Christopher I. Beckwith, “Warriors of the Cloisters: The Central Asian Origins of Science in the Medieval World (Princeton UP, 2012)

Louis Hyman, “Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink” (Princeton UP, 2011): I remember clearly the day I was offered my first credit card. It was in Berkeley, CA in 1985. I was walking on Sproul Plaza and I saw a booth manned by two students. They were giving out all kinds of swag, so I walked over to see what was... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

50 min listen

Dan Drezner, “Theories of International Politics and Zombies” (Princeton UP, 2011): International theorists like to game out every possible scenario. What would happen if you applied their methodology to dealing with the fictional public policy challenge of a zombie infestation? In Dan Drezner’s Theories of International Politics and ... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

42 min listen

Steven Barnes, “Death and Redemption: The Gulag and the Shaping of Soviet Society” (Princeton UP, 2011): Most Westerners know about the Gulag (aka “Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies”) thanks to Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s eloquent, heart-wrenching Gulag Archipelago. Since the publication of that book in 1973 (and largely thanks to i... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

72 min listen

Carl Bon Tempo, “Americans at the Gates: The United States and Refugees during the Cold War” (Princeton UP, 2008): My Midwestern high school was pretty typical. There were freaks, geeks, jocks, drama-types. Some were white. And some were black. All were recognizably “American.” The only unusual thing about Wichita Southeast was the presence of a reasonably large nu... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

63 min listen

Audrey Kurth Cronin, “How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns” (Princeton UP, 2010): It’s one thing to say that the study of history is “relevant” to contemporary problems; it’s another to demonstrate it. In How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns(Princeton UP, 2009), by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

59 min listen

Konrad H. Jarausch, “Reluctant Accomplice: A Wehrmacht Soldier’s Letters from the Eastern Front” (Princeton UP, 2011): Konrad H. Jarausch, whose varied and important works on German history have been required reading for scholars for several decades, has published Reluctant Accomplice: A Wehrmacht Soldier’s Letters from the Eastern Front (Princeton University Press, by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

55 min listen

Richard J. Smith, “The I Ching: A Biography” (Princeton UP, 2012): Texts have lives. They grow, travel, transform, fade, and are reborn into new and other lives. In The I Ching: A Biography (Princeton University Press, 2012), Richard J. Smith has given us a wonderfully readable (and assignable, and shareable, by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

72 min listen

Stephen Collier, “Post-Soviet Social: Neoliberalism, Social Modernity, Biopolitics” (Princeton UP, 2011): Pipes matter. That’s right: pipes. Anyone who has spent time in Russia knows that the hulkish cylinders that snake throughout its cities are the lifeblood of urban space, linking apartment block after apartment block into a centralized network. by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

75 min listen

Francesco Duina, “Winning: Reflections on an American Obsession” (Princeton UP, 2010): “Winning is everything” is such a common phrase that we rarely question where it comes from and why we apply it to everyday experiences. One can win a little league game, an election, the lottery, a friendly competition at work or an unfriendly one. by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

54 min listen

Joshua Legg, “Introduction to Modern Dance Techniques” (Princeton Book Company, 2011): I can still remember being an undergraduate student, going from dance class to dance class and working as hard as I could each day. In the midst of all of that sweat and hard work, I was often curious about the techniques I was required to study. by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

41 min listen

Jason Brennan, “The Ethics of Voting” (Princeton UP, 2011): It is commonly held that citizens in a democratic society have a civic duty to participate in the processes of collective self-government. Often, this duty is held to be satisfied by voting. In fact, the sentiment is commonly expressed that voting is a... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

72 min listen

Jerry Muller, “Capitalism and the Jews” (Princeton UP, 2010): I confess I was attracted to this book by the title: Capitalism and the Jews (Princeton, 2010). Capitalism is a touchy subject; Jews are a touchy subject. But capitalism and the Jews, that’s a disaster waiting to happen. I don’t suggest you try this, by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

68 min listen

Leora Batnitzky, “How Judaism Became a Religion: An Introduction to Modern Jewish Thought” (Princeton UP, 2011): From her first book about the Jewish philosopher Franz Rosenzweig, Leora Batnitzky has been heralded as a rising star in contemporary Jewish thought and the philosophy of religion. Batnitzky, a professor of Jewish studies and chair of the Department of... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

33 min listen

David Farber, “The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism” (Princeton UP, 2010): I think that many smart people, particularly on the Left, make a really ill-considered assumption, to wit, that “Republican” means “Conservative.” I don’t mean lower case “c” conservative, as in wanting to maintain the status quo. by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

65 min listen

Andrei Markovits, “Gaming the World: How Sports Are Shaping Global Politics and Culture” (Princeton UP, 2010): “We live in the age of globalization, with the interconnection of markets, technology, and cultures making the world a smaller place.” Sure.Tell that to the guys on my local sports radio show. For them, the world is bounded by the Big Ten and the North... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

67 min listen

Igor Marjanovic, “Marina City: Bertrand Goldberg’s Urban Vision” (Princeton Architectural Press, 2010): Anyone who has visited downtown Chicago will remember seeing the dazzling round towers of Bertrand Goldberg’s Marina City on the north bank of the river. Often photographed, always a curiosity, these iconic buildings have been featured in numerous maga... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

61 min listen

Elizabeth Anderson, “The Imperative of Integration” (Princeton UP, 2010): Demographic data show that the United States is a heavily segregated society, especially when it comes to relations among African-Americans and whites. The de facto segregation that prevails in the US is easily shown to produce grave and systematic dis... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

60 min listen

John O. McGinnis, “Accelerating Democracy: Transforming Governance Through Technology” (Princeton UP, 2013): The advent of very powerful computers and the Internet have not “changed everything,” but it has created a new communications context within which almost everything we do will be somewhat changed. One of the “things we do” is governance, that is, by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

59 min listen

Jamie Kelly, “Framing Democracy: A Behavioral Approach to Democratic Theory” (Princeton UP, 2012): Plato famously argued that democracy is nearly the worst form of government because citizens are decidedly unwise. Many styles of democratic theory have tried to meet Plato’s argument by denying that democracy has anything to do with wisdom. by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

70 min listen

Christopher I. Beckwith, “Warriors of the Cloisters: The Central Asian Origins of Science in the Medieval World (Princeton UP, 2012): In Warriors of the Cloisters: The Central Asian Origins of Science in the Medieval World (Princeton University Press, 2012), Christopher I. Beckwith gives us a rare window into the global movements of medieval science. by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

80 min listen

Norman Naimark, “Stalin’s Genocides” (Princeton UP, 2010): Absolutely no one doubts that Stalin murdered millions of people in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. His ruthless campaign of “dekulakization,” his pitiless deportation of “unreliable” ethnic groups, his senseless starvation of Ukrainian peasants, by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

72 min listen

Ken MacLeish, “Fort Hood: Life and Uncertainty in a Military Community” (Princeton UP, 2013): Ken MacLeish offers an ethnographic look at daily lives and the true costs borne by soldiers, their families, and communities, in his new book Making War at Fort Hood: Life and Uncertainty in a Military Community (Princeton University Press, 2013). by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

43 min listen

Michael Kevaak, “Becoming Yellow: A Short History of Racial Thinking” (Princeton UP, 2011): In the course of his concise and clearly written new book Becoming Yellow: A Short History of Racial Thinking (Princeton University Press, 2011), Michael Keevak investigates the emergence of a “yellow” and “Mongolian” East Asian identity in eighteenth-... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

67 min listen

Chuck Adler, “Wizards, Aliens, and Starships: Physics and Math in Fantasy and Science Fiction” (Princeton UP, 2014): [Re-posted with permission from Wild About Math] I’ve admitted before that Physics and I have never gotten along. But, science fiction is something I enjoy. So, when Princeton University Press sent me a copy of Physics Professor Chuck Adler‘s new book ... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

94 min listen

Hugh Urban, “The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion” (Princeton UP, 2011): What is religion? Who gets to define it? Why is defining something a religion such an important endeavor? What exactly is at stake in determining the status of religion? Like many people think, you may say “Religion is self evident – you just know it w... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

55 min listen

Corey Brettschneider, “When the State Speaks, What Should it Say? How Democracies can Protect Expression and Promote Equality” (Princeton UP, 2012): Liberal democracies are in the business of protecting individuals and their rights. Central among these are the rights to free expression, freedom of association, and freedom of conscience. Liberal democracies are also in the business of sustaining a p... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

69 min listen

Helene Landemore, “Democratic Reason: Politics, Collective Intelligence, and the Rule of the Many” (Princeton UP, 2012): We’re all familiar with the thought that democracy is merely the rule of the unwise mob. In the hands of Plato and a long line of philosophers since him, this thought has been developed into a formidable anti-democratic argument: Only truth or wisdom c... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

53 min listen

Troy Jollimore, “Love’s Vision” (Princeton UP, 2011): Love – being loved and loving in the way two otherwise unrelated persons can be – is a kind of experience that just about everyone values intrinsically. As we say, or sing: love makes the world go ’round, and all you need is love. by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

64 min listen

Tamara Metz, “Untying the Knot: Marriage, the State, and the Case for Their Divorce” (Princeton UP, 2010): Marriage is at the center of some of our fiercest political debates. Here are some recent developments regarding marriage in the United States. Earlier this year, the Justice Department announced that it would no longer defend the federal Defense of Ma... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

63 min listen

Simon Keller, “Partiality” (Princeton UP, 2013): Our moral lives are shaped by a deep commitment to the moral equality of all persons. This thought drives us to think, for example, that each person’s life is of equal moral importance, that each person is deserving of equal regard, by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

65 min listen

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Christopher I. Beckwith, “Warriors of the Cloisters: The Central Asian Origins of Science in the Medieval World (Princeton UP, 2012)

Christopher I. Beckwith, “Warriors of the Cloisters: The Central Asian Origins of Science in the Medieval World (Princeton UP, 2012)

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