New Books in Religion
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New Books in Religion
This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000...
Recent Episodes
2759 episodesTatjana Kochetkova and Anway Mukhopadhyay eds., "Transhumanism and Divine Humanity in Global Traditions" (Routledge, 2026)
Amid global dialogue on the nature of human enhancement, this book traces humanity's pursuit of self-transcendence and enhancement from ancient times...
Fr. Dwight Longenecker, "Bloodshed and Blessing: Stories of Sacrifice from Ancient Altars to the Holy Mass" (Sophia Institute Press, 2026)
Something deep within you recognizes it–the instinct that sacrifice matters, that something must be offered, that violence and beauty are woven togeth...
Matthew Thomas Miller, "Feeling like Lovers: Affect in Medieval Sufism" (U California Press, 2026)
Matthew Thomas Miller's new book Feeling like Lovers: Affect in Medieval Sufism (U California Press, 2026), and is available as an open access book (s...
Holly Crawford Pickett, "The Drama of Serial Conversion in Early Modern England" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2024)
After mounting London’s outdoor pulpit known as St. Paul’s Cross on
8th December, 1588, Anthony Tyrrell found himself perched before a
s...
An Honest Death: Life's End and Humanist Funerals with Matthew Engelke
A fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at non-religious funerals in contemporary London, An Honest Death: Life's End and Humanist Funerals (Princeton U...
Jamie L. Brummitt, "Protestant Relics in Early America" (Oxford UP, 2025)
Edward Blum interviews Dr. Jamie L. Brummitt on how new book Protestant Relics in Early America.
In Protestant Relics in Early America ...
Jacqueline Vayntrub, "Body Language: Voice, Embodiment, and Textuality in the Hebrew Bible" (Yale UP, 2026)
Tune in to this interview about Body Language: Voice, Embodiment, and Textuality in the Hebrew Bible (Yale UP, 2026). Jacqueline Vayntrub is Associat...
Ian Bradley, "Liquid Faith: Scotland's Sacred and Supernatural Waters" (Birlinn, 2026)
Since time immemorial, water has been a major theme in myth, religion
and folklore throughout the world. With its 12,000-mile coastline, as
A Very Jewish Christmas: When Jesus Spoke Yiddish
It is a curious fact that among the first Yiddish books ever printed was a translation of the New Testament, which appeared in 1540, only 18 years aft...
Rick Ramseyer, "Girl Without a Country: The Untold Story of a Landmark Fight for U.S. Citizenship" (Purdue UP, 2026)
Should willingness to kill be a requirement for U.S. citizenship? Girl Without a Country: The Untold Story of a Landmark Fight for U.S. Citizenship (P...
David W. Congdon, "Who is a True Christian?: Contesting Religious Identity in American Culture" (Cambridge UP, 2024)
Who Is a True Christian?: Contesting Religious Identity in American Culture (Cambridge UP, 2024) examines how American Christians have tried to determ...
Yigal Levin, "The Chronicles of David and Solomon: 1 Chronicles 10–2 Chronicles 9: A New Translation and Commentary " (Bloomsbury, 2026)
In this New Books Network interview, Professor Željko Stanojević speaks with Professor Yigal Levin of Bar-Ilan University about his new book, The Chro...
James Lochtefeld, "God’s Own Land: Sacred Landscape, Pilgrim Economy and Religious Change in the Ganga Himalaya" (Lever Press, 2026)
God’s Own Land: Sacred Landscape, Pilgrim Economy and Religious Change in the Ganga Himalaya (Lever Press, 2026) follows the tectonic shift from trad...
Younus Y. Mirza, "The Islamic Mary: Maryam Through the Centuries" (Fortress Press, 2025)
Mary, the mother of Jesus, has been historically revered throughout the Islamic tradition. This began already in the Qur'an, where she is called by th...
Why the Roman Empire Fell: On Edward Gibbon with Hugh Liebert
250 years ago when the United States declared independence, Edward Gibbon across the ocean published the first volume of his magisterial series, The D...
Eckart Otto, "Max Weber's Studies of Ancient Judaism: The Historical Foundation for a Theory of the Modern Age" (Mohr Siebeck, 2002)
In Max Weber's Studies of Ancient Judaism: The Historical Foundation for a Theory of the Modern Age (Mohr Siebeck, 2002) Eckart Otto provides a histor...
Eckart Otto, "Deuteronomy in the Pentateuch and the Hexateuch: Studies of the Literary History of the Pentateuch and the Hexateuch within the Framework of Deuteronomy" (Mohr Siebeck, 2000)
In Deuteronomy in the Pentateuch and the Hexateuch: Studies of the Literary History of the Pentateuch and the Hexateuch within the Framework of Deuter...
Jin Y. Park and Sumi Lee eds., "Korean Buddhism: Selected Readings from Primary Texts" (U Hawaii Press, 2026)
Today we're looking at a book that fills a gap that has existed for a long time. Korean Buddhism: Selected Readings from Primary Texts (U Hawaii Pres...
Deborah Barer, "Going Off Script: Improvisational Judgment in the Talmud" (Oxford UP, 2026)
What does it really mean to go "beyond the letter of the law"? In
this episode, Rabbi Marc Katz sits down with scholar Deborah Barer to
...
