Best Brendan And Maya Podcasts (2025)

1
Katarina Kušic, "Beyond International Intervention: Politics of Improvement in Serbia" (University of Michigan Press, 2025) 1:03:37

29m ago1:03:37

1:03:37

Studies of statebuilding and peacebuilding have been criticized for their disregard of people living the consequences of intervention projects. Beyond International Intervention: Politics of Improvement in Serbia (University of Michigan Press, 2025) by Dr. Katarina Kušic takes on the task of engaging with spaces and peoples not usually present in I…

1
Lina Pinto-García, "Maraña: War and Disease in the Jungles of Colombia" (U Chicago Press, 2025) 1:04:34

4h ago1:04:34

1:04:34

In Maraña: War and Disease in the Jungles of Colombia (University of Chicago Press, 2025), Lina Pinto-García delves into the relationship between war and disease, focusing on Colombian armed conflict and the skin disease known as cutaneous leishmaniasis. Leishmaniasis is transmitted through the bite of female sandflies. The most common manifestatio…

1
Maya Mayblin "Vote of Faith: Democracy, Desire, and the Turbulent Lives of Priest Politicians" (Fordham UP, 2024) 1:23:46

1d ago1:23:46

1:23:46

A richly cinematic and compelling look at priest-politicians in Brazil and their religious and secular entanglements, Vote of Faith: Democracy, Desire, and the Turbulent Lives of Priest Politicians (Fordham UP, 2024) explores the complex intersection of democracy, patriarchy, and religiosity in Brazil. For over a hundred years, Catholic priests hav…

1
Stankus The Rat, with Mike Drucker 1:19:36

3d ago1:19:36

1:19:36

On this week’s episode, we welcome comedian and writer, Mike Drucker, to chat about stackin’ damage, comics made by children, the Omegavese, his new book (Good Game, No Rematch: A Life Made of Video Games), and more! Jordan will be at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, June 7th and 8th! Jordan’s new Spider-Man’s comic is out now! Pre-order Jordan’s n…

1
Dmitri N. Shalin, "Erving Manuel Goffman: Biographical Sources of Sociological Imagination" (Routledge, 2024) 2:44:13

5d ago2:44:13

2:44:13

We have long lacked a biography of Erving Goffman. Partly this can be explained by Goffman’s direction for his papers not to be opened to researchers after his death. This meant those who may wish to write Goffman’s biography had a lack of material to draw upon. Dmirti Shalin, author of Erving Manuel Goffman: Biographical Sources of Sociological Im…

1
Jessy Hodges 56:55

6d ago56:55

56:55

We've got another acting podcast today! Actor Jessy Hodges joins us on the Box Angeles podcast episode 347. Jessy stops by the bungalow and discusses the evolving landscape of auditioning, the importance of making your own stuff, whether or not we should be concerned about artificial intelligence, studying at Tisch in a program that emphasized body…

1
Greta Lynn Uehling, "Decolonizing Ukraine: The Indigenous People of Crimea and Pathways to Freedom" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2025) 53:32

6d ago53:32

53:32

In Decolonizing Ukraine: The Indigenous People of Crimea and Pathways to Freedom (Rowman & Littlefield, 2025), anthropologist Dr. Greta Lynn Uehling illuminates the untold stories of Russia’s occupation of Crimea from 2014 to the present, revealing the traumas of colonization, foreign occupation, and population displacement. Drawing upon extensive …

1
Toine van Teeffelen, "The Birthplace of Jesus Is in Palestine: A Memoir" (Wipf and Stock, 2024) 1:03:20

7d ago1:03:20

1:03:20

The Birthplace of Jesus Is in Palestine: A Memoir (Wipf and Stock, 2024) is a narrative of a Christian family in Bethlehem in the West Bank. Based on diary entries and interviews from 2000 to 2023, the Dutch author--an anthropologist and peace activist--chronicles the spontaneous reactions of his Palestinian children and wife navigating the challen…

1
Camilla Annerfeldt, "Clothing and Identity in Early Modern Rome" (Bloomsbury, 2025) 30:22

7d ago30:22

30:22

Camilla Annerfeldt joins to discuss Clothing and Identity in Early Modern Rome (Bloomsbury, 2025). This is the first book-length exploration of the clothes worn in early modern Rome and provides novel insights into the city of Rome during one of its most fascinating periods. It also challenges the notion – well-established in dress historical resea…

