New Books Network

Eleanor Houghton, Brontë scholar, dress historian and illustrator, explores Charlotte Brontë through the 150 surviving garments she owned. She describes discovering the wardrobe, using drawing and scientific tests to date and analyze dresses, and how clothes illuminate sewing skill, literary scenes, provenance puzzles and the garments’ afterlives.

Leland Brown, pastor and adjunct professor who studies first- and second-century Christianity, presents his book on early Christian visions for pastoral leadership. He highlights claims about the virtues leaders must show. He describes leaders’ teaching, oversight, caregiving, and charity. He traces continuity with New Testament traditions and the mix of unity and diversity across early communities.

Stephen Onyango Ouma, scholar of African philosophy and decolonial thought, discusses pathways to African sovereignty. He explores economic independence, epistemic freedom, Pan-African cooperation, youth activism, digital opportunities and risks, and the central role of African women. The conversation blends critique with imaginative visions for structural change and homegrown solutions.

Marta Lorimer, a Lecturer in Politics at Cardiff University and expert on far-right politics and European integration. She recounts discovering neo-fascist Europeanism and traces how far-right groups reframed Europe as identity, liberty, threat, and national interest. Conversation covers Italian and French trajectories, strategic opportunism, EU transformations, and links to contemporary politics like remilitarization.

Hilary Matfess, assistant professor studying gender and post-conflict politics, explores how wartime gains for women often erode after rebellions transition to parties. She discusses case studies from Ethiopia, Namibia, El Salvador, and Nepal. Topics include party- and individual-level choices to continue or moderate wartime roles, the fate of women’s wings, and implications for DDR and postwar policy.

Jennifer Wong, a Hong Kong–born poet living in the UK, discusses her new collection Light Year. The conversation traces sea imagery, silence and memory. It touches on diaspora, motherhood, identity, microaggressions and the craft of compression and cinematic imagery. Light and translation recur as spaces between people.

Andrew Lister, political philosopher and author of Justice and Reciprocity, explores reciprocity in Rawlsian thought. He explains reciprocity as a limiting condition on duties and its tie to relational equality. Short segments cover reciprocity’s forms, implications for UBI and incentives, duties to future generations, and global justice.

Anne Blackwill, a literature professor who has taught around the world and written on the life of Jesus, joins to discuss her working book God With Us. They explore John’s portrayal of Jesus and the Trinity. Conversations cover the incarnation, Gethsemane’s anguish, the meaning of the cross, resurrection hope, and how worship and community shape living with God’s presence.

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.

Guy Pinsent, a British ex‑real estate entrepreneur, former banker and diplomat, founded Less Mess Storage in Poland and the Czech Republic. He describes building a large self‑storage platform, why freehold property and counter‑cyclical demand make the model attractive, and how acquisitions, marketing in low‑awareness markets, and tough CEO decisions shaped growth.