Best The Norton Library Podcasts (2025)

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Ḥannā Diyāb, "The Book of Travels" (NYU Press, 2022): A Conversation with Johannes Stephan 51:22

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4m ago51:22

51:22

The Book of Travels Ḥannā Diyāb: A Conversation with Johannes Stephan The Book of Travels is Ḥannā Diyāb’s remarkable first-person account of his travels as a young man from his hometown of Aleppo to the court of Versailles and back again, which forever linked him to one of the most popular pieces of world literature, the Thousand and One Nights. D…

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Anne Lawrence-Mathers, "Medieval Meteorology: Forecasting the Weather from Aristotle to the Almanac" (Cambridge UP, 2019) 31:23

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In this episode we speak to Anne Lawrence-Mathers, Professor of History at the University of Reading about her new book Medieval Meteorology: Forecasting the Weather from Aristotle to the Almanac, out this year, 2020, with Cambridge University Press. The practice of weather forecasting underwent a crucial transformation in the Middle Ages. Explorin…

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David Edmonds, "Death in a Shallow Pond: A Philosopher, a Drowning Child, and Strangers in Need" (Princeton UP, 2025) 55:30

4m ago55:30

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Imagine this: You’re walking past a shallow pond and spot a toddler thrashing around in the water, in obvious danger of drowning. You look around for her parents, but nobody is there. You’re the only person who can save her and you must act immediately. But as you approach the pond you remember that you’re wearing your most expensive shoes. Wading …

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Caffeinated Concrete and a Song About Particle Physics! 31:30

17h ago31:30

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Today we’re covering ideas 13 through 9! These include a fascinating discovery about NASCAR and psychology, a clock that’s so accurate it’s reshaping our understanding of time, a tasty way to make concrete stronger (and more environmentally friendly), and some truly delightful revelations about dinosaurs. Plus: We explain particle physics through s…

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Chris Millington, "A History of Fascism in France: From the First World War to the National Front" (Bloomsbury, 2019) 1:03:09

19h ago1:03:09

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FASCISM...FRANCE. Two words/ideas that scholars have spent much time and energy debating in relationship to one another. Chris Millington's A History of Fascism in France: From the First World War to the National Front (Bloomsbury, 2019) is a work of synthesis that also draws on the author's own research for key examples and evidence to support its…

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Self-Healing Glass and Virtual Dolphins! 31:19

1d ago31:19

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The countdown continues with ideas 19 through 14, and today we’re talking virtual dolphins, a bike helmet you’ll actually want to wear, glass that un-breaks itself, unusual diet tips from the Amazon, personal germ clouds, and a high-tech approach to eating lobster. Check out Shucks Maine Lobster here! This episode originally aired on March 4, 2025.…

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Daniel Wortel-London, "The Menace of Prosperity: New York City and the Struggle for Economic Development, 1865–1981" (U of Chicago Press, 2025) 30:20

2d ago30:20

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Many local policymakers make decisions based on a deep-seated belief: what’s good for the rich is good for cities. Convinced that local finances depend on attracting wealthy firms and residents, municipal governments lavish public subsidies on their behalf. Whatever form this strategy takes—tax-exempt apartments, corporate incentives, debt-financed…

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Jetlagged Hamsters and the Smell of Space! 36:24

3d ago36:24

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While we take a short break this week, we're revisiting our countdown of the 25 greatest science ideas of the past 25 years! It all kicks off right here with a breakthrough for jetlagged hamsters, a hot tub that’ll take you on a journey, a better ketchup bottle, a solution for one of the world’s most common tech annoyances, and some very bad news: …

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Ian Scoones, "Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World" (Polity, 2024) 1:04:00

5d ago1:04:00

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Uncertainties are everywhere. Whether it’s climate change, financial volatility, pandemic outbreaks or new technologies, we don’t know what the future will hold. For many contemporary challenges, navigating uncertainty – where we cannot predict what may happen – is essential and, as the book explores, this is much more than just managing risk. But …

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Tom Arnold-Forster, "Walter Lippmann: An Intellectual Biography" (Princeton UP, 2025) 42:50

1d ago42:50

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From the years before World War I until the late 1960s, the journalist and political theorist Walter Lippmann was one of the most influential writers in the United States of America. His words and ideas had a powerful impact on American liberalism and his writings on the media are still taught today. Lippmann is now the subject of Tom Arnold-Forste…

