Johanna Drucker’s marvelous new book gives us a language with which to talk about visual epistemology. Graphesis introduces the nature and function of information graphics, awakens readers to the visual interfaces prevalent in our daily work, and considers how paying careful attention to visual interpretation can serve a broader humanistic agenda. We had a chance to talk about it for the New Books Network Seminar, and you … Continue reading Graphesis: An Interview
Robert Stoltz’s fascinating book Bad Water explores the emergence of an environmental turn in modern Japan, guiding readers through the unfolding of successive eco-historical periods in Japan while charting the transformations of an “environmental unconscious” lying at the foundation of modern social and political thought. Robert and I had a chance to talk about it for the New Books in East Asian Studies podcast, and you can listen to our conversation here. Continue reading Bad Water: An Interview
In two recent books, Greg Smits offers a history of earthquakes and seismology in Japan that creates a wonderful dialogue between history and the sciences. They’re books for anyone with an interest in the history of disaster, of the context of Fukushima, and of modern Japan, and we talked about both of them here. Continue reading Seismic Japan and When the Earth Roars: An Interview
Tine Gammeltoft’s new book explores the process of reproductive decision making in contemporary Hanoi. Haunting Images develops an anthropology of belonging, paying special attention to the ways that women and their communities understand and make decisions based on ultrasound imaging technologies. You can listen to our conversation about the book here. Continue reading Haunting Images: An Interview
Lisa Gitelman’s new book introduces readers to a way of thinking about documents as tools for creating bodily experience, and as material objects situated within hierarchies and relationships of labor. Working beautifully at the intersection of media studies and history, it curates a thoughtful and inspiring collection of moments from the expansion of a modern “scriptural economy.” You can listen to us talk about hit here. Continue reading Paper Knowledge: An Interview
In Omar Nasim’s new book, a series of fascinating characters sketch, paint, and etch their way toward a mapping of the cosmos and the human mind. His book examines the history of observation of celestial nebulae in the nineteenth century, exploring the relationships among the acts of seeing, drawing, and knowing in producing visual knowledge about the heavens and its bodies. We had a chance to talk about … Continue reading Observing by Hand: An Interview
Hallam Stevens has written a fascinating ethnographic and historical account of the transformations wrought by integrating statistical and computational methods and materials into the biological sciences. It has already changed how I think about both biology and the digital humanities, and you can find our conversation about it here. Continue reading Life Out of Sequence: An Interview
Gabrielle Hecht and I recently spoke about her thoughtful new book on nuclearity in modern Africa. Hecht’s multi-sited study weaves together atomic history, African history, and the histories of mining, economies, and health. The book is extremely important for historians of the modern world, and you can find our conversation about it here. Continue reading Being Nuclear: An Interview
David Novak and I recently talked about his awesome new book on noise, Japan, music, and global circulation. It’s a thoughtful study and a pleasure to read, and you can listen to our conversation about it here. Continue reading Japanoise: An Interview
It was a pleasure to talk with Conevery Bolton Valencius about her new book on the making and forgetting of knowledge surrounding a series of earthquakes that rocked the Mississippi Valley in the 19th century. It’s a great story about the history of early American science, with particularly awesome footnotes, and you can find our conversation here. Continue reading The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes: An Interview
Carla Nappi 