

Joan Wallach Scott
Books /
Joan Wallach Scott
The judgment of history is a fantasy, and history renders no verdict at all, only a record of contention.
We hear a lot these days about the judgment of history. In the face of political conflict, corruption, and sheer lies, we sometimes comfort ourselves by saying that “history” will...
On the Judgment of History
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In a nutshell

We hear a lot these days about the judgment of history. In the face of political conflict, corruption, and sheer lies, we sometimes comfort ourselves by saying that “history” will...
June 2, 2021
June 2, 2021
June 2, 2021

Joan Wallach Scott
Books /
Joan Wallach Scott
The judgment of history is a fantasy, and history renders no verdict at all, only a record of contention.
If a reader happened upon the book in a bookstore, I’d hope they would read the first pages of the introduction, which explains why I came to do the book;...
On the Judgment of History
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If a reader happened upon the book in a bookstore, I’d hope they would read the first pages of the introduction, which explains why I came to do the book;...
June 2, 2021
June 2, 2021
June 2, 2021

Stephen Bates
Books /
Stephen Bates
A Free and Responsible Press (1947) is the most important statement ever produced on the press's role in a democracy.
A Free and Responsible Press is a classic, but many of the Commission’s most incisive and prescient observations didn’t make it into the book. As the transcripts of their meetings...
An Aristocracy of Critics
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The wide angle

A Free and Responsible Press is a classic, but many of the Commission’s most incisive and prescient observations didn’t make it into the book. As the transcripts of their meetings...
May 26, 2021
May 26, 2021
May 26, 2021

Stephen Bates
Books /
Stephen Bates
A Free and Responsible Press (1947) is the most important statement ever produced on the press's role in a democracy.
In 1943, Time Inc. editor-in-chief Henry R. Luce sponsored the greatest collaboration of public intellectuals in the twentieth century. He and University of Chicago president Robert Maynard Hutchins summoned the...
An Aristocracy of Critics
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In a nutshell

In 1943, Time Inc. editor-in-chief Henry R. Luce sponsored the greatest collaboration of public intellectuals in the twentieth century. He and University of Chicago president Robert Maynard Hutchins summoned the...
May 26, 2021
May 26, 2021
May 26, 2021

Stephen Bates
Books /
Stephen Bates
A Free and Responsible Press (1947) is the most important statement on the press in a democracy.
Part of the backdrop to the Commission on Freedom of the Press is the acrimonious relationship between President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration and the press. I knew a bit about...
An Aristocracy of Critics
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Part of the backdrop to the Commission on Freedom of the Press is the acrimonious relationship between President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration and the press. I knew a bit about...
May 26, 2021
May 26, 2021
May 26, 2021
Media & Pop Culture, Politics & Democracy

Eric Weisbard
Books /
Eric Weisbard
The best writing about American popular music comes from non-academics and oddballs who invented their own form.
I have had two careers and this book meets at their intersection. As a Village Voice and Spin rock critic and editor, I came in at the end of the...
Songbooks
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I have had two careers and this book meets at their intersection. As a Village Voice and Spin rock critic and editor, I came in at the end of the...
May 19, 2021
May 19, 2021
May 19, 2021

Eric Weisbard
Books /
Eric Weisbard
The best writing about American popular music comes from non-academics and oddballs.
Songbooks is a book about books on American popular music. It’s a vast subject, and my book covers books from a 1770 collection of psalmody by a tanner in revolutionary...
Songbooks
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In a nutshell

Songbooks is a book about books on American popular music. It’s a vast subject, and my book covers books from a 1770 collection of psalmody by a tanner in revolutionary...
May 19, 2021
May 19, 2021
May 19, 2021
Music & Performance, Literature & Writers

Eric Weisbard
Books /
Eric Weisbard
The best writing about American popular music comes from non-academics and oddballs who invented their own form.
I’d hope that a browsing reader would check out a trio of entries (most are under 1000 words!) and get a sniff of the thing. For example:Early in the book:...
Songbooks
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A close-up

I’d hope that a browsing reader would check out a trio of entries (most are under 1000 words!) and get a sniff of the thing. For example:Early in the book:...
May 19, 2021
May 19, 2021
May 19, 2021

Scott Peeples
Books /
Scott Peeples
Poe was one of many who saw opportunity in the growing cities of the 1830s and 1840s and found frustration.
The book is illustrated with original photographs of “Poe places” by Michelle Van Parys; it also contains a number of archival images, including contemporary maps of the cities where Poe...
The Man of the Crowd
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A close-up

The book is illustrated with original photographs of “Poe places” by Michelle Van Parys; it also contains a number of archival images, including contemporary maps of the cities where Poe...
May 12, 2021
May 12, 2021
May 12, 2021

Scott Peeples
Books /
Scott Peeples
Poe was one of many who saw opportunity in the growing cities of the 1830s and 1840s and found frustration.
The Man of the Crowd is a biography of Edgar Allan Poe that focuses on the four American cities—Richmond, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York—where he made his career as a...
The Man of the Crowd
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In a nutshell

The Man of the Crowd is a biography of Edgar Allan Poe that focuses on the four American cities—Richmond, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York—where he made his career as a...
May 12, 2021
May 12, 2021
May 12, 2021

Scott Peeples
Books /
Scott Peeples
Poe's career is inseparable from the rapid growth of American cities.
At an American Literature conference about eight years ago, I presented a paper with the title “No Place Like Home”, which proposed that what the field of Poe biography had...
The Man of the Crowd
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The wide angle

At an American Literature conference about eight years ago, I presented a paper with the title “No Place Like Home”, which proposed that what the field of Poe biography had...
May 12, 2021
May 12, 2021
May 12, 2021
Literature & Writers, Cities & Urban Life

Glenn E. Robinson
Books /
Glenn E. Robinson
Global jihad is not one movement but four distinct waves.
There are two main audiences for this book. First, anyone interested in the history of the global jihad movement, including its intellectual precursors, its development, its ideologies, and its structural...
Global Jihad
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The wide angle

There are two main audiences for this book. First, anyone interested in the history of the global jihad movement, including its intellectual precursors, its development, its ideologies, and its structural...
May 5, 2021
May 5, 2021
May 5, 2021
War & Conflict, Religion & Belief

Glenn E. Robinson
Books /
Glenn E. Robinson
Global jihad is four distinct waves, and it belongs with white nationalism and the Khmer Rouge among movements of rage.
In Global Jihad I make two unique arguments. First, I provide an interpretive history of this important movement by showing how there have been four distinct iterations, or “waves”, of...
Global Jihad
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In a nutshell

In Global Jihad I make two unique arguments. First, I provide an interpretive history of this important movement by showing how there have been four distinct iterations, or “waves”, of...
May 5, 2021
May 5, 2021
May 5, 2021

