Best Chris Staats Podcasts (2025)

1
Jack Ashby, "Nature's Memory: Behind the Scenes at the World’s Natural History Museums" (Penguin, 2025) 59:12

1h ago59:12

59:12

In Nature's Memory: Behind the Scenes at the World’s Natural History Museums (Penguin, 2025), zoologist Jack Ashby shares hidden stories behind the world’s iconic natural history museums, from enormous mounted whale skeletons to cabinets of impossibly tiny insects. Look closely and all is not as it seems: these museums are not as natural, Ashby sho…

1
Ann McCallum Staats, "Fantastic Flora: The World's Biggest, Baddest, and Smelliest Plants" (MIT Kids Press, 2025) 50:17

21h ago50:17

50:17

In our lovely interview, we celebrate Ann McCallum Staats' brand new book (just launched this week!), Fantastic Flora: The World’s Biggest, Baddest, and Smelliest Plants, wonderfully illustrated by Zoë Ingram, published by MIT Kids Press, an imprint of Candlewick. This is not your run-of-the-mill picture book. It's over 120 pages long and is intend…

1
Jonas Elbousty and Roger Allen, "Reading Mohamed Choukri's Narratives: Hunger in Eden" (Routledge, 2024) 1:05:00

7h ago1:05:00

1:05:00

Reading Mohamed Choukri’s Narratives: Hunger in Eden (Routledge, 2024) presents an intricate exploration into the life and literary universe of Mohamed Choukri, a towering figure in 20th-century Moroccan literature. Known primarily for his groundbreaking autobiographical work “al-Khubz al-Ḥāfī” (For Bread Alone), Choukri’s literary influence extend…

1
Nneka D. Dennie, "Mary Ann Shadd Cary: Essential Writings of a Nineteenth Century Black Radical Feminist" (Oxford UP, 2023) 1:02:32

21h ago1:02:32

1:02:32

In 1849, the Mary Ann Shadd Cary had not yet become one of the first Black woman newspaper editors in North America. She was decades away from being admitted to Howard University’s Law School and becoming the first Black woman to so enroll in the United States. She had not yet begun to lobby for women’s right to vote, and she had not yet emigrated …

1
Adi Nester, "Unsettling Difference: Music Drama, the Bible, and the Critique of German Jewish Identity" (Cornell UP, 2025) 1:11:50

21h ago1:11:50

1:11:50

Adi Nester is an Assistant Professor of German and Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her first monograph, Unsettling Difference: Bible, Music Drama, and the Critique of German Jewish Identity, appeared with Cornell University Press. The book studies the discourse of Jewish difference in the first half of the twentie…

1
Rebecca Salazar, "antibody: poems" (McClelland & Stewart, 2025) 1:01:20

7h ago1:01:20

1:01:20

NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with acclaimed poet Rebecca Salazar about their new poetry collection, antibody: poems (McClelland & Stewart, 2025) A powerful follow-up to the Governor General’s Literary Award shortlisted sulphurtongue. antibody: poems is a protest, a whisper network, a reclamation of agency, and a ritual for building a survivable w…

1
Erica D. Lonergan and Shawn W. Lonergan, "Escalation Dynamics in Cyberspace" (Oxford UP, 2023) 56:14

21h ago56:14

56:14

To what extent do cyberspace operations increase the risks of escalation between nation-state rivals? Scholars and practitioners have been concerned about cyber escalation for decades, but the question remains hotly debated. The issue is increasingly important for international politics as more states develop and employ offensive cyber capabilities…

1
Laura Lee Flanagan, "Hardcore Vegetarian: Welcome to the Vegedome!" (Process Media, 2025) 40:41

21h ago40:41

40:41

Laura Lee Flanagan's Hardcore Vegetarian (Feral House, 2025) is a celebration of food and love for everyone! Hardcore Vegetarian is a journey into vegetarianism led by someone who fell into it inadvertently and is happily still learning as she goes. As a passionate home cook, Flanagan became what she describes as a "lazy vegetarian" while figuring …