1
Michelle H. S. Ho, "Emergent Genders: Living Otherwise in Tokyo's Pink Economies" (Duke UP, 2025) 41:28

8d ago41:28

41:28

In Emergent Genders: Living Otherwise in Tokyo's Pink Economies (Duke UP, 2025), Michelle H. S. Ho traces the genders manifesting alongside Japanese popular culture in Akihabara, an area in Tokyo renowned for the fandom and consumption of anime, manga, and games. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in josō and dansō cafe-and-bars, establishments wher…

1
Doin’ McFine, with Brent Weinbach 1:15:01

10d ago1:15:01

1:15:01

On this week’s episode, we welcome comedian, Brent Weinbach, to chat about Mother’s Day, McG updates, Rules 37, and more. Watch Brent’s new special, Popular Culture! Watch The Chicken Coop! And listen to Brent’s video game podcast, Legacy Music Hour! Jordan will be at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, June 7th and 8th! Jordan’s new Spider-Man’s comi…

1
M. Myrta Leslie Santana, Transformismo: Performing Trans/Queer Cuba" (U Michigan Press, 2025) 58:47

11d ago58:47

58:47

In Transformismo, M. Myrta Leslie Santana draws on years of embedded research within Cuban trans/queer communities to analyze how transformistas, or drag performers, understand their roles in the social transformation of the island. Once banned and censored in Cuba, transformismo, or drag performance, is now state-sponsored events. Transformismo su…

1
Andrew Ofstehage, "Welcome to Soylandia: Transnational Farmers in the Brazilian Cerrado" (Cornell UP, 2025) 46:19

11d ago46:19

46:19

Following a group of US Midwest farmers who purchased tracts of land in the tropical savanna of eastern Brazil, Welcome to Soylandia: Transnational Farmers in the Brazilian Cerrado (Cornell University Press, 2025) by Dr. Andrew Ofstehage investigates industrial farming in the modern developing world. Seeking adventure and profit, the transplanted f…

1
Kai Shmushko, "Multiple Liminalities of Lay Buddhism in Contemporary China: Modalities, Material Culture, and Politics" (Leiden UP, 2024) 1:04:04

12d ago1:04:04

1:04:04

In the past decades, various forms of Buddhism have emerged in-between, above, and beyond conventional conceptions of religious and spiritual life in China. Multiple Liminalities of Lay Buddhism in Contemporary China: Modalities, Material Culture, and Politics (Leiden UP, 2024) is a qualitative study exploring manifestations of the massive revival …

1
Matt Jones, Returns 1:03:00

13d ago1:03:00

1:03:00

Actor Matt Jones stops by the bungalow and discusses his unwillingness to pay for self tapes, the state of television, never being happier personally, and more! --- BEATS -- 00:00 - Matt slates his name. 00:22 - Introduction. 01:20 - Sneaking things into slates. 04:38 - Not wanting to pay for self tapes. 06:33 - Matt is a fan of the podcast clips. …

1
Salted Up, with Margaret Cho 1:19:20

17d ago1:19:20

1:19:20

On this week’s episode, we welcome comic legend, Margaret Cho, to chat about snack lore, her new album (Lucky Gift), almost being shot out of a canon, competing on Jeopardy, and more! Check out Margaret’s upcoming tour dates. Order Margaret’s new album, Lucky Gift! Go see Jesse at An Evening with Kruk & Kuip: An SF Sketchfest Tribute! Jordan will b…

1
Off the Stage at Finovate Spring 2025 // Maya Mikhailov, Jason Henrichs & Andy Ivankovich 31:01

18d ago31:01

31:01

Forget the keynote fluff and polished demo, this episode of Fintech Hustle drops you straight onto a sun-drenched San Diego balcony with the real players of Finovate Spring 2025. Host Sam Kilmer is joined by fintech rockstars Maya Mikhailov (SAVVI AI), Jason Henrichs (Alloy Labs), and Andy Ivankovich (Baker Hill) for a breakdown of what’s actually …

1
Maron E. Greenleaf, "Forest Lost: Producing Green Capitalism in the Brazilian Amazon" (Duke UP, 2024) 49:46

21d ago49:46

49:46

Forest Lost: Producing Green Capitalism in the Brazilian Amazon (2024) is an ethnography of forest carbon offsets and the wider effort to make the living rainforest valuable in the Brazilian Amazon. Situated in the state of Acre, which continuously had to grapple with a complex positionality between frontier and periphery, Maron E. Greenleaf explor…

