New Books in Political Science

New Books Network

Episodes

Mentioned books

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May 12, 2026 • 52min

Chiara Libiseller, "Reconceptualizing War: The Rise and Fall of Fashionable Concepts in Strategic Studies" (Oxford UP, 2026)

Dr. Chiara Libiseller, lecturer in strategic studies at King’s College London and author of Reconceptualizing War, studies how concepts in strategic studies go in and out of fashion. She traces RMA, counterinsurgency, and hybrid warfare. Short, sharp takes explore why concepts become dominant, how practitioner-academic ties shape trends, and why reflexivity is needed to avoid narrowing research.
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May 9, 2026 • 1h 6min

Mark Peterson, "The Making and Breaking of the American Constitution: A Thousand-Year History" (Princeton UP, 2026)

Mark Peterson, Edmund S. Morgan Professor of History at Yale and expert on early American institutions, traces a thousand-year constitutional arc from medieval land systems to modern crisis. He explores land and population as drivers of constitutional change. He examines expansion, slavery, Reconstruction, industrialization, and why amendment is so difficult. He calls for built-in renovation and stronger local representation.
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May 8, 2026 • 39min

Julia Bowes, "Every Man's Home a Castle: Parental Rights and the Makings of Modern Conservatism" (Princeton UP, 2026)

Dr. Julia Bowes, a historian of gender who wrote Every Man's Home a Castle, traces the nineteenth-century roots of the parental rights movement. She explores how schools, vaccine mandates, and child labor laws galvanized a diverse coalition defending fathers' household authority. The conversation highlights law, local schooling conflicts, race, and how disparate groups forged a national conservative force.
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May 8, 2026 • 1h 2min

Steffen Mau et al., "The Trigger Points: Inequality and Political Polarization in Contemporary Society" (Policy Press, 2026)

Linus Westhäuser, senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute who studies social and political conflicts, discusses how citizens hold nuanced, middle‑of‑the‑road views. He maps four conflict arenas: migration, climate, diversity, and economic justice. He explains how specific trigger points ignite debate and how social inequality underpins contemporary political tensions.
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May 6, 2026 • 55min

J. Michael Cole, "The Taiwan Tinderbox: The Island-Nation at the Centre of the New Cold War" (Polity, 2025)

J. Michael Cole, Taipei-based security analyst with two decades covering Taiwan, explains why the Taiwan Strait is a geopolitical tinderbox. He traces shifts since the Sunflower Movement and Xi Jinping's rise. He maps Beijing's gray-zone tactics, assesses the risk of conflict amid the Ukraine shadow, and considers how Taiwan and allies can bolster resilience and deterrence.
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May 5, 2026 • 52min

What Does the American Presidency Mean? A Conversation with Richard Holtzman

Richard Holtzman, associate professor of political science who studies presidential rhetoric and symbolism. He argues for an interpretive lens on the presidency. Short segments examine limits of causal approaches, rhetoric as spectacle rather than persuasion, how methods shape what we study, and the broader relevance of meaning-making for executives worldwide.
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May 4, 2026 • 1h 5min

Siniša Malešević, "Nationalism as a Way of Life: The Rise and Transformation of Modern Subjectivities" (Cambridge UP, 2025)

Siniša Malešević, Professor of comparative historical sociology and author focusing on nationalism, war, and state formation. He explores nationalism as a lived meta-ideology and daily practice. Listens focus on how national categories become embedded in organizations, the ties between nationalism and modern warfare, and why nationalism remains a dominant modern subjectivity.
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May 3, 2026 • 23min

Arely M. Zimmerman, "Contentious Citizenship: Salvadoran Activism and Belonging Across Borders" (U Arizona Press, 2026)

Arely M. Zimmerman, associate professor of Chicanx Latinx Studies and second-generation Salvadoran American. She explores Salvadoran activism, transnational networks, and how migrants remake belonging. Short scenes cover sanctuary mobilization, churches and hometown associations, gendered dynamics in revolutionary spaces, and the politics of remittances and return.
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May 1, 2026 • 38min

Caroline Kuzemko, "Climate Politics: Can't Live with It, Can't Mitigate without It" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

Caroline Kuzemko, a professor of the political economy of climate change, explores why mitigation is inherently political. She outlines different framings of politicization and the social dynamics of policymaking. Conversations cover just transition tradeoffs, shifting global energy geopolitics, and how local and national politics shape mitigation over decades.
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Apr 30, 2026 • 57min

Miranda Yaver, "Coverage Denied: How Health Insurers Drive Inequality in the United States" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

Miranda Yaver, political scientist and health policy researcher, studies how insurer practices shape who gets care. She discusses prior authorization, claim denials, and how appeals processes create unequal burdens. Conversation covers insurer incentives, impacts on clinicians and communities, and policy reforms to reduce administrative harm.

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