1
Catriona M.M. MacDonald, "The Caledoniad: The Making of Scottish History" (John Donald, 2024) 44:50

21h ago44:50

44:50

Why did Scots in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries know so little about their past and even less about those who controlled their history? Is the historical narrative the only legitimate medium through which the past can be made known? Are novelists and historians as far apart as convention has it? In an age when history grounds any claims to …

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

7h 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
Xing Hang, "The Port: Hà Tiên and the Mo Clan in Early Modern Asia" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 1:05:09

21h ago1:05:09

1:05:09

The Port (present-day Hà Tiên), situated in the Mekong River Delta and Gulf of Siam littoral, was founded and governed by the Chinese creole Mo clan during the eighteenth century and prospered as a free-trade emporium in maritime East Asia. Mo Jiu and his son, Mo Tianci, maintained an independent polity through ambiguous and simultaneous allegiance…

1
The Telegraph Takeover: Power, Profit & the Press 56:52

10h ago56:52

56:52

In the season finale of Ctrl Alt Deceit, Nina dos Santos and Owen Bennett-Jones dig into the tangled web of media ownership, foreign influence and the future of free press. With a new UK government potentially greenlighting a UAE-backed bid for a stake in The Daily Telegraph, the hosts ask: does it matter who owns the news anymore? From Silicon Val…

1
Episode 294 - Women's EHF FINAL4 preview with Bruna de Paula, Adrian Costeiu and Danijela Vekic 43:18

1d ago43:18

43:18

It's time to discover the best women's team in Europe and we look forward to the FINAL4 by chatting to reigning champion Bruna de Paula as she and Györ aim to defend their crown in Budapest. We get Danijela Vekic and Adrian Costeiu together for the first time on the pod to discuss the four contenders, considering what makes Györ favourites again, h…

1
Live from the Underground: A History of College Radio 56:35

1d ago56:35

56:35

Bands like R.E.M., U2, Public Enemy, and Nirvana found success as darlings of college radio, but the extraordinary influence of these stations and their DJs on musical culture since the 1970s was anything but inevitable. As media deregulation and political conflict over obscenity and censorship transformed the business and politics of culture, stud…

1
Stephen P. Huyler, "Transformed by India: A Life" (iIppa Rann, 2025) 57:56

1d ago57:56

57:56

With a compelling story, wit, insight, and candor, American author Stephen Huyler leads the reader into the heart of India. It is a country and culture he knows and loves well. Beginning with his arrival on his twentieth birthday, he spins tales of a young man's fascination that seasons into a rare relationship that has lasted half a century. Few f…

1
Thomas Mutch, "The Dogs of Mariupol: Russia's Invasion and the Forging of Ukraine's Iron Generation" (Biteback, 2025) 42:03

1d ago42:03

42:03

In early 2022, as Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s border, Tom Mutch, a freelance war reporter, took a trip to Mariupol to take the temperature of this (then) culturally vibrant port on the Sea of Azov. What stayed with him was the sound of the stray dogs and their "rhythmic and frantic barking, as if they were shouting a warning in unison". With…

1
Amit Ron and Abraham A. Singer, "Everyone's Business: What Companies Owe Society" (U Chicago Press, 2024) 54:35

1d ago54:35

54:35

The ethics of the company in a highly politicized time. Businesses are increasingly social actors. They fund political campaigns, take stances on social issues, and wave the flags of identity groups. As a highly polarized public demands political alignment from the businesses where they spend their money, what's a company to do? Everyone's Business…

1
S4 E40 Interpretations of the Second Amendment: A Conversation with Joel Alicea 37:38

1d ago37:38

37:38

The Supreme Court’s ruling in 2022 changed the established methodology for evaluating Second Amendment cases. What was the existing methodology, and what does this shift signify for future interpretations? We sit down with Joel Alicea, Professor of Law and Director, the Center for the Constitution and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition at the Colu…

1
Jeff Nania, "River Gold: A Northern Lakes Mystery" (Feet Wet Writing, 2025) 20:52

2d ago20:52

20:52

In River Gold (Feed Wet Writing, 2025) Sheriff John Cabrelli is pulled into a murder investigation after a nationally known Great Lakes historian is robbed of his briefcase and shot in the leg. When the only suspect is killed in a hit and run, Cabrelli is hard pressed to pick up the threads of his investigation. Every lead about cryptic journals an…

