat of the national government, but also in towns and communities in other parts of India, where similar dialogue and processes were also happening, and where the results of so many of these changes could be seen as they moved into implementation. In order to think through the analysis in A Revolution of Rules we must also think about the nonprofit sector as a significant part of political structure in India (and elsewhere). As we discuss in our conversation, there are essentially three sectors, the government or the public sector, the private sector, and the nonprofit sector. Each sector is managed differently and operates towards different ends. But part of the role of the nonprofit sector is to provide capacity where the public sector may not be able to or is not able to fulfill demands. This space, where the rules and regulations are being revised, reformed, and rewritten is where, in a very interesting way, democracy is happening. These are civil society organizations, embedded within the structure of political and economic outcomes, but distinct from both sectors. Since these groups are not aiming at making a profit, the regulatory regime is in a kind of counterpoint to capitalism, and thus in need of different kinds of rules regimes. This is where various stakeholders are coming together to negotiate with each as to how best to manage nonprofits, which are not all the same by any measure, and have different goals, different funding streams, different processes, and different policy formats. This makes the process of regulation complex, since there are constellations of parts that fall under differing kinds of management. This undertaking, designing modes of regulation and policy processes, is not an exercise in creating red tape as much as it is designing processes to achieve important goals and capacities. Bornstein explains that writing policy of this kind, that writing laws is actually writing the future, or as she notes in the book, “writing the horizon”—writing what will happen. With this in mind, A Revolution of Rules: The Regulatory Reform of India's Nonprofit Sector provides the reader with a fascinating exploration of how these organizations operate and how they can best be managed, especially with the aim of achieving benefits for individuals and society as a whole. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social 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

Erica Bornstein, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oregon (and Divisional Associate Dean), has a new book that delves into the regulatory reforms within the nonprofit sector in India. These reforms transpired over more than a decade, and Bornstein spent extended time developing this ethnographic study of not only the changes, but the institutional structures that manage nonprofit organizations and how the various regulatory decisions are made. The research explores the ways in which these changes happened, exploring the various actors within the discussions, and evaluating the process of change within the nonprofit sector in India. A Revolution of Rules: The Regulatory Reform of India's Nonprofit Sector (Stanford UP, 2025) is a deeply researched undertaking, paying attention not only to the shifts and changes that were happening in New Delhi, at the seat of the national government, but also in towns and communities in other parts of India, where similar dialogue and processes were also happening, and where the results of so many of these changes could be seen as they moved into implementation. In order to think through the analysis in A Revolution of Rules we must also think about the nonprofit sector as a significant part of political structure in India (and elsewhere). As we discuss in our conversation, there are essentially three sectors, the government or the public sector, the private sector, and the nonprofit sector. Each sector is managed differently and operates towards different ends. But part of the role of the nonprofit sector is to provide capacity where the public sector may not be able to or is not able to fulfill demands. This space, where the rules and regulations are being revised, reformed, and rewritten is where, in a very interesting way, democracy is happening. These are civil society organizations, embedded within the structure of political and economic outcomes, but distinct from both sectors. Since these groups are not aiming at making a profit, the regulatory regime is in a kind of counterpoint to capitalism, and thus in need of different kinds of rules regimes. This is where various stakeholders are coming together to negotiate with each as to how best to manage nonprofits, which are not all the same by any measure, and have different goals, different funding streams, different processes, and different policy formats. This makes the process of regulation complex, since there are constellations of parts that fall under differing kinds of management. This undertaking, designing modes of regulation and policy processes, is not an exercise in creating red tape as much as it is designing processes to achieve important goals and capacities. Bornstein explains that writing policy of this kind, that writing laws is actually writing the future, or as she notes in the book, “writing the horizon”—writing what will happen. With this in mind, A Revolution of Rules: The Regulatory Reform of India's Nonprofit Sector provides the reader with a fascinating exploration of how these organizations operate and how they can best be managed, especially with the aim of achieving benefits for individuals and society as a whole. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Erica Bornstein, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oregon (and Divisional Associate Dean), has a new book that delves into the regulatory reforms within the nonprofit sector in India. These reforms transpired over more than a decade, and Bornstein spent extended time developing this ethnographic study of not only the changes, but the institutional structures that manage nonprofit organizations and how the various regulatory decisions are made. The research explores the ways in which these changes happened, exploring the various actors within the discussions, and evaluating the process of change within the nonprofit sector in India. A Revolution of Rules: The Regulatory Reform of India's Nonprofit Sector (Stanford UP, 2025) is a deeply researched undertaking, paying attention not only to the shifts and changes that were happening in New Delhi, at the seat of the national government, but also in towns and communities in other parts of India, where similar dialogue and processes were also happening, and where the results of so many of these changes could be seen as they moved into implementation. In order to think through the analysis in A Revolution of Rules we must also think about the nonprofit sector as a significant part of political structure in India (and elsewhere). As we discuss in our conversation, there are essentially three sectors, the government or the public sector, the private sector, and the nonprofit sector. Each sector is managed differently and operates towards different ends. But part of the role of the nonprofit sector is to provide capacity where the public sector may not be able to or is not able to fulfill demands. This space, where the rules and regulations are being revised, reformed, and rewritten is where, in a very interesting way, democracy is happening. These are civil society organizations, embedded within the structure of political and economic outcomes, but distinct from both sectors. Since these groups are not aiming at making a profit, the regulatory regime is in a kind of counterpoint to capitalism, and thus in need of different kinds of rules regimes. This is where various stakeholders are coming together to negotiate with each as to how best to manage nonprofits, which are not all the same by any measure, and have different goals, different funding streams, different processes, and different policy formats. This makes the process of regulation complex, since there are constellations of parts that fall under differing kinds of management. This undertaking, designing modes of regulation and policy processes, is not an exercise in creating red tape as much as it is designing processes to achieve important goals and capacities. Bornstein explains that writing policy of this kind, that writing laws is actually writing the future, or as she notes in the book, “writing the horizon”—writing what will happen. With this in mind, A Revolution of Rules: The Regulatory Reform of India's Nonprofit Sector provides the reader with a fascinating exploration of how these organizations operate and how they can best be managed, especially with the aim of achieving benefits for individuals and society as a whole. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

