New Books in Science, Technology, and Society
New Books Network
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.
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Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: newbooksnetwork.com
Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/
Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetworkSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-technology-and-society
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 25, 2026 • 1h 19min
Fred Turner on Countercultures, Cybercultures, and Californian and Texan Ideologies
Fred Turner, Stanford communication professor and author who traces the cultural roots of Silicon Valley. He revisits how 1960s utopianism migrated into tech, Burning Man’s rehearsal of startup culture, fringe ideas amplified by powerful networks, the shift of tech elites toward Texas, and risks from surveillance, AI hype, and authoritarian-friendly infrastructures.
Feb 23, 2026 • 49min
Subodhana Wijeyeratne, "The Islands and the Stars: A History of Japan's Space Programs" (Stanford UP, 2026)
Subodhana Wijeyeratne, historian and assistant professor who traced Japan’s space programs, uncovers nearly a century of overlooked space history. He discusses Japan’s rise to a top space power, early 1920s roots and wartime rocketry, postwar revival and institutional shifts leading to JAXA, and how public politics, funding choices, and practical satellite missions shaped a distinct path in global space exploration.
Feb 22, 2026 • 55min
Marc Masters, "High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape" (UNC Press, 2023)
Marc Masters, music journalist and author of High Bias, traces the compact cassette's wild cultural life. He explores how tapes fueled DIY music scenes, mixtape intimacy, hip hop and punk distribution, concert taping culture, and a modern indie cassette resurgence. Short, vivid stories highlight tape tribes, bootlegs, and the cassette's stubborn, creative afterlife.
Feb 21, 2026 • 50min
Joe Williams, "Inequality in the Digital Economy: The Case for a Universal Basic Income" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024)
Andrew White, lecturer and author of Inequality in the Digital Economy, explores how digital markets concentrate power and wealth. He explains what a universal basic income would mean and why platform concentration and automation make it necessary. He discusses rethinking work, shorter weeks, valuing unpaid care, and practical pathways like pilots and tax-based funding.
Feb 19, 2026 • 39min
David King Dunaway, "A Four-Eyed World: How Glasses Changed the Way We See" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
David King Dunaway, a professor and cultural historian of technology, discusses how eyeglasses transformed perception and society. He recounts living a week without glasses. Topics include medieval origins and religious resistance, rising myopia and prevention, stereotypes in media, fashion and stigma, and the future risks and promises of smart and augmented eyewear.
Feb 19, 2026 • 48min
W. Patrick McCray, "README: A Bookish History of Computing from Electronic Brains to Everything Machines" (MIT Press, 2025)
W. Patrick McCray, historian of science and technology and author of README (MIT Press, 2025). He traces how nonfiction books made computing familiar and lovable. Short takes explore early popularizers like Giant Brains, cybernetics and Wiener, the rise of personal computing communities, tech bestsellers versus niche influencers, and books that taught the internet and shaped AI authorship debates.
Feb 18, 2026 • 59min
Ted Striphas, "Algorithmic Culture Before the Internet" (Columbia UP, 2023)
Ted Striphas, media studies scholar and chair at University of Colorado Boulder, traces how pre-digital systems used repetitive, rule-based practices that resemble algorithms. He explores language, print culture, and how words shaped computation’s cultural roots. The conversation ranges from lost human dialogue to tactics for resisting algorithmic control, and hints at AI’s implications for cultural production.
Feb 15, 2026 • 34min
Vanessa Rampton, "Making Medical Progress: History of a Contested Idea" (Cambridge UP, 2025)
Vanessa Rampton, historian of medicine and ideas affiliated with University of St. Gallen and McGill, explores how the notion of medical progress has been shaped over time. She traces shifting meanings from ancient debates to WWII and AI. The conversation examines patient empowerment, tensions between costly tech and public health, and visions of sustainability and justice for future medicine.
Feb 13, 2026 • 54min
Javiera Barandiaran, "Living Minerals: Nature, Trade, and Power in the Race for Lithium" (MIT Press, 2026)
Javiera Barandiaran, Associate Professor and director at CREW, studies lithium mining and environmental justice. She discusses the history and politics of brine-lithium, water and ecosystem impacts in desert mines, and how imaginaries about scarcity and national resources shape mining decisions. The conversation also explores rights-of-nature approaches and future research on extraction technologies and glaciers.
Feb 13, 2026 • 48min
Howard Alan Israel, "Nazi Anatomy Lessons: A Dissection of Evil" (Vallentine Mitchell, 2026)
Howard Alan Israel, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon and author, recounts discovering that a trusted anatomy atlas was created by Nazi doctors. He traces the atlas’s origins in Vienna, the victims likely used for its illustrations, and the institutional resistance to truth. The conversation raises urgent questions about medical ethics, remembrance, and how knowledge can be entangled with atrocity.
