Best Lawrence Public Library Podcasts (2026)

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Lawrence Township Public Schools + Mercer County Library News | December 23, 2025 1:25

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15d ago1:25

1:25

As the Lawrence Township Public Schools community approaches winter break from December 24 through January 4, the district has announced key updates, including a revised 2026–2027 calendar that sets the school year to run from September 1 to June 17. Significant progress is being made on facility improvements with the recent groundbreaking of the L…

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Helen J. Nicholson, "Women and the Crusades" (Oxford UP, 2023) 35:30

1h ago35:30

35:30

The crusade movement needed women: their money, their prayer support, their active participation, and their inspiration. Helen J. Nicholson's book Women and the Crusades (Oxford UP, 2023) surveys women's involvement in medieval crusading between the second half of the eleventh century, when Pope Gregory VII first proposed a penitential military exp…

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Mike Jay, "Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind" (Yale UP, 2023) 43:43

13m ago43:43

43:43

Mike Jay's Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind (Yale UP, 2023) is a provocative and original history of the scientists and writers, artists and philosophers who took drugs to explore the hidden regions of the mind. Until the twentieth century, scientists investigating the effects of drugs on the mind did so by experimenting on them…

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Thomas J. Mazanec, "Poet-Monks: The Invention of Buddhist Poetry in Late Medieval China" (Cornell UP, 2024) 1:14:58

2d ago1:14:58

1:14:58

Poet-Monks focuses on the literary and religious practices of Buddhist poet-monks in Tang-dynasty China to propose an alternative historical arc of medieval Chinese poetry. Combining large-scale quantitative analysis with close readings of important literary texts, Thomas J. Mazanec describes how Buddhist poet-monks, who first appeared in the latte…

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Youshaa Patel, "The Muslim Difference: Defining the Line Between Believers and Unbelievers from Early Islam to the Present" (Yale UP, 2023) 1:33:18

3d ago1:33:18

1:33:18

According to a famous prophetic report, “Whoever imitates a people becomes one of them.” What does “imitation” here mean? Rather, what does this statement really mean at all, and how have Muslims historically understood it? How did this simple report become a doctrine in the Islamic tradition? What does this hadith mean for Muslims today, in an inc…

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Latest in Lawrence: New Year Community Update 2026 1:25

5d ago1:25

1:25

The Lawrence Township weekly newsletter for January 1, 2026, serves as a comprehensive guide for residents regarding municipal updates and community events. It highlights essential government notices, such as the closure of offices for New Year’s Day and the availability of the new 2026 municipal calendars. The publication also features various rec…

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Gillian Adler and Paul Strohm, "Alle Thyng Hath Tyme: Time and Medieval Life" (Reaktion, 2023) 36:20

7d ago36:20

36:20

Alle Thyng Hath Tyme: Time and Medieval Life (Reaktion, 2023) recreates medieval people’s experience of time: as continuous and discontinuous, linear and cyclical, embracing Creation and Judgement, shrinking to ‘atoms’ or ‘droplets’ and extending to the silent spaces of eternity. They might measure time by natural phenomena such as sunrise and suns…

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Marion Gibson, "Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials" (Scribner, 2023) 49:26

8d ago49:26

49:26

Witchfinder General, Salem, Malleus Maleficarum. The world of witch-hunts and witch trials sounds archaic and fanciful, these terms relics of an unenlightened, brutal age. However, we often hear ‘witch-hunt’ in today’s media, and the misogyny that shaped witch trials is all too familiar. Three women were prosecuted under a version of the 1735 Witch…

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Kate Clancy, "Period: The Real Story of Menstruation" (Princeton UP, 2023) 28:21

8d ago28:21

28:21

Menstruation is something half the world does for a week at a time, for months and years on end, yet it remains largely misunderstood. Scientists once thought of an individual's period as useless, and some doctors still believe it's unsafe for a menstruating person to swim in the ocean wearing a tampon. Period: The Real Story of Menstruation (Princ…

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Donna J. Drucker, "Fertility Technology" (MIT Press, 2023) 30:20

9d ago30:20

30:20

A concise overview of fertility technology—its history, practical applications, and ethical and social implications around the world. In the late 1850s, a physician in New York City used a syringe and glass tube to inject half a drop of sperm into a woman’s uterus, marking the first recorded instance of artificial insemination. From that day forwar…

