Hopkins Press Podcasts

We are joined this episode by Jennifer Hochschild and David Beavers, both of Harvard University.

Jennifer Hochschild is the Henry LaBarre Jayne Professor of Government and professor of African and African American studies at Harvard University. Her recent books include Genomic Politics: How the Revolution in Genomic Science Is Shaping American Society (2021) and Do Facts Matter? Information and Misinformation in American Politics (2016), coauthored with Katherine Levine Einstein.

David Beavers is a PhD student in the Department of Government, Harvard University. He specializes in the study of political communication in the United States. He was formerly a journalist and editor at Politico.

Their recent paper, "Learning from Experience? COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories and Their Implications for Democratic Discourse," was published in the Fall 2022 issue of Social Research. Their study looked at coronavirus-related conspiracy narratives in the United States across the continuum of political affiliation. They joined us today to discuss their research and how what they found surprised them.

Our guest today is Dr Sahanika Ratnayake - a philosopher of psychiatry and medicine, whose work focuses on talking therapy. She is interested in what constitutes evidence for talking therapy, the ethics of therapy and the integration of therapy into healthcare systems. She is currently a researcher at the UK Council for Psychotherapy. She joined us today to discuss her paper published in a recent issue of Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology, titled "It's Been Utility All Along: An Alternate Understanding of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and The Depressive Realism Hypothesis."

Last month, the United States Post office announced its 2023 slate of stamp designs, which includes tributes to writers Toni Morrison and Ernest Gaines, both of whom died in 2019.

Our guest today, Dr. Rafael Walker, recently published a paper in the journal Arizona Quarterly that examines there two extraordinary writers. He explores how Gaines' last book, "The Tragedy of Brady Sims" draws parallels to Toni Morrison's "Beloved". Dr. Walker joined us to discuss his research and the legacy of these two critically acclaimed authors.

Rafael Walker is assistant professor of English at Baruch College, City University of New York, where he is also affiliate faculty in the Department of Black and Latino Studies and in the Program in Women and Gender Studies. He has published on a variety of topics both in American literature and in higher education. Walker is the editor of a critical edition of Kate Chopin's work, The Awakening and Other Selected Stories (Warbler Press), and of Broadview Press's inaugural edition of Nella Larsen’s Passing (forthcoming). And he is working on two book-length monographs—one on the American realist novel and the other on biraciality in American culture.

Our guest today is Nicholas Tilmes, whose research focuses on the intersection of cognition, law, and technology, ranging from disability rights to neurotechnology and AI. He holds an M.A. in Bioethics from NYU and a B.A. in Philosophy & Psychology from Cornell University. He joins us today to discuss his paper published in the latest issue of the journal Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology, which examines the areas of psychological diagnosis that are fuzzy, vague, or indeterminate, and philosophical ways this vagueness can be reckoned with.

Our guest this week is Dr. Samuel Woolley, a researcher and writer who examines how emerging media tools are used for both democracy and control. He is a faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin and directs the Propaganda Research Lab at UT’s Center for Media Engagement. He has published four books, including the recently released Bots and the forthcoming Manufacturing Consensus: Understanding Propaganda in the Age of Automation and Anonymity. He has testified before the U.S. Congress regarding the impact of electoral disinformation on communities of color. His work has been presented to and cited by the UK Parliament, NATO, and the United Nations.

He joined us today to discuss his paper recently published in the Journal of Democracy - "Digital Propaganda: The Power of Influencers", which examines how attempts to manipulate public opinion using social media and emerging information communication technologies continue to proliferate and evolve internationally.

Hopkins Press is honored to welcome to this podcast episode President of The New School in New York City, Dr. Dwight McBride.

Dr. McBride is an accomplished higher education leader, educator, scholar, and author. Over nearly three decades in higher education, he has encouraged innovation in scholarship and teaching, launched initiatives to build interdisciplinary strength around global challenges, created environments that foster inclusive excellence, and expanded opportunities for experiential learning.

The Summer 2022 issue of the journal Social Research, Books That Matter II, invited notable scholars to select one book that had a deep and lasting influence on their thinking and life. Dr. McBride's essay, "A Rising Tide Lifts all Boats", reflects on Phillis Wheatley's Poems on Various Subjects. He joined us to discuss his essay, which not only details Wheatley's remarkable life and writing, but examines what over 200 years of analysis and criticism of Wheatley's work can show us about the history of racism in the United States and its enduring impact on African American literature.

This week we are joined by Dr. Rebecca Natow, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy at Hofstra University, where she is also the director of the Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies program. Dr. Natow is an expert on higher education policy and has conducted extensive research on the U.S. Department of Education’s rulemaking process, performance-based funding for higher education, federal higher education policymaking, and research utilization in the creation of federal regulations. She joined Hopkins Press to speak about her legislation research recently published in the Review of Higher Education.

The Summer 2022 issue of Social Research, Books That Matter II, invited notable scholars to select one book that had a deep and lasting influence on their thinking and life.

Joining us this episode is Dr. Wendy Doniger. Dr. Doniger is the Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago, Emerita. She is the author of over forty books, including The Hindus: An Alternative History [2010], Hinduism in the Norton Anthology of World Religions [2014].

Dr. Doniger's essay for Books that Matter II, "My Life in Wonderland", explores the many ways the work of Lewis Carroll has held a special place in her heart. She joined us to discuss her essay and how Carroll's work has threaded through her scholarly work, as well.

Our guest today is Maria Ortiz-Myers. Maria is a doctoral candidate in library and information science at the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. Her research focuses on information practice, particularly collaborative information interactions and personally meaningful information experiences. The journal Library Trends recently published her paper, titled "The Information Practices of Parents of Transgender and Non-Binary Youth: An Exploratory Study". She joined us to discuss her research on how families of transgender youth pursue and assess information.

Dr. Clara Humpston is our guest this week, discussing her paper “Isolated by Oneself: Ontologically Impossible Experiences in Schizophrenia,” published in the latest issue of the journal Philosophy Psychiatry and Psychology.