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Why Does Rocking Put Babies to Sleep? 39:36

5d ago39:36

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Babies! We’ve all been one, and some of us have them. But did you know that baby talk serves an important purpose? Or that babies can fake tears to get attention? Today Mango and producer Gabe dig into some big science about tiny humans. Plus: What are zusers and bofels? Only a well-rested baby can answer that! Check out Candy Is Dandy: The Candy R…

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Francesca Stavrakopoulou, "God: An Anatomy" (Knopf, 2022) 44:50

3d ago44:50

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The scholarship of theology and religion teaches us that the God of the Bible was without a body, only revealing himself in the Old Testament in words mysteriously uttered through his prophets, and in the New Testament in the body of Christ. The portrayal of God as corporeal and masculine is seen as merely metaphorical, figurative, or poetic. But, …

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Nick Spencer, "The Landscapes of Science and Religion: What Are We Disagreeing About?" (Oxford UP, 2025) 38:48

8d ago38:48

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The relationship between science and religion has long been a heated debate and is becoming an ever more popular topic. The scientific capacity to manipulate and change humans and their environment through genetic engineering, life extension, and AI is going to take a huge leap forward in the twenty-first century, provoking endless debates around h…

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Omid Safi, “Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition” (Yale UP, 2018) 1:17:58

4d ago1:17:58

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It's often touted that Rumi is one of the best-selling poets in the United States. That may be the case but popular renderings of the writings of this 13th-century Muslim have largely detached him from the Islamic tradition, and specifically Sufi mysticism. In Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition (Yale University Press, 2018)…

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Michelle P. Brown, "Bede and the Theory of Everything" (Reaktion Books, 2023) 1:14:55

5d ago1:14:55

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Bede and the Theory of Everything (Reaktion Books, 2023) investigates the life and world of Bede (c. 673–735), foremost scholar of the early Middle Ages and ‘the father of English history’. It examines his notable feats, including calculating the first tide-tables; playing a role in the creation of the Ceolfrith Bibles and the Lindisfarne Gospels; …

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Barbara H. Rosenwein, "Winter Dreams: A Historical Guide to Old Age" (Reaktion, 2025) 46:39

5d ago46:39

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Winter Dreams: A Historical Guide to Old Age (Reaktion, 2025) is an evocative history of the ways the old have thought, felt and expressed themselves over two millennia, tracking the experience of ageing through artistic, literary and historical records. While old age is often depicted as ‘sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything’, Dr. Ba…

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What Are the Greatest Things We Didn't Know About Brazil? 34:51

10d ago34:51

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When's the best time to surf the Amazon? Can Brazilian termites help you make a better pizza? And did you pay too much for that venomous snake? (Spoiler alert: You probably did.) Today Will and Mango are uncovering some little-known facts about the big, beautiful country of Brazil! This episode originally aired on March 1, 2019. Got a question you’…

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Vinay Lal, "Gandhi, Truth, and Nonviolence: The Politics of Engagement in Post-Truth Times" (Oxford UP, 2025) 1:08:31

11d ago1:08:31

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The anthology presents a diverse array of essays delving into Gandhi's political activities, ethical beliefs, and philosophical stance. Distinguished Gandhian scholars contribute to this collection, setting it apart from similar compilations by focusing not just on Gandhi's impact or the debate over his relevance, but on maintaining his bold ethica…

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Marla Segol, "Kabbalah and Sex Magic: A Mythical-Ritual Genealogy" (Pennsylvania State UP, 2022) 56:55

9d ago56:55

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In Kabbalah and Sex Magic: A Mythical-Ritual Genealogy (Penn State University Press, 2021) a provocative book, Marla Segol explores the development of the kabbalistic cosmology underlying Western sex magic. Drawing extensively on Jewish myth and ritual, Segol tells the powerful story of the relationship between the divine and the human body in late…

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Catherine Malabou, "Stop Thief!: Anarchism and Philosophy" (Polity Books, 2023) 46:38

12d ago46:38

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Why do so many philosophers value anarchy but refuse to call themselves anarchists? Why don’t philosophers draw on the classical anarchist tradition? How can we think de facto anarchism as distinct from dawning anarchism? What is at stake in doing so? Does philosophy need anarchism? To answer these questions, in Stop Thief! Anarchism and Philosophy…

