Neil Vallelly, "Futilitarianism: Neoliberalism and the Production of Uselessness" (MIT Press, 2021)
If maximizing utility leads to the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people, as utilitarianism has always proposed, then why is it that as many of us currently maximize our utility--by work...
26 Jan 202256min
Shani Orgad and Rosalind Gill, "Confidence Culture" (Duke UP, 2022)
In Confidence Culture (Duke UP, 2022), Shani Orgad and Rosalind Gill argue that imperatives directed at women to “love your body” and “believe in yourself” imply that psychological blocks rather than ...
21 Jan 202258min
Sarah Jane Cervenak, "Black Gathering: Art, Ecology, Ungiven Life" (Duke UP, 2021)
In Black Gathering: Art, Ecology, Ungiven Life (Duke UP, 2021), Dr. Sarah Jane Cervenak engages with Black artists and writers who create alternative spaces for Black people to gather free from interr...
21 Jan 202256min
Terri Givens, "Radical Empathy: Finding a Path to Bridging Racial Divides" (Policy Press, 2021)
Structural racism has impacted the lives of African Americans in the United States since before the country’s founding. Although the country has made some progress towards a more equal society, politi...
19 Jan 20221h 7min
Traci Brynne Voyles, "The Settler Sea: California's Salton Sea and the Consequences of Colonialism" (U Nebraska Press, 2021)
The Salton Sea is a kaleidoscope. To some people, it's a waste land, a place of death only suitable for a dumping ground. For others, it's a clarion call, a warning for what humanity faces in our anth...
19 Jan 20221h 20min
Sanjukta Sunderason, "Partisan Aesthetics: Modern Art and India's Long Decolonization" (Stanford UP, 2020)
In Partisan Aesthetics: Modern Art and India's Long Decolonization (Stanford UP, 2020), Sanjukta Sunderason explores art's entanglements with histories of war, famine, mass politics and displacements ...
18 Jan 20221h 4min
Amy Holdsworth, "On Living with Television" (Duke UP, 2021)
How should we understand the role of television in everyday life? In On Living with Television (Duke UP, 2021), Amy Holdsworth, a Senior Lecturer in Theatre, Film & Television Studies at the Universit...
18 Jan 202234min
Timothy Brennan, "Places of Mind: A Life of Edward Said" (FSG, 2021)
Timothy Brennan is Professor of Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies, and English at the University of Minnesota. He is the author of several seminal books in literary studies, including Borrowed ...
13 Jan 202254min