Erica Bornstein, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oregon (and Divisional Associate Dean), has a new book that delves into the regulatory reforms within the nonprofit sector in India. These reforms transpired over more than a decade, and Bornstein spent extended time developing this ethnographic study of not only the changes, but the institutional structures that manage nonprofit organizations and how the various regulatory decisions are made. The research explores the ways in which these changes happened, exploring the various actors within the discussions, and evaluating the process of change within the nonprofit sector in India. A Revolution of Rules: The Regulatory Reform of India's Nonprofit Sector (Stanford UP, 2025) is a deeply researched undertaking, paying attention not only to the shifts and changes that were happening in New Delhi, at the seat of the national government, but also in towns and communities in other parts of India, where similar dialogue and processes were also happening, and where the results of so many of these changes could be seen as they moved into implementation. In order to think through the analysis in A Revolution of Rules we must also think about the nonprofit sector as a significant part of political structure in India (and elsewhere). As we discuss in our conversation, there are essentially three sectors, the government or the public sector, the private sector, and the nonprofit sector. Each sector is managed differently and operates towards different ends. But part of the role of the nonprofit sector is to provide capacity where the public sector may not be able to or is not able to fulfill demands. This space, where the rules and regulations are being revised, reformed, and rewritten is where, in a very interesting way, democracy is happening. These are civil society organizations, embedded within the structure of political and economic outcomes, but distinct from both sectors. Since these groups are not aiming at making a profit, the regulatory regime is in a kind of counterpoint to capitalism, and thus in need of different kinds of rules regimes. This is where various stakeholders are coming together to negotiate with each as to how best to manage nonprofits, which are not all the same by any measure, and have different goals, different funding streams, different processes, and different policy formats. This makes the process of regulation complex, since there are constellations of parts that fall under differing kinds of management. This undertaking, designing modes of regulation and policy processes, is not an exercise in creating red tape as much as it is designing processes to achieve important goals and capacities. Bornstein explains that writing policy of this kind, that writing laws is actually writing the future, or as she notes in the book, “writing the horizon”—writing what will happen. With this in mind, A Revolution of Rules: The Regulatory Reform of India's Nonprofit Sector provides the reader with a fascinating exploration of how these organizations operate and how they can best be managed, especially with the aim of achieving benefits for individuals and society as a whole. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies

SPONSOR ProtonVPN - Right now, Proton VPN is offering our listeners 70% off a two year plan when you go to ProtonVPN.com/HONEYDEW My HoneyDew this week is comedian Brent Weinbach! Brent joins me to Highlight the Lowlights of growing up as a Hollywood kid, dealing with bullying since second grade, learning about pimps at the bus stop in middle school, pulling a prank on his pregnant teacher, and why he still checks under the bed for roaches to this day. Check out Brent's special Popular Culture, his weekly live show The Chicken Coop, and The Brent Weinbach Podcast.