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9 Head-Spinning Facts About Carousels 19:43

13d ago19:43

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Grab your riding crop and hold on tight, because today we’re taking a spin through the history of merry-go-rounds! Why do British carousels rotate in the opposite direction from the rest? Which future U.S. president had a summer job sanding ponies? And what’s the connection between carousels and Eggo waffles? Saddle up your speakers, because Will a…

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Joshua Nall, "News from Mars: Mass Media and the Forging of a New Astronomy, 1860-1910" (U Pittsburgh Press, 2019) 1:04:04

13d ago1:04:04

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In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re hearing an awful lot about the fraught relationship between science and media. In his book, News from Mars: Mass Media and the Forging of a New Astronomy, 1860-1910 (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019), historian of science Joshua Nall shows us that a blurry boundary between science and journalism was …

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Rob Goodman, "Words on Fire: Eloquence and Its Conditions" (Cambridge UP, 2021) 44:32

13d ago44:32

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Why is political rhetoric broken – and how can it be fixed? Words on Fire: Eloquence and Its Conditions (Cambridge University Press, 2022) returns to the origins of rhetoric to recover the central place of eloquence in political thought. Eloquence, for the orators of classical antiquity, emerged from rhetorical relationships that exposed both speak…

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Raphael Cormack, "Holy Men of the Electromagnetic Age: A Forgotten History of the Occult" (Norton, 2025) 43:30

14d ago43:30

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An international history of the uncanny in the 1920s and 1930s. The interwar period was a golden age for the occult. Spiritualists, clairvoyants, fakirs, Theosophists, mind readers, and Jinn summoners all set out to assure the masses that just as newly discovered invisible forces of electricity and magnetism determined the world of science, unseen …

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José Vergara, "All Future Plunges to the Past: James Joyce in Russian Literature" (Cornell UP, 2021) 56:45

14d ago56:45

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All Future Plunges to the Past: James Joyce in Russian Literature (Cornell UP, 2021) explores how Russian writers from the mid-1920s on have read and responded to Joyce's work. Through contextually rich close readings, José Vergara uncovers the many roles Joyce has occupied in Russia over the last century, demonstrating how the writers Yury Olesha,…

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Isabella M. Weber, "How China Escaped Shock Therapy: The Market Reform Debate" (Routledge, 2021) 51:50

15d ago51:50

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China has become deeply integrated into the world economy. Yet, gradual marketization has facilitated the country's rise without leading to its wholesale assimilation to global neoliberalism. This book uncovers the fierce contest about economic reforms that shaped China's path. In the first post-Mao decade, China's reformers were sharply divided. T…

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Nabil Yasien Mohamed, "Ghazālī’s Epistemology: A Critical Study of Doubt and Certainty" (Routledge, 2024) 1:20:58

15d ago1:20:58

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Focusing on Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 1111) – one of the foremost scholars and authorities in the Muslim world who is central to the Islamic intellectual tradition – this book embarks on a study of doubt (shakk) and certainty (yaqīn) in his epistemology. Ghazālī’s Epistemology: A Critical Study of Doubt and Certainty (Routledge, 2024) looks at Ghazā…

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Thomas Kemple, “Intellectual Work and the Spirit of Capitalism: Weber’s Calling” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014) 1:13:10

15d ago1:13:10

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Thomas Kemple‘s new book is an extraordinarily thoughtful invitation to approach Max Weber (1864-1920) as a performer, and to experience Weber’s work by attending to his spoken and written voice. Intellectual Work and the Spirit of Capitalism: Weber’s Calling (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014) looks carefully at the literary structure and aesthetic element…

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Enrique Dussel, "The Theological Metaphors of Marx" (Duke UP, 2024)–A Conversation with Camilo Pérez-Bustillo and Eduardo Mendieta 55:34

16d ago55:34

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The Theological Metaphors of Marx (Duke UP, 2024) by Enrique Dussel – A Conversation with Camilo Pérez-Bustillo and Eduardo Mendieta In The Theological Metaphors of Marx, Enrique Dussel provides a groundbreaking combination of Marxology, theology, and ethical theory. Dussel shows that Marx unveils the theology of capitalism in his critique of commo…

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Who Invented the Dunce Cap? (And Other Unusual School Supplies) 27:53

