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New Books in Anthropology

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This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to ... more

PublishesDailyEpisodes1059Founded15 years ago
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Latest Episodes

Over the last thirty years, Latin America has undergone an unprecedented wave of reparations targeting victims of political violence during military regimes, Indigenous and Afro-Latin groups affected by historical processes of dispossession, and citi... more

Who gets to live a life with dignity? Each day, families around the world make the difficult decision to leave their homes in search of safety, stability, and opportunity. For many migrant families, this search centers on access to strong, caring, an... more

In this timely and bold book, Against Innocence: Undoing and Remaking the World (U Chicago Press, 2025), Miriam Ticktin explores how a concept that consistently appears as a moral good actually ends up creating harm for so many. Claims to innocence p... more

In this intimate, yet simultaneously anthropological, exploration of the life of her maternal grandmother Pankajam (1911–2007), Kalpana Karunakaran achieves the remarkable: capturing the singularity of an exceptional woman, even as it situates her in... more

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Recent Guests

Gabrielle Oliveira
Author of Now We Are Here, Family Migration, Children's Education, and Dreams for a Better Life
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Episode: Gabrielle Oliveira, "Now We Are Here: Family Migration, Children’s Education, and Dreams for a Better Life" (Stanford UP, 2025)
Piergiorgio Di Giminiani
Editor of the volume; associate professor of anthropology
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Episode: Piergiorgio Di Giminiani et al. eds., "The Futures of Reparations in Latin America: Imagination, Translation, and Belonging" (Rutgers UP, 2026)
Helene Risør
Editor of the volume; teaching associate professor in anthropology
Copenhagen University; Millennium Institute for Research on Violence and Democracy (Chile)
Episode: Piergiorgio Di Giminiani et al. eds., "The Futures of Reparations in Latin America: Imagination, Translation, and Belonging" (Rutgers UP, 2026)
Karine Vanthuyne
Editor of the volume; professor in anthropology
University of Ottawa
Episode: Piergiorgio Di Giminiani et al. eds., "The Futures of Reparations in Latin America: Imagination, Translation, and Belonging" (Rutgers UP, 2026)
Kalpana Karunakaran
Author of A Woman of No Consequence: Memory, Letters and Resistance in Madras
Author, IIT Madras (associate professor)
Episode: Kalpana Karunakaran, "A Woman of No Consequence: Memory, Letters and Resistance in Madras" (Context, 2026)
Joseph Weiss
Associate Professor of Anthropology; author of Irreconcilable
Wesleyan University (Chair of Anthropology)
Episode: Joseph Weiss, "Irreconcilable: Indigeneity and the Violence of Colonial Erasure in Contemporary Canada" (UNC Press, 2026)
Ravikant Kisana
Dean of the School of Liberal Education and Languages at Galgotias University; cultural studies and ethnographic researcher focused on CAST studies
Galgotias University
Episode: Upper Caste Liberalism with Ravikant Kisana
Fatimah Williams
Author of Options for Success, a PhD's Guide to Navigating Career Transitions and Thriving in Your Next Professional Chapter
University of Virginia; Author, Oxford University Press edition
Episode: Fatimah Williams, "Options for Success: A PhD's Guide to Navigating Career Transitions and Thriving in Your Next Professional Chapter" (Oxford UP, 2025)
Biko Koenig
Assistant professor in Government and Public Policy Programs at Franklin & Marshall College; co-founder of Research Action
Franklin & Marshall College; Research Action
Episode: Biko Koenig, "Worker Centered: Allyship & Action in the Contemporary Labor Movement" (Oxford UP, 2024)

Host

Dr. Miranda Melcher
Host of The New Books Network

Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars from 136 ratings
  • Beautiful and Soothing

    Wonderful to feel connected and grounded in today’s troubling world.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Lily Scott - One Love
    United Statesa year ago
  • Good podcast; shame about the gambling ads

    Hi, i really appreciate this podcast, but think that running gambling ads is in questionable taste given the disproportionate impact of gambling on the marginalised

    Apple Podcasts
    4
    Hugo JH
    Australiaa year ago
  • It's a common belief that if you can't explain something simpl, you don't understand it. That doesn't naturally lead us to deliver all knowledge for the lowest common denominator, but most maybe all, sources of information are being written for the person who won't understand it. This podcast has breaks from that bad habit. In a week I've heard ideas, sharpened from experience and repetition, delivered with thrust I've never met elsewhere.

