Christina Kowalski

Love, Activism, and the Respectable Life of Alice Dunbar-Nelson by Tara T. Green, part two

Tara T. Green is Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA. She is the author of several books including See Me Naked: Black Women Defining Pleasure during the Interwar Era (2022) and editor of two books, including From the Plantation to the Prison: African American Confinement Literature (2008).   In the second half of this conversation on activist, educator, writer, and bisexual icon Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Tara T. Green discusses Alice’s queerness and her life as a queer person in the 19th century United States. Dunbar-Nelson defied many assumptions a contemporary reader may have of the Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction era United States, including that she was exceptionally well-traveled. We learn about Alice’s love of California, her time in New York and contribution to the Harlem Renaissance, and her queer affairs. Take a listen.   If you would like to buy your own copy of Love, Activism, and the Respectable Life of Alice Dunbar-Nelson, go to the Bloomsbury website and use code POD35 followed your respective country code, US, UK, CA, AU, depending on where you are located.   Americas customers (excluding Canada): POD35US UK and rest of world customers: POD35UK Canada customers: POD35CA Australia and New Zealand customers: POD35AU Check out this episode!

Love, Activism, and the Respectable Life of Alice Dunbar-Nelson by Tara T. Green, part one

Tara T. Green is Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA. She is the author of several books including See Me Naked: Black Women Defining Pleasure during the Interwar Era (2022) and editor of two books, including From the Plantation to the Prison: African American Confinement Literature (2008).   Love, Activism, and the Respectable Life of Alice Dunbar-Nelson has received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist. Pulitzer-prize winning poet Jericho Brown praised the book as “a brilliant analysis.” So who was Alice Dunbar Nelson? Born in New Orleans in 1875, she would become an activist and writer and contributor to the Harlem Renaissance. She navigated a hostile and ever-changing country as a Black bisexual woman, subject to systemic racism and sexism and impositions of “respectability.” More intimately, she navigated an abusive marriage to the well-known writer Paul Laurence Dunbar. Bloomsbury Academic podcast and Tara T. Green discuss how Alice Dunbar-Nelson found ways to not only survive but thrive in a world and a marriage that were fundamentally against her. Take a listen.   If you would like to buy your own copy of Love, Activism, and the Respectable Life of Alice Dunbar-Nelson, go to the Bloomsbury website and use code POD35 followed your respective country code, US, UK, CA, AU, depending on where you are located.   Americas customers (excluding Canada): POD35US UK and rest of world customers: POD35UK Canada customers: POD35CA Australia and New Zealand customers: POD35AU     Check out this episode!

A Guide to the Psychology of Eating by Leighann R. Chaffee and Stephanie P. da Silva, part 2

Leighann Chaffee is Associate Teaching Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington, Tacoma, and Stephanie P. da Silva is a psychology professor at Columbus State University, USA. Together, they are the co-authors of The Guide to the Psychology of Eating. In part two of our episode, we delve into the relationship between public policy and societal thinking about food as well as how our perception of food habits or diets is tied up in race, class, gender, age. Then we chat with the authors about fatphobia, how can we decrease the prevalence of disordered eating, and what the future of social perceptions of food might look like. Take a listen.  If you would like to buy your own copy of A Guide to the Psychology of Eating, go to the Bloomsbury website and use code POD35 followed your respective country code, US, UK, CA, AU, depending on where you are located. Americas customers (excluding Canada): POD35US UK and rest of world customers: POD35UK Canada customers: POD35CA Australia and New Zealand customers: POD35AU Check out this episode!

A Guide to the Psychology of Eating by Leighann R. Chaffee and Stephanie P. da Silva, part 1

Leighann Chaffee is Associate Teaching Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington, USA, and Stephanie P. da Silva is a psychology professor at Columbus State University, USA. Together, they are the co-authors of The Guide to the Psychology of Eating. In this episode, we will be talking about all things eating, including how our brains make sense of the chemicals in food to allow us to taste. Then, we’ll be answering why hunger makes us “hangry, why comfort food is so comforting, how food reflects our cultural knowledge and values, and much much more. Take a listen.   If you would like to buy your own copy of A Guide to the Psychology of Eating, go to the Bloomsbury website and use code POD35 followed your respective country code, US, UK, CA, AU, depending on where you are located.   Americas customers (excluding Canada): POD35US UK and rest of world customers: POD35UK Canada customers: POD35CA Australia and New Zealand customers: POD35AU Check out this episode!

Britney Spears’ Blackout cover

Britney Spears’ Blackout by Natasha Lasky, part two

In part two of this episode, we discuss Spears’ conservatorship, and the public discussion around it as well as disability rights in general. Then, we look at stan culture and the influence of (social) media on celebrity and vice versa and how social media has changed since this album was released, looking at its impact on stars like Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift, plus what Britney Spears’ Instagram looks like today. Take a listen.

Nuclear Russia book cover

Nuclear Russia by Paul Josephson, part 2

This is part two of our episode on Nuclear Russia, and we are continuing our conversation with Paul Josephson, Professor of History at Colby College, USA. We’ll be discussing the groups that have suffered as a result of Russia’s pursuit of nuclear power, a nuclear themed beauty contest, and the evolution of Russia’s nuclear culture. Then looking forward, we consider what Russia’s recent self-proclaimed nuclear power ‘renaissance’ could mean for international security and the environment and what could be done to combat this nuclear resistance. Take a listen.

Nuclear Russia book cover

Nuclear Russia by Paul Josephson, part 1

This is part one of our episode on Nuclear Russia, we start off with an overview of the history of nuclear physics and how its emergence in Russia compares with other parts of the world. We’ll then delve into the ways in which nuclear power influenced the Cold War and vice versa before moving into a discussion of the ramifications Chernobyl had on the Soviet Union and the rest of the world. Take a listen.

Queer Data by Kevin Guyan

How do we decide who counts? Kevin Guyan, queer author, activist and scholar, joins us to discuss his latest book Queer Data: Using Gender, Sex and Sexuality Data for Action to break down how data shapes the world around us, and how we in turn, shape it. Take a listen.

Cover of Black British Queer Plays and Practitioners

Black British Queer Plays and Practitioners, part two

In part two of our episode, we’ll be talking about issues of accessibility in theatre and how that impacts playwrights, audiences, and even this collection. To combat this accessibility issue, we’ll delve into how practitioners and theatre-goers can benefit from reading this collection, particularly the intergenerational ‘in-conversation’ pieces. Then, the editors will be giving us a behind the scenes look at how the collection evolved over time as well as their own work in the theatre space. Take a listen.

The Godfather, part two

In part two of this episode, we will be exploring what the relationship between Hollywood and crime was like before and after this movie as well as how the film got its reputation as “high art” in the Western canon. Then, we talk about New Hollywood, the power of the director, the idea of the auteur, and what the future for medium-sized indie films could look like. Take a listen.