In this episode, Professor Mouse, the Cosmologist, and Teddy fight a worm. 

Political Scientist Steve Knott has a new book that focuses on conspiracy theories within the American presidency and often promulgated by the president himself. This is not, per se, a book about conspiracy theories in general, but about the narratives that presidents have used—that constitutes a kind of conspiracy thinking—to engage voters and push for particular policy ideas and outcomes. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency (UP Kansas, 2025) spans the entire history of the United States, paying close attention to presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and finally Donald Trump. These particular presidents, both during their administrations and after, made use of conspiracies and/or demagogic rhetoric to encourage their supporters and to appeal to public fears. As Knott notes, Alexander Hamilton warns against this in both Federalist #1 and Federalist #85, wrapping the discussion of the new Constitution in concerns with regard to demagoguery. So many of the conspiracies that are pushed by presidents have at their base racism and an effort to fan the flames of racial fear and resentment. Jefferson, Jackson, Johnson, and Wilson all made use of racism as a part of their conspiracies. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency also mines the deep vein of conspiracy theories around moneyed and elite interests, since many presidents cast these interests as predatory and “out to get” the average citizen. This is another constant approach among the presidents from the early days of the republic through to our contemporary “conspirator in chief” Donald Trump. Part of the way that presidents use these kinds of conspiracies is to set up a dichotomy of those who are with the president and those who are against the president, and this latter group is, inevitably, also opposed to the country as a whole and the way of life in the United States. Knott explains that this was the kind of rhetoric that both FDR and Truman used in their implementation of this kind of conspiratorial rhetoric. This also leans on national security as a point of contention, and that those in opposition to the president or the president's policies are also potential threats to the republic. This is another dimension that Trump builds on in his use of this kind of rhetoric and division. In the final part of Conspirator in Chief, Knott sketches out those presidents who go far in standing against this kind of language and these kinds of attacks. Included in this grouping are John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, William Howard Taft, and John F. Kennedy, among others. These individuals leaned into reason more than rumormongering, examining their own biases, and also pointing to the conspiracies that others were advocating. While we learn a great deal about demagogic presidents who stirred up conspiracies based in racism, fear, antisemitism, and classism, we also learn about those who operated differently, who tried to protect the country from such divisive rhetoric. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social 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