1
Nao Tomabechi, "Supervillains: The Significance of Evil in Superhero Comics" (Rutgers UP, 2025) 43:40

1d ago43:40

43:40

Alongside superheroes, supervillains, too, have become one of today’s most popular and globally recognizable figures. However, it is not merely their popularity that marks their significance. Supervillains are also central to superhero storytelling to the extent that the superhero genre cannot survive without supervillains. Bringing together differ…

1
Chris Aslan, "Unravelling the Silk Road: Travels and Textiles in Central Asia" (Icon Books, 2024) 47:07

1d ago47:07

47:07

The Silk Road may be the most famous trade network in history. But the flow of silk from China to the Middle East and Europe isn’t the only textile trade that’s made its mark on Central Asia, the subject of Chris Aslan’s latest book Unravelling the Silk Road: Travels and Textiles in Central Asia (Icon Books, 2024), recently published in paperback. …

1
Antonio J. Muñoz, "Hitler's War Against the Partisans During Operation Barbarossa: June 1941 to the Spring of 1942" (Frontline, 2025) 1:41:25

2d ago1:41:25

1:41:25

A detailed history of Nazi anti-partisan warfare on the Eastern Front during Operation Barbarossa. From the start of the war on the Eastern Front, Hitler's Ostheer, his Eastern Army, would wage a vernichtungskrieg, or war of annihilation, in the East. Never before had such a wide-reaching campaign been fought. Preparations for Germany's invasion of…

1
Episode 293 - Moller's MVP weekend in Hamburg, Palmarsson retires 46:07

3d ago46:07

46:07

Flensburg retained their European League title over the weekend, thanks in no small part to a dominant performance by Kevin Møller in goal. We look back at the action and where the title was won and lost. Aron Palmarsson has announced his retirement at the age of 34, is this kind of player a dying breed? We discuss this and the postponed European C…

1
Jane Elizabeth Dougherty, "Narrating Irish Female Development, 1916-2018" (Edinburgh UP, 2024) 49:08

2d ago49:08

49:08

Narrating Irish Female Development, 1916-2018 (Edinburgh UP, 2024) studies narratives of Irish female and feminized development, arguing that these postmodern narratives present Irish female maturation as disordered and often deliberately disorderly. The first full-length study of the Irish female coming of age story, the book develops a feminist p…

1
Keir Giles, "Who Will Defend Europe?: An Awakened Russia and a Sleeping Continent" (Hurst & Co., 2024) 42:18

3d ago42:18

42:18

Who will defend Europe? The answer should be obvious: Europe should be able to defend itself. Yet, for decades, most of the continent enjoyed a defence holiday, outsourcing protection to the United States while banking an increasingly illusory ‘peace dividend’. Now, after three decades of reducing armed forces and drawing down defence industries, E…

1
Heist 22:43

2d ago22:43

22:43

Caper movies aren’t like others involving criminals: there’s an aesthetic to a caper that’s as important to the thieves as it is to the viewers. Heist is David Mamet’s 2001 caper film that stands as his Singin’ in the Rain—an apt comparison, since “caper” meant “to dance” long before it took on its criminal meaning. Join us for an appreciation of o…

1
Krista N. Dalton, "How Rabbis Became Experts: Social Circles and Donor Networks in Jewish Late Antiquity" (Princeton UP, 2025) 55:14

3d ago55:14

55:14

At the turn of the common era, the Jewish communities of Roman Palestine saw the organization of a small group of literate Jewish men who devoted their lives to the interpretation and teaching of their sacred ancestral texts. In How Rabbis Became Experts: Social Circles and Donor Networks in Jewish Late Antiquity (Princeton University Press, 2025),…

1
William Haldeman, "Meeting the Moment: Inspiring Presidential Leadership That Transformed America" (SUNY Press, 2024) 25:01

