New Books in Sex, Sexuality, and Sex Work

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Sexuality

Gender Studies

Queer Theory

Sexuality Studies

Sex Work

Human Trafficking

Feminism

Psychoanalysis

Jane Austen

Colonialism

Reproductive Rights

Virginity

Early Christianity

Soft-Porn Cinema

Marilyn Chambers

Pornography

Trans Studies

Prostitution

Radical Acts

Sexual Violence

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

14 ratings

Publishes	Twice weekly	Episodes	517	Founded	5 years ago
Number of Listeners		Categories	ScienceSocial SciencesBooksArts

Listen to this Podcast

Guests Hosts Reviews Charts Talking Points

Latest Episodes

Nick Yablon, "From the Skyscraper to the Wildflower: C. G. Hine's 1905 Photographic Survey of Broadway" (Columbia UP, 2026)

In 1905, when Broadway was already the most famous thoroughfare in

New York City, a recreational photographer from Newark, New Jersey named

Charles Gilbert Hine set out to document the street’s entire length.

Taking

pictures from downtown Bowlin... more

22 Jul 2026 • 37 min

Debolina Dutta, "A Jurisprudence of Conversations: Law, Life and Feminism in Post-colonial India" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

Grounded in empirical studies, this book is both a history of the

emergence of feminist jurisprudence in post-colonial India and a model

of innovative legal research. The book inaugurates a creative practice

of scholarly activism that engages a ne... more

22 Jul 2026 • 2 hrs 1 min

Molly M. Brookfield, "Watching the Girls Go By: A History of Street Harassment in the United States" (UNC Press, 2026)

Molly Brookfield’s book, Watching the Girls Go By: A History of Street Harassment in the United States (University of North Carolina Press, 2026) explores

the historical, legal, and cultural history of street harassment in the

United States. Hist... more

19 Jul 2026 • 40 min • Popular

Jay Szpilka, "BDSM Practices in Contemporary Poland: Barbed Wire Floggings, Rope Orgasms, and the Problem with Desire" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025)

In BDSM Practices in Poland: Barbed Wire Floggings, Rope Orgasms, and the Problem with Desire

(Palgrave Macmillan, 2025), cultural anthropologist and cultural

studies scholar Jay Szpilka analyzes the way that BDSM is practiced in

contemporary Pola... more

7 Jul 2026 • 1 hr 8 min • Popular

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Recent Guests

Nick Yablon

Professor of history and American Studies at the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

Episode: Nick Yablon, "From the Skyscraper to the Wildflower: C. G. Hine's 1905 Photographic Survey of Broadway" (Columbia UP, 2026)

Debolina Dutta

Author of A Jurisprudence of Conversations, Law, Life and Feminism in Post-colonial India

Melbourne Law School / Cambridge University Press

Episode: Debolina Dutta, "A Jurisprudence of Conversations: Law, Life and Feminism in Post-colonial India" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

Molly Brookfield

Author of Watching the Girls Go By, Assistant Professor of History, Women and Gender Studies

University affiliations discussed in episode

Episode: Molly M. Brookfield, "Watching the Girls Go By: A History of Street Harassment in the United States" (UNC Press, 2026)

Jay Szpilka

Assistant professor, Department of Humanities, SWPS University

SWPS University

Episode: Jay Szpilka, "BDSM Practices in Contemporary Poland: Barbed Wire Floggings, Rope Orgasms, and the Problem with Desire" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025)

Rosa Campbell

Historian of global feminism and author of The Book That Taught the World to Orgasm and Then Disappeared

King's College London (Leverhulme postdoctoral fellow)

Episode: Rosa Campbell, "The Book That Taught the World to Orgasm and Then Disappeared: Shere Hite and the Hite Report" (Melville House, 2026)

Michelle Chase

Associate Professor of History at Pace University

Pace University

Episode: Michelle Chase and Isabella Cosse eds., "The Cuban Revolution and the New Left: Transnational Histories of Gender, Sexuality, and Family" (U Florida Press, 2026)

Isabella Cosse

Professor of History at Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Argentina

Universidad Nacional de San Martín; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Episode: Michelle Chase and Isabella Cosse eds., "The Cuban Revolution and the New Left: Transnational Histories of Gender, Sexuality, and Family" (U Florida Press, 2026)

Karl Whittington

Professor and Chair of Art History at The Ohio State University

The Ohio State University

Episode: Karl Whittington, "Queer Making: On Artists and Desire in Medieval Europe" (Pennsylvania State UP, 2025)

Dr. Stephanie Coontz

Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families; Professor Emerita at the Evergreen State College

