New Books in Japanese Studies

Part of the New Books Network, this podcast is essentially a rolling seminar on the latest scholarship about Japan. Each episode features an in-depth interview with an author who has just published a new academic book, and the conversations typically run about an hour. Recent episodes have covered topics like race and eugenics in Japan from empire through the Cold War, the material culture of samurai, the secret politics of the atomic bomb, and narratives of divorce in Japanese women's literature. With nearly 480 episodes in the archive, the show has built up an extraordinary library of expert conversations spanning history, politics, literature, art, religion, and sociology. Host Marshall Poe and the rotating interviewers from the New Books Network ask substantive questions that push beyond the book jacket summary and get into the arguments, evidence, and debates that drive Japanese studies forward. The biweekly release schedule has been consistent for years. Rated 4.6 stars with 9 reviews on Apple Podcasts, the show does not have the mass audience of a narrative history podcast, but that is partly the point. This is the podcast for people who actually read the books, or who want to feel like they have. If you are a university student, a researcher, or just someone who reads academic monographs for fun, New Books in Japanese Studies is indispensable.