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Andrea Maraschi and Francesca Tasca, "Food, Heresies, and Magical Boundaries in the Middle Ages (Amsterdam UP, 2024) 51:22

13d ago51:22

51:22

In Food, Heresies, and Magical Boundaries in the Middle Ages (Amsterdam UP, 2024) by Dr. Andrea Maraschi & Dr. Francesca Tasca, readers will find stories about medieval heresies and “magic” from an unusual perspective: that of food studies. The time span ranges from Late Antiquity to the Late Middle Ages, while the geographical scope includes regio…

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Judith Jesch, "The Saga of the Earls of Orkney" (Birlinn, 2025) 49:57

16d ago49:57

49:57

In The Saga of the Earls of Orkney (Birlinn, 2025), Professor Judith Jesch presents a fascinating history of the Earldom of Orkney, which was established in the Viking Age, records the adventures, feuds and battles of powerful Norsemen during its first three centuries. The medieval earls of Orkney owed allegiance to the kings of Norway but their in…

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Arthur Bahr, "Chasing the Pearl-Manuscript: Speculation, Shapes, Delight" (U Chicago Press, 2025) 42:55

18d ago42:55

42:55

A unique study of the only physical manuscript containing Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as both a material and literary object. In this book, Arthur Bahr takes a fresh look at the four poems and twelve illustrations of the so-called “Pearl-Manuscript,” the only surviving medieval copy of two of the best-known Middle English poems: Pearl and Sir G…

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Gian Piero Persiani, "Poets, Patrons, and the Public: Poetry as Cultural Phenomenon in Courtly Japan" (Brill, 2025) 33:47

18d ago33:47

33:47

Waka poetry was all the rage in tenth-century, courtly Japan. Every educated person composed it, emperors and consorts sponsored it, and societal interest in it was at an all-time high. Poets, Patrons, and the Public: Poetry as Cultural Phenomenon in Courtly Japan (Brill, 2025) offers an unprecedentedly broad and vivid portrayal of this season of l…

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Anne Lawrence-Mathers, "The Magic Books: A History of Enchantment in 20 Medieval Manuscripts" (Yale UP, 2025) 59:14

26d ago59:14

59:14

Medieval Europe was preoccupied with magic. From the Carolingian Empire to Renaissance Italy and Tudor England, great rulers, religious figures, and scholars sought to harness supernatural power. They tried to summon spirits, predict the future, and even prolong life. Alongside science and religion, magic lay at the very heart of culture. In this b…

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Anne Lawrence-Mathers, "The Magic Books: A History of Enchantment in 20 Medieval Manuscripts" (Yale UP, 2025) 59:14

26d ago59:14

59:14

Medieval Europe was preoccupied with magic. From the Carolingian Empire to Renaissance Italy and Tudor England, great rulers, religious figures, and scholars sought to harness supernatural power. They tried to summon spirits, predict the future, and even prolong life. Alongside science and religion, magic lay at the very heart of culture. In this b…

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Michael Staunton, "Thomas Becket and His World" (Reaktion Books, 2025) 1:11:37

27d ago1:11:37

1:11:37

Thomas Becket and His World (Reaktion Books, 2025) explores the turbulent life and violent death of Thomas Becket, one of the most controversial figures of the Middle Ages. From a London merchant’s son to royal chancellor and archbishop of Canterbury, Becket’s murder in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170 elevated him to England’s most celebra…

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Thomas Haigh on the History of “AI” as a Brand 1:42:06

29d ago1:42:06

1:42:06

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Thomas Haigh, Professor and Chair of History and affiliate of the Department of Computer Science at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, about his forthcoming book on the history of artificial intelligence. The book, which has had the working title _Artificial Intelligence: The History of a Brand_ with th…

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Lawrence Township's Festive December Events Unveiled | Lawrence News, early December 2025 4:40

1M ago4:40

4:40

The provided sources contain administrative and community information relevant to Lawrence Township in early December 2025. One document is a formal letter from the Superintendent of Schools notifying the community about the beginning of the Lawrence Middle School auditorium renovation. This project includes mandatory, regulated asbestos abatement …

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Taylor McCall, "The Art of Anatomy in Medieval Europe" (Reaktion Books, 2023) 36:55

1M ago36:55

36:55

Taylor McCall's The Art of Anatomy in Medieval Europe (Reaktion, 2023) is the first history of medieval European anatomical images. Richly illustrated, The Art of Anatomy in Medieval Europe explores the many ways in which medieval surgeons, doctors, monks, and artists understood and depicted human anatomy. Taylor McCall refutes the common misconcep…