17d ago27:53

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Why is there a bull on the Elmer's glue bottle? What did kids use to carry their books around before they had backpacks? And why does a giant cone tree get everyone excited about starting school in Germany? Will and Mango dig deep into their Trapper Keepers to bring you some stories you definitely didn't learn in school. This episode originally air…

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Liz Fischer, "Network Analysis for Book Historians: Digital Labour and Data Visualization Techniques" (Arc Humanities Press, 2025) 46:54

17d ago46:54

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Researchers and archivists have spent decades digitizing and cataloguing, but what does the future hold for book history? Network Analysis for Book Historians: Digital Labour and Data Visualization Techniques (ARC Humanities Press, 2025) explores the potential of network analysis as a method for medieval and early modern book history. Through case …

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Vinay Lal, "India and Its Intellectual Traditions: of Love, Advaita, Power, and Other Things" (Oxford UP, 2024) 1:08:47

18d ago1:08:47

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The book, the third volume to emerge from the enterprise known as 'The Backwaters Collective on Metaphysics and Politics', attempts to further the collective's ambition to put into question the certitudes of conventional social science discourse, decolonize the dominant knowledge frameworks, and understand how the intellectual and cultural resource…

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David Theo Goldberg, "The War on Critical Race Theory: Or, The Remaking of Racism" (Polity Press, 2023) 1:15:23

18d ago1:15:23

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The War on Critical Race Theory: Or, The Remaking of Racism (Polity Press, 2023) by David Theo Goldberg discusses how “Critical Race Theory” is consuming conservative America. The mounting attacks on a once-obscure legal theory are upending public schooling, legislating censorship, driving elections, and cleaving communities. In this much-needed re…

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Eli Zaretsky, “Political Freud: A History” (Columbia UP, 2015) 56:53

19d ago56:53

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Back in the early 70s, Eli Zaretsky wrote for a socialist newspaper and was engaged to review a recently released book, Psychoanalysis and Feminism by Juliet Mitchell. First, he decided, he’d better read some Freud. This started a life-long engagement with psychoanalysis and leftist politics, and his new book Political Freud: A History (Columbia Un…

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9 Crazy Stories About Debt (Including when you could pay your rent in Eels?!) 27:34

20d ago27:34

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What’s more fun than financial debt? Honestly, just about anything! But the team here has a knack for finding the silly side of any subject, and the history of people owing money to each other is no exception. Today, the guys share some out-of-the-box ideas for settling a debt, including paying your rent with a bunch of dead eels (looking at you, m…

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Federico Marcon, "Fascism: The History of a Word" (U Chicago Press, 2025) 1:34:03

21d ago1:34:03

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The rise and popular support for authoritarianism around the world and within traditional democracies have spurred debates over the meaning of the term “fascist” and when and whether it is appropriate to use it. The landmark study Fascism: The History of a Word (The University of Chicago Press, 2025) takes this debate further by tackling its most f…

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Alan M. Wald, "Bohemian Bolsheviks: Dispatches from the Culture and History of the Left" (Brill, 2025) 1:40:37

21d ago1:40:37

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For several decades now, Alan Wald has been thoroughly documenting the history of the literature and cultural output of the American left. While his numerous books and essays cover a lot of territory, much of his work is united by an interest in commitment, particularly when it comes to radical politics. What does it mean to commit ones life to a r…

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Russell Shorto, “Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom” (Norton, 2017) 1:03:24

21d ago1:03:24

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Russell Shorto‘s Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom (Norton, 2017) is a history of many revolutions, kaleidoscopic turns through six individual lives. There is Cornplanter, a leader of the Seneca Indians; George Germain, who led the British war strategy during the Revolution; Margaret Moncrieffe Coghlan, the daughter of a British major; t…

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Neil Roberts, “A Political Companion to Frederick Douglass” (UP of Kentucky, 2018) 1:18:25

23d ago1:18:25

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The year 2018 marks the 200th anniversary of Frederick Douglass’ birth. It can hardly be said that scholars have neglected Douglass; indeed, he is one of the most written-about figures in American history. But not all aspects of Douglass’ thought have received their due. One such blank spot in what might be called “Douglass Studies” concerns his po…

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How to Build the Ultimate Theme Park! 43:29

24d ago43:29

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If you want to build a theme park, there are some big questions to answer. Is it really a theme park, or is it an amusement park? (There’s a difference!) Also, how many Santa Clauses should you have? (Important.) And what do you need to do to be more eccentric than Walt Disney? (Start by picking a favorite juice, and then act irrationally when peop…

