Best Mayu Podcasts (2026)

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Mayu Iwatani vs. Takumi Iroha Watchalong Series - Part 2 (18/10/2020) 33:06

Play Pause

5h ago33:06

33:06

With their upcoming big match at Marigold First Dream on the 3rd January, Matt goes back to watch their two previous absolute classics. The second, the World of Stardom title match from November 2020 with Takumi having beaten Mayu on 8th February in special singles action! Subscribe to the podcast: https://linktr.ee/talkjoshi Check out our merch st…

1
Mayu Fujikawa, "Envisioning Diplomacy: Japanese Ambassadors in Early Modern Europe" (Pennsylvania State UP, 2025) 55:42

16d ago55:42

55:42

In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Japan sent its first diplomatic delegations to visit the popes and dignitaries of Europe. European artists portrayed these historic ambassadors—the Tenshō embassy (1582–90) and the Keichō embassy (1613–20)—in numerous oil paintings, frescoes, drawings, and prints. Envisioning Diplomacy: Japanes…

1
Stuart Carroll, "Enmity and Violence in Early Modern Europe" (Cambridge UP, 2023) 51:09

4h ago51:09

51:09

Stuart Carroll's Enmity and Violence in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge University Press, 2023) transforms our understanding of Europe between 1500 and 1800 by exploring how ordinary people felt about their enemies and the violence it engendered. Enmity, a state or feeling of mutual opposition or hostility, became a major social problem during the t…

1
Stuart Carroll, "Enmity and Violence in Early Modern Europe" (Cambridge UP, 2023) 51:09

2h ago51:09

51:09

Stuart Carroll's Enmity and Violence in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge University Press, 2023) transforms our understanding of Europe between 1500 and 1800 by exploring how ordinary people felt about their enemies and the violence it engendered. Enmity, a state or feeling of mutual opposition or hostility, became a major social problem during the t…

1
Andrew S. Curran, "Biography of a Dangerous Idea: A New History of Race from Louis XIV to Thomas Jefferson" (Other Press, 2026) 1:16:45

2d ago1:16:45

1:16:45

An engaging investigation of how 13 key Enlightenment figures shaped the concept of race, from the acclaimed author of Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely. Over the first decades of the 18th century, Christianity began to lose its grip on the story of humankind. Yet centuries of xenophobia, religious intolerance, and proto-biological ideas did n…

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Mayu Iwatani vs. Takumi Iroha Watchalong Series - Part I (08/02/2020) 34:41

5h ago34:41

34:41

With their upcoming big match at Marigold First Dream on the 3rd January, Matt goes back to watch their two previous absolute classics. The first, an impromptu match from Stardom's Way to the Major League on the 8th February 2020, a match that was initially supposed to be Mayu vs. Sareee! Subscribe to the podcast: https://linktr.ee/talkjoshi Check …

1
Kerry Brown, "The Great Reversal: Britain, China and the 400-Year Contest for Power" (Yale UP, 2024) 37:29

3d ago37:29

37:29

In the sixteenth century, Queen Elizabeth I tried to send several letters to her Chinese counterpart, the Wan Li Emperor. The letters tried to ask the Ming emperor to conduct trade relations with faraway England; none of the expeditions carrying the letters ever arrived. It’s an inauspicious beginning to the four centuries of foreign relations betw…

1
Kerry Brown, "The Great Reversal: Britain, China and the 400-Year Contest for Power" (Yale UP, 2024) 37:29

3d ago37:29

37:29

In the sixteenth century, Queen Elizabeth I tried to send several letters to her Chinese counterpart, the Wan Li Emperor. The letters tried to ask the Ming emperor to conduct trade relations with faraway England; none of the expeditions carrying the letters ever arrived. It’s an inauspicious beginning to the four centuries of foreign relations betw…

1
Talk Joshi Special Bonus: TJPW January 4th 2026 Show Preview w/ Andy Zike of Tokyo Joshi Pod! 1:03:34

20h ago1:03:34

1:03:34

It's a special bonus Talk Joshi episode this week as Matt and Andy up the ante - and the ‘Andy’s’ - as they invite Andy Zike, the host of Tokyo Joshi Pod, to the show to talk about TJPW and preview their big January 4th show in Korakuen Hall. They chat Arisu Endo defending her International Princess Title against Mirai, as well as Miu Watanabe defe…

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

5d 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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True Victory 2025 Night 9 & 10 Reviews + First Dream 2026 Predictions | The Marigold Standard #77 41:59