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Taylor McCall, "The Art of Anatomy in Medieval Europe" (Reaktion Books, 2023) 36:55

1M ago36:55

36:55

Taylor McCall's The Art of Anatomy in Medieval Europe (Reaktion, 2023) is the first history of medieval European anatomical images. Richly illustrated, The Art of Anatomy in Medieval Europe explores the many ways in which medieval surgeons, doctors, monks, and artists understood and depicted human anatomy. Taylor McCall refutes the common misconcep…

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Marion Turner, "The Wife of Bath: A Biography" (Princeton UP, 2023) 44:57

1M ago44:57

44:57

Ever since her triumphant debut in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath, arguably the first ordinary and recognisably real woman in English literature, has obsessed readers--from Shakespeare to James Joyce, Voltaire to Pasolini, Dryden to Zadie Smith. Few literary characters have led such colourful lives or matched her influence or capacity…

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Lawrence Township Bulletin: November 26, 2025 1:42

1M ago1:42

1:42

The provided text, an excerpt from the Lawrence Township's Weekly Newsletter dated November 26, 2025, focuses heavily on administrative updates and preparation for the holiday season. Administrative notices include the closure of Municipal Offices for Thanksgiving, an adjusted trash collection schedule, and information regarding the ongoing, zone-b…

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Thomas Morel, "Underground Mathematics: Craft Culture and Knowledge Production in Early Modern Europe" (Cambridge UP, 2022) 46:15

2M ago46:15

46:15

Thomas Morel joins Jana Byars to tell the story of subterranean geometry, a forgotten discipline that developed in the silver mines of early modern Europe, talking about his book Underground Mathematics: Craft Culture and Knowledge Production in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge UP, 2022). Mining and metallurgy were of great significance to the rulers…

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Max Adams and Colm O’Brien, "Northumbria AD 367-867: Earth Hall, Ring Gift and Heaven’s Field" (Birlinn, 2025) 1:08:27

2M ago1:08:27

1:08:27

The story of the lands between the Forth and Humber from the end of the Roman period to the Viking kingdom of York is one of the most richly fascinating in British history. This the age of Lindisfarne and of Bede; of the dramatic hills, valleys and ancient routeways that link the Irish Sea and the North Sea; of names that resonate even now: Edwin, …

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John Goodall, "The Castle: A History" (Yale UP, 2022) 56:49

2M ago56:49

56:49

In The Castle: A History (Yale University Press, 2022) Dr. John Goodall presents a vibrant history of the castle in Britain, from the early Middle Ages to the present day. The castle has long had a pivotal place in British life, associated with lordship, landholding, and military might, and today it remains a powerful symbol of history. But castles…

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Eric Halsey, "State Builders from the Steppe: A History of The First Bulgarian Empire" (This is RETHINK, 2025) 45:35

2M ago45:35

45:35

State Builders from the Steppe: A History of the First Bulgarian Empire (This is RETHINK, 2025) explores how the Proto-Bulgarians were able to build both an empire and an identity amidst the turmoil of the Balkans in the Early Middle Ages. From creating the Cyrillic Alphabet and crowning the first ever Tsar to defeating the first Arab invasion of E…

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News from the Nest - November 11, 2025 2:08

2M ago2:08

2:08

This excerpt from the "News from the Nest November 11, 2025" newsletter provides numerous updates and announcements for the Lawrence High School (LHS) community, including recognition of Veterans' Day. The document outlines a modified schedule for state field testing on November 12 and 13, and details upcoming Fall Conferences scheduled for late No…

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Judith L. Pearson, "Radical Sisters: Shirley Temple Black, Rose Kushner, Evelyn Lauder, and the Dawn of the Breast Cancer Movement" (Mayo Clinic Press, 2025) 1:01:56

2M ago1:01:56

1:01:56

There was a time when women's health was marginalized. There was a time when breast cancer wasn't discussed. There was a time when October wasn't pink. But three women--Shirley Temple Black, Rose Kushner, and Evelyn Lauder--refused to be silenced. Their courage ignited a movement that forever changed the way society addresses breast cancer. When th…

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Ellen Muehlberger, "Things Unseen: Essays on Evidence, Knowledge, and the Late Ancient World" (U California Press, 2025) 1:16:11

