New Books in Critical Theory
Marshall Poe
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/critical-theory
Episodes
Mentioned books
9 snips
Mar 11, 2026 • 50min
Sari Hanafi, "Against Symbolic Liberalism: A Plea for Dialogical Sociology" (Liverpool UP, 2025)
Sari Hanafi, Professor of Sociology and Director at AUB, and former ISA president, critiques how proclaimed liberal values can become politically illiberal. He outlines symbolic liberalism, its role in inflating rights and narrowing dialogue, and argues for a dialogical turn that reintroduces neighbor, shared goods, religious language, and practical reforms to rebuild common civic space.
10 snips
Mar 10, 2026 • 48min
Jacob Stegenga, "Heart of Science: A Philosophy of Scientific Inquiry" (U Chicago Press, 2026)
Jacob Stegenga, philosopher of science and professor at Nanyang Technological University, challenges truth-focused views in favor of assessing scientific justification. He discusses process vs product, common knowledge as science’s aim, publicity and trust, values in rapid pandemic science, and how diversity and standards shape proper scientific evaluation.
Mar 10, 2026 • 1h 9min
Stephen Lee Naish, "Screen Captures: Film in the Age of Emergency" (Lever Press, 2026)
Stephen Lee Naish, writer and cultural critic who studies film, politics, music, and pop culture. He traces how blockbusters, indie horror, and teen comedies mirror political and climate anxieties. He probes Star Wars fandom vs studio power, masculinity in films from Point Break to American Pie, and how VHS and streaming reshape private viewing.
10 snips
Mar 7, 2026 • 57min
The Cave and the Coalition: Philosophy, Populism, and the MAGA New Right
Laura Field, political theorist and author who studies American far-right intellectualism, maps the ideas shaping today’s MAGA new right. She traces Straussian readings, Catholic integralism, the manosphere, and Trump-era populism. The conversation uses Plato’s Cave to probe why thinkers return to politics and how philosophical radicalism becomes strategy.
27 snips
Mar 7, 2026 • 42min
Sean Parson, "Punk Anarchism: An Anti-Politics of Resistance" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
Sean Parson, professor of politics and environmental theory and author of Punk Anarchism, explores a punk-inflected critique of contemporary politics. He traces punk roots, Dada and nihilist traditions, and argues for resistance framed by negation, playfulness, and resentment rather than reform. The conversation ranges from historical nihilists to contemporary punk records and the role of art in anti-political action.
8 snips
Mar 6, 2026 • 1h 10min
Alex Brostoff and Vilashini Cooppan eds., "Autotheories" (MIT Press, 2025)
Vilashini Cooppan, UCSC literature professor exploring postcolonial memory and affect. Alex Brostoff, Georgetown scholar of transnational queer and autotheory studies. They map autotheory's hybrid blend of life writing and critical theory. They discuss plural genealogies, editing experimental writing, and autotheory’s political and reading practices.
Mar 5, 2026 • 57min
Damion Searls, "The Philosophy of Translation" (Yale UP, 2024)
Damion Searls, a prolific translator of Nietzsche, Rilke, Proust and more, and author of The Philosophy of Translation. He explores how translators read differently, the craft of rendering rhythm and cultural nuance, grammar as a worldview, creativity in shaping English prose, and limits posed by markets and machines. Short, lively conversations about the art and constraints of moving texts between languages.
Mar 4, 2026 • 54min
David L. Eng, "Reparations and the Human" (Duke UP, 2025)
David L. Eng, a scholar blending law, psychoanalysis, Asian American studies, and critical theory, explores reparations across the Transpacific. He traces how colonial and Enlightenment concepts shaped who counts as human. Topics include Locke and colonial reparations, Hiroshima’s contested recognition, uranium’s transnational harms, and rethinking the human through interdependence.
Mar 3, 2026 • 1h
Catherine Elgin, "Epistemic Ecology" (MIT Press, 2025)
Catherine Elgin, Harvard philosopher of education and author of Epistemic Ecology, explores how individuals and communities build shared standards that improve inquiry. She discusses how categories and methods shape understanding. Topics include communal learning, epistemic autonomy, iteration from successes, risks of corrupt communities, and the role of acceptance versus belief.
Mar 3, 2026 • 39min
Ailbhe Kenny, "Music Refuge: Living Asylum through Music" (Oxford UP, Press 2025)
Ailbhe Kenny, Associate Professor in Music Education who researches music and migration, discusses music programmes with people seeking asylum in Ireland and Germany. She recounts fieldwork with children and community projects. Topics include participatory music projects, how music creates belonging in limbo, singing events that invite neighbours in, and designing inclusive musical spaces.
