Bloomsbury Academic Podcast 
In part one of this episode, we discuss Britney Spears’ 2007 album Blackout, which was released at a harrowing time in Spears’ life. We discuss the album in relation to Spears’ personal life as well as in relation to popular culture. Then, we look at the album’s production and the public response to it, including backlash to Spears’ vocal fry and the impact Spears’ literal and figurative voice has had on popular music. Take a listen.
In this episode, we’ll be discussing the process behind selecting plays for this collection, the collection’s historical context, and the role of theatre publishing in allowing people to access plays, particularly plays from marginalized groups. Then, because the anthology covers plays from several decades, we’ll be taking a look at the ways in which the theatre landscape has changed and the progress that is still yet to be made. Take a listen.
In part two of this episode, we discuss how to address the pervasive power of AI-enabled monitoring, the likelihood that the gig-economy model will emerge as a new organizational paradigm, what social partners and political players can do to adopt effective regulations that protect workers, and even what a future without work could look like. Take a listen.
Sarah Olsen is Assistant Professor of Classics at Williams College, USA, and Mario Telò is Professor of Classics and Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. Together, they are the editors of Queer Euripides, the first volume to reconsider the entire corpus of an ancient canonical author through the lens of queerness broadly conceived. In part two of this episode, we delve into what Euripides play our guests would see in the ancient past, as well as the classic figure they’d bring to a desert island.Â
Sarah Olsen is Assistant Professor of Classics at Williams College, USA, and Mario Telò is Professor of Classics and Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. Together, they are the editors of Queer Euripides, the first volume to reconsider the entire corpus of an ancient canonical author through the lens of queerness broadly conceived. In part one of this episode, we delve into what we know about Euripides and what we can benefit from viewing his tragedies and other ancient materials through a queer lens, as well as the process of selecting contributors for this volume and much much more. Take a listen.Â
Pride Month is here! And we’re celebrating by showcasing our favorite discussions on gender, sexuality, and identity + 35% off the books from these episodes when you use code Pride21 at checkout. Featuring conversations with Jenn Pelly, Carol J. Adams, and special guest Alok Vaid-Menon.
Don’t forget to explore the rest of our Pride Month Reading List with free digital resources and discounted books through June.
We are continuing our conversation with Ciara Cremin about capitalism and what she refers to as the masculine disorder. We explore the relationship between far-right authoritarianism and masculinity, as well as the ways in which masculinity dominates leftist spaces. Â Upon that reflection we discuss what it would look like to collectively reject masculinity, and what our future might look like if we all reconciled as a society with the feminine.Â
Ciara Cremin’s work draws on Marxist, psychoanalytic and critical theory perspectives to diagnose the human condition in capitalism today. In part one of this episode, we delve into the values, behaviors and aesthetic choices typically associated with masculinity and how these standards reproduce cycles of violence, the ways in which masculinity can be interpreted as a psychological disorder, how capitalism caters to masculinity, and much more.
After a breathtaking episode on Othello last season, Ayanna Thompson is back to talk about her book, Blackface, which is part of our Object Lessons series. In this episode, we discuss the events that drove Ayanna to write this book, the history of Blackface up to the 21st century, how media weaponizes the notion of white innocence in contemporary examples of Blackface, and much more.
Vanessa R. Sasson is Professor of Religious Studies in the Liberal and Creative Arts Department of Marianopolis College, Canada and the author of Yasodhara and the Buddha, which we discuss in this episode. For those who do not know Yasodhara, this largely forgotten woman was once married to the Buddha. In part one of this episode, we discuss Yasodhara’s rich, intricate story, as well as the research process behind the book. We also delve into why Vanessa felt compelled to write this book as a “western woman” and how that position affects the context of her modern storytelling.Â