23h ago41:59

41:59

Matt is solo on this episode because of the boys traveling to Japan! He reviews nights 9 and 10 of the True Victory tour before giving his and Rob’s predictions for the big First Dream show! Subscribe to the podcast: https://linktr.ee/talkjoshi Check out our merch store: https://talkjoshi-shop.fourthwall.com/ Our Socials: The Stardom Cast Twitter: …

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Stephanie Barczewski, "How the Country House Became English (Reaktion, 2023) 57:29

2d ago57:29

57:29

How the Country House Became English (Reaktion, 2023) by Dr. Stephanie Barczewski is an exploration of the evolution of the quintessentially English country house. Country houses have come to be regarded as quintessentially English, not only in terms of their architectural style but because they appear to embody national values of continuity and in…

1
Jolyon Baraka Thomas and Matthew D. McMullen, "The New Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions" (U Hawaii Press, 2024) 1:00:26

7d ago1:00:26

1:00:26

For nearly two decades, the Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions (U Hawaii Press, 2024) has served as a valuable resource for students and scholars of religion in Japan. This exciting update expands the audience to include non-specialists of Japan while also complicating the notions of "Japan" and "religion." Asking the provocative question "why stud…

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Talk Joshi #29: Sendai Girls & TJPW 21st December Show Reviews! 40:16

3d ago40:16

40:16

Matt is flying solo right before he flies over to Japan for Dream Queendom, Wrestle Kingdom and more! On this episode, he reviews two shows from the same day, December 21st 2025. Firstly, the Sendai Girls Shin-Kina 1st RING show featuring the main event of Yurika Oka & Manami vs. Team 200kg, and then the TJPW Se~No Merry Christmas show and the main…

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289: Stardom in Toyama, Osaka & X’Mas Night 2025 Reviews! 1:41:35

14h ago1:41:35

1:41:35

Matt is flying solo on this one as the boys both prepare to hop onto long flights to Japan, where they will be going to Wrestle Kingdom, Dream Queendom and more! On this episode, Matt reviews the Stardom shows from December 20th in Toyama, the 21st in Osaka and the Christmas Eve show from the legendary Korakuen Hall! Subscribe to the podcast: https…

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Andrew W. Bernstein, "Fuji: A Mountain in the Making" (Princeton UP, 2025) 1:01:37

3h ago1:01:37

1:01:37

Fuji: A Mountain in the Making (Princeton UP, 2025) is A panoramic biography of Japan's iconic mountain from the Ice Age to the present Mount Fuji is everywhere recognized as a wonder of nature and enduring symbol of Japan. Yet behind the picture-postcard image is a history filled with conflict and upheaval. Violent eruptions across the centuries w…

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Jonathan Sumption, "The Challenges of Democracy: And the Rule of Law" (Profile Books, 2026) 29:59

9d ago29:59

29:59

Across the globe, democracy is in crisis - in the UK alone, it has been rocked by Brexit, the pandemic and successive attempts by governments to bypass legal norms. But how did this happen, and where might we go from here? Jonathan Sumption cuts through the political noise with acute analysis of the state of democracy today - from the vulnerabiliti…

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Joel S. Wit, "Fallout: The Inside Story of America's Failure to Disarm North Korea" (Yale UP, 2025) 49:23

9d ago49:23

49:23

After nearly four decades of negotiations, sanctions, summits, threats, and backdoor channels, the United States has failed to stop North Korea's nuclear program which now has the capability to strike American cities with weapons of mass destruction. In Fallout: The Inside Story of America's Failure to Disarm North Korea (Yale UP, 2025), Joel S. Wi…

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Robin F. Hansen, "Prison Born: Incarceration and Motherhood in the Colonial Shadow" (U Regina Press, 2024) 40:11

9d ago40:11

40:11

With rigorous scrutiny and deep care, Robin Hansen's Prison Born: Incarceration and Motherhood in the Colonial Shadow (U Regina Press, 2024) offers crucial insight into the intersections of ongoing colonial harms facing Indigenous mothers in Canada. Building from an unplanned call to Hansen from a pregnant, incarcerated Indigenous woman in 2016, Pr…

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Shlomo Pereira, "Monuments de Papel E Pergaminho: Hebrew Printing in Portugal at the End of the 15th Century" (Chabad Portugal Press, 2025) 51:39

10d ago51:39

51:39

Rabbi Professor Shomo Pereira discussed his book "Monuments of Paper and Parchment: Hebrew Printing in Portugal in the Late 15th Century." He explained that while Portugal lacks physical Jewish monuments due to natural disasters, earthquakes, and persecution, the book highlights the country's rich Jewish history through its manuscript and printing …

