New Books Network

Jeremy Umansky, chef of Larder Delicatessen and author of Koji Alchemy, brings deep fermentation and foraging expertise. Ari Miller, chef of Muzi, champions seasonal, relationship-driven cooking. They talk about fermenting basics, wild yeast and bread, foraging traditions and offal, plus practical tips on salt, hygiene, and what to ferment now.

Kim Embrey, historian of Victorian Britain who studies drug histories, traces how South American coca moved into British medicine and policy. She recounts early explorer reactions, the rise of cocaine in medicine, global cultivation and trade networks, shifting public awareness, and the political turn toward regulation. Multiple short stories illuminate coca’s journey into British modernity.

Katharina Wiedlack, assistant professor of Anglophone cultural studies at the University of Vienna, studies Russian-American relations, queer feminist activism, and racialization. She unpacks how Western media shapes Cold War narratives about LGBTQ+ people, gender and disability in Russia. Short takes explore Putin-centric fear framing, the queer martyr trope, Pussy Riot’s Western iconography, and racialized war reporting.

Alberto Galasso, economist studying innovation and IP, explains technology capital and how firms create and manage it. Short takes cover patents, tradeoffs between protecting vs creating tech, experimentation and portfolio choices, startup IP mistakes, and using patent analytics for competitive intelligence.

John Bechtold, veteran scholar and author, explores how the US military treats media and memory as contested terrain. He discusses Fallujah 2004, control of images and narratives, the making of heroic frames, embedded journalism as militarized practice, and how visual culture displaces civilian suffering. Short, provocative, and visually focused.

Beans Velocci, Assistant Professor at UPenn and author of Sex Isn’t Real, traces how scientific practices made sex seem binary. They walk through historical research in zoology, eugenics, gynecology, statistics, and trans medicine. Short, clear vignettes reveal how methods and institutions kept reshaping categories to fit prevailing social aims.

A literary study tracing parallels between Genesis narratives and the rise and reign of David. Short motifs and mirrored scenes are compared, from sibling rivalry to errand-to-brothers episodes. Close readings highlight structural echoes like Joseph and David parallels, Bathsheba as a mirror image, and how analogies shape characterization and thematic arcs.

Mia Bennett, an associate professor of geography who maps Arctic frontier-making, discusses rapidly changing Arctic geographies. She talks about melting sea ice, thawing permafrost, and new shipping routes. She covers rising geopolitical competition, strategic flashpoints like the Bering Strait, and Indigenous governance experiments.

David Potter, a leading scholar of Greek and Roman history, offers a fresh look at Julius Caesar. He focuses on Caesar’s own writings and public image. Topics include Caesar’s family myth and political identity. He traces the violence that shaped his youth, his rhetorical training, the pragmatic politics of the First Triumvirate, his managerial innovations in Gaul, and the limits of military rule in Rome.

Annahid Dashtgard, CEO of Anima Leadership and racial justice consultant, combines activism and executive coaching. She discusses the book’s origins, blending memoir with practical leadership tools. Conversations cover compassion over blame, balancing rage with strategy, using power well as leaders of color, and building inclusive, nonpunitive learning spaces.