1
Live at Sleeping Village in Chicago, with Peter Sagal and Sam Riegel! 1:34:00

24d ago1:34:00

1:34:00

This week’s episode comes to you from live from Sleeping Village in Chicago where we play games with guests Peter Sagal (Listen to Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!) and Sam Riegel (Critical Role), plus we hear Momentous Occasions from listeners like you! Pre-order Critical Role: Smiley Day! By Sam Riegel! Go see Jesse at An Evening with Kruk & Kuip: An S…

1
Living Right: Far Right Youth Activists in Contemporary Europe 1:14:22

23d ago1:14:22

1:14:22

What is the growing appeal of fascist idealism for young people? Why is radical nationalism on the rise in Europe and throughout the world? In Living Right: Far Right Youth Activists in Contemporary Europe (Princeton UP, 2024), Dr. Agnieszka Pasieka provides an in-depth account of the ideas and practices that are driving the varied forms of far-rig…

1
Deana Jovanović, "Staging the Promises: Everyday Future-Making in a Serbian Industrial Town" (Cornell UP, 2025) 1:23:24

25d ago1:23:24

1:23:24

Built on the shifting grounds of post-Yugoslav transformation, Staging the Promises examines how the residents of Bor — a Serbian copper-mining town marked by both socialist prosperity and post-socialist decline — became spectators to the staged enactments of promised futures. Deana Jovanović traces how local authorities and the copper-processing c…

1
Ipek A. Celik Rappas, "Filming in European Cities: The Labor of Location" (Cornell UP, 2025) 44:59

27d ago44:59

44:59

Filming in European Cities: The Labor of Location (Cornell University Press, 2025) explores the effort behind creating screen production locations. Dr. Ipek A. Celik Rappas accounts the rising demand for original and affordable locations for screen projects due to the growth of streaming platforms. As a result, screen professionals are repeatedly t…

1
Diana Graizbord, "Indicators of Democracy: The Politics and Promise of Evaluation Expertise in Mexico" (Stanford UP, 2024) 52:44

29d ago52:44

52:44

The spread of democracy across the Global South has taken many different forms, but certain features are consistent: implementing a system of elections and an overarching mission of serving the will and well-being of a country's citizens. But how do we hold politicians accountable for such a mission? How are we to understand the efficacy of the pol…

1
Lian Sinclair, "Undermining Resistance: The Governance of Participation by Multinational Mining Corporations" (Manchester UP, 2024) 36:47

29d ago36:47

36:47

Why do multinational mining corporations use participation to undermine resistance? Do the struggles of local communities, activists and NGOs matter on a global scale? Why are there so many different global standards in mining? Undermining Resistance: The Governance of Participation by Multinational Mining Corporations (Manchester UP, 2024) develop…

1
Potions & Lotions, with Jason Mantzoukas 1:18:02

1M ago1:18:02

1:18:02

On this week’s episode, we welcome back the one and only Jason Mantzoukas, back to chat his stint on Taskmaster (Season 19 out May 2nd!), shaving rules in baseball, and more! Taskmaster Season 19 premieres on YouTube May 2nd! Listen to How Did This Get Made? Big Mouth Season 8 Coming Soon! Jordan’s upcoming dates: 5/2 - Litfest in the Dena Pasadena…

1
Tim Grady, "Burying the Enemy: The Story of Those who Cared for the Dead in Two World Wars" (Yale UP, 2025) 54:30

1M ago54:30

54:30

In Burying the Enemy: The Story of Those who Cared for the Dead in Two World Wars (Yale University Press, 2025), Tim Grady recounts here a detailed history of the fate of combatants who died on enemy soil in England and Germany in World Wars I and II. The books draws on a rich archive of personal family experiences, and describes the often touching…

1
Chloe Ahmann, "Futures After Progress: Hope and Doubt in Late Industrial Baltimore" (U Chicago Press, 2024) 36:32

1M ago36:32

36:32

Factory fires, chemical explosions, and aerial pollutants have inexorably shaped South Baltimore into one of the most polluted places in the country. In Futures After Progress: Hope and Doubt in Late Industrial Baltimore (U Chicago Press, 2024), anthropologist Chloe Ahmann explores the rise and fall of industrial lifeways on this edge of the city a…

1
Maliha Safri et al., "Solidarity Cities: Confronting Racial Capitalism, Mapping Transformation" (U of Minnesota Press, 2025) 1:06:18