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Margaret C. Jacob, "The Secular Enlightenment" (Princeton UP, 2019) 1:04:36

24d ago1:04:36

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The Secular Enlightenment by Professor Margaret C. Jacob, has been called a major new history on how the Enlightenment transformed people's everyday lives. It’s a panoramic account of the radical ways that life began to change for ordinary people in the age of Locke, Voltaire, and Rousseau. In this landmark book, familiar Enlightenment figures shar…

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Maxim Samson, "Earth Shapers: How Humans Mastered Geography and Remade the World" (Profile Books, 2025) 1:14:49

25d ago1:14:49

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Mountains, meridians, rivers, and borders--these are some of the features that divide the world on our maps and in our minds. But geography is far less set in stone than we might believe, and, as Maxim Samson's Earth Shapers contends, in our relatively short time on this planet, humans have become experts at fundamentally reshaping our surroundings…

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Daniel José Gaztambide, "Decolonizing Psychoanalytic Technique: Putting Freud on Fanon's Couch" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024) 1:00:42

26d ago1:00:42

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Both new and seasoned psychotherapists wrestle with the relationship between psychological distress and inequality across race, class, gender, and sexuality. How does one address this organically in psychotherapy? What role does it play in therapeutic action? Who brings it up, the therapist or the patient? Daniel José Gaztambide addresses these que…

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9 Bonzer Tips for Traveling Across Australia 20:31

27d ago20:31

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Summer may be winding down, but we’re not done traveling yet—so grab your SPF and join Will and Mango on a big trip across the world’s smallest continent! Want to know the secret to Aussie slang? Or why the country is littered with ghost towns? We cover all that and more, including the best place to spot a pod of orcas and the least sweltering time…

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Murad Idris, "War for Peace: Genealogies of a Violent Ideal in Western and Islamic Thought" (Oxford UP, 2019) 1:06:01

28d ago1:06:01

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Murad Idris, a political theorist in the Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics at the University of Virginia, explores the concept of peace, the term itself and the way that it has been considered and analyzed in western and Islamic political thought. War for Peace: Genealogies of a Violent Ideal in Western and Islamic Thought (Oxford University Pr…

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William Marx, "Libraries of the Mind" (Princeton UP, 2025) 1:05:38

29d ago1:05:38

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Erich Auerbach wrote his classic work Mimesis, a history of narrative from Homer to Proust, based largely on his memory of past reading. Having left his physical library behind when he fled to Istanbul to escape the Nazis, he was forced to rely on the invisible library of his mind. Each of us has such a library—if not as extensive as Auerbach’s—eve…

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Alexander Douglas, "Against Identity: The Wisdom of Escaping the Self" (Random House, 2025) 1:08:43

29d ago1:08:43

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In Against Identity, philosopher Alexander Douglas seeks an alternative wisdom. Searching the work of three thinkers – ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi, Dutch Enlightenment thinker Benedict de Spinoza, and 20th Century French theorist René Girard – he explores how identity can be a spiritual violence that leads us away from truth. Through their…

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Hanno Sauer, "The Invention of Good and Evil: A World History of Morality " (Oxford UP, 2024) 1:11:03

1M ago1:11:03

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In this sweeping new history of humanity, told through the prism of our ever-changing moral norms and values, Hanno Sauer shows how modern society is just the latest step in the long evolution of good and evil and everything in between. What makes us moral beings? How do we decide what is good and what is evil? And has it always been that way? Hann…

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Philip Cunliffe, "The National Interest: Politics After Globalization" (Polity Press, 2025) 58:28

1M ago58:28

58:28

Globalization is over. With US president Donald Trump pursuing an 'America First' agenda in trade and foreign policy, everyone now recognises the urgency of defending their own country's national interest. But what is the national interest and why did it disappear from the political agenda? Will Trump restore American national interests, or will he…

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Chris Washington, "Nonbinary Jane Austen" (U Minnesota Press, 2025) 1:09:55

30d ago1:09:55

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In Nonbinary Jane Austen, Chris Washington theorizes how Jane Austen envisions a nonbinary future that traverses the two-sex model of gender that we can supposedly see solidifying in the eighteenth century. Arguing that her writing works to abolish gender exclusivity altogether, Washington shows how she establishes a politics that ushers in a futur…