Best Jonathan Yang Podcasts (2025)

In this deeply intimate episode of Dear Soulmate, we explore the profound depths of devotion and longing that transcend physical presence. This heartfelt letter reveals how love becomes a sanctuary in the quiet hours, where memories transform into poetry and whispered promises fill the darkness. Listen as we journey through the sacred landscape of …

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Amber Ruffin on Comedy, Coming Out, and Owning Her Voice 18:45

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1d ago18:45

18:45

This is the Queerty interview, where we bring you conversations with the most exciting LGBTQ+ voices in entertainment, activism, and beyond. Today we’re talking to comedian and host Amber Ruffin. From her Nebraska roots to Broadway, late night, and coming out publicly last Pride season, Amber brings her singular voice to everything she does. In thi…

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Good Knievel, with Dave Hill and Rob Kutner 1:21:58

2d ago1:21:58

1:21:58

On this week’s episode, we welcome back writers Dave Hill and Rob Kutner to chat about their podcast, The Novelizers, plus black metal, blade humor, and so much more! Listen to The Novelizers! Read Dave Hill’s Dark Regards. Read Rob Kutner’s The Jews: 5,000 Years and Counting Jordan’s new Spider-Man’s comic is out now! Order Jordan’s new Godzilla c…

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"My Mother, the Supervillain" by Benjamin Blattberg + "See Now the Misfortune..." by Lowry Poletti + "When the Faerie King..." by Vanessa Fogg 57:48

3d ago57:48

57:48

"My Mother, the Supervillain" by Benjamin Blattberg (©2025 by by Benjamin Blattberg) read by Roxanne Hernandez, "See Now the Misfortune of the Thinking Tenax" by Lowry Poletti (©2025 by Lowry Poletti) read by Stefan Rudnicki, and "When the Faerie King Toured the Human Realm" by Vanessa Fogg (©2025 by Vanessa Fogg) read by Susan Hanfield. Learn more…

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'Oh, Mary!' star Bianca Leigh 21:02

4d ago21:02

21:02

This is the Queerty interview, where we bring you conversations with the most exciting LGBTQ+ voices in entertainment, activism, and beyond. Today we’re talking to Broadway star Bianca Leigh. From Transamerica to Oh, Mary! Bianca reflects on the evolution of trans representation and what stories still need to be told. Queerty’s Matthew Wexler sat d…

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Chris Donnelly: Author, "Get Your Tokens Ready: The Late 1990s Road to the Subway Series" 49:22

4d ago49:22

49:22

On what draws him to chronicling the highs and lows of 1990s New York baseball. On why the 2000s Mets are more interesting than the 2000s Yankees. On the blissful joy of Dave Mlicki. On how he survives these awful times in America.

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Kevin B. Anderson, "The Late Marx's Revolutionary Roads: Colonialism, Gender, and Indigenous Communism" (Verso, 2025) 1:04:22

6d ago1:04:22

1:04:22

Kevin Anderson’s The Late Marx's Revolutionary Roads: Colonialism, Gender, and Indigenous Communism (Verso, 2025) encourages to look again at the intellectual and political work of a figure some may assume has been exhausted: Karl Marx. Following on from his earlier landmark study Marx at the Margins: On Nationalism, Ethnicity and Non-Western Socie…

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Dear Soulmate Episode 5 6:02

8d ago6:02

6:02

In this raw and unforgettable episode of "Dear Soul Mate," Jonathan Cruz shares the harrowing context behind one of his most profound letters about love and mortality. Just thirty minutes after witnessing another inmate's violent death, Jonathan found himself on lockdown, confronting his own mortality and the fragile nature of life itself. In that …

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Tamar R. Shirinian, "Survival of a Perverse Nation: Morality and Queer Possibility in Armenia" (Duke UP, 2024) 1:10:40

8d ago1:10:40

1:10:40

Tamar Shirinian is Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her new book, Survival of a Perverse Nation: Morality and Queer Possibility in Armenia (Duke UP, 2024), studies the relationships between gender, sexuality, nationalism, political-economy, and social reproduction and how these are experienced,…

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The Batavia of Illinois, with Gareth Reynolds 1:14:37

9d ago1:14:37

1:14:37

On this week’s episode, we welcome comedian, Gareth Reynolds (The Dollop, We’re Here To Help), to chat about rich fluids and standard mopping, his new podcast (Next We Have), Mr. Clean, and more! Check out Gareth’s new show Next We Have on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube! Listen to The Dollop and We’re Here To Help! Jordan’s new Spider-Man’s com…