Political Scientist Steve Knott has a new book that focuses on conspiracy theories within the American presidency and often promulgated by the president himself. This is not, per se, a book about conspiracy theories in general, but about the narratives that presidents have used—that constitutes a kind of conspiracy thinking—to engage voters and push for particular policy ideas and outcomes. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency (UP Kansas, 2025) spans the entire history of the United States, paying close attention to presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and finally Donald Trump. These particular presidents, both during their administrations and after, made use of conspiracies and/or demagogic rhetoric to encourage their supporters and to appeal to public fears. As Knott notes, Alexander Hamilton warns against this in both Federalist #1 and Federalist #85, wrapping the discussion of the new Constitution in concerns with regard to demagoguery. So many of the conspiracies that are pushed by presidents have at their base racism and an effort to fan the flames of racial fear and resentment. Jefferson, Jackson, Johnson, and Wilson all made use of racism as a part of their conspiracies. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency also mines the deep vein of conspiracy theories around moneyed and elite interests, since many presidents cast these interests as predatory and “out to get” the average citizen. This is another constant approach among the presidents from the early days of the republic through to our contemporary “conspirator in chief” Donald Trump. Part of the way that presidents use these kinds of conspiracies is to set up a dichotomy of those who are with the president and those who are against the president, and this latter group is, inevitably, also opposed to the country as a whole and the way of life in the United States. Knott explains that this was the kind of rhetoric that both FDR and Truman used in their implementation of this kind of conspiratorial rhetoric. This also leans on national security as a point of contention, and that those in opposition to the president or the president's policies are also potential threats to the republic. This is another dimension that Trump builds on in his use of this kind of rhetoric and division. In the final part of Conspirator in Chief, Knott sketches out those presidents who go far in standing against this kind of language and these kinds of attacks. Included in this grouping are John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, William Howard Taft, and John F. Kennedy, among others. These individuals leaned into reason more than rumormongering, examining their own biases, and also pointing to the conspiracies that others were advocating. While we learn a great deal about demagogic presidents who stirred up conspiracies based in racism, fear, antisemitism, and classism, we also learn about those who operated differently, who tried to protect the country from such divisive rhetoric. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Political Scientist Steve Knott has a new book that focuses on conspiracy theories within the American presidency and often promulgated by the president himself. This is not, per se, a book about conspiracy theories in general, but about the narratives that presidents have used—that constitutes a kind of conspiracy thinking—to engage voters and push for particular policy ideas and outcomes. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency (UP Kansas, 2025) spans the entire history of the United States, paying close attention to presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and finally Donald Trump. These particular presidents, both during their administrations and after, made use of conspiracies and/or demagogic rhetoric to encourage their supporters and to appeal to public fears. As Knott notes, Alexander Hamilton warns against this in both Federalist #1 and Federalist #85, wrapping the discussion of the new Constitution in concerns with regard to demagoguery. So many of the conspiracies that are pushed by presidents have at their base racism and an effort to fan the flames of racial fear and resentment. Jefferson, Jackson, Johnson, and Wilson all made use of racism as a part of their conspiracies. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency also mines the deep vein of conspiracy theories around moneyed and elite interests, since many presidents cast these interests as predatory and “out to get” the average citizen. This is another constant approach among the presidents from the early days of the republic through to our contemporary “conspirator in chief” Donald Trump. Part of the way that presidents use these kinds of conspiracies is to set up a dichotomy of those who are with the president and those who are against the president, and this latter group is, inevitably, also opposed to the country as a whole and the way of life in the United States. Knott explains that this was the kind of rhetoric that both FDR and Truman used in their implementation of this kind of conspiratorial rhetoric. This also leans on national security as a point of contention, and that those in opposition to the president or the president's policies are also potential threats to the republic. This is another dimension that Trump builds on in his use of this kind of rhetoric and division. In the final part of Conspirator in Chief, Knott sketches out those presidents who go far in standing against this kind of language and these kinds of attacks. Included in this grouping are John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, William Howard Taft, and John F. Kennedy, among others. These individuals leaned into reason more than rumormongering, examining their own biases, and also pointing to the conspiracies that others were advocating. While we learn a great deal about demagogic presidents who stirred up conspiracies based in racism, fear, antisemitism, and classism, we also learn about those who operated differently, who tried to protect the country from such divisive rhetoric. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

What if the way vegans show up in movies, TV, and books is shaping how we're treated in real life?This week, Michele introduces The Olender Test — a simple idea inspired by the Bechdel Test — to explore how vegan characters are portrayed in popular culture.From fruitarians played for laughs to vegan characters reduced to punchlines, Michele walks through a few familiar examples — and highlights what's missing.What IS the connection between media representation and real-life experiences?  It may not be random.This episode brings in a touch of behavioral science — including the availability heuristic and social norms — to explain why repeated portrayals matter more than we think.The Olender Test isn't about perfection.It's not about making every vegan character admirable or inspirational.Can vegans exist in stories as full human beings — without being the joke or the problem?In This EpisodeA simple explanation of the Bechdel Test — and why it still mattersThe introduction of the Olender Test (and how to use it)Examples from film and television: passes, fails, and edge casesWhy vegan representation is often played for laughs — and what that reinforcesThe connection between media, perception, and real-life social dynamicsWhy you might feel the need to “brace” before mentioning you're veganThe Olender Test A film, show, or book passes the Olender Test if:There is a vegan characterThey are a full human being (not just a stereotype or plot device)Their veganism is not treated as a joke or a problemReferenced in This EpisodeThe Midnight Library by The Midnight LibraryMatt Haig on social media:“How to be seen as a militant vegan: gently mention you are vegan.”The Bechdel Test — created by Alison BechdelListener InvitationTry the Olender Test on something you're watching or reading this week.Does it pass?Send Michele your examples — she'd love to feature listener submissions in a future episode.Subscribe & Review:If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us grow and share the message of plant-based living with more listeners.For more information, to submit a question or topic, or to book a free 30 minute Coaching session visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠veganatanyage.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠or email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@micheleolendercoaching.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music, Production, and Editing by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Charlie Weinshank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For inquiries email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠charliewe97@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Virtual Support Services: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://proadminme.com/⁠

When we think of the Bible in the ancient world, we tend to think of bishops, priests and monks. But what did 'ordinary' people make of the Bible – and how did they engage with it? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Biblical Time Machine with Prof Lucy Grigg, an expert on ancient popular culture. Lucy Grig is Professor of the History of Late Antiquity at the University of Edinburgh. Among her many publications, she is the editor of ‘Popular Culture in the Ancient World' (CUP, 2017) and has written on ‘The Bible in popular and non-literary culture' as part of The New Cambridge History of the Bible (2013). Support the showTheme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson. 