Glenn E. Robinson
Books /
Glenn E. Robinson
Global jihad is four distinct waves, and it belongs with white nationalism and the Khmer Rouge among movements of rage.
A “just browsing” reader would be well-served by reading the very short, 3-page Preface to get a better sense of what the whole book is about. Indeed, the scope of...
Global Jihad
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A close-up

A “just browsing” reader would be well-served by reading the very short, 3-page Preface to get a better sense of what the whole book is about. Indeed, the scope of...
May 5, 2021
May 5, 2021
May 5, 2021

Richard Toye
Books /
Richard Toye
Press freedom survived Churchill's near-shutdown of the Daily Mirror because of institutional restraints and because rival papers rallied to it.
Although it is a book about one person it is also about the development of the media over a period of nine decades. It is very intriguing to consider how the press operates now and how...
Winston Churchill
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Although it is a book about one person it is also about the development of the media over a period of nine decades. It is very intriguing to consider how the press operates now and how...
April 28, 2021
April 28, 2021
April 28, 2021

Richard Toye
Books /
Richard Toye
Press freedom survived Churchill because institutions and rival papers stood together.
I have to say the first pages in the book should be read first because I deliberately wrote them in order to draw the reader in. They tell of an...
Winston Churchill
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A close-up

I have to say the first pages in the book should be read first because I deliberately wrote them in order to draw the reader in. They tell of an...
April 28, 2021
April 28, 2021
April 28, 2021
Media & Pop Culture, Politics & Democracy

Richard Toye
Books /
Richard Toye
Press freedom survived Churchill's near-shutdown of the Daily Mirror because of institutional restraints and because rival papers rallied to it.
The book is about Winston Churchill’s relationship with the media and the news. Churchill was active in politics from the age of Queen Victoria to that of Elizabeth II, a...
Winston Churchill
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In a nutshell

The book is about Winston Churchill’s relationship with the media and the news. Churchill was active in politics from the age of Queen Victoria to that of Elizabeth II, a...
April 28, 2021
April 28, 2021
April 28, 2021

David Sulzer
Books /
David Sulzer
The physics and neuroscience behind every musical style can be taught with grade-school arithmetic, and conservatories teach none of it.
Perhaps the best way for a reader to begin is to peruse the questions that start each chapter and find ones that are of interest to them. The answers can...
Music, Math, and Mind
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Perhaps the best way for a reader to begin is to peruse the questions that start each chapter and find ones that are of interest to them. The answers can...
April 21, 2021
April 21, 2021
April 21, 2021

David Sulzer
Books /
David Sulzer
The physics and neuroscience behind every musical style can be taught with grade-school arithmetic, and conservatories teach none of it.
There are more styles of human music than there are human societies. But underlying all of them, even paleolithic styles, which can be deduced from surviving instruments in caves made...
Music, Math, and Mind
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The wide angle

There are more styles of human music than there are human societies. But underlying all of them, even paleolithic styles, which can be deduced from surviving instruments in caves made...
April 21, 2021
April 21, 2021
April 21, 2021

David Sulzer
Books /
David Sulzer
The science of music can be taught to any musician with grade-school arithmetic.
Music, Math, and Mind is written for musicians and music lovers, and will take them through a journey that uncovers the science of music and sound. Because artists and art...
Music, Math, and Mind
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In a nutshell

Music, Math, and Mind is written for musicians and music lovers, and will take them through a journey that uncovers the science of music and sound. Because artists and art...
April 21, 2021
April 21, 2021
April 21, 2021
Music & Performance, Science & Nature, Mind & Brain

Kiran K. Patel
Books /
Kiran K. Patel
For most of its history the European Community was a narrow economic organization with little direct effect on people's lives.
Project Europe offers a radically different interpretation of the European Union’s history. It shifts the focus away from the motives and driving forces of European integration to the concrete effects...
Project Europe
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In a nutshell

Project Europe offers a radically different interpretation of the European Union’s history. It shifts the focus away from the motives and driving forces of European integration to the concrete effects...
April 14, 2021
April 14, 2021
April 14, 2021

Kiran K. Patel
Books /
Kiran K. Patel
The EU's present importance cannot be read back into its past.
By studying the history of the European Union, the book argues that the current crises are not as unique as we might think. Even Brexit is not as singular and...
Project Europe
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A close-up

By studying the history of the European Union, the book argues that the current crises are not as unique as we might think. Even Brexit is not as singular and...
April 14, 2021
April 14, 2021
April 14, 2021
Politics & Democracy

Kiran K. Patel
Books /
Kiran K. Patel
For most of its history the European Community was a narrow economic organization with little direct effect on people's lives.
The book’s eight chapters address the key dimensions associated with the history of the European Enion. Did the predecessors of today’s EU really create peace after the Second World War,...
Project Europe
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The wide angle

The book’s eight chapters address the key dimensions associated with the history of the European Enion. Did the predecessors of today’s EU really create peace after the Second World War,...
April 14, 2021
April 14, 2021
April 14, 2021

Douglas B. Downey
Books /
Douglas B. Downey
Schools do not create socioeconomic achievement gaps and modestly narrow them, so school reform is the wrong lever.
If you believe that widely unequal schools are responsible for achievement gaps, open my book to page 17 and look at Figure 2.1. That figure shows that high-SES children are...
How Schools Really Matter
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A close-up

If you believe that widely unequal schools are responsible for achievement gaps, open my book to page 17 and look at Figure 2.1. That figure shows that high-SES children are...
April 7, 2021
April 7, 2021
April 7, 2021

Douglas B. Downey
Books /
Douglas B. Downey
Schools do not create socioeconomic achievement gaps and modestly narrow them, so school reform is the wrong lever.
I began exploring the relationship between schools and inequality after reading the 1992 article entitled “Summer Setback” by Doris Entwisle and Karl Alexander. The authors showed that gaps in math...
How Schools Really Matter
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The wide angle

I began exploring the relationship between schools and inequality after reading the 1992 article entitled “Summer Setback” by Doris Entwisle and Karl Alexander. The authors showed that gaps in math...
April 7, 2021
April 7, 2021
April 7, 2021

Douglas B. Downey
Books /
Douglas B. Downey
Schools do not create socioeconomic achievement gaps but modestly narrow them.
This book is about understanding how schools influence achievement gaps. The traditional story is that schools are part of the problem and that large differences in school quality make achievement...
How Schools Really Matter
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In a nutshell