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"Eyes Grown Thick on the World" by Will McMahon + "The Twenty-One Second God" by Peter Watts 1:11:17

10d ago1:11:17

1:11:17

This episode features "Eyes Grown Thick on the World" by Will McMahon (©2025 by Will McMahon) and "The Twenty-One Second God" by Peter Watts (©2025 by Peter Watts) both read by Stefan Rudnicki. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Adamant Press

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Robert Garland, "What to Expect When You're Dead: An Ancient Tour of Death and the Afterlife" (Princeton UP, 2025) 53:49

11d ago53:49

53:49

A lively story of death, What to Expect When You're Dead: An Ancient Tour of Death and the Afterlife (Princeton University Press, 2025) by Dr. Robert Garland explores the fascinating death-related beliefs and practices of a wide range of ancient cultures and traditions—Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Hindu, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Etruscan, Greek, Roman, Earl…

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Andrew Smith, "First People: The Lost History of the Khoisan" (Jonathan Ball, 2022) 1:18:34

11d ago1:18:34

1:18:34

First people communities are the early groups of hunter gatherers, herders, and the oldest human lineages of Africa, some migrating from as far as East Africa to settle across southern Africa, in countries like Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. In First People: The Lost History of the Khoisan, archaeologist Andrew Smith, who has excavated at some…

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Agustín Fuentes, "Sex Is a Spectrum: The Biological Limits of the Binary" (Princeton UP, 2025) 45:11

12d ago45:11

45:11

Being human entails an astonishingly complex interplay of biology and culture, and while there are important differences between women and men, there is a lot more variation and overlap than we may realize. Sex Is a Spectrum offers a bold new paradigm for understanding the biology of sex, drawing on the latest science to explain why the binary view…

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Katarina Kušic, "Beyond International Intervention: Politics of Improvement in Serbia" (University of Michigan Press, 2025) 1:03:37

13d ago1:03:37

1:03:37

Studies of statebuilding and peacebuilding have been criticized for their disregard of people living the consequences of intervention projects. Beyond International Intervention: Politics of Improvement in Serbia (University of Michigan Press, 2025) by Dr. Katarina Kušic takes on the task of engaging with spaces and peoples not usually present in I…

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Lina Pinto-García, "Maraña: War and Disease in the Jungles of Colombia" (U Chicago Press, 2025) 1:04:34

14d ago1:04:34

1:04:34

In Maraña: War and Disease in the Jungles of Colombia (University of Chicago Press, 2025), Lina Pinto-García delves into the relationship between war and disease, focusing on Colombian armed conflict and the skin disease known as cutaneous leishmaniasis. Leishmaniasis is transmitted through the bite of female sandflies. The most common manifestatio…

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Dear Soulmate Episode 4 4:30

15d ago4:30

4:30

In Episode 4 of "Dear Soul Mate," Jonathan Cruz confronts his own words after years of distance from the letters that once sustained him. Before reading a profound letter about the fluidity of love, he pauses to reflect on what it means to revisit the hopes and blueprints of his younger, incarcerated self. This episode explores a deeply philosophic…

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Maya Mayblin "Vote of Faith: Democracy, Desire, and the Turbulent Lives of Priest Politicians" (Fordham UP, 2024) 1:23:46

15d ago1:23:46

1:23:46

A richly cinematic and compelling look at priest-politicians in Brazil and their religious and secular entanglements, Vote of Faith: Democracy, Desire, and the Turbulent Lives of Priest Politicians (Fordham UP, 2024) explores the complex intersection of democracy, patriarchy, and religiosity in Brazil. For over a hundred years, Catholic priests hav…

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'A Nice Indian Boy' stars Jonathan Groff & Karan Soni 9:38

16d ago9:38

9:38

This is the Queerty interview, where we bring you conversations with the most exciting LGBTQ+ voices in entertainment, activism, and beyond. In ‘A Nice Indian Boy,’ Karan Soni & Jonathan Groff play Naveen and Jay, a couple looking to plan a big, gay Indian wedding of their own—even if Naveen's traditional parents aren't entirely thrilled about that…

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Stankus The Rat, with Mike Drucker 1:19:36

