New Books in Popular Culture
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/popular-culture
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 21, 2026 • 52min
Mike Huguenor, "Elvis Is Dead, I'm Still Alive: The Story of Asian Man Records" (Clash, 2026)
Mike Huguenot, musician and author of Elvis is Dead, I'm Still Alive, chronicles 30 years of Asian Man Records. He narrates the label's origins, its role in ska and DIY punk, and how it fostered diverse artists from a garage operation. He also recounts researching the book, memorable interviews, and the surprise offer that changed the label's trajectory.
Mar 21, 2026 • 55min
Danny Bate, "Why Q Needs U: A History of Our Letters and How We Use Them" (Bonnier Books, 2025)
Danny Bate, a linguist and writer who studies historical languages, takes listeners on a playful tour of the alphabet. He shares quirky origin stories, why letters changed shape and order, and how quirks like Q plus U, silent E, and soft versus hard C and G came to be. Short, surprising histories and linguistic tales make everyday letters feel new and mysterious.
Mar 20, 2026 • 1h 14min
Karima Moyer-Nocchi, "The Epic History of Macaroni and Cheese: From Ancient Rome to Modern America" (Columbia UP, 2026)
Dr. Karima Moyer-Nocchi, a culinary historian and University of Siena professor, traces macaroni and cheese from ancient Rome to modern America. She explores medieval recipes, Renaissance baked pastas, and how mobility, religion, and elites shaped pasta’s meaning. She also traces its transformation through industrialization, processed cheese, and Black cooks’ central yet overlooked role in making it an American staple.
Mar 19, 2026 • 1h 13min
Emma Chapman, "Radio Universe: How to Explore Space Without Leaving Earth" (Hachette UK, 2026)
Emma Chapman, award-winning astrophysicist and Royal Society Research Fellow, explains how radio waves reveal the unseen cosmos. She contrasts radio and optical astronomy. She traces radio breakthroughs from Jansky to the Event Horizon Telescope. She explores radar mapping of planets, pulsars, SETI’s radio searches, and the Square Kilometre Array’s time-machine reach.
Mar 18, 2026 • 31min
Robert J. Coplan, "The Joy of Solitude: How to Reconnect with Yourself in an Overconnected World" (Simon and Schuster, 2025)
Robert J. Coplan, psychologist and author of The Joy of Solitude, explores solitude vs loneliness and how brief, intentional alone time can recharge creativity and regulate emotions. He recounts formative solo experiences, debunks myths about long retreats, explains the brain benefits of solitude, and offers practical ways to fit meaningful solo moments into busy lives.
Mar 17, 2026 • 29min
Michael Mann Reconsidered: Thief and The Insider
A lively kickoff to a Michael Mann tournament pits Thief against The Insider. They dissect Mann’s signature nighttime urban visuals, synth-driven style, and debates over whether style serves substance. The conversation contrasts character and plot concerns in Thief with The Insider’s restrained tension, performances, and themes about journalism, corporate power, and contemporary relevance.
Mar 16, 2026 • 44min
Eurie Dahn, "Snack" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
Eurie Dahn, scholar of Black American periodicals and author of Snack, explores snacking as a cultural force. She traces packaging, marketing, and products like Flamin' Hot Cheetos to show how snacks travel from trivial to powerful. Short threads cover definitions of snacks, links to tobacco tactics, childhood and immigrant snacking identities, and snacking’s ties to diet culture and pleasure.
Mar 16, 2026 • 26min
A Star Is Born (1937)
A deep dive into the 1937 film’s crafted artifice and studio movie-making magic. Conversations trace the film’s operatic tragedy and comparisons to Greek drama. They explore the dark costs of celebrity and how fame corrodes identity. Memorable scenes like the boxing 'proposal' and the train station are highlighted for their emotional manipulation.
Mar 13, 2026 • 1h 7min
An Evening with Philip Roth: A Conversation with Bernard Avishai, Igor Webb, and Steven Zipperstein
Philip Roth, celebrated novelist, reads closing passages from Nemesis. Steven Zipperstein, historian of Jewish culture, probes community and solitude. Igor Webb, literature scholar, examines narrative voice and plague-literature links. Bernard Avishai, moral philosopher and commentator, compares Nemesis to classic plague narratives and philosophical dilemmas. They discuss fate, duty, and the novel’s place in Roth’s later work.
Mar 11, 2026 • 50min
Austin McCoy, "Living in a D.A.I.S.Y. Age: The Music, Culture, and World De La Soul Made" (Atria/One Signal, 2026)
Austin McCoy, Assistant Professor of History at West Virginia University and author of Living in a D.A.I.S.Y. Age, traces De La Soul’s cultural revolution. He explains the DAISY concept and the group’s aesthetic risks. He shares new archival findings, mixes memoir with scholarship, and debates algorithms versus mixtape curation.
