The Oxford Comment

On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, the last for 2023, we spotlight two aspects of Native American culture that transcend tribe and nation and have been the recent focus of OUP scholars: language and religious beliefs. For our first interview, we were joined by Rosemarie Ostler, author of The United States of English: The American Language from Colonial Times to the Twenty-First Century, to speak about the Native American English dialect, how English became more widely spoken amongst Native Americans, and current programs to preserve Native American languages. We then spoke with Gregory Shushan, author of Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions, about near-death experiences, Native American myths, shamanism, and religious revitalization movements across indigenous cultures in North America.

For more information on The United States of English, check out: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-united-states-of-english-9780197647295

A PDF transcript for this episode can be found here: https://oxfordacademic.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-Oxford-Comment-Episode-89-transcript.pdf

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On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, we discuss the state of human infrastructure in the Anthropocene with a particular focus on how research can best be used to inform public policy. First, we welcomed Patrick Harris, co-editor-in-chief of the new transdisciplinary journal, Oxford Open Infrastructure and Health, to speak about the aims and scopes of OOIH, how OOIH is poised to meet the challenges of the Anthropocene, and the kind of research the editors are seeking. We then interviewed Jonathan Pickering, co-author of The Politics of the Anthropocene, the winner of the 2019 Clay Morgan Award Committee for Best Book in Environmental Political Theory. We spoke with him about how the shift from the Holocene to the Anthropocene has affected our core infrastructure systems and how good governance can help us mitigate the many challenges we’ll face in the future

For more information on Oxford Open Infrastructure and Health, check out: https://academic.oup.com/ooih

A PDF transcript for this episode can be found here: https://oxfordacademic.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/The-Oxford-Comment-Episode-88-transcript.pdf

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On today’s episode, we’re joined by three OUP colleagues to discuss current changes in academic publishing and what they will mean for the future of peer review.  First, we talk with Laura Jose, a Publisher in the Owned and Product Tower at OUP, about bias reduction in peer review. Next, we speak with Dr. Amanda Boehm, scientific managing editor for JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute and JNCI Cancer Spectrum, about how diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives affect peer review. Lastly, we ask James Phillpotts, the Director of Content Transformation & Standards who serves as an OUP representative for the National Information Standards Organization, about the impact of NISO’s recently released document on the standard terminology for peer review.

For more information on JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, check out: https://academic.oup.com/jnci

A PDF transcript for this episode can be found here: https://oxfordacademic.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/The-Oxford-Comment-Episode-87-transcript.pdf

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On today’s episode, we’re joined by two preeminent scholars on the history and theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as this September marks the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s first vision of the angel Moroni. We welcomed Richard Lyman Bushman, the author of Joseph Smith’s Gold Plates: A Cultural History, to discuss with us the legacy of Joseph Smith’s Gold Plates and the origins of The Book of Mormon two centuries ago. We then interviewed Grant Hardy, whose new The Annotated Book of Mormon is the first ever fully annotated, academic edition of the book.

For more information on Joseph Smith’s Gold Plates, check out: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/joseph-smiths-gold-plates-9780197676523

A PDF transcript for this episode can be found here: https://oxfordacademic.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/The-Oxford-Comment-Episode-86-transcript-final.pdf

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On today’s episode, we explore two recognizable components in contemporary conversations on gender and gendered violence. First, we welcomed Robert Lawson, the author of Language and Mediated Masculinities: Cultures, Contexts, Constraints, to share how language intersects with masculinity in media spaces and how it may be our best weapon in combatting rising misogyny. We then interviewed Iqra Shagufta Cheema, the editor of The Other #MeToos, who spoke with us about the origins of the #MeToo movement, how it has been received around the world, and how it has changed—and will continue to change—to meet the needs of the victims for which it advocates.

For more information on Language and Mediated Masculinities, check out: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/language-and-mediated-masculinities-9780190081058

A PDF transcript for this episode can be found here.

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On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, we explore the history of gun ownership in the United States and practical solutions for resolving contemporary gun violence. First, we welcomed Robert J Spitzer, the author of The Gun Dilemma: How History is Against Expanded Gun Rights, to share new historical research on America’s gun law history as it informs modern gun policy disputes. We then interviewed Philip J Cook, the author of Policing Gun Violence: Strategic Reforms for Controlling Our Most Pressing Crime Problem, who spoke with us about utilising the police as a strategic resource for reducing gun violence.

For more information on The Gun Dilemma, check out: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-gun-dilemma-9780197643747

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On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, we discuss LGBTQ+ privacy through both historical and contemporary lenses. First, Simon Joyce, the author of LGBT Victorians: Sexuality and Gender in the Nineteenth-Century Archives, shared his argument for revisiting Victorian-era thinking about gender and sexual identity. We then interviewed Stefanie Duguay, the author of Personal but Not Private: Queer Women, Sexuality, and Identity Modulation on Digital Platforms, who spoke with about digitally mediated identities and how platforms, such as social media and dating apps, act as complicated sites of transformation.

For more information on LGBT Victorians, check out: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/lgbt-victorians-9780192858399

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On today’s episode, we welcomed Dr Kerry McInerney and Dr Eleanor Drage, two of the editors of Feminist AI: Critical Perspectives on Data, Algorithms and Intelligent Machines, and then Dr Kanta Dihal, co-editor of Imagining AI: How the World Sees Intelligent Machines, to discuss how AI can be influenced by culture, feminism, and Western narratives defined by popular TV shows and films. Should AI be accessible to all? How does gender influence the way AI is made? And most importantly, what are the hopes and fears for the future of AI?

For more information on Feminist AI, check out: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/feminist-ai-9780192889898

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The consequences of climate change are catastrophic. This real and present threat to our planet may seem insurmountable, but there are—and have been—lessons shared on how to mitigate the damage already wrought, and how to prevent future detriment.

On today’s episode, we explore two unique examples of societal adaptation to climate change: one from our past, and one from our present. First, we welcomed Kenneth E. Seligson, the author of The Maya and Climate Change: Human-Environmental Relationships in the Classic Period Lowlands, who shared insights into his work exploring the environmental resilience of the Classic Maya, the environmental challenges they faced and overcame, and the lessons we can learn from them. We then interviewed Scott M. Moore, the author of China’s Next Act: How Sustainability and Technology are Reshaping China’s Rise and the World’s Future, to speak about contemporary China’s meteoric and controversial rise to a global power, its leading role in sustainability and technology, and what this means for institutions around the world.

Please check out Episode 81 of The Oxford Comment and subscribe to The Oxford Comment through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our expert authors:

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The world of sports has long been a contested playing field for social change. On today’s episode, we discuss the lives, careers, and lasting legacies on and off the tennis courts of two great women athletes—Althea Gibson and Billie Jean King. First, we welcomed Ashley Brown, the author of Serving Herself: The Life and Times of Althea Gibson, to speak about the barrier breaking tennis player and golfer. We then interviewed Susan Ware, the author of American Women: A Concise History, American Women’s History: A Very Short Introduction, and Game, Set, Match: Billie Jean King and the Revolution in Women’s Sports, published by UNC Press, who shared with us how King leveraged her career as a form of activism for gender equality, and discussed how sports have changed for women athletes in the years since.

Please check out Episode 80 of The Oxford Comment and subscribe to The Oxford Comment through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our expert authors:

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