    Audible
    5
    Nahvis
    United States4 years ago
  • mostly a podcast by experts for experts

    It's a common belief that if you can't explain something simpl, you don't understand it. That doesn't naturally lead us to deliver all knowledge for the lowest common denominator, but most maybe all, sources of information are being written for the person who won't understand it. This podcast has breaks from that bad habit. In a week I've heard ideas, sharpened from experience and repetition, delivered with thrust I've never met elsewhere.

    Audible
    5
    Jer
    United States4 years ago
  • Engaging and informative

    This podcast covers a wide range of books, and the conversations are really interesting.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    dkd84
    United States7 years ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

A few noted occasional glitches or mismatches in episode metadata or uploads, but not indicative of overall quality.
The show balances accessibility with depth, making complex topics engaging for a broad audience.
Some listeners wish for shorter, tighter episodes or fewer ads, but overall praise the scholarly interviews and book-focused format.
Listeners appreciate the breadth of new books and authors featured, with engaging conversations that are academically rigorous.

Chart Rankings

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Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Kalpana Karunakaran, "A Woman of No Consequence: Memory, Letters and Resistance in Madras" (Context, 2026)
Q: What did the autofiction reveal about the era's gender norms and the possibilities for women's self-determination?
Autofiction exposed the tension between everyday domestic life and expansive longings for love, travel, and intellectual work, illustrating how women negotiated agency within caste and patriarchal structures while maintaining a strong sense of personal mission.
Kalpana Karunakaran, "A Woman of No Consequence: Memory, Letters and Resistance in Madras" (Context, 2026)
Q: How did you balance scholarly distance with deep personal ties to your subjects?
I maintained distance by foregrounding the characters with their first names and treating family members as historical actors, using the archive as the primary source of evidence, which allowed emotional resonance without compromising analytical framing.
Kalpana Karunakaran, "A Woman of No Consequence: Memory, Letters and Resistance in Madras" (Context, 2026)
Q: What inspired you to write a full political biography of your grandmother instead of continuing articles about your mother?
I began with the intention of a biography but was drawn by the unexpected archive—Pankajam's writings in English and Tamil across decades—which shifted the project toward a broader social history of gender and caste in Madras; the process blended personal memory with scholarly inquiry.
Miriam Ticktin, "Against Innocence: Undoing and Remaking the World" (U Chicago Press, 2025)
Q: What do you see as the path forward beyond innocence in political life?
Ticktin emphasizes imagination and commoning as crucial futures—cultivating radical political imagination and experimenting with collective life that refuses enclosure, private property, and exclusionary grammars, thereby rethinking what it means to live together with humans and non-humans alike.
Miriam Ticktin, "Against Innocence: Undoing and Remaking the World" (U Chicago Press, 2025)
Q: What is the significance of the cover image and the aesthetics of innocence in your work?
The cover image, Tears Beyond Innocence by Patrick Dodd, was chosen because it encapsulates the provocative and complex feelings the book seeks to evoke about innocence. It visually signals the tension between beauty, pain, and the deeper political implications of innocence, inviting readers to probe beyond surface-level interpretations.

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Frequently Asked Questions About New Books in Anthropology

What is New Books in Anthropology about and what kind of topics does it cover?

Accessible, idea-driven conversations with scholars and authors who explore how culture, development, and power shape everyday life across regions. Episodes frequently center on ethnography, colonial histories, labor, governance, and the politics of representation, often tying book themes to current social questions such as caste, migration, gender norms, and climate change. Notable strengths include rigorous intellectual framing, a clear bridge between scholarly work and real-world impact, and a bias toward deep-dive interviews with researchers and writers who publish broadly in anthropology and related fields.

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Which podcasts are similar to New Books in Anthropology?

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1. The LRB Podcast
2. Jacobin Radio
3. The Dig
4. TED Talks Daily
5. New Books in Sociology

How many episodes of New Books in Anthropology are there?

New Books in Anthropology launched 15 years ago and published 1059 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on New Books in Anthropology?

Recent guests on New Books in Anthropology include:

1. Gabrielle Oliveira
2. Piergiorgio Di Giminiani
3. Helene Risør
4. Karine Vanthuyne
5. Kalpana Karunakaran
6. Joseph Weiss
7. Ravikant Kisana
8. Fatimah Williams

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