This book is about understanding how schools influence achievement gaps. The traditional story is that schools are part of the problem and that large differences in school quality make achievement...
April 7, 2021
April 7, 2021
April 7, 2021
Education & Universities, Race & Inequality
.webp)
Archie Brown
Books /
Archie Brown
New ideas and leaders, Gorbachev above all, ended the Cold War, and the Soviet Union was never forced to yield.
How did your professional path lead you to this book? I’ve always been interested in political leadership, both in democracies and in highly authoritarian systems. My earliest articles in academic journals—in...
The Human Factor
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.webp)
How did your professional path lead you to this book? I’ve always been interested in political leadership, both in democracies and in highly authoritarian systems. My earliest articles in academic journals—in...
March 31, 2021
March 31, 2021
March 31, 2021
.webp)
Archie Brown
Books /
Archie Brown
New ideas and leaders, Gorbachev above all, ended the Cold War, and the Soviet Union was never forced to yield.
There are different explanations of why the Cold War ended. What is distinctive about your interpretation of it? The two most popular explanations are that the Cold War ended when it...
The Human Factor
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The wide angle
.webp)
There are different explanations of why the Cold War ended. What is distinctive about your interpretation of it? The two most popular explanations are that the Cold War ended when it...
March 31, 2021
March 31, 2021
March 31, 2021
.webp)
Archie Brown
Books /
Archie Brown
The Cold War was ended by new ideas and leaders, not by forcing the Soviets to yield.
What is your new book all about? It’s about the biggest political event of the second half of the twentieth century—the end of the Cold War. Linked to that was the...
The Human Factor
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In a nutshell
.webp)
What is your new book all about? It’s about the biggest political event of the second half of the twentieth century—the end of the Cold War. Linked to that was the...
March 31, 2021
March 31, 2021
March 31, 2021
Politics & Democracy


Jonathan Petropoulos
Books /
Jonathan Petropoulos
The respectable postwar art world absorbed the Nazi plunderers, because profit drives the art market hard enough to override provenance.
Göring’s Man in Paris is about the art world, and how profit is such a driving force that one of the greatest art plunderers of all time could insinuate himself...
Göring's Man in Paris
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Göring’s Man in Paris is about the art world, and how profit is such a driving force that one of the greatest art plunderers of all time could insinuate himself...
March 24, 2021
March 24, 2021
March 24, 2021


Jonathan Petropoulos
Books /
Jonathan Petropoulos
The respectable postwar art world absorbed the Nazi art plunderers.
Göring’s Man in Paris is about three things: first, it is a detailed portrait of a Nazi art plunderer (Dr. Bruno Lohse); second, it tells the story of what happened...
Göring's Man in Paris
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In a nutshell

Göring’s Man in Paris is about three things: first, it is a detailed portrait of a Nazi art plunderer (Dr. Bruno Lohse); second, it tells the story of what happened...
March 24, 2021
March 24, 2021
March 24, 2021
Art & Design, War & Conflict


Jonathan Petropoulos
Books /
Jonathan Petropoulos
The respectable postwar art world absorbed the Nazi plunderers, because profit drives the art market hard enough to override provenance.
For a closer look, I would direct the reader to the section on the relationship between Theodore (“Ted”) Rousseau and Bruno Lohse. Rousseau, the former OSS officer who interrogated Lohse...
Göring's Man in Paris
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A close-up

For a closer look, I would direct the reader to the section on the relationship between Theodore (“Ted”) Rousseau and Bruno Lohse. Rousseau, the former OSS officer who interrogated Lohse...
March 24, 2021
March 24, 2021
March 24, 2021

Jon Butler
Books /
Jon Butler
Modernity refreshed religion, and between the 1880s and 1940s Manhattan produced more religious institutions than any other American locale.
Browsing readers might try Chapter 5, “God’s Urban Hothouse.” Anyone doubtful about religiosity in early and mid-twentieth-century Manhattan might profitably turn to this chapter, which describes Manhattan as a modern...
God in Gotham
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A close-up

Browsing readers might try Chapter 5, “God’s Urban Hothouse.” Anyone doubtful about religiosity in early and mid-twentieth-century Manhattan might profitably turn to this chapter, which describes Manhattan as a modern...
March 17, 2021
March 17, 2021
March 17, 2021

Jon Butler
Books /
Jon Butler
Modernity refreshed religion, and between the 1880s and 1940s Manhattan produced more religious institutions than any other American locale.
God in Gotham is meant to trace the unexpected and widely unnoticed resilience of traditional organized religion in early twentieth-century Manhattan—Protestantism, Catholicism, and Judaism—when Weber worried about “disenchantment” and religious...
God in Gotham
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The wide angle

God in Gotham is meant to trace the unexpected and widely unnoticed resilience of traditional organized religion in early twentieth-century Manhattan—Protestantism, Catholicism, and Judaism—when Weber worried about “disenchantment” and religious...
March 17, 2021
March 17, 2021
March 17, 2021

Jon Butler
Books /
Jon Butler
Modernity refreshed religion instead of killing it.
Max Weber, the German sociologist, and his wife Marianne weren’t impressed with Manhattan’s spirituality when they visited New York City during their 1904 trip to the United States. They probed...
God in Gotham
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In a nutshell

Max Weber, the German sociologist, and his wife Marianne weren’t impressed with Manhattan’s spirituality when they visited New York City during their 1904 trip to the United States. They probed...
March 17, 2021
March 17, 2021
March 17, 2021
Religion & Belief, Cities & Urban Life

Karl Gerth
Books /
Karl Gerth
The People's Republic was a variety of industrial capitalism, and the Communist revolution accelerated capitalism rather than ending it.
At the heart of Unending Capitalism (and my two other books) is the concept of consumerism. Consumerism—especially compared to identity, race, ethnicity, gender, and class—is underappreciated as a driving force...
Unending Capitalism
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The wide angle

At the heart of Unending Capitalism (and my two other books) is the concept of consumerism. Consumerism—especially compared to identity, race, ethnicity, gender, and class—is underappreciated as a driving force...
March 10, 2021
March 10, 2021
March 10, 2021

Karl Gerth
Books /
Karl Gerth
The People's Republic was a variety of industrial capitalism, and the Communist revolution accelerated capitalism rather than ending it.
My book invites readers to contemplate the larger significance of easily overlooked mass produced things. If they were to skim the book, they would encounter dozens of photos and illustrations...
Unending Capitalism
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A close-up

My book invites readers to contemplate the larger significance of easily overlooked mass produced things. If they were to skim the book, they would encounter dozens of photos and illustrations...
March 10, 2021
March 10, 2021
March 10, 2021

Karl Gerth
Books /
Karl Gerth
The People's Republic was not the opposite of capitalism but a variety of it.
My book reconsiders the history of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since 1949 from a novel perspective: the spread of consumerism in a self-proclaimed communist country. The book title, Unending...
Unending Capitalism
Read the thread →
In a nutshell

My book reconsiders the history of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since 1949 from a novel perspective: the spread of consumerism in a self-proclaimed communist country. The book title, Unending...
March 10, 2021
March 10, 2021
March 10, 2021
Economics & Business, Everyday Life & Anthropology

