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Artwork for New Books in Science, Technology, and Society

New Books in Science, Technology, and Society

New Books Network
Artificial Intelligence
World War II
Social Media
Climate Change
Silicon Valley
Medical Progress
Environmental Justice
Memory
Video Games
Plastic Pollution
Drone Warfare
Social Justice
Neuroscience
Soybean
China
Environmental History
Taiwan
Surveillance
Public Health
Nuclear Energy

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

PublishesDailyEpisodes2948Founded15 years ago
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Artwork for New Books in Science, Technology, and Society

Latest Episodes

Why does the American flag use stars to represent the states? In The Star-Spangled Republic: Political Astronomy and the Rise of the American Constellation (U Virginia Press, 2025), Eran Shalev answers this and many other questions, considering the... more

Steve Feldstein's Bytes and Bullets: Global Rivalries, Private Tech, and the New Shape of Modern Warfare (St. Martin's Press,

2026) opens with a juxtaposition: China spending vast sums to reach the

far side of the moon, and Ukraine using cheap dron... more

In Democracy in Power: A History of Electrification in the United States (University of Chicago Press, 2024), Sandeep Vaheesan recounts the rather overlooked story of how electricity spread across the U.S. economy during the 20th century. This book s... more

In the early nineteenth century, the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck proposed the first evolutionary theory of life and, with it, a new science: biology. Yet for centuries, evolutionary theorists have endeavored to discredit Lamarck and his t... more

Key Facts

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Recent Guests

Ellery E. Foutch
Author of A Perfectionist Impulse, The Art of Stopping Time in the Nineteenth Century
University of Minnesota Press
Episode: Ellery E. Foutch, "A Perfectionist Impulse: The Art of Stopping Time in the Nineteenth Century (U Minnesota Press, 2026)
Eduardo Albrecht
Political anthropologist, author of Political Automation
Mercy University; Oxford University Press
Episode: Beyond Free Speech: Why AI Governance Demands Freedom of Thought
M. G. Sheftall
Author of Hiroshima, The Last Witnesses; Professor of Modern Japanese Cultural History
Shizuoka University
Episode: Hiroshima's Last Witnesses and Japan's Nuclear Future
Lukáš Senft
PhD researcher focusing on mushroom foraging and precision agriculture technologies in Czechia
Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Episode: The Microbiopolitics of Novel Foods
Tereza Stöckelová
Researcher contributing to the Beyond Security project with a focus on alternative proteins
Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences / Charles University
Episode: The Microbiopolitics of Novel Foods
Varvara Borisova
Researcher involved in ethnographic studies of food systems and technoscientific infrastructures
Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Episode: The Microbiopolitics of Novel Foods
Elizabeth Darling
Architectural historian; author of Palace of the Ether, Broadcasting House, and the Architecture of the BBC, 1922 to 1932
University (as applicable from interview)
Episode: Elizabeth Darling, "Palace of the Ether: Broadcasting House and the Architecture of the BBC, 1922–32" (Lund Humphries, 2026)
Magdalena Stawkowski
Author of Atomic Collective, Radioactive Life in Kazakhstan
University of South Carolina (as described in interview)
Episode: Magdalena E. Stawkowski, "Atomic Collective: Radioactive Life in Kazakhstan" (U Toronto Press, 2025)
Devin Kennedy
Assistant Professor of History at University of Wisconsin–Madison; author of Coding Capitalism
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Episode: Devin Kennedy, "Coding Capitalism: Computers and the Remaking of the Postwar US Economy" (Columbia UP, 2026)

Host

Miranda Melcher
Host of The New Books Network; focus on history and science/technology topics; affiliated with New Books Network.

Reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars from 78 ratings
  • Excellent, but please fix the audio

    Excellent content, but the audio of the introductory part is disturbed by static noise. Thankfully the introduction is pretty short. The audio of the interview is much better. I think it would be wise to get a new microphone.

    Apple Podcasts
    3
    Em1975
    United States5 years ago

Listeners Say

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

Guests are clearly experts and bring depth to debates.
Thoughtful, rigorous conversations with top scholars.
Occasional audio quality issues during intros.
The show combines archival insight with contemporary relevance.
Great for background reading and understanding complex topics.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Beyond Free Speech: Why AI Governance Demands Freedom of Thought
Q: What is the role of a 'third house' and how could digital technologies be used to empower democratic voices?
The third house would be an additional layer of democratic accountability where synthetic samples inform governance but remain under governance that is answerable to real people, with strong safeguards to keep human agency central.
Beyond Free Speech: Why AI Governance Demands Freedom of Thought
Q: What happens when synthetic populations start talking to each other or deliberating without human input?
There is a real risk that such deliberations diverge from actual citizen needs; the solution involves ensuring human oversight, clear authority, and mechanisms that tether digital deliberation to real communities.
Soraya Murray, "Technothriller: Film and the American Imagination" (MIT Press, 2026)
Q: Could you introduce yourself a little bit to our listeners?
Soraya Murray explains her background as a professor of Film and Digital Media, focusing on how visual culture shapes our sense of self and society, and sets up the discussion of her book's themes.
Devin Kennedy, "Coding Capitalism: Computers and the Remaking of the Postwar US Economy" (Columbia UP, 2026)
Q: Why start the book in 1947?
The author argues that understanding the postwar disruption requires tracing back to the very inception of computers, showing that their early use was tied to stabilizing a war-to-peacetime economy and that the postwar era was when computing began embedding itself into core business and manufacturing functions.
Mitra Sharafi, "Fear of the False: Forensic Science and the Law of Crime in Colonial South Asia" (Cornell UP, 2026)
Q: Can you explain the shift from perceiving falsity as a colonial stereotype to seeing it as a signal of complex disputing systems in practice?
The shift lies in analyzing how both British and Indian professionals framed deception, while also showing how local practitioners interpreted and adapted forensic practices, which reveals nuanced interactions between legal and scientific cultures rather than a simple colonial bias.

Audience Metrics

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Frequently Asked Questions About This Podcast

What is This Podcast about and what kind of topics does it cover?

This program features in-depth conversations with scholars who discuss recently published books and research across science, technology, and society. Episodes cover topics like psywar history, language and AI, urban self-provisioning, environmental disasters, peace infrastructures, phrenology's historical impact, AI leadership in GLAM institutions, reparative media, race and genomics, internet history, space policy, and data capitalism in rural contexts. Guests are primarily academics and policy thinkers who illuminate historical debates, technological change, and social implications, often tying scholarly work to contemporary public conversations. The show is notable for integrating archival research with contemporary issues, offering rigo... more

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These podcasts share a similar audience with this podcast:

1. New Books in Critical Theory
2. Jacobin Radio
3. The Political Scene | The New Yorker
4. What's Left of Philosophy
5. The Opinions

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this podcast launched 15 years ago and published 2948 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 this podcast?

Recent guests on this podcast include:

1. Ellery E. Foutch
2. Eduardo Albrecht
3. M. G. Sheftall
4. Lukáš Senft
5. Tereza Stöckelová
6. Varvara Borisova
7. Elizabeth Darling
8. Magdalena Stawkowski

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