New Books Network

Philip B. Uninsky, an academic social scientist, attorney, and nonprofit director, recounts his extended Jewish family’s survival across pogroms, revolution, and the Holocaust. He explores memory’s slipperiness and creative nonfiction methods. Short portraits reveal diverse, surprising forms of resilience. Conversations probe secrecy, reinvention, and why some stayed while others left.

Lindsay Rae Smith Privette, historian and author specializing in Civil War medical history and Vicksburg, discusses how medical organization shaped the 200-mile campaign and siege. She highlights reforms in army medicine, the toll of disease and sanitation, tensions between surgeons and commanders, and surprising research finds about burials and caregiver experiences.

Amir Saemi, philosopher of Islamic thought focused on ethics and revelation, discusses the “New Problem of Evil” — tensions between troubling scriptural commands and moral judgment. He surveys medieval thinkers, critiques scripture-first fixes, and proposes an ethics-first approach. Topics include thick vs thin moral concepts, the Moses Principle, gendered morality, and how to reconcile ancient law with moral progress.

Eivind Røssaak, research professor in visual media and author of The Cory Arcangel Hack, maps how Arcangel’s DIY hacks reorder digital culture. He traces hacker-art collisions, presents a taxonomy of flow-break, flow-remix, and flow-parody hacks, and situates Arcangel within contemporary digital art. The conversation also looks ahead to AI ecologies and how media technologies shape expressive flows.

Daniel Rachel, award-winning music historian and former musician, probes seven decades of rock’s flirtations with Nazi imagery. He traces instances from early rock theatrics to punk’s provocation and modern social-media amplification. The conversation navigates memory, accountability, and how popular music has repeatedly toyed with dangerous symbolism.

Karen Pastorello, historian of labor and women’s history and former Women and Gender Studies chair. Susan Goodier, historian of women’s history and suffrage and former New York History Journal board member. They trace suffrage origins in abolitionism and legal inequality. They map evolving tactics from petitions and parades to canvassing and early marketing. They highlight diverse supporters across class, race, and region.

Wout Saelens, early modern historian and author of Fossil Consumerism, traces how household choices in the Low Countries drove early fossil fuel use. He discusses shifts in stoves and heating, changing domestic routines and gendered labor, regional fuel differences, and how warmth became a cultural ideal amid rising indoor pollution.

Nancy Hudgins, a former lawyer turned children’s book writer and editor, explores the life of Ursula Nordstrom. She connects childhood reading, archival research, and the switch from picture-book attempts to a middle-grade biography. Conversations touch on editorial mentorship, the shifting landscape of children’s publishing, and new projects about librarians.

Marty Friedman, multi-platinum guitarist and longtime Japan resident turned memoirist, discusses writing Dreaming Japanese with Jon Wiederhorn. He reflects on translating music into prose, J-pop mechanics and the idea of heta-uma. He explores Japanese notions of cuteness, industry work culture, managers, and his orchestral album Drama.

James Trapp, a professional translator of contemporary Chinese literature, discusses translating Zhou Meisen’s Property of the People. He traces the novel’s sprawling cast and intricate plotting. He talks about rendering Chinese political titles, cultural allusions, and finding the right English voice. He also describes editorial collaboration and unexpected twists he encountered while working on the book.