Frank A. Guridy
Books /
Frank A. Guridy
Sport opened to marginalized athletes in the 1960s and 1970s on white owners' terms, and commercialization then undid the gains.
Since childhood, I have been passionate about sports. I played baseball in my youth, but I am embarrassed to admit that I was—and still am—a sports geek who could recite...
The Sports Revolution
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The wide angle

Since childhood, I have been passionate about sports. I played baseball in my youth, but I am embarrassed to admit that I was—and still am—a sports geek who could recite...
March 3, 2021
March 3, 2021
March 3, 2021

Frank A. Guridy
Books /
Frank A. Guridy
Big-time American sport opened to marginalized athletes on terms white owners set.
When first readers pick up The Sports Revolution, they might assume that it is yet another book about football in Texas, and with good reason. H.G. Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights,...
The Sports Revolution
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A close-up

When first readers pick up The Sports Revolution, they might assume that it is yet another book about football in Texas, and with good reason. H.G. Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights,...
March 3, 2021
March 3, 2021
March 3, 2021
Sports & Games, Race & Inequality

Frank A. Guridy
Books /
Frank A. Guridy
Sport opened to marginalized athletes in the 1960s and 1970s on white owners' terms, and commercialization then undid the gains.
The Sports Revolution tells the story of the impact of the Civil Rights and Second-Wave feminist movements on the world of big-time professional and collegiate sports in the United States...
The Sports Revolution
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In a nutshell

The Sports Revolution tells the story of the impact of the Civil Rights and Second-Wave feminist movements on the world of big-time professional and collegiate sports in the United States...
March 3, 2021
March 3, 2021
March 3, 2021

Charles A. Kupchan
Books /
Charles A. Kupchan
Isolationism was the dominant American statecraft from the founding to Pearl Harbor, and it served the nation well.
I would encourage readers to start with the Preface. There they will find a concise summary of the intellectual journey that prompted me to write Isolationism and of the book’s...
Isolationism
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A close-up

I would encourage readers to start with the Preface. There they will find a concise summary of the intellectual journey that prompted me to write Isolationism and of the book’s...
February 24, 2021
February 25, 2021
February 26, 2021

Charles A. Kupchan
Books /
Charles A. Kupchan
Isolationism was the dominant American statecraft from the founding to Pearl Harbor, and it served the nation well.
It was during the 1990s, after the end of the Cold War, that I first contemplated writing a book about the history of isolationism. During that decade, Americans seemed to...
Isolationism
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The wide angle

It was during the 1990s, after the end of the Cold War, that I first contemplated writing a book about the history of isolationism. During that decade, Americans seemed to...
February 24, 2021
February 25, 2021
February 26, 2021

Charles A. Kupchan
Books /
Charles A. Kupchan
Isolationism was not an aberration but America's dominant statecraft until Pearl Harbor.
This is the first book to tell the fascinating story of American isolationism across the full arc of U.S. history. The United States that we know today has dominated global...
Isolationism
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In a nutshell

This is the first book to tell the fascinating story of American isolationism across the full arc of U.S. history. The United States that we know today has dominated global...
February 24, 2021
February 25, 2021
February 26, 2021
Politics & Democracy

Firmin DeBrabander
Books /
Firmin DeBrabander
Privacy is a recent, incoherent institution, and its loss is not the threat to democracy its defenders fear.
Life After Privacy examines the grave threat to privacy in the digital age, and its political implications. Unlike other writings on the topic, Life After Privacy does not lament or...
Life After Privacy
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In a nutshell

Life After Privacy examines the grave threat to privacy in the digital age, and its political implications. Unlike other writings on the topic, Life After Privacy does not lament or...
February 17, 2021
February 17, 2021
February 17, 2021

Firmin DeBrabander
Books /
Firmin DeBrabander
The loss of privacy is not the threat to democracy we fear.
Chapter 1 of Life After Privacy is an ideal first look for the average reader. This chapter examines our curious, conflicted relationship to privacy. We may say that privacy is...
Life After Privacy
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A close-up

Chapter 1 of Life After Privacy is an ideal first look for the average reader. This chapter examines our curious, conflicted relationship to privacy. We may say that privacy is...
February 17, 2021
February 17, 2021
February 17, 2021
Politics & Democracy, Philosophy & Ideas

Firmin DeBrabander
Books /
Firmin DeBrabander
Privacy is a recent, incoherent institution, and its loss is not the threat to democracy its defenders fear.
More broadly, this book concerns the nature of democracy, and disputes the notion that individual citizens are its foundation. I agree with the American philosopher John Dewey, who claimed that...
Life After Privacy
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The wide angle

More broadly, this book concerns the nature of democracy, and disputes the notion that individual citizens are its foundation. I agree with the American philosopher John Dewey, who claimed that...
February 17, 2021
February 17, 2021
February 17, 2021

Ray Brescia
Books /
Ray Brescia
New communications technologies open moments in which activists reinvent how change happens.
I hope readers would start with the first few pages of the book. In the introduction, I recount the story of how the American Legion advocated for passage of the...
The Future of Change
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A close-up

I hope readers would start with the first few pages of the book. In the introduction, I recount the story of how the American Legion advocated for passage of the...
February 10, 2021
February 10, 2021
February 10, 2021
Politics & Democracy, Media & Pop Culture

Ray Brescia
Books /
Ray Brescia
The 1970s shift from chapter organizing to centralized professional advocacy was driven substantially by one technology, the computerized mailing list.
The Future of Change uncovers the relationships between advances in communications technologies and the rise and success of some of the iconic social movements over the course of American history. Advances...
The Future of Change
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In a nutshell

The Future of Change uncovers the relationships between advances in communications technologies and the rise and success of some of the iconic social movements over the course of American history. Advances...
February 10, 2021
February 10, 2021
February 10, 2021

Ray Brescia
Books /
Ray Brescia
The 1970s shift from chapter organizing to centralized professional advocacy was driven substantially by one technology, the computerized mailing list.
The book builds on the work of scholars who have noted that social movements changed their shape and focus in the 1970s to become more top-down and professionalized. In the...
The Future of Change
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The wide angle

The book builds on the work of scholars who have noted that social movements changed their shape and focus in the 1970s to become more top-down and professionalized. In the...
February 10, 2021
February 10, 2021
February 10, 2021

Howard Gardner
Books /
Howard Gardner
Synthesizing is a distinct capacity, the most important kind of mind for this century, and schools do not teach it.
As has become the practice these days, the book’s preface summarizes the book’s aims and content, as I have just done. No need to repeat those 1000 words here. But...
A Synthesizing Mind
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A close-up

As has become the practice these days, the book’s preface summarizes the book’s aims and content, as I have just done. No need to repeat those 1000 words here. But...
February 3, 2021
February 3, 2021
February 3, 2021