2d ago25:01

25:01

The histories presented in Meeting the Moment: Inspiring Presidential Leadership That Transformed America (SUNY Press, 2024) are of a select group of US presidents, their inspired leadership characteristics, and how they may inspire us today. The traits these presidents possessed were cultivated over a lifetime of lived experience and immortalized …

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Chris Staats Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

1
(Un)informed Handball Hour

(Un)informed Handball Hour

1
Radboud Reflects, verdiepende lezingen

Radboud Reflects, verdiepende lezingen

1
New Books Network

New Books

1
Jack Ashby, "Nature's Memory: Behind the Scenes at the World’s Natural History Museums" (Penguin, 2025) 59:12

1
Ann McCallum Staats, "Fantastic Flora: The World's Biggest, Baddest, and Smelliest Plants" (MIT Kids Press, 2025) 50:17

1
Jonas Elbousty and Roger Allen, "Reading Mohamed Choukri's Narratives: Hunger in Eden" (Routledge, 2024) 1:05:00

1
Nneka D. Dennie, "Mary Ann Shadd Cary: Essential Writings of a Nineteenth Century Black Radical Feminist" (Oxford UP, 2023) 1:02:32

1
Adi Nester, "Unsettling Difference: Music Drama, the Bible, and the Critique of German Jewish Identity" (Cornell UP, 2025) 1:11:50

1
Rebecca Salazar, "antibody: poems" (McClelland & Stewart, 2025) 1:01:20

1
Erica D. Lonergan and Shawn W. Lonergan, "Escalation Dynamics in Cyberspace" (Oxford UP, 2023) 56:14

1
Laura Lee Flanagan, "Hardcore Vegetarian: Welcome to the Vegedome!" (Process Media, 2025) 40:41

1
Catriona M.M. MacDonald, "The Caledoniad: The Making of Scottish History" (John Donald, 2024) 44:50

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

1
Xing Hang, "The Port: Hà Tiên and the Mo Clan in Early Modern Asia" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 1:05:09

1
The Telegraph Takeover: Power, Profit & the Press 56:52

1
Episode 294 - Women's EHF FINAL4 preview with Bruna de Paula, Adrian Costeiu and Danijela Vekic 43:18

1
Live from the Underground: A History of College Radio 56:35

1
Stephen P. Huyler, "Transformed by India: A Life" (iIppa Rann, 2025) 57:56

1
Thomas Mutch, "The Dogs of Mariupol: Russia's Invasion and the Forging of Ukraine's Iron Generation" (Biteback, 2025) 42:03

1
Amit Ron and Abraham A. Singer, "Everyone's Business: What Companies Owe Society" (U Chicago Press, 2024) 54:35

1
S4 E40 Interpretations of the Second Amendment: A Conversation with Joel Alicea 37:38

1
Jeff Nania, "River Gold: A Northern Lakes Mystery" (Feet Wet Writing, 2025) 20:52

1
Nao Tomabechi, "Supervillains: The Significance of Evil in Superhero Comics" (Rutgers UP, 2025) 43:40

1
Chris Aslan, "Unravelling the Silk Road: Travels and Textiles in Central Asia" (Icon Books, 2024) 47:07

1
Antonio J. Muñoz, "Hitler's War Against the Partisans During Operation Barbarossa: June 1941 to the Spring of 1942" (Frontline, 2025) 1:41:25

1
Episode 293 - Moller's MVP weekend in Hamburg, Palmarsson retires 46:07

1
Jane Elizabeth Dougherty, "Narrating Irish Female Development, 1916-2018" (Edinburgh UP, 2024) 49:08

1
Keir Giles, "Who Will Defend Europe?: An Awakened Russia and a Sleeping Continent" (Hurst & Co., 2024) 42:18

1
Heist 22:43

1
Krista N. Dalton, "How Rabbis Became Experts: Social Circles and Donor Networks in Jewish Late Antiquity" (Princeton UP, 2025) 55:14

1
William Haldeman, "Meeting the Moment: Inspiring Presidential Leadership That Transformed America" (SUNY Press, 2024) 25:01

Quick Reference Guide