16d ago1:19:36

1:19:36

On this week’s episode, we welcome comedian and writer, Mike Drucker, to chat about stackin’ damage, comics made by children, the Omegavese, his new book (Good Game, No Rematch: A Life Made of Video Games), and more! Jordan will be at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, June 7th and 8th! Jordan’s new Spider-Man’s comic is out now! Pre-order Jordan’s n…

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"The Meaning We Seek" by Nancy Kress + "Ninnagan Says Remember" by Jonathan Olfert 1:05:31

17d ago1:05:31

1:05:31

This episode features "The Meaning We Seek" by Nancy Kress (©2025 by Nancy Kress) and "Ninnagan Says Remember" by Jonathan Olfert (©2025 by Jonathan Olfert), both read by Paul Boehmer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Adamant Press

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Bob Ley: Legendary ESPN SportsCenter, Outside the Lines host 1:06:29

18d ago1:06:29

1:06:29

On what he misses (and doesn't miss) from life in sports television. On Chris Berman and Stuart Scott and Rich Eisen. On how media has changed and what he thinks of 2025 journalism. On the highs of the World Cup and lows of a terrifying flight.

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Dmitri N. Shalin, "Erving Manuel Goffman: Biographical Sources of Sociological Imagination" (Routledge, 2024) 2:44:13

19d ago2:44:13

2:44:13

We have long lacked a biography of Erving Goffman. Partly this can be explained by Goffman’s direction for his papers not to be opened to researchers after his death. This meant those who may wish to write Goffman’s biography had a lack of material to draw upon. Dmirti Shalin, author of Erving Manuel Goffman: Biographical Sources of Sociological Im…

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Greta Lynn Uehling, "Decolonizing Ukraine: The Indigenous People of Crimea and Pathways to Freedom" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2025) 53:32

20d ago53:32

53:32

In Decolonizing Ukraine: The Indigenous People of Crimea and Pathways to Freedom (Rowman & Littlefield, 2025), anthropologist Dr. Greta Lynn Uehling illuminates the untold stories of Russia’s occupation of Crimea from 2014 to the present, revealing the traumas of colonization, foreign occupation, and population displacement. Drawing upon extensive …

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Toine van Teeffelen, "The Birthplace of Jesus Is in Palestine: A Memoir" (Wipf and Stock, 2024) 1:03:20

21d ago1:03:20

1:03:20

The Birthplace of Jesus Is in Palestine: A Memoir (Wipf and Stock, 2024) is a narrative of a Christian family in Bethlehem in the West Bank. Based on diary entries and interviews from 2000 to 2023, the Dutch author--an anthropologist and peace activist--chronicles the spontaneous reactions of his Palestinian children and wife navigating the challen…

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Camilla Annerfeldt, "Clothing and Identity in Early Modern Rome" (Bloomsbury, 2025) 30:22

21d ago30:22

30:22

Camilla Annerfeldt joins to discuss Clothing and Identity in Early Modern Rome (Bloomsbury, 2025). This is the first book-length exploration of the clothes worn in early modern Rome and provides novel insights into the city of Rome during one of its most fascinating periods. It also challenges the notion – well-established in dress historical resea…

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Dear Soulmate Episode 3 4:34

22d ago4:34

4:34

In this episode of "Dear Soul Mate," Jonathan Cruz reads a deeply romantic letter written during his incarceration, where he explores the mysteries of perfect love and eternal connection. But before diving into the letter, Jonathan offers hard-earned wisdom about relationships that came with age and experience. He reflects on how his understanding …

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Michelle H. S. Ho, "Emergent Genders: Living Otherwise in Tokyo's Pink Economies" (Duke UP, 2025) 41:28

22d ago41:28

41:28

In Emergent Genders: Living Otherwise in Tokyo's Pink Economies (Duke UP, 2025), Michelle H. S. Ho traces the genders manifesting alongside Japanese popular culture in Akihabara, an area in Tokyo renowned for the fandom and consumption of anime, manga, and games. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in josō and dansō cafe-and-bars, establishments wher…

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'Overcompensating' Stars Benito Skinner & Wally Baram 5:38

23d ago5:38

5:38

This is the Queerty interview, where we bring you conversations with the most exciting LGBTQ+ voices in entertainment, activism, and beyond. Benito Skinner's (@BennyDrama7) must-see new comedy #Overcompensating is a hilarious, college-set coming-out tale, but it also doubles as a sweet origin story for one of the most formative friendships of our l…