Howard Gardner
Books /
Howard Gardner
Synthesizing is a distinct kind of mind, the most important one for this century.
A Synthesizing Mind is my intellectual memoir. It’s a ‘memoir’ in the sense that I reflect on my life; it’s ‘intellectual’ in that it focuses chiefly on my life as...
A Synthesizing Mind
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In a nutshell

A Synthesizing Mind is my intellectual memoir. It’s a ‘memoir’ in the sense that I reflect on my life; it’s ‘intellectual’ in that it focuses chiefly on my life as...
February 3, 2021
February 3, 2021
February 3, 2021
Mind & Brain, Education & Universities

Howard Gardner
Books /
Howard Gardner
Synthesizing is a distinct capacity, the most important kind of mind for this century, and schools do not teach it.
In recent years, especially in the United States, our schools have focused largely on the mastery of information, which can be probed in a short answer assessment. This is exactly...
A Synthesizing Mind
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The wide angle

In recent years, especially in the United States, our schools have focused largely on the mastery of information, which can be probed in a short answer assessment. This is exactly...
February 3, 2021
February 3, 2021
February 3, 2021

Ruth DeFries
Books /
Ruth DeFries
Ever-greater efficiency is the wrong design goal, and it is what has made modern food, water and supply systems fragile.
What Would Nature Do? is unabashedly human-centric. It is about strategies that humans—the big-brained, ingenious animal that we are—can learn from nature’s experience to improve our prospects of prospering on...
What Would Nature Do? A Guide for Our Uncertain Times
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In a nutshell

What Would Nature Do? is unabashedly human-centric. It is about strategies that humans—the big-brained, ingenious animal that we are—can learn from nature’s experience to improve our prospects of prospering on...
January 27, 2021
January 27, 2021
January 27, 2021

Ruth DeFries
Books /
Ruth DeFries
Ever-greater efficiency is the wrong design goal, and it is what has made modern food, water and supply systems fragile.
The book has separate chapters for each of the four strategies. My favorite chapter is the one about the fourth strategy, titled “One Size Fits No One.” It’s about how...
What Would Nature Do? A Guide for Our Uncertain Times
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A close-up

The book has separate chapters for each of the four strategies. My favorite chapter is the one about the fourth strategy, titled “One Size Fits No One.” It’s about how...
January 27, 2021
January 27, 2021
January 27, 2021

Ruth DeFries
Books /
Ruth DeFries
Ever-greater efficiency has made modern food, water and supply systems fragile.
The motivation for the book comes from the uncertain future that faces humanity. The twentieth century, as I wrote in my previous book, The Big Ratchet, was an extraordinary time...
What Would Nature Do? A Guide for Our Uncertain Times
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The wide angle

The motivation for the book comes from the uncertain future that faces humanity. The twentieth century, as I wrote in my previous book, The Big Ratchet, was an extraordinary time...
January 27, 2021
January 27, 2021
January 27, 2021
Environment & Climate, Science & Nature

Jack N. Rakove
Books /
Jack N. Rakove
Disestablishment is what let American religion flourish, and the higher the wall, the happier we collectively are.
The argument of Beyond Belief, Beyond Conscience rests on two claims about the importance of religious liberty to our broader constitutional tradition. First, of all the rights we possess, the...
Beyond Belief, Beyond Conscience
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In a nutshell

The argument of Beyond Belief, Beyond Conscience rests on two claims about the importance of religious liberty to our broader constitutional tradition. First, of all the rights we possess, the...
January 20, 2021
January 20, 2021
January 20, 2021

Jack N. Rakove
Books /
Jack N. Rakove
Disestablishment is what let American religion flourish, and the higher the wall, the happier we collectively are.
I am a linear writer as well as a linear reader (though in suspenseful novels I sometimes look ahead and then get mad at myself for hitting upon some spoiler...
Beyond Belief, Beyond Conscience
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A close-up

I am a linear writer as well as a linear reader (though in suspenseful novels I sometimes look ahead and then get mad at myself for hitting upon some spoiler...
January 20, 2021
January 20, 2021
January 20, 2021

Jack N. Rakove
Books /
Jack N. Rakove
Separating church and state is what let American religion flourish.
Many studies of religious liberty follow one of two paths. One essentially involves a study of ideas, and tries to explain how great thinkers, like St. Augustine, either justified the...
Beyond Belief, Beyond Conscience
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The wide angle

Many studies of religious liberty follow one of two paths. One essentially involves a study of ideas, and tries to explain how great thinkers, like St. Augustine, either justified the...
January 20, 2021
January 20, 2021
January 20, 2021
Religion & Belief, Law & Justice

Sujatha Fernandes
Books /
Sujatha Fernandes
Scarcity produced Cuba's post-Soviet cultural flowering, and the hustle is an ethos of collective struggle rather than entrepreneurialism.
I mentioned earlier the key idea of the Cuban hustle that frames the book. It is this culture of invention and everyday hustle that has helped maintain the spirit of...
The Cuban Hustle
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The wide angle

I mentioned earlier the key idea of the Cuban hustle that frames the book. It is this culture of invention and everyday hustle that has helped maintain the spirit of...
January 13, 2021
January 13, 2021
January 13, 2021

Sujatha Fernandes
Books /
Sujatha Fernandes
Cuba's post-Soviet cultural flowering came from scarcity, not liberalization.
The Cuban Hustle documents the myriad ways in which ordinary Cubans have sought to survive, hustle, and invent alternative cultures in the twenty-year period following the collapse of the Soviet...
The Cuban Hustle
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In a nutshell

The Cuban Hustle documents the myriad ways in which ordinary Cubans have sought to survive, hustle, and invent alternative cultures in the twenty-year period following the collapse of the Soviet...
January 13, 2021
January 13, 2021
January 13, 2021
Everyday Life & Anthropology, Music & Performance

Sujatha Fernandes
Books /
Sujatha Fernandes
Scarcity produced Cuba's post-Soviet cultural flowering, and the hustle is an ethos of collective struggle rather than entrepreneurialism.
I hope readers who encounter the book at a bookstore might flip to the back of the book and see the ingenious and creative projects Cubans are creating, even in...
The Cuban Hustle
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A close-up

I hope readers who encounter the book at a bookstore might flip to the back of the book and see the ingenious and creative projects Cubans are creating, even in...
January 13, 2021
January 13, 2021
January 13, 2021

Cathy A. Small
Books /
Cathy A. Small
No part of homeless life happens apart from the housed, whose assumptions and blind spots are complicit in US homelessness.
This book offers intimate, personal stories, but they are connected to a wider trajectory of our country over the last sixty years. My own coming of age in the 1960s...
The Man in the Dog Park
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The wide angle

This book offers intimate, personal stories, but they are connected to a wider trajectory of our country over the last sixty years. My own coming of age in the 1960s...
January 6, 2021
January 6, 2021
January 6, 2021

