Jay Carter’s new book follows the life of one man as a way of opening a window into the lived history of twentieth-century China, yet it is less a traditional biography than a life of an emergent modern nation as told through the experiences of a single individual whose relationships embodied the history of that nation in flesh, bones, and blood. You can listen to our … Continue reading Heart of Buddha, Heart of China: An Interview
Known primarily as a travel writer thanks to the frequent assignment of her Diary in high school history and literature classes, Nun Abutsu was a thirteenth-century poet, scholar, and teacher, and also a prolific writer. Christina Laffin’s new book explores Abutsu’s life and written works, taking readers in turn through her letters, memoirs, poems, prayers, and travel diary, among others. You can listen to our conversation about it here. Continue reading Rewriting Medieval Japanese Women: An Interview
Craig Martin’s new book carefully traces religious arguments for and against Aristotelianism from the eleventh through the eighteenth centuries. Based on a close reading of a staggering array of primary sources, his book subverts several assumptions about the connection between Aristotelian thought and the emergence of the new sciences in early modernity. You can listen to our conversation about it here. Continue reading Subverting Aristotle: An Interview
Marwa Elshakry’s new book offers a fascinating account of how the work of Darwin and others was read and rendered in modern Arabic-language contexts. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the entanglements of science, translation, and empire in the modern world, and you can find our conversation about it here. Continue reading Reading Darwin in Arabic: An Interview
Nick Harkness and I spoke recently about his inspiring new book. Songs of Seoul explores the human voice as an instrument, and object, and an emblem in a rich ethnography of songak in Christian South Korea. It is a thoughtful and conceptually sophisticated account, and you can listen to our conversation about it here. Continue reading Songs of Seoul: An Interview
Michelle King’s wonderful new book explores the intertwined histories of imperialism and infanticide, situating the histories of infant killing and abandonment in China within a broader account of these practices in western Europe and across Eurasia. You can listen to our recent conversation about it here. Continue reading Between Birth and Death: An Interview
Adam Shapiro recently visited UBC and generously made time to talk with me about his new book, a careful study that looks beyond the rubrics of “science” and “religion” to understand how the Scopes trial became such an important event in the histories of both. You can find our conversation here. Continue reading Trying Biology: An Interview
I recently spoke with Michael Ruse about his fascinating new history of the Gaia Hypothesis in the context of the transformations of professional and public engagements with science and technology in the 1960s. It was a pleasure, and you can find our conversation here. Continue reading The Gaia Hypothesis: An Interview
I had the great pleasure of talking with Sienna Craig about her wonderful new book on Tibetan medical practices in the modern world. It’s an inspiring and beautifully written ethnography, and you can listen to our conversation about it here. Continue reading Healing Elements: An Interview
I spoke recently with Rowan Flad about the great new book he co-authored with Pochan Chen. The book explores the historical, archaeological, ecological, and other topographies of the Three Gorges region in early China, and you can listen to our conversation here. Continue reading Ancient Central China: An Interview
Carla Nappi 