2M ago1:16:11

1:16:11

How do you know the nature of another person: who she is, or what she is capable of? In four exploratory essays, a seasoned historian examines the mechanisms by which ancient people came to have knowledge—not of the world and its myriad processes but about something more intimate, namely the individuals they encountered in close quarters, those the…

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Al Posamentier, "Math Makers: The Lives and Works of 50 Famous Mathematicians" (Prometheus, 2020) 56:37

2M ago56:37

56:37

Today I talked to Alfred S. Posamentier, a co-author (with Christian Spreitzer) of Math Makers: The Lives and Works of 50 Famous Mathematicians (Prometheus, 2020). This charming book is more than just mathematics, because mathematicians are not just makers of mathematics. They are human beings whose life stories are often not just entertaining, but…

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Jenny C. Mann, "The Trials of Orpheus: Poetry, Science, and the Early Modern Sublime" (Princeton UP, 2021) 48:04

2M ago48:04

48:04

Today’s guest is Jenny Mann, who has a new book titled The Trials of Orpheus: Poetry, Science, and the Early Modern Sublime (Princeton University Press, 2021). Jenny is Professor in both New York University’s English Department and the Gallatin School, and her work has been supported by the Mellon Foundation and the Folger Shakespeare Library. She …

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Latest in Lawrence Township News and Events 1:43

2M ago1:43

1:43

The provided document, an email newsletter from the Township of Lawrence, serves as a comprehensive update on township news and announcements for early November 2025. Key information includes a reminder that fourth-quarter property taxes are due by November 10th and that municipal offices will be closed on November 11th for Veterans Day, although t…

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Anastasija Ropa, "The Medieval Horse" (Reaktion Books, 2025) 40:00

2M ago40:00

40:00

Anastasija Ropa joins Jana Byars to talk about The Medieval Horse (Reaktion, 2025), a book that explores the role of horses across the medieval world, from the Kievan Rus' and Scandinavia to Central Europe, Byzantium, the Arab world and Asia, including China and India. Covering the early medieval period to the late Middle Ages, it examines how hors…

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Elizabeth Currie, "Street Style: Art and Dress in the Time of Caravaggio" (Reaktion, 2025) 37:51

2M ago37:51

37:51

In late sixteenth-century Rome, artists found inspiration in bustling streets and taverns, depicting soldiers, Romani fortune tellers, sex workers and servants among the city’s poorest inhabitants. Street Style: Art and Dress in the Time of Caravaggio (Reaktion, 2025) by Dr. Elizabeth Currie explores these hidden lives, uncovering how the stories o…

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Latest in Lawrence + NJ Civics: 48-Hour Tax Relief Deadline & Election Day Countdown 1:21

2M ago1:21

1:21

The State of New Jersey and Lawrence Township have released several important updates covering upcoming deadlines, voting procedures, seasonal alerts, and local events. Upcoming Deadlines and Time Changes Property Tax Relief Application Deadline: There are fewer than 48 hours left to apply for New Jersey Property Tax Relief (as of October 30, 2025)…

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Eram Alam, "The Care of Foreigners: How Immigrant Physicians Changed US Healthcare" (JHU Press, 2025) 51:39

2M ago51:39

51:39

For more than 60 years, the United States has trained fewer physicians than it needs, relying instead on the economically expedient option of soliciting immigrant physicians trained at the expense of other countries. The passage of the Hart–Celler Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 expedited the entry of foreign medical graduates (FMGs) from p…

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John Blair, "Killing the Dead: Vampire Epidemics from Mesopotamia to the New World" (Princeton UP, 2025) 51:29

2M ago51:29

51:29

Killing the Dead: Vampire Epidemics from Mesopotamia to the New World (Princeton UP, 2025) by Professor John Blair provides the first in-depth, global account of one of the world’s most widespread yet misunderstood forms of mass hysteria—the vampire epidemic. In a spellbinding narrative, Dr. Blair takes readers from ancient Mesopotamia to present-d…

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News from the Nest: LHS 10/28 1:51

2M ago1:51

1:51

The source, "News from the Nest.pdf," provides a detailed overview of various upcoming events and important information for a school community, primarily focusing on November activities. Key logistical details are shared, such as how to schedule Fall teacher conferences through the Genesis Parent Portal and the school closure dates in early Novembe…

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Rick A López, "Rooted in Place: Botany, Indigeneity, and Art in the Construction of Mexican Nature, 1570-1914" (U Arizona Press, 2025) 50:26

