Episodes

What do you think of when you hear the term “public debt?” If you’re familiar with the phrase, you might think about elected officials debating budgets and how to pay for goods and services. Or maybe it’s a vague concept you don’t fully understand. For today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, we spoke with In Defense of Public Debt co-author Barry Eichengreen, Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, and Jonathan D. Ostry, Deputy Director of the Asia...

We’re all familiar with the phrase “words have power”—but in a political and cultural climate where we become more aware of the power that money, influence, and privilege have every day—how do people wield the power of words? On this episode of The Oxford Comment, we spoke with philosopher Myisha Cherry and poet Carmen Bugan to talk about how they see their disciplines addressing the questions of language, oppression, and resistance, and exactly what tools the arts and humanities provide to add...

On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, we focused on human consciousness and how studying the neurological basis for human cognition can lead not only to better health but a better understanding of human culture, language, and society as well. We are joined today by Dr. John Parrington, author of the newly published book Mind Shift: How Culture Transformed the Human Brain, and Professor Anil Seth, Editor-in-Chief of the Open Access journal Neuroscience of Consciousness­, to learn more about ...

June is National Ocean Month in the United States, and earlier this month, the whole world observed World Oceans Day, a day that has been celebrated since 2008 with a different theme each year. The theme for 2021 was “Life and Livelihoods.” Covering 71% of the earth’s surface, the ocean is home to a vast array of life—an estimated 2.2 million species—and provides livelihoods for 40 million people in the fishing industry. But many scientists warn that the health of our oceans is in decline, thre...

In January, Oxford University Press announced its support for SHAPE, a new collective name for the humanities, arts, and social sciences and an equivalent term to STEM. SHAPE stands for Social Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts for People and the Economy and aims to underline the value that these disciplines bring to society. Over the last year or so, huge attention has—rightly—been placed on scientific and technological advancement but does that mean we’re overlooking the contribution of SHAPE ...

The academic fields of both environmental history and future studies originated in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s during the rise of the mainstream environmental movement. On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, we are joined by environmental historian Erin Stewart Mauldin, author Unredeemed Land: An Environmental History of Civil War and Emancipation in the Cotton South, and Jennifer Gidley, the past president of the World Futures Studies and author of The Future: A Very Short Introduction,...

Last episode of The Oxford Comment, we talked about Open Access and the importance of the accessibility of academic research for the betterment of society. This episode, we are joined by Himanshu Jha, the author of Capturing Institutional Change: The Case of the Right to Information Act in India, and Vivien A. Schmidt, the author of Europe’s Crisis of Legitimacy: Governing by Rules and Ruling by Numbers in the Eurozone, to discuss government transparency and the flow of information from those in...

On this episode of The Oxford Comment, Rhiannon Meaden, a Senior Publisher for Journals at OUP, and Danny Altmann, editor-in-chief of Oxford Open Immunology, cover the basics of Open Access, OUP’s drive to disseminate academic research as widely as possible, and how easily-accessible research has impacted various academic fields around the world. This last fact is especially important as the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed un...

On this episode of The Oxford Comment, we spoke with three scholars who specialize in electoral intervention, voter turnout, and voting laws. Caroline Tolbert and Michael Ritter, co-authors of Accessible Elections: How the States Can Help Americans Vote, and Dov Levin, author of Meddling in the Ballot Box: The Causes and Effects of Partisan Electoral Interventions, answered our questions about voting and offered solutions for the safety and security of the 2020 US presidential election and elect...

On this episode of The Oxford Comment, we spoke with three scholars involved in the launch of the upcoming Oxford Bibliographies in Urban Studies. Editor-in-Chief Richard Dilworth and authors Zack Taylor (“Toronto”) and James Mansell (“Urban Soundscapes”) discussed the new OBO subject at large, their individual contributions, and attempted to answer for us the question on everyone’s mind: what is the future of cities in a post-COVID world? Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an...

On this episode of The Oxford Comment, we spoke with Elizabeth Wollman, author of “Hard Times: The Adult Musical in 1970s New York City,” and Micah Salkind, author of “Do You Remember House?: Chicago’s Queer of Color Undergrounds,” on the convergence of LBGTQ culture and art, especially in the aftermath of the 1969 Stonewall riots and other movements focusing on gay rights in the late 1960s and 1970s. Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Internat...

