New Books Network

Richard Lucas, a community-building entrepreneur behind TEDx, Open Coffee meetups and newcomer welcome projects. He talks about the processes that make gatherings inclusive and the scripted hosting techniques that help newcomers feel welcome. He explores how to turn attendees into contributors and how community projects can scale and sustain themselves.

Amelia Frank-Vitale, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at Princeton who followed Honduran migrants and caravans, discusses border enforcement, invisible gangland neighborhood borders, and how deportation and policy fuel repeated movement. She also explores migrant caravans as both protest and practical tactic, and critiques short-term aid amid structural pressures.

Ishrat Hossain, researcher on 1971 narratives and political memory. Mubashar Hasan, scholar of resistance who survived enforced disappearance. Arild Engelsen Ruud, professor of South Asia studies on authoritarian backsliding. They explore the Gen Z uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina, how youth and online mobilization reshaped liberation narratives, comparative lessons from Asian uprisings, and the fraught path from mass protest to democratic reform.

Asif Iqbal, scholar of Bangladeshi literature, explores Anglophone and Bengali texts that imagine postcolonial Bangladesh. He traces Partition, Muslim nationalism, 1960s politics, and the 1971 war through novels, films, and digital sources. The conversation contrasts English and vernacular perspectives and highlights overlooked literary voices and future research directions.

Steve Zipperstein, Koshland Professor in Jewish Culture and History at Stanford, reconsiders the 1903 Kishinev pogrom and its global reverberations. He traces how location, press coverage, and dubious documents amplified its reach. The talk probes networks, relief campaigns, and the contested origins of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Paul Kramer, Vanderbilt historian and author of The Blood of Government, and Sven Beckert, Harvard historian of capitalism and author of Capitalism: A Global History, debate capitalism’s global origins. They trace long processes and key institutional ruptures, probe the state’s role in money and markets, and confront how violence and coercion shaped capitalist expansion. The late 19th century’s turning point and the making of a global narrative get special attention.

Jennifer Dasal, curator, art historian, and podcast creator, uncovers The American Girls' Club in Belle Époque Paris. She traces its founders, the club’s cozy residential life, and how it sheltered ambitious American women painters. Stories include rubbing shoulders with Rodin, trading art for meals, and the club’s role in launching careers and activism.

Melissa Auf der Maur, Canadian musician and former bassist for Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins, reflects on her bohemian Montreal roots and the serendipity that launched her into '90s alternative rock. She revisits joining big bands after tragedy, reframes Courtney Love's complexity, and teases a vast archive of photos, a book, and a documentary.

Dr. Dagmar Wujastyk, Associate Professor at University of Alberta and organizer of Indology in Canada, specializes in premodern Indian studies. The conversation outlines the conference’s aim to build a Canadian Indological community. Topics include redefining Indology today, inclusivity across diasporic and vernacular work, conference format and networking, and themes like epics, medicine, alchemy, and translation.

Eric Ries, entrepreneur and author of The Lean Startup, outlines why companies drift from founders' purpose and how to build institutions that resist that pull. He discusses financial gravity, structural guardrails, mission governance, detecting real values, and whether systems can withstand corrupt leadership. Short, provocative, and focused on practical mechanisms for preserving ethical missions.