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Doin’ McFine, with Brent Weinbach 1:15:01

23d ago1:15:01

1:15:01

On this week’s episode, we welcome comedian, Brent Weinbach, to chat about Mother’s Day, McG updates, Rules 37, and more. Watch Brent’s new special, Popular Culture! Watch The Chicken Coop! And listen to Brent’s video game podcast, Legacy Music Hour! Jordan will be at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, June 7th and 8th! Jordan’s new Spider-Man’s comi…

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"Where Are They Now?" by Meg Elison + "Through the Machine" by P. A. Cornell 46:25

24d ago46:25

46:25

This episode features "Where Are They Now?" by Meg Elison (©2025 by Meg Ellison), and "Through the Machine" by P. A. Cornell (©2025 by P. A. Cornell) both read by Stefan Rudnicki. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Adamant Press

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M. Myrta Leslie Santana, Transformismo: Performing Trans/Queer Cuba" (U Michigan Press, 2025) 58:47

25d ago58:47

58:47

In Transformismo, M. Myrta Leslie Santana draws on years of embedded research within Cuban trans/queer communities to analyze how transformistas, or drag performers, understand their roles in the social transformation of the island. Once banned and censored in Cuba, transformismo, or drag performance, is now state-sponsored events. Transformismo su…

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Andrew Ofstehage, "Welcome to Soylandia: Transnational Farmers in the Brazilian Cerrado" (Cornell UP, 2025) 46:19

25d ago46:19

46:19

Following a group of US Midwest farmers who purchased tracts of land in the tropical savanna of eastern Brazil, Welcome to Soylandia: Transnational Farmers in the Brazilian Cerrado (Cornell University Press, 2025) by Dr. Andrew Ofstehage investigates industrial farming in the modern developing world. Seeking adventure and profit, the transplanted f…

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Langston Collin Wilkins: University of Wisconsin folklore professor and author, "Welcome 2 Houston: Hip Hop Heritage in Hustle Town" 44:36

25d ago44:36

44:36

On the rise of Houston as a hip-hop powerhouse. On the impact of a rapper writing about his home turf. On whether students in 2025 feel the music they listen to. On teaching ... folklore.

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Kai Shmushko, "Multiple Liminalities of Lay Buddhism in Contemporary China: Modalities, Material Culture, and Politics" (Leiden UP, 2024) 1:04:04

26d ago1:04:04

1:04:04

In the past decades, various forms of Buddhism have emerged in-between, above, and beyond conventional conceptions of religious and spiritual life in China. Multiple Liminalities of Lay Buddhism in Contemporary China: Modalities, Material Culture, and Politics (Leiden UP, 2024) is a qualitative study exploring manifestations of the massive revival …

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Dear Soulmate Episode 2 2:26

29d ago2:26

2:26

In this episode of "Dear Soul Mate," Jonathan Cruz shares an intimate letter written during his darkest days of incarceration. Isolated from the world, he pens his deepest yearnings to a soul connection he believes exists somewhere beyond prison walls. This raw, unfiltered letter explores the paradox of remembering a touch never felt and recognizin…

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Salted Up, with Margaret Cho 1:19:20

1M ago1:19:20

1:19:20

On this week’s episode, we welcome comic legend, Margaret Cho, to chat about snack lore, her new album (Lucky Gift), almost being shot out of a canon, competing on Jeopardy, and more! Check out Margaret’s upcoming tour dates. Order Margaret’s new album, Lucky Gift! Go see Jesse at An Evening with Kruk & Kuip: An SF Sketchfest Tribute! Jordan will b…

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"The Temporal Displacement of the Graves" by Russell Nichols + "The Price of Manners" by Martin Cahill 36:09

1M ago36:09

36:09

This episode features "The Temporal Displacement of the Graves" by Russell Nichols (©2025 by Russell Nichols) read by Janina Edwards, and "The Price of Manners" by Martin Cahill (©2025 by Martin Cahill) read by Stefan Rudnicki. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Adamant Press

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Dean Van Nguyen: Author: "Words for my Comrades: A Political History of Tupac Shakur." 1:00:33

1M ago1:00:33

1:00:33

On being based in Dublin and digging into American hip-hop. On how Tupac's world view was impacted by the Black Panthers. On the value of "Juice" and "Poetic Justice." On the greatness of Tupac's music.