2M ago50:26

50:26

Since the first moment of conquest, colonizers and the colonized alike in Mexico confronted questions about what it meant to be from this place, what natural resources it offered, and who had the right to control those resources and on what basis. Focusing on the ways people, environment, and policies have been affected by political boundaries, in …

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Garrett Hardin’s Tragic Environmentalism 1:15:27

2M ago1:15:27

1:15:27

An ecologist in California claimed that the iron laws of nature locked humanity into destroying our environment. This meant that we must take drastic measures to rein in unfettered capitalism and the American habit of overconsumption, lest we deplete our common resources. That argument made Garrett Hardin one of the most influential and celebrated …

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Lawrence Schools Weekly Update 4:07

2M ago4:07

4:07

Big news from our schools this week — a Lawrence teacher just won one of the most prestigious awards in education, and our hometown baseball hero is heading to the World Series. Plus, important school closure reminders coming up.By Lawrence Business and Economic Growth Committee

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Latest in Lawrence — Your Community Update for Thursday October 23 3:46

2M ago3:46

3:46

There's a Lawrence hometown hero heading to the World Series — and tonight, celebrate Halloween early with Trunk or Treat.By Lawrence Business and Economic Growth Committee

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Dagmar Wujastyk, "Indian Alchemy: Sources and Contexts" (Oxford UP, 2025) 57:16

3M ago57:16

57:16

Indian Alchemy: Sources and Contexts (Oxford UP, 2025) serves to expand readers' understanding of what it meant to practice alchemy on the Indian subcontinent. With its broad selection of examined themes, this collection offers a detailed and comprehensive investigation of the Indian alchemical idiom and the beliefs and practices of its practitione…

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Alice Lovejoy, "Tales of Militant Chemistry: The Film Factory in a Century of War" (U California Press, 2025) 45:50

3M ago45:50

45:50

The history of film calls to mind unforgettable photographs, famous directors, and the glitz and hustle of the media business. But there is another tale to tell that connects film as a material to the twentieth century's history of war, destruction, and cruelty. This story comes into focus during World War II at the factories of Tennessee Eastman, …

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Jeffrey D. Sharon, "The Great Balancing Act: An Insider's Guide to the Human Vestibular System" (Columbia UP, 2025) 1:07:34

3M ago1:07:34

1:07:34

What's the secret to keeping your balance? The ear does more than hear: it helps us stay stable by perceiving movements and gravity. Elegant sensors deep within the skull detect every twist, turn, and tumble, powering swift reflexes that keep vision and balance steady. This is the vestibular system. It's primordial and ubiquitous: every animal has …

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David Bressoud, "Calculus Reordered: A History of the Big Ideas" (Princeton UP, 2019) 1:27:28

3M ago1:27:28

1:27:28

Calculus Reordered: A History of the Big Ideas (Princeton UP, 2019) takes readers on a remarkable journey through hundreds of years to tell the story of how calculus evolved into the subject we know today. David Bressoud explains why calculus is credited to seventeenth-century figures Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz, and how its current structur…

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Kalle Kananoja, "Healing Knowledge in Atlantic Africa" (Cambridge UP, 2021) 1:05:50

3M ago1:05:50

1:05:50

In Healing Knowledge in Atlantic Africa (Cambridge UP, 2021), Kalle Kananoja tells the story of how pre-colonial communities throughout the west coast of Africa employed a wide range of medical and spiritual strategies to treat all kinds of diseases. In the sixteenth century, the arrival of European traders and colonists initiated an exchange of he…

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Latest in Lawrence: Celebrating Maidenhead Meadows & The Weekly News 5:44

3M ago5:44

5:44

Lawrence Township Update: October 16, 2025 Welcome to the Lawrence Township weekly news roundup, covering major awards, critical deadlines, and a multitude of upcoming fall events! 01. Township Achievements & Recognition • Award Winning Lawrence Township (Maidenhead Meadows): Lawrence Township was awarded 1st Place by the New Jersey Society of Muni…

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Thomas Smith, "Rewriting the First Crusade: Epistolary Culture in the Middle Ages" (Boydell & Brewer, 2024) 45:11

3M ago45:11

45:11

The letters stemming from the First Crusade are premier sources for understanding the launch, campaign, and aftermath of the expedition. Between 1095 and 1100, epistles sustained social relationships across the Mediterranean and within Europe, as a mixture of historical writing, literary invention, news, and theological interpretation. They served …