Cathy A. Small
Books /
Cathy A. Small
The assumptions and blind spots of housed people are complicit in US homelessness.
The Man in the Dog Park describes the experience of homelessness from a homeless point of view. Co-authored with a homeless man, the book is based on scores of interviews...
The Man in the Dog Park
Read the thread →
In a nutshell

The Man in the Dog Park describes the experience of homelessness from a homeless point of view. Co-authored with a homeless man, the book is based on scores of interviews...
January 6, 2021
January 6, 2021
January 6, 2021
Everyday Life & Anthropology, Race & Inequality

Cathy A. Small
Books /
Cathy A. Small
No part of homeless life happens apart from the housed, whose assumptions and blind spots are complicit in US homelessness.
There are so many encounters, described in the book, which continue to affect me. Maybe the reader would stumble on one of them and see its poignancy.A strapping, homeless, youth...
The Man in the Dog Park
Read the thread →
A close-up

There are so many encounters, described in the book, which continue to affect me. Maybe the reader would stumble on one of them and see its poignancy.A strapping, homeless, youth...
January 6, 2021
January 6, 2021
January 6, 2021

David Badre
Books /
David Badre
Cognitive control, a separate function mapping knowledge onto action, is what lets humans perform tasks they have never done before.
On any given day, we accomplish a wide range of tasks from big long-term goals down to the simplest chores like making a cup of coffee. If we have a...
On Task
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In a nutshell

On any given day, we accomplish a wide range of tasks from big long-term goals down to the simplest chores like making a cup of coffee. If we have a...
December 16, 2020
December 16, 2020
December 16, 2020

David Badre
Books /
David Badre
Cognitive control, a separate function mapping knowledge onto action, is what lets humans perform tasks they have never done before.
Cognitive control and its mechanisms in the brain affect just about everything we do. They affect our ability to be productive, to multitask, to resist our impulses, to navigate our...
On Task
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The wide angle

Cognitive control and its mechanisms in the brain affect just about everything we do. They affect our ability to be productive, to multitask, to resist our impulses, to navigate our...
December 16, 2020
December 16, 2020
December 16, 2020

David Badre
Books /
David Badre
Knowing what to do and wanting to do it is not enough to make it happen.
Curious readers who start with the first chapter are introduced to a puzzle that seems trivial yet is such a mystery that science still doesn’t have a full answer to...
On Task
Read the thread →
A close-up

Curious readers who start with the first chapter are introduced to a puzzle that seems trivial yet is such a mystery that science still doesn’t have a full answer to...
December 16, 2020
December 16, 2020
December 16, 2020
Mind & Brain

Paul J. Heald
Books /
Paul J. Heald
Copyright makes books disappear, and in 2011 Amazon sold far more new editions of 1880s books than 1980s books.
Our earliest attitudes about copyright law are probably formed by elementary school teachers admonishing us not to copy. Seeing little Johnny and Suzy sent to the principal’s office for plagiarism...
Copy This Book! What Data Tells Us about Copyright and the Public Good
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In a nutshell

Our earliest attitudes about copyright law are probably formed by elementary school teachers admonishing us not to copy. Seeing little Johnny and Suzy sent to the principal’s office for plagiarism...
December 12, 2020
December 12, 2020
December 12, 2020

Paul J. Heald
Books /
Paul J. Heald
American copyright makes books disappear.
Most of us don’t understand the profound impact copyright law has on our lives. Most have a sense that copyright protection should be designed to incentivize new creations, but we...
Copy This Book! What Data Tells Us about Copyright and the Public Good
Read the thread →
The wide angle

Most of us don’t understand the profound impact copyright law has on our lives. Most have a sense that copyright protection should be designed to incentivize new creations, but we...
December 12, 2020
December 12, 2020
December 12, 2020
Law & Justice, Media & Pop Culture

Paul J. Heald
Books /
Paul J. Heald
Copyright makes books disappear, and in 2011 Amazon sold far more new editions of 1880s books than 1980s books.
Apart from the Amazon graph depicted in the previous section, I would love a browsing reader to encounter the photograph on page 10 of the book showing workers perched on...
Copy This Book! What Data Tells Us about Copyright and the Public Good
Read the thread →
A close-up

Apart from the Amazon graph depicted in the previous section, I would love a browsing reader to encounter the photograph on page 10 of the book showing workers perched on...
December 12, 2020
December 12, 2020
December 12, 2020

Robert Bartlett
Books /
Robert Bartlett
Medieval politics was shaped by the biology of ruling families.
A “just browsing” feminist could turn to the chapter on female sovereigns to find out about how some countries, at some times, were ruled by women. I counted 27 examples....
Blood Royal
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A close-up

A “just browsing” feminist could turn to the chapter on female sovereigns to find out about how some countries, at some times, were ruled by women. I counted 27 examples....
November 18, 2020
November 18, 2020
November 18, 2020
Politics & Democracy

Robert Bartlett
Books /
Robert Bartlett
Where medieval kings had many partners and every child could inherit, violence was high but dynasties almost never died out.
Most countries in medieval Europe were monarchies, ruled by a royal or imperial family, a dynasty, so politics at the top level was shaped by the births, marriages, and deaths...
Blood Royal
Read the thread →
In a nutshell

Most countries in medieval Europe were monarchies, ruled by a royal or imperial family, a dynasty, so politics at the top level was shaped by the births, marriages, and deaths...
November 18, 2020
November 18, 2020
November 18, 2020

Robert Bartlett
Books /
Robert Bartlett
Where medieval kings had many partners and every child could inherit, violence was high but dynasties almost never died out.
I think the material in the book has relevance to issues beyond medieval Europe. For instance, anyone interested in family structures and family strategies could find useful comparative material here....
Blood Royal
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The wide angle

I think the material in the book has relevance to issues beyond medieval Europe. For instance, anyone interested in family structures and family strategies could find useful comparative material here....
November 18, 2020
November 18, 2020
November 18, 2020

Ellen Wayland-Smith
Books /
Ellen Wayland-Smith
Free-market orthodoxy won by 1960 on cultural ground, as advertising fused conservative Protestant womanhood with market faith.
I found Jean Wade Rindlaub’s archive at the Schlesinger Library in the course of researching my first book, Oneida: From Free Love Utopia to the Well-Set Table. In that book...
The Angel in the Marketplace
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The wide angle

I found Jean Wade Rindlaub’s archive at the Schlesinger Library in the course of researching my first book, Oneida: From Free Love Utopia to the Well-Set Table. In that book...
October 28, 2020
October 28, 2020
October 28, 2020

Ellen Wayland-Smith
Books /
Ellen Wayland-Smith
Free-market orthodoxy won by 1960 on cultural ground, as advertising fused conservative Protestant womanhood with market faith.
One of the chapters I had the most fun writing was Chapter 7, “Believing in Betty Crocker,” if only because the advertising strategy Rindlaub devised to sell cake mixes is...
The Angel in the Marketplace
Read the thread →
A close-up