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Sven Beckert, "Capitalism: A Global History" (Allen Lane, 2025) 1:00:59

10d ago1:00:59

1:00:59

No other phenomenon has shaped human history as decisively as capitalism. It structures how we live and work, how we think about ourselves and others, how we organize our politics. Sven Beckert, author of the Bancroft Prize–winning Empire of Cotton, places the story of capitalism within the largest conceivable geographical and historical framework,…

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Emiliano Rubens Urciuoli, "Citifying Jesus: The Making of a Roman Religion in the Roman Empire" (Mohr Siebeck, 2024) 56:20

1d ago56:20

56:20

Religion and urban life are the most successful strategies of handling, enhancing, and capitalizing on human sociability. By integrating religious studies, archaeology, and spatial theory, Emiliano Rubens Urciuoli aims to re-describe the formation of Christ religion as urban religion in Citifying Jesus: The Making of a Roman Religion in the Roman E…

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Marcus Willaschek, "Kant: A Revolution in Thinking" (Harvard UP, 2025) 1:05:04

11d ago1:05:04

1:05:04

Immanuel Kant is undoubtedly the most important philosopher of the modern era. His Critique of Pure Reason, “categorical imperative,” and conception of perpetual peace in the global order decisively influenced both intellectual history and twentieth-century politics, shaping everything from the German Constitution to the United Nations Charter. Ren…

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Samuel Helfont, "The Iraq Wars: A Very Short Introduction" (Oxford UP, 2025) 1:02:15

11d ago1:02:15

1:02:15

American wars in Iraq were a defining feature of global politics for almost thirty years. The Gulf War of 1991, the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the campaign against the Islamic State beginning in 2014 each had their own logic. Each occurrence was a distinct conflict; however they must not only be considered in isolation. The United State…

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Simon Avenell, "A History of Postwar Japan: Recovery, Prosperity, and Transformation" (U Hawaii Press, 2025) 1:00:37

12d ago1:00:37

1:00:37

This sweeping history tells the story of contemporary Japan from its defeat in the Asia-Pacific War in 1945 until the early decades of the new millennium. How did the Japanese people deal with the collapse of its empire and the American-led occupation? What factors played into Japan's remarkable economic recovery and stunning affluence? How did dem…

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288: The Stardom Cast Goes to Japan: The Preview! 1:26:18

2d ago1:26:18

1:26:18

Rob and Matt come together for the final time before they jet off to Japan for the trip of a lifetime, and they chat all the shows and matches they plan on seeing over the next two weeks! They talk the excitement around TJPW's Korakuen Hall show, Mayu and Takumi potentially stealing the week, Tanahashi's retirement, potential MIRAI sightings, Tripl…

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Tourism and a Kyoto in Flux: A Conversation with Dr. Chiara Rita Napolitano 28:58

3d ago28:58

28:58

In today’s episode Julia Olsson continues her talk with Dr. Chiara Rita Napolitano from last episode, and they discuss the issue of overtourism and its effect on traditional urban neighbourhoods in Kyoto. Dr. Chiara Rita Napolitano is a JSPS Postdoctoral Researcher at Kyoto university. She got her PhD from the University of Naples in 2024. Her rese…

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Hilary Davidson, "A Guide to Regency Dress: from Corsets and Breeches to Bonnets and Muslins" (Yale UP, 2025) 57:04

13d ago57:04

57:04

In A Guide to Regency Dress: from Corsets and Breeches to Bonnets and Muslins (Yale UP 2025), celebrated dress historian Dr. Hilary Davidson brings together nearly 20 years of research on Regency fashion in an illustrated guide for the first time. All the elements of the Regency wardrobe of both men and women—from coats, gowns and undergarments to …

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Christian Smith, "Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America" (Oxford UP, 2025) 36:52

13d ago36:52

36:52

Is traditional American religion doomed? Traditional religion in the United States has suffered huge losses in recent decades. The number of Americans identifying as "not religious" has increased remarkably. Religious affiliation, service attendance, and belief in God have declined. More and more people claim to be "spiritual but not religious." Re…

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David Fleming, "A Big Mess in Texas: The Miraculous, Disastrous 1952 Dallas Texans and the Craziest Untold Story in NFL History" (St. Martin's Press, 2025) 52:17