Ryan Schweitzer, "Homosexuality in Central Asia: Stories of Hardship and Hope" (B&N Press, 2026)
Homosexuality in Central Asia: Stories of Hardship and Hope
(Barnes and Noble Press, 2026) is Ryan Michael Schweitzer's collection
of fi...
Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz and Alaka Atreya Chudal "The Swasthani Vrata Katha" (Oxford UP, 2026)
The Swasthani Vrata Katha is the most widely read, recited, and listened to Hindu devotional text, especially of local indigenous origin, among Hindu...
Onyekachi Ugwu, "The Woman Caught in Adultery and the Gospel of John" (Mohr Siebeck, 2026)
The story of the woman caught in adultery in John’s Gospel has long stirred controversy. Given its checkered manuscript witness, many scholars don’t b...
Posen Library: Jewish Studies Teaching Modules
Bring the breadth of Jewish history and civilization into your classroom with ready-to-use teaching modules curated by experts.
The Posen...
Marios Koutsoukos, "Restoring the Ancient Religion: The Theurgic Orthopraxy of Iamblichus" (Palgrave MacMillan, 2026)
Restoring the Ancient Religion: The Theurgic Orthopraxy of Iamblichus (Palgrave MacMillan, 2026) reconsiders Iamblichus’ Response to Porphyry, Late An...
George Savran, "Jacob: Conflicted Twin, Aggrieved Patriarch" (Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2025)
In Jacob: Conflicted Twin, Aggrieved Patriarch (Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2025), George Savran brings his narrative interpretive approach to look clo...
James L. Fitzgerald, "The Mahabharata, Volume 8" (U Chicago Press, 2026)
The Mahabharata, Volume 8 (U Chicago Press, 2026) is a translation of the twelfth book of The Mahābhārata, an epic tale of history and kingship, reinf...
Susannah Heschel and Sarah Imhoff, "The Woman Question in Jewish Studies" (Princeton UP, 2025)
The Woman Question in Jewish Studies (Princeton UP, 2025) is a critical look at the difficulties women face in the field of Jewish studies, drawing o...
Steven K. Green, "American Infidelity: The Gilded Age Battle Over Freethought, Free Love, and Feminism" (Oxford UP, 2026)
Today I'm speaking with Steven K. Green, Fred H. Paulus Professor of Law and Affiliated Professor of History and Religious Studies at Willamette Unive...
Jenny R. Labendz, "Beyond Hope: Rabbinic Eschatology of Late Antiquity in Comparative Perspective" (Oxford UP, 2026)
In Beyond Hope: Rabbinic Eschatology of Late Antiquity in Comparative Perspective (Oxford UP, 2026) Jenny Labendz addresses distinct patterns within r...
Dominik A. Haas, "South Asia Before Religion: Reflections on an Anachronistic Concept" (Knowledge Commons Works, 2026)
South Asia Before Religion: Reflections on an Anachronistic Concept (Knowledge Commons Works, 2026) critically examines the applicability of the conce...
Emanuel Tov, "Scribal Practices and Approaches Reflected in the Texts Found in the Judean Desert, Revised Second Edition" (Brill, 2025)
Scribal Practices and Approaches Reflected in the Texts Found in the Judean Desert, Revised Second Edition (Brill, 2025) revises the first edition of...
Spirituality, Science and Environmentalism in Taiwan
Who is Shennong, the Divine Farmer? And how can he help us understand the intricate relationships between spirituality, science and environmentalism i...
Ute Hüsken and Suganya Anandakichenin eds., "Pathika: Studies of South Asian Texts and Traditions" (HAS, 2026)
A conversation featuring the editors of the new Heidelberg Asian Studies Publishing series Pathika - Studies of South Asian Texts and Traditions (HAS...
Sarah Rosenson, "Fan Fiction on the Book of Genesis: A Guide to Close Reading of and Creative Writing on the Bible" (Cherry Orchard Books, 2026)
Can creative writing become a form of biblical interpretation?
That is the provocative question at the heart of my conversation with Sar...
Stephen G. Covell, "The Teaching and Teachings of Temple Buddhism in Contemporary Japan" (U Hawaii Press, 2024)
How have Buddhist teachings come to be in modern and contemporary
Japan and how are they taught? This pioneering work seeks to answer
th...
Paul Helseth and David P. Smith eds., "New Perspectives on Old Princeton, 1812-1929" (Routledge, 2024)
New Perspectives on Old Princeton, 1812-1929 (Routledge, 2024) focuses on Princeton
Theological Seminary and the theologians who taught there f...
Pratap Kumar Penumala and Arvind Sharma, "The Bloomsbury Handbook of Hindu Ethics" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
With the plurality of Hinduism in mind, The Bloomsbury Handbook of Hindu Ethics focuses on the human, sociological and situational ethical framework u...
Metamodern Mysticism with Linda Ceriello
In this episode, host Pierce Salguero sits down with Linda C. Ceriello, a scholar of mysticism and popular culture from Kennesaw State University in G...
Molly Crabapple, "Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund" (Random House, 2026)
Molly
Crabapple joins Michael Stauch to discuss the history of the Jewish
Labor Bund, the subject of her new book, Here Where We Live I...
Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan, "Tamil Śiva Temples, Āgamas, and Śivabrāhmaṇas/Ādiśaivas" (YSSR Foundation, 2026)
Tamil Śiva Temples, Āgamas, and Śivabrāhmaṇas/Ādiśaivas addresses the issue of whether members of all castes can become priests in Tamil Śiva temples....