One of the chapters I had the most fun writing was Chapter 7, “Believing in Betty Crocker,” if only because the advertising strategy Rindlaub devised to sell cake mixes is...
October 28, 2020
October 28, 2020
October 28, 2020

Ellen Wayland-Smith
Books /
Ellen Wayland-Smith
Free-market faith won America by 1960 on cultural ground, not economic ground.
The Angel in the Marketplace is a biography of Jean Wade Rindlaub, a mid-century adwoman widely recognized on Madison Avenue for her success in marketing household products to American housewives,...
The Angel in the Marketplace
Read the thread →
In a nutshell

The Angel in the Marketplace is a biography of Jean Wade Rindlaub, a mid-century adwoman widely recognized on Madison Avenue for her success in marketing household products to American housewives,...
October 28, 2020
October 28, 2020
October 28, 2020
Economics & Business, Gender & Sexuality

Gerald R. North
Books /
Gerald R. North
Climate science became a science in the late 1960s, when physics displaced data collection and description as its paradigm.
The Rise of Climate Science is about my life and its parallel with the rise of climate science. The book starts with my early life as an only child in...
The Rise of Climate Science
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In a nutshell

The Rise of Climate Science is about my life and its parallel with the rise of climate science. The book starts with my early life as an only child in...
October 14, 2020
October 14, 2020
October 14, 2020

Gerald R. North
Books /
Gerald R. North
Climate science became a true science in the late 1960s, when physics took over.
The book is full of stories connected with each of these segments of my life. I hope different browsers will first look at the table of contents, then open to...
The Rise of Climate Science
Read the thread →
A close-up

The book is full of stories connected with each of these segments of my life. I hope different browsers will first look at the table of contents, then open to...
October 14, 2020
October 14, 2020
October 14, 2020
Science & Nature, Environment & Climate

Gerald R. North
Books /
Gerald R. North
Climate science became a science in the late 1960s, when physics displaced data collection and description as its paradigm.
I describe my experiences and observations over a career that has grown parallel to a field of scientific and practical interest that has grown from raw data collection to its...
The Rise of Climate Science
Read the thread →
The wide angle

I describe my experiences and observations over a career that has grown parallel to a field of scientific and practical interest that has grown from raw data collection to its...
October 14, 2020
October 14, 2020
October 14, 2020

David Sepkoski
Books /
David Sepkoski
Valuing biodiversity for its own sake is a recent invention that followed the acceptance of mass extinction in the 1970s.
Scientific and cultural spheres are not separate but intertwined, and have been, since the emergence of professional scientific disciplines more than 200 years ago. Science is, like art, politics, economics,...
Catastrophic Thinking
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The wide angle

Scientific and cultural spheres are not separate but intertwined, and have been, since the emergence of professional scientific disciplines more than 200 years ago. Science is, like art, politics, economics,...
September 30, 2020
September 30, 2020
September 30, 2020

David Sepkoski
Books /
David Sepkoski
Valuing biodiversity for its own sake is a recent invention.
In a case study comes in the book’s fifth chapter, I discuss how paleontological studies of extinction intersected with political debates about nuclear proliferation in the 1970s and 1980s.A variety...
Catastrophic Thinking
Read the thread →
A close-up

In a case study comes in the book’s fifth chapter, I discuss how paleontological studies of extinction intersected with political debates about nuclear proliferation in the 1970s and 1980s.A variety...
September 30, 2020
September 30, 2020
September 30, 2020
Science & Nature, Environment & Climate

David Sepkoski
Books /
David Sepkoski
Valuing biodiversity for its own sake is a recent invention that followed the acceptance of mass extinction in the 1970s.
“Why do we care about diversity?” Assuming that biological and, to a lesser extent, cultural diversity are accepted as important values in current Western society, how did this come to...
Catastrophic Thinking
Read the thread →
In a nutshell

“Why do we care about diversity?” Assuming that biological and, to a lesser extent, cultural diversity are accepted as important values in current Western society, how did this come to...
September 30, 2020
September 30, 2020
September 30, 2020

Francesco Boldizzoni
Books /
Francesco Boldizzoni
Capitalism has outlived two centuries of predicted deaths because it is rooted in the hierarchical, individualistic structure of Western societies.
The first part of the book tells a story of disappointments with our ability to forecast the future of capitalism. This story unfolds in several stages: the Victorian era (Chapter...
Foretelling the End of Capitalism
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A close-up

The first part of the book tells a story of disappointments with our ability to forecast the future of capitalism. This story unfolds in several stages: the Victorian era (Chapter...
September 16, 2020
September 16, 2020
September 16, 2020

Francesco Boldizzoni
Books /
Francesco Boldizzoni
Capitalism has outlived two centuries of predicted deaths because it is rooted in the hierarchical, individualistic structure of Western societies.
Foretelling the End of Capitalism looks back into the past to answer key questions for our time. But this has nothing to do with the uses of the past one...
Foretelling the End of Capitalism
Read the thread →
The wide angle

Foretelling the End of Capitalism looks back into the past to answer key questions for our time. But this has nothing to do with the uses of the past one...
September 16, 2020
September 16, 2020
September 16, 2020

Francesco Boldizzoni
Books /
Francesco Boldizzoni
Capitalism survives because it is rooted in the hierarchy and individualism of Western societies.
This book seeks to explain the persistence of capitalism despite all the trouble it has created. For several years now, every crisis—even crises not directly caused by capitalism, such as...
Foretelling the End of Capitalism
Read the thread →
In a nutshell

This book seeks to explain the persistence of capitalism despite all the trouble it has created. For several years now, every crisis—even crises not directly caused by capitalism, such as...
September 16, 2020
September 16, 2020
September 16, 2020
Economics & Business, Philosophy & Ideas

Frank A. von Hippel
Books /
Frank A. von Hippel
The chemistry that pushed back famine and disease and the chemistry that killed millions are one enterprise.
The Chemical Age connects the sources of human misery throughout history—famine, plague, and war—and follows historical currents to their unpredictable destinations, including world...
The Chemical Age
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The wide angle

The Chemical Age connects the sources of human misery throughout history—famine, plague, and war—and follows historical currents to their unpredictable destinations, including world...
September 2, 2020
September 2, 2020
September 2, 2020

Frank A. von Hippel
Books /
Frank A. von Hippel
The chemistry that defeated famine and the chemistry that killed millions are one enterprise.
The Chemical Age is the story of intense famines, ceaseless wars, ravaging diseases, and ecological disasters, told through the personal lives of the scientists who strove to either halt calamity...
The Chemical Age
Read the thread →
In a nutshell

The Chemical Age is the story of intense famines, ceaseless wars, ravaging diseases, and ecological disasters, told through the personal lives of the scientists who strove to either halt calamity...
September 2, 2020
September 2, 2020
September 2, 2020
Science & Nature, Environment & Climate