14d ago52:17

52:17

Today we are joined by David Fleming, Peabody-nominated correspondent for Meadowlark Media, longtime ESPN senior writer, and author of A Big Mess in Texas: The Miraculous, Disastrous 1952 Dallas Texans and The Craziest Untold Story in NFL History (St. Martin’s Press, 2025). In our conversation, we discussed the origins of the infamous (but also sur…

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Talk Joshi #28: Marvelous in Ishikawa (10/19) & TJPW Live in Dallas (7/13) Reviews! 1:13:43

5d ago1:13:43

1:13:43

On this week's episode, we review the newest - at least on WrestleUniverse - Marvelous show from the 19th October, featuring the main event of Senka Akatsuki vs. Takumi Iroha for the AAAW Championship. Then, we review a show from back in the summer when TJPW went to Texas for three nights, with us reviewing the 'Live in Dallas' show from the 13th J…

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Kwame Nkrumah and Pan-Africanism’s High Tide: A Conversation with Howard W. French 48:17

15d ago48:17

48:17

The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide (Liveright, 2025), the second work in a trilogy from best-selling author Howard W. French about Africa's pivotal role in shaping world history, underscores Adam Hochschild's contention that French is a "modern-day Copernicus." The title--referring to a brief period …

1
True Victory 2025 Nights 7 & 8 Reviews | The Marigold Standard #76 1:32:25

6d ago1:32:25

1:32:25

Rob and Matt are back together once again to chat all the happenings from the world of Dream Star Fighting Marigold. They talks the full First Dream card, the return of the Twinstar Cup, Victoria Yuzuki's case for Tokyo Sports Rookie of the Year, Matt's Marigold tag team match of the year and so much more! Subscribe to the podcast: https://linktr.e…

1
Mayu Fujikawa, "Envisioning Diplomacy: Japanese Ambassadors in Early Modern Europe" (Pennsylvania State UP, 2025) 55:42

16d ago55:42

55:42

In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Japan sent its first diplomatic delegations to visit the popes and dignitaries of Europe. European artists portrayed these historic ambassadors—the Tenshō embassy (1582–90) and the Keichō embassy (1613–20)—in numerous oil paintings, frescoes, drawings, and prints. Envisioning Diplomacy: Japanes…

1
Mayu Fujikawa, "Envisioning Diplomacy: Japanese Ambassadors in Early Modern Europe" (Pennsylvania State UP, 2025) 55:42

16d ago55:42

55:42

In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Japan sent its first diplomatic delegations to visit the popes and dignitaries of Europe. European artists portrayed these historic ambassadors—the Tenshō embassy (1582–90) and the Keichō embassy (1613–20)—in numerous oil paintings, frescoes, drawings, and prints. Envisioning Diplomacy: Japanes…

1
Mayu Fujikawa, "Envisioning Diplomacy: Japanese Ambassadors in Early Modern Europe" (Pennsylvania State UP, 2025) 55:42

16d ago55:42

55:42

In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Japan sent its first diplomatic delegations to visit the popes and dignitaries of Europe. European artists portrayed these historic ambassadors—the Tenshō embassy (1582–90) and the Keichō embassy (1613–20)—in numerous oil paintings, frescoes, drawings, and prints. Envisioning Diplomacy: Japanes…

1
Mayu Fujikawa, "Envisioning Diplomacy: Japanese Ambassadors in Early Modern Europe" (Pennsylvania State UP, 2025) 55:42

16d ago55:42

55:42

In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Japan sent its first diplomatic delegations to visit the popes and dignitaries of Europe. European artists portrayed these historic ambassadors—the Tenshō embassy (1582–90) and the Keichō embassy (1613–20)—in numerous oil paintings, frescoes, drawings, and prints. Envisioning Diplomacy: Japanes…

1
Gian Piero Persiani, "Poets, Patrons, and the Public: Poetry as Cultural Phenomenon in Courtly Japan" (Brill, 2025) 33:47

6d 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…

1
Alexandra Ghiț, "Welfare Work Without Welfare: Women and Austerity in Interwar Bucharest" (De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2025) 44:15

17d ago44:15

44:15

Welfare Work Without Welfare: Women and Austerity in Interwar Bucharest (De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2025) argues that women activists, wage workers, and homemakers in the Romanian capital Bucharest became de facto social workers in the interwar period through their "austerity welfare work". Revealing links and tensions between the performers of differe…

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Thomas Gidney, "An International Anomaly: Colonial Accession to the League of Nations" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 1:02:25

17d ago1:02:25

1:02:25

It is often assumed that only sovereign states can join the United Nations. But this was not always the case. At the founding of the United Nations, a loophole drafted by British statesmen in its predecessor organisation, the League of Nations, was carried forward, allowing colonies to accede as member-states. Colonies such as India, Ireland, Egypt…