1M ago1:06:18

1:06:18

In this episode, Maliha Safri, Marianna Pavlovskaya, Stephen Healy, and Craig Borowiak talk about their new co-authored book Solidarity Cities: Confronting Racial Capitalism, Mapping Transformation (University of Minnesota Press, 2024). This volume is part of the Diverse Economies and Livable Worlds series. Solidarity economies, characterized by di…

1
Amy Zhang, "Circular Ecologies: Environmentalism and Waste Politics in Urban China" (Stanford UP, 2024) 1:07:52

1M ago1:07:52

1:07:52

After four decades of reform and development, China is confronting a domestic waste crisis. As the world's largest waste-generating nation, the World Economic Forum projects that by 2030, the volume of household waste in China will be double that of the United States. Starting in the early 2000s, Chinese policymakers came to see waste management as…

1
Adam Shapiro 1:11:43

1M ago1:11:43

1:11:43

Actor Adam Shapiro stops by the bungalow and discusses how he stands out in this industry by bending the rules, what he learned working as a casting assistant, his passion project turned side hustle Shappy Pretzel, and more! Adam's IMDb and Instagram @shappyshaps. 00:00 - Introduction. 01:35 - Adam slates his name. 02:05 - How Jason Winer changed A…

1
Lorna Gibb, "Rare Tongues: The Secret Stories of Hidden Languages" (Princeton UP, 2025) 39:47

1M ago39:47

39:47

An enthralling tour of the world’s rarest and most endangered languages Languages and cultures are becoming increasingly homogenous, with the resulting loss of a rich linguistic tapestry reflecting unique perspectives and ways of life. Rare Tongues: The Secret Stories of Hidden Languages (Princeton University Press, 2025) tells the stories of the w…

1
Eleanor Paynter, "Emergency in Transit: Witnessing Migration in the Colonial Present" (U California Press, 2024) 54:38

1M ago54:38

54:38

Emergency in Transit: Witnessing Migration in the Colonial Present (University of California Press, 2024) by Dr. Eleanor Paynter responds to the crisis framings that dominate migration debates in the global north. This capacious, interdisciplinary open-access study reformulates Europe's so-called "migrant crisis" from a sudden disaster to a site of…

1
Racc Pic, with Lindsay Adams 1:07:32

1M ago1:07:32

1:07:32

On this week’s episode, we welcome comedian, Lindsay Adams, to chat about underground candy, popping your own corn, wholesome DMs, and so much more! Go see Lindsay’s solo show in Los Angeles on May 4th! Listen to Jesse’s DJ set from Chicago! Jordan’s upcoming dates: 4/26 - Peninsula Libraries Comic and Arts Fest, Library Parks and Recreation Center…

1
Lindsay Bronson 1:01:38

1M ago1:01:38

1:01:38

Casting director Lindsay Bronson stops by the bungalow and discusses best practices when auditioning with kids, commonalities between people who book frequently, how new people can get seen, and more! Lindsay's IMDb and Instagram @lindsaybronson. 00:00 - Introduction. 01:43 - Lindsay slates her name. 03:40 - Focusing on kid, beauty and real-people …

1
Katie Rose Hejtmanek, "The Cult of CrossFit: Christianity and the American Exercise Phenomenon" (NYU Press, 2025) 1:08:28

1M ago1:08:28

1:08:28

CrossFit in the United States has become increasingly popular, around which a fascinating culture has developed which shapes everyday life for the people devoted to it. CrossFit claims to be many things: a business, a brand, a tremendously difficult fitness regimen, a community, a way to gain salvation, and a method to survive the apocalypse. In Th…

1
Christof Lammer, "Performing State Boundaries: Food Networks, Democratic Bureaucracy and China" (Berghahn, 2024) 1:42:23

1M ago1:42:23

1:42:23

On the podcast today I am joined by Christof Lammer, a social anthropologist based at the University of Klagenfurt and inherit fellow at Humboldt University of Berlin. Christof is joining me to talk about his new book, Performing State Boundaries: Food Networks, Democratic Bureaucracy and China published in Open Access by Berghahn Books in 2024. Th…

1
Political Mythmaking in Nepal 33:12

1M ago33:12

33:12

How and why do local political processes in rural Nepal become an arena for political mythmaking? And, how do political myths obscure their own historical construction, thereby making hierarchical power structures appear inevitable? In this episode we discuss these questions with Ankita Shrestha whose ethnographic explorations into these issues for…