Frank A. von Hippel
Books /
Frank A. von Hippel
The chemistry that pushed back famine and disease and the chemistry that killed millions are one enterprise.
If a reader were to flip open the book at a random place, I hope they would encounter one of the eccentric scientists pursuing their research with a singular focus...
The Chemical Age
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A close-up

If a reader were to flip open the book at a random place, I hope they would encounter one of the eccentric scientists pursuing their research with a singular focus...
September 2, 2020
September 2, 2020
September 2, 2020

Sianne Ngai
Books /
Sianne Ngai
The gimmick is an aesthetic judgment specific to capitalism, and calling something a gimmick is ordinary people doing value-labor theory.
The photographs by Torbjørn Rødland on pages 216-217 showcase a gimmick he often uses in his images: a hand entering from an invisible space outside but also entirely specific to...
Theory of the Gimmick
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A close-up

The photographs by Torbjørn Rødland on pages 216-217 showcase a gimmick he often uses in his images: a hand entering from an invisible space outside but also entirely specific to...
August 19, 2020
August 19, 2020
August 19, 2020

Sianne Ngai
Books /
Sianne Ngai
The gimmick is an aesthetic judgment specific to capitalism, and calling something a gimmick is ordinary people doing value-labor theory.
This book looks closely at an aesthetic form unique to capitalist society: the irritating and yet strangely compelling gimmick. It argues that the gimmick lies latent in every made thing...
Theory of the Gimmick
Read the thread →
In a nutshell

This book looks closely at an aesthetic form unique to capitalist society: the irritating and yet strangely compelling gimmick. It argues that the gimmick lies latent in every made thing...
August 19, 2020
August 19, 2020
August 19, 2020

Sianne Ngai
Books /
Sianne Ngai
The gimmick is an aesthetic judgment specific to capitalism.
Theory of the Gimmick continues the effort undertaken in my previous books, Our Aesthetic Categories (2012) and Ugly Feelings (2005) to get people to take “minor,” trivial, or everyday affective...
Theory of the Gimmick
Read the thread →
The wide angle

Theory of the Gimmick continues the effort undertaken in my previous books, Our Aesthetic Categories (2012) and Ugly Feelings (2005) to get people to take “minor,” trivial, or everyday affective...
August 19, 2020
August 19, 2020
August 19, 2020
Philosophy & Ideas, Literature & Writers

Brian A. Hatcher
Books /
Brian A. Hatcher
Rammohun Roy and Sahajanand Swami were religious lords heading new religious polities, and neither is best understood as a reformer.
When it first dawned on me that Rammohun and Sahajanand were nearly exact contemporaries my immediate thought was: What a wonderful opportunity to bring into view the character and complexity...
Hinduism Before Reform
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A close-up

When it first dawned on me that Rammohun and Sahajanand were nearly exact contemporaries my immediate thought was: What a wonderful opportunity to bring into view the character and complexity...
August 12, 2020
August 13, 2020
August 14, 2020

Brian A. Hatcher
Books /
Brian A. Hatcher
Rammohun Roy and Sahajanand Swami were religious lords heading new religious polities, and neither is best understood as a reformer.
Typically, the origins of modern Hinduism are traced to a single place, a decisive moment, and a compelling religious figure. The place is Bengal or, to be more specific, Calcutta....
Hinduism Before Reform
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The wide angle

Typically, the origins of modern Hinduism are traced to a single place, a decisive moment, and a compelling religious figure. The place is Bengal or, to be more specific, Calcutta....
August 12, 2020
August 13, 2020
August 14, 2020

Brian A. Hatcher
Books /
Brian A. Hatcher
Reform is a label imposed on nineteenth-century Hindu leaders, not a description of them.
This is an ambitious book that grew out of a rather simple question. Around the turn of the nineteenth century, two Hindu leaders on either side of the subcontinent created...
Hinduism Before Reform
Read the thread →
In a nutshell

This is an ambitious book that grew out of a rather simple question. Around the turn of the nineteenth century, two Hindu leaders on either side of the subcontinent created...
August 12, 2020
August 13, 2020
August 14, 2020
Religion & Belief, Empire & Colonialism

Tom Mould
Books /
Tom Mould
The welfare queen survives because stories demand antagonists, detail and resolution, and only better-told stories can dislodge her.
The idea for this book started at a cocktail party. It was April 2011, just over a year after Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As ACA continued to...
Overthrowing the Queen
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The wide angle

The idea for this book started at a cocktail party. It was April 2011, just over a year after Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As ACA continued to...
August 5, 2020
August 5, 2020
August 5, 2020

Tom Mould
Books /
Tom Mould
The welfare queen myth survives because stories reward it, not because of ideology.
For a book that touts the power of storytelling, I would be remiss not to recommend that casual readers flip to pages of aid recipients telling stories from their own...
Overthrowing the Queen
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A close-up

For a book that touts the power of storytelling, I would be remiss not to recommend that casual readers flip to pages of aid recipients telling stories from their own...
August 5, 2020
August 5, 2020
August 5, 2020
Everyday Life & Anthropology, Race & Inequality

Tom Mould
Books /
Tom Mould
The welfare queen survives because stories demand antagonists, detail and resolution, and only better-told stories can dislodge her.
In 1976, Ronald Reagan hit the campaign trail with an incredible story about a woman committing massive welfare fraud. The story caught fire and launched the most devastating symbol of...
Overthrowing the Queen
Read the thread →
In a nutshell

In 1976, Ronald Reagan hit the campaign trail with an incredible story about a woman committing massive welfare fraud. The story caught fire and launched the most devastating symbol of...
August 5, 2020
August 5, 2020
August 5, 2020

Joshua Bennett
Books /
Joshua Bennett
Blackness is the stewardship of the earth, and black freedom struggle and ecological criticism are one project.
Being Property Once Myself is centrally concerned with how black authors have described their relationship to nonhuman forms of life, and to nonhuman animal life-worlds in particular, as a means...
Being Property Once Myself
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In a nutshell

Being Property Once Myself is centrally concerned with how black authors have described their relationship to nonhuman forms of life, and to nonhuman animal life-worlds in particular, as a means...
July 29, 2020
July 29, 2020
July 29, 2020

Joshua Bennett
Books /
Joshua Bennett
Blackness is the stewardship of the earth, and black freedom struggle and ecological criticism are one project.
I would hope that “just browsing” readers in a bookstore would encounter the introductory section, “Horse,” or the penultimate chapter, “Dog” first. “Horse” for the simple fact that I try...
Being Property Once Myself
Read the thread →
A close-up

I would hope that “just browsing” readers in a bookstore would encounter the introductory section, “Horse,” or the penultimate chapter, “Dog” first. “Horse” for the simple fact that I try...
July 29, 2020
July 29, 2020
July 29, 2020
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