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287: Stardom in Fuji & Toyama Reviews + Saya Kamitani Wins Tokyo Sports MVP Award! 1:48:46

14d ago1:48:46

1:48:46

In a Stardom Cast first, Rob and Matt actually bring you breaking news as opposed to podcasting before it! They chat the huge news of Saya Kamitani officially becoming the first woman to ever win the Tokyo Sports MVP prize, the feud with Saori Anou, her and Syuri's placement at Wreste Kingdom 20, the upcoming Natsu & Saory show, Hazuki in Sendai Gi…

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Maddalena Alvi, "The European Art Market and the First World War: Art, Capital, and the Decline of the Collecting Class, 1910–1925" (Cambridge UP, 2025) 1:00:08

18d ago1:00:08

1:00:08

The outbreak of the First World War shattered the established European art market. Amidst fighting, looting, confiscations, expropriation fears and political and economic upheaval, an integrated marketplace shaped by upper-class patrons broke down entirely. In its place, Maddalena Alvi argues, can be found the origins of a recognizably modern marke…

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J Finley, "Sass: Black Women's Humor and Humanity" (UNC Press, 2024) 57:19

19d ago57:19

57:19

Black women comedians are more visible than ever, performing around the world in physical venues like comedy clubs and festivals, along with appearing in films, streaming specials, and online videos. Across these mediums, humor—and particularly sass—functions as a tool for Black women to articulate and redress cultural, social, and political margin…

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Yasmin Cho, "Politics of Tranquility: The Material and Mundane Lives of Buddhist Nuns in Post-Mao Tibet" (Cornell UP, 2025) 53:29

10d ago53:29

53:29

Politics of Tranquility: The Material and Mundane Lives of Buddhist Nuns in Post-Mao Tibet (Cornell University Press, 2025) concerns the Tibetan Buddhist revival in China, illustrating the lives of Tibetan Buddhist nuns and exploring the political effects that arise from their nonpolitical daily engagements in the remote, mega-sized Tibetan Buddhis…

1
Machiya, Seikatsu Bunka, and Changing Domestic Culture in the Japanese Urban Environment 31:42

10d ago31:42

31:42

Kyoto is known as a pinnacle of Japanese history and culture, drawing visitors of more than double its resident population many times over every year. In this and the subsequent episode we explore Kyoto neighbourhoods and the houses in them to see what transformations are happening, and what is at risk of being lost in the process. In today’s episo…

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Tullia d'Aragona, "The Wretch, Otherwise Known As Guerrino" (Iter Press, 2024) 51:29

20d ago51:29

51:29

This is an unabridged bilingual, fully annotated edition of Tullia d’Aragona’s epic poem The Wretch. This mid-century epic reflects the many historical and religious changes taking place in the first half of the sixteenth century in Europe and the burgeoning literary debates following the publication of another Italian epic poem, Ariosto’s Orlando …

1
Ulinka Rublack, "Dürer's Coats: Renaissance Men and Material Cultures of Social Recognition" (CEU Press, 2025) 37:35

20d ago37:35

37:35

Jana Byars meets one of her academic heroes when Ulinka Rublack joins her to talk about Dürer's Coats: Renaissance Men and Material Cultures of Social Recognition (Routledge, 2025). During the Renaissance, clothing became more and more elaborately decorated and expensive. It often emphasised the privilege of the male elite. Yet clothing could also …

1
Tullia d'Aragona, "The Wretch, Otherwise Known As Guerrino" (Iter Press, 2025) 51:29

20d ago51:29

51:29

This is an unabridged bilingual, fully annotated edition of Tullia d’Aragona’s epic poem The Wretch. This mid-century epic reflects the many historical and religious changes taking place in the first half of the sixteenth century in Europe and the burgeoning literary debates following the publication of another Italian epic poem, Ariosto’s Orlando …

1
Michelle Anya Anjirbag, "Appropriated Tales: Race and the Disney Fairy-Tale Mode" (Wayne State UP, 2025) 1:03:35

21d ago1:03:35

1:03:35

In Appropriated Tales: Race and the Disney Fairy-Tale Mode (Wayne State UP, 2025), scholar Michelle Anya Anjirbag examines Disney's method of fairy-tale storytelling to determine how the corporation has shaped public understanding of what fairy tales are and who belongs within them. Covering a span of years "from mermaid to mermaid"—from the 1989 a…