Council on Contemporary Families; Evergreen State College

Episode: Stephanie Coontz, "For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage" (Viking, 2026)

Hosts

Dr. Miranda Melcher

Host and interviewer across multiple episodes; central facilitator of scholarly dialogue

Alex Weiser

Director of Public Programs; co-host and guide for interviews

Elaine Leeder

Scholar and co-host providing scholarly context and framing

Rinvith

Host of New Books Network Human Rights Channel; contributes to interview flow

Donna Doan Anderson

Host and contributor with or without co-hosting duties, depending on episode

Reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars from 14 ratings

Nope
I really liked some episodes which had some interviews with researchers and sex workers, but with the May 2023 episode with Mary Eberstadt, I’ve learned this podcast series is just as bad as the mainstream media
There is no sex worker solidarity without solidarity for trans people. If you’re reading this and thinking “well not everything is black and white, you just don’t want people to express their opinions freely”, please go educate yourself with some recent research on the current statistic... more
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TinaDeutschland
Canada3 years ago

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Listeners Say

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

Guests are often university-affiliated scholars offering archival and historical insights.

Some episodes receive pushback for perspectives on sexuality and representation, indicating engaged and opinionated audiences.

Listeners value rigorous, source-driven scholarship with accessible explanations.

Chart Rankings

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

Apple Podcasts	#84	United States/Science/Social Sciences
Apple Podcasts	#46	United Kingdom/Science/Social Sciences
Apple Podcasts	#72	Canada/Science/Social Sciences
Apple Podcasts	#4	Finland/Science/Social Sciences
Apple Podcasts	#40	Finland/Science
Apple Podcasts	#51	Norway/Science/Social Sciences

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Debolina Dutta, "A Jurisprudence of Conversations: Law, Life and Feminism in Post-colonial India" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

Q: How did the Open Letter to the Chief Justice of India influence feminist jurisprudence and public discourse on consent?

The letter highlighted the need to reexamine consent in rape cases, argued for public education about women's experiences of injustice, and exposed the judiciary's failings in representing women's voices, thereby shifting feminist jurisprudence toward public, experiential accountability.

Debolina Dutta, "A Jurisprudence of Conversations: Law, Life and Feminism in Post-colonial India" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

Q: Could you define what Adda is and how you adapted it for feminist jurisprudence research?

Adda is understood as both a verb (an action of talking and listening) and a place (a gathering for discussion). It is a relational, place-bound practice that fosters mutuality and supports a broader aim of forming relationships rather than merely analyzing texts, which helps democratize knowledge production in legal scholarship.

Molly M. Brookfield, "Watching the Girls Go By: A History of Street Harassment in the United States" (UNC Press, 2026)

Q: What challenges did you face while putting the book together?

The biggest challenge was defining a coherent boundary for street harassment across eras given its amorphous nature, which led me to develop terminology that could accurately capture varied behaviors while remaining faithful to the historical record and its shifting cultural meanings.

Molly M. Brookfield, "Watching the Girls Go By: A History of Street Harassment in the United States" (UNC Press, 2026)

Q: How does urbanization shape the understanding of street harassment and who gets targeted?

Urbanization creates environments with more strangers and denser public space, which amplifies harassment as a social phenomenon and makes the presence of risk more salient, while shaping which groups are framed as perpetrators and which acts are deemed acceptable or criminalized.

Molly M. Brookfield, "Watching the Girls Go By: A History of Street Harassment in the United States" (UNC Press, 2026)

Q: What do the terms masher panic and anti-masher laws reveal about social responses to street harassment?

The terms reveal a historical moment when reformers and municipal authorities sought to regulate public space by labeling certain masculine behaviors as harmful, using new or expanded laws to crack down on men who accosted or ogled women, thereby showing how state intervention varied by locality and period.

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?

Scholarly conversations explore how sexuality, gender, race, and empire shape social life, culture, and policy across historical and contemporary contexts. Episodes center book-focused discussions with university-press authors and researchers, spanning topics from sexual politics in the modern West to colonial regimes, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ+ history. Guests bring archival research, theoretical frameworks, and cross-disciplinary methods, often linking intimate, everyday experiences to larger systems of power. A notable strength is the breadth of historical periods and the emphasis on how documents, artifacts, and cultural practices illuminate contested norms around sex, gender, and society. Potential listeners may find rigorous acad... more

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What guests have appeared on this podcast?

Recent guests on this podcast include:

1. Nick Yablon
2. Debolina Dutta
3. Molly Brookfield
4. Jay Szpilka
5. Rosa Campbell
6. Michelle Chase
7. Isabella Cosse
8. Karl Whittington

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