1
A Little Olaf, with Laurie Kilmartin 1:11:36

2M ago1:11:36

1:11:36

On this week’s episode, we welcome back comedian, Laurie Kilmartin (The Jackie and Laurie Show), to chat about writing for the Oscars this year, running errands, Attack on Titan, and more! See tour dates and watch Laurie’s comedy specials! Listen to Laurie Kilmartin Plays Stand-Up from Conan O’Brien’s TV Shows on SiriusXM Jordan’s new Spider-Man’s …

1
Agnieszka Pasieka, "Living Right: Far-Right Youth Activists in Contemporary Europe" (Princeton UP, 2024) 46:29

1M ago46:29

46:29

Radical nationalism is on the rise in Europe and throughout the world. Living Right: Far-Right Youth Activists in Contemporary Europe (Princeton University Press, 2024) provides an in-depth account of the ideas and practices that are driving the varied forms of far-right activism by young people from all walks of life, revealing how these social mo…

1
Sarah Saddler, "Performing Corporate Bodies: Multinational Theatre in Global India" (Routledge, 2025) 1:10:32

2M ago1:10:32

1:10:32

How do corporations use theater to reconcile the crises of late capitalism? In our latest interview on Ethnographic Marginalia, we speak with Dr. Sarah Saddler about her new book Performing Corporate Bodies (Routledge, 2024), where she describes how corporations have borrowed techniques from activist theater to manage their workers in India and bey…

1
Mingwei Huang, "Reconfiguring Racial Capitalism: South Africa in the Chinese Century" (Duke UP, 2024) 1:05:34

2M ago1:05:34

1:05:34

In Reconfiguring Racial Capitalism: South Africa in the Chinese Century (Duke UP, 2024), Mingwei Huang traces the development of new forms of racial capitalism in the twenty-first century. Through fieldwork in one of the “China malls” that has emerged along Johannesburg’s former mining belt, Huang identifies everyday relations of power and differen…

1
Dána-Ain Davis and Christa Craven, "Feminist Ethnography: Thinking Through Methodologies, Challenges, and Possibilities" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022) 56:21

2M ago56:21

56:21

How do we acquire knowledge about societies? Does how we acquire social knowledge shape what we know? How conscious must we be of our own experiences as we do our research? What does feminism add to our methods and modes of research? Now in its second edition, Feminist Ethnography: Thinking through Methodologies, Challenges, and Possibilities (Rowm…

1
Engage and Evade in 2025: Asad L. Asad on Latino Immigrants in America 51:48

2M ago51:48

51:48

Today I’m speaking with Asad L. Asad, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Stanford University. He is the author of Engage and Evade: How Latino Immigrant Families Manage Surveillance in Everyday Life (Princeton UP, 2023). A highly relevant book, Engage and Evade documents the interactions between undocumented people and the agents and institutions …

1
Milk In The Morning, with Ren Q Dawe & Carlos Kareem Windham 1:08:08

2M ago1:08:08

1:08:08

On this week’s episode, we welcome comedians, Ren Q Dawe and Carlos Kareem Windham, to chat walkie-talkies, tour life, ghost roommates, and more! Ren’s Here To Pee Tour Dates! See Carlos in Portland on April 17th! See Carlos in Lafayette April 18th -20th! Live Jordan, Jesse, Go! in Chicago at Sleeping Village on April 11th! Jordan’s new Spider-Man’…

1
Chiara Calzana and Valentina Gamberi, "Haunting Ruins: Ethnographies of Ruination and Decay" (Berghahn Books, 2025) 47:19

2M ago47:19

47:19

In the contemporary world, ruins, rubble, and decaying material have become increasingly iconic landscapes. They can foster a more layered theory of time, change and memory. The seven ethnographic case studies in Haunting Ruins (Berghahn Books, 2025) trace human engagements with the temporal forces of ruins, which can trace the past and transform t…

1
Anna Maria Busse Berger and Henry Spiller, "Missionaries, Anthropologists, and Music in the Indonesian Archipelago" (U California Press, 2025) 1:09:04

2M ago1:09:04

1:09:04

Although the history of Indonesian music has received much attention from ethnomusicologists and Western composers alike, almost nothing has been written on the interaction of missionaries with local culture. Missionaries, Anthropologists, and Music in the Indonesian Archipelago (U California Press, 2025) represents the first attempt to concentrate…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Brendan And Maya Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide