Michael C. Desch, “Cult of the Irrelevant: The Waning Influence of Social Science on National Security” (Princeton UP, 2019)

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

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

Landon Storrs, “The Second Red Scare and the Unmaking of the New Deal Left” (Princeton UP, 2012): Most people who listen to this podcast will have heard of Joseph McCarthy and HUAC (The House Committee on Un-American Activities). His activities and those of HUAC were, however, only the tip of a very large iceberg. In the 1940s and 1950s, the U.S. by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

62 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Daniel Stedman Jones, “Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman, and the Birth of Neoliberal Politics” (Princeton UP, 2012): Daniel Stedman Jones is the author of Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman, and the Birth of Neoliberal Politics (Princeton University Press, 2012). The book tells a portion of the intellectual history of neoliberalism through a focus on the period... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

25 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

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

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

Brian Leiter, “Why Tolerate Religion?” (Princeton UP, 2013): Religious conviction enjoys a privileged status in our society.This is perhaps most apparent in legal contexts, where religious conviction is often given special consideration. To be more precise, religious conscience is recognized as a legitimate basi... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

66 min listen

Michael Laffan, “The Makings of Indonesian Islam: Orientalism and the Narration of a Sufi Past” (Princeton UP, 2011): Indonesia is often highlighted as having the right kind of Islam, ‘moderate’ and ‘peaceful.’ Whether that remains true (if it ever was a reality) will be tested in the future but what about the past? How did we end up with this picture of Islam in Indo... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

51 min listen

Ellen D. Wu, “The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the Model Minority” (Princeton UP, 2014): Ellen D. Wu‘s The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the Model Minority (Princeton University Press, 2014) charts the complex emergence of the model minority myth in fashioning Asian American stereotypes throughout the twentieth centu... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

56 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

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

Lynn Stout, “Cultivating Conscience: How Good Laws Make Good People” (Princeton UP, 2010): Lynn Stout‘s pathbreaking book Cultivating Conscience:How Good Laws Make Good People (Princeton University Press, 2010) represents a much-needed update to the discipline of law and economics. Using current social science and discarding threadbare premi... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

58 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

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

Olivier Zunz, “Philanthropy in America: A History” (Princeton UP, 2014): Olivier Zunz is the author of Philanthropy in America: A History (Princeton University Press 2014). The paperback addition of the book has recently been published with a new preface from the author. Zunz is Commonwealth Professor of History at the Univ... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

31 min listen

David Tod Roy, “The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P’ing Mei” (Princeton UP, 1993-2013): By any measure, David Tod Roy‘s translation The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P’ing Mei, Vol. 1-5 (Princeton University Press, 1993-2013) is a landmark achievement for East Asian Studies, translation studies, and world literature. by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

73 min listen

Joseph Nye, “Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era” (Princeton UP, 2013): Joseph Nye‘s latest book is Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era (Princeton University Press, 2013). Professor Nye is University Distinguished Professor and former dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

16 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

John Sides and Lynn Vavreck, “The Gamble: Choice and Chance in the 2012 Presidential Election” (Princeton UP, 2013): One of 2013’s most important new books in political science was The Gamble: Choice and Chance in the 2012 Presidential Election (Princeton UP 2013). I had the chance to interview one of the co-authors, John Sides (Associate Professor of Political Scien... by Princeton UP Ideas Podcast

20 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

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Michael C. Desch, “Cult of the Irrelevant: The Waning Influence of Social Science on National Security” (Princeton UP, 2019)

Michael C. Desch, “Cult of the Irrelevant: The Waning Influence of Social Science on National Security” (Princeton UP, 2019)

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