Émile Coué genuinely seems to have wanted to help people by teaching them how to plant helpful directives in their subconscious minds. Whether he was effective is something that's still debated. Research: Baldwin, J. Mark, et al. “A Disclaimer.” Science, vol. 12, no. 309, 1900, pp. 850–850. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1629542 Baudouin, Charles. “Émile Coué and His Life’s Work.” American Library Service. New York. 1923. https://digirepo.nlm.nih.gov/ext/dw/55330740R/PDF/55330740R.pdf Baudouin, Charles. “Suggestion and Autosuggestion.” New York. Dodd, Mead and Company, 1921. https://dn720207.ca.archive.org/0/items/suggestionauto00bauduoft/suggestionauto00bauduoft.pdf Britannica Editors. "Émile Coué". Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Feb. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emile-Coué “Coue, After Goodby Lecture, Flees City.” Boston Globe. January 31, 1923. https://www.newspapers.com/image/430295545/ “Coue Explains How to Use Auto-Suggestion.” Boston Globe. January 7, 1923. https://www.newspapers.com/image/430953338/?match=1&terms=Coue COUÉ, EMILE. “SELF MASTERY THROUGH CONSCIOUS AUTOSUGGESTION.” AMERICAN LIBRARY SERVICE PUBLISHERS. NEW YORK. 1922. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27203/27203-h/27203-h.htm “Delirium Tremens.” Cleveland Clinic. June 5, 2023. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/25052-delirium-tremens “EMILE COUÉ DEAD; A MENTAL HEALER; Many Made Well by Saying ‘Every Day, in Every Way, I'm Growing Better and Better.’” New York Times. July 3, 1926. https://www.nytimes.com/1926/07/03/archives/emile-Coué-dead-a-mental-healer-many-made-well-by-saying-every-day.html Heid, Markham. “Is Hypnosis Real? Here’s What Science Says.” Time. March 2, 2023. https://time.com/5380312/is-hypnosis-real-science/ Myga, Kasia A et al. “Autosuggestion: a cognitive process that empowers your brain?.” Experimental brain research 240,2 (2022): 381-394. doi:10.1007/s00221-021-06265-8 Neal, E. Virgil, ed. “Hypnotism and hypnotic suggestion. A scientific treatise on the uses and possibilities of hypnotism, suggestion and allied phenomena.” New York State Publishing Company. Rochester, NY. 1906. https://archive.org/details/hypnotismhypnoti00roch/page/n9/mode/1up “Pliny 1813 Years Ahead of Coue … “ Boston Globe. January 30, 1923. https://www.newspapers.com/image/430295455/?match=1&terms=Coue Rapp, Dean R. “‘Better and Better—’ Couéism as a Psychological Craze of the Twenties in England.” Studies in Popular Culture, vol. 10, no. 2, 1987, pp. 17–36. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23413989 Sage, X. Lamotte. “Hypnotism As It Is: A Book for Everybody.” New York State Publishing Company. Rochester, NY. 1900. Accessed online: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Hypnotism_as_it_is%3B_a_book_for_everybody_%28IA_hypnotismasitisb00sage%29.pdf Sari, N. K. et al.“The role of autosuggestion in geriatric patients’ quality of life: a study on psycho-neuro-endocrine-immunology pathway.” Social Neuroscience, 12(5), pp. 551–559. 2017. doi: 10.1080/17470919.2016.1196243 Schlamann, Marc et al. “Autogenic training alters cerebral activation patterns in fMRI.” The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis 58,4 (2010): 444-56. doi:10.1080/00207144.2010.499347 Whiteside, Thomas. “Better and Better.” The New Yorker. May 9, 1953. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1953/05/16/better-and-better Yeates, Lindsay B. “Émile Coué and his Method (I): The Chemist of Thought and Human Action.” Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, Volume 38, No.1, (Autumn 2016), pp.3-27. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374753633_Emile_Coue_and_his_Method_I_The_Chemist_of_Thought_and_Human_Action See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.