On this episode, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. We spoke with Ted Steinberg, author of “Down to Earth: Nature’s Role in American History,” Belden Lane, author of “The Great Conversation: Nature and the Care of the Soul,” Lufti Radwan of Willowbrook Farm, and Buddy Huffaker, executive director of the Aldo Leopold Foundation, about conservation history, spirituality, organic farming, land ethics, and, of course, climate change. Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under...

On this episode, we examine the difficulties athletes face when they speak out on hot-button subjects with the help of documentary filmmaker Trish Dalton, co-director and co-producer of HBO Sports’ “Student Athlete,” and Robert Turner, author of “Not For Long: The Life and Career of the NFL Athlete.” Activism can be incredibly difficult in professional sports, let alone in collegiate athletics, and we look at the political plights of athletes in the wake of the firestorm created by quarterback C...

On this episode, we examine the significant role of academic consultants within television and movies, with the help of author and consultant, Diana Walsh Pasulka. The use of consultants on set has steadily increased since the early twentieth century, and we investigate why this trend has become a popular practice, and how it impacts the audience, the success of the project and its cultural impact on society. Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 ...

On this episode of the Oxford Comment, we examine the history of holiday traditions and attempt to figure out why we continue to celebrate them; even the strange ones. Our guest, Gerry Bowler, author of “Christmas in the Crosshairs: Two Thousand Years of Denouncing and Defending the World’s Most Celebrated Holiday” explores the entire sweep of Christmas history and provides a global scope of its influence. Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Int...

On this episode of The Oxford Comment, we explore the social, economic and psychological issues that families face, when providing meals year-round, especially during Thanksgiving and the holidays. From parent-shaming to the expense of eating organic, the food we eat says more than meets the eye. With the help of the authors of “Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won’t Solve Our Problems and What we Can Do About It” we tackle the million dollar question; how do families approach the conversation ...

On this minisode of The Oxford Comment, Katelyn Phillips sits down with Lexi Beach, owner of Astoria Bookshop, to discuss how politics play a role in stacking the shelves at independent bookstores. Follow @astoriabookshop on Twitter Facebook: facebook.com/astoriabookshop www.astoriabookshop.com © Oxford University Press

On this episode of the Oxford Comment, we are taking a look at how elections are influenced by technology with the help of Jamie Susskind and Siva Vaidhyanathan. From fake news to Cambridge Analytica, the 2016 election was the first look at how digital media will influence modern campaigns. The 2018 midterm elections will amplify the effects seen by social media in the last election and how our current dependence on technology will affect the future political power structure. Don’t forget to vo...

Warning: This episode of The Oxford Comment includes discussion of sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised. On this minisode of The Oxford Comment, we hop on a call with Jes Lukes, co-owner of “A Room of One’s Own” an independent book store in the heart of college town Madison, Wisconsin. Jes provides insight to some new initiatives by college campuses to acknowledge the culture of consent, including some applicable literature recommendations. Follow @roomofonesownbooks on Instagram and...

Warning: This episode of The Oxford Comment includes discussion of sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised. On this episode of The Oxford Comment we are discussing how one’s thoughts on consent are formed over a lifetime. From what students learn in school to how popular culture in their teenage years frames their reference, the psychology of consent goes beyond a seminar at university orientation. But how students are taught consent in their formative years will affect how they perceive ...

On this minisode of The Oxford Comment, Katelyn Phillips sits down with Hannah Oliver-Depp, Communications Director of WORD Bookstores and Cafe, Jersey City & Brooklyn. © Oxford University Press

On this episode of The Oxford Comment, we explore what drives people to dedicate their lives to humanitarianism. We also take a look at rising social media trends centered around advocacy and humanitarian efforts. Activists use social platforms to engage with one another and attract attention to their causes. Humanitarian efforts are going beyond hashtags to create lasting change, but how can the rest of society be engaged beyond the internet? © Oxford University Press

On this minisode of the Oxford Comment, we spoke with Adam Sonderberg from the Seminary Co-op Bookstore to discuss how the rise of narrative nonfiction has impacted indie bookstore culture. © Oxford University Press

On this episode of the Oxford Comment we take a look at what has narrative nonfiction turning the industry on its head. Sitting down with host Erin Katie Meehan, authors Simon Winchester (The Meaning of Everything), Dan Drezner (The Ideas Industry), Patricia Fara (A Lab of One’s Own), Leigh Fought (Women in the World of Fredrick Douglas), Jeffrey Stewart (The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke), Mary Schmidt Campbell (An American Odyssey), Philip Nel (Was the Cat in The Hat Black?), and Duende D...