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Maron E. Greenleaf, "Forest Lost: Producing Green Capitalism in the Brazilian Amazon" (Duke UP, 2024) 49:46

1M ago49:46

49:46

Forest Lost: Producing Green Capitalism in the Brazilian Amazon (2024) is an ethnography of forest carbon offsets and the wider effort to make the living rainforest valuable in the Brazilian Amazon. Situated in the state of Acre, which continuously had to grapple with a complex positionality between frontier and periphery, Maron E. Greenleaf explor…

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Dear Soulmate Episode 1 3:33

1M ago3:33

3:33

The journey begins. In this first intimate letter, cast out like a message in a bottle, Jonathan addresses the soul mate he feels but has never met. He explores the deep void of longing, makes profound promises of unwavering love and loyalty, and dreams of simple joys like hearing her laugh. But the light is inseparable from the darkness within. He…

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Live at Sleeping Village in Chicago, with Peter Sagal and Sam Riegel! 1:34:00

1M ago1:34:00

1:34:00

This week’s episode comes to you from live from Sleeping Village in Chicago where we play games with guests Peter Sagal (Listen to Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!) and Sam Riegel (Critical Role), plus we hear Momentous Occasions from listeners like you! Pre-order Critical Role: Smiley Day! By Sam Riegel! Go see Jesse at An Evening with Kruk & Kuip: An S…

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Living Right: Far Right Youth Activists in Contemporary Europe 1:14:22

1M ago1:14:22

1:14:22

What is the growing appeal of fascist idealism for young people? Why is radical nationalism on the rise in Europe and throughout the world? In Living Right: Far Right Youth Activists in Contemporary Europe (Princeton UP, 2024), Dr. Agnieszka Pasieka provides an in-depth account of the ideas and practices that are driving the varied forms of far-rig…

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"Shadows on the Pavement" by R. P. Sand + "Rthing it Up: An Oral History" by Gene Doucette 1:04:00

1M ago1:04:00

1:04:00

This episode features "Shadows on the Pavement" by R. P. Sand (©2025 by R. P. Sand) read by Justine Eyre, "Rthing it Up: An Oral History" by Gene Doucette (©2025 by Gene Doucette) read by Stefan Rudnicki. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Adamant Press

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'The Four Seasons' Stars Colman Domingo & Marco Calvani 8:00

1M ago8:00

8:00

This is the Queerty interview, where we bring you conversations with the most exciting LGBTQ+ voices in entertainment, activism, and beyond. In this episode, we're talking to Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani, who play husbands in the new Netflix dramedy, The Four Seasons. The show comes from comedy icon Tina Fey, reimagining the 1981 Alan Alda movi…

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B.J. Schecter: Former Sports Illustrated editor and executive director of Seton Hall's Center for Sports Media 1:03:31

1M ago1:03:31

1:03:31

On the glory days of Sports Illustrated. On the rise and legacy of Grant Wahl. On when he began to see the magazine business change for the worse. On running a college media program and giving students hope.

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Deana Jovanović, "Staging the Promises: Everyday Future-Making in a Serbian Industrial Town" (Cornell UP, 2025) 1:23:24

1M ago1:23:24

1:23:24

Built on the shifting grounds of post-Yugoslav transformation, Staging the Promises examines how the residents of Bor — a Serbian copper-mining town marked by both socialist prosperity and post-socialist decline — became spectators to the staged enactments of promised futures. Deana Jovanović traces how local authorities and the copper-processing c…

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Ipek A. Celik Rappas, "Filming in European Cities: The Labor of Location" (Cornell UP, 2025) 44:59

1M ago44:59

44:59

Filming in European Cities: The Labor of Location (Cornell University Press, 2025) explores the effort behind creating screen production locations. Dr. Ipek A. Celik Rappas accounts the rising demand for original and affordable locations for screen projects due to the growth of streaming platforms. As a result, screen professionals are repeatedly t…

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Diana Graizbord, "Indicators of Democracy: The Politics and Promise of Evaluation Expertise in Mexico" (Stanford UP, 2024) 52:44

1M ago52:44

52:44

The spread of democracy across the Global South has taken many different forms, but certain features are consistent: implementing a system of elections and an overarching mission of serving the will and well-being of a country's citizens. But how do we hold politicians accountable for such a mission? How are we to understand the efficacy of the pol…