Best Ed Levine Podcasts (2025)

1
Leftovers Reheat with Kenji and Deb Perelman 19:08

1h ago19:08

19:08

Kenji Lopez-Alt and Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman discuss (what else) how they deal with Thanksgiving leftovers in this classic Special Sauce episode from 2023. Leave the meat on the bone or in the fridge or slice it off right away? Stuffing waffles, anyone? Is pie the only thing to have for breakfast after Thanksgiving? They don't always agree, b…

1
Jon Willis, "The Pale Blue Data Point: An Earth-Based Perspective on the Search for Alien Life" (U Chicago Press, 2025) 1:18:38

11h ago1:18:38

1:18:38

A thrilling tour of Earth that shows the search for extraterrestrial life starts in our own backyard. Is there life off Earth? Bound by the limitations of spaceflight, a growing number of astrobiologists investigate the question by studying life on our planet. Astronomer and author Jon Willis shows us how it’s done, allowing readers to envision ext…

1
Jon Willis, "The Pale Blue Data Point: An Earth-Based Perspective on the Search for Alien Life" (U Chicago Press, 2025) 1:18:38

15h ago1:18:38

1:18:38

A thrilling tour of Earth that shows the search for extraterrestrial life starts in our own backyard. Is there life off Earth? Bound by the limitations of spaceflight, a growing number of astrobiologists investigate the question by studying life on our planet. Astronomer and author Jon Willis shows us how it’s done, allowing readers to envision ext…

1
Joseph Harley and Vicky Holmes eds., "Objects of Poverty: Material Culture in Britain from 1700" (Bloomsbury, 2025) 48:52

13h ago48:52

48:52

Joseph Harley joins Jana Byars to talk about the book he edited with Vicky Holmes, Objects of Poverty: Material Culture in Britain from 1700 (Bloomsbury, 2025). The book examines the history of poverty through the objects 'owned' by the poor and those crafted, repurposed or simply encountered by them, offering critical new insights into the experie…

1
Rayanne Haines, "What Kind of Daughter" (Frontenac House Press, 2024) 36:45

7m ago36:45

36:45

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery interviews acclaimed Alberta poet Rayanne Haines about her book, What Kind of Daughter (Frontenac House Press, 2024). What Kind of Daughter? is a poetic memoir by Rayanne Haines that considers identity and gender expectations while exploring the public perception of the space between the spaces we inhabit du…

1
Jacob Daniels, "The Jews of Edirne: The End of Ottoman Europe and the Arrival of Borders" (Stanford UP, 2025) 1:21:19

11h ago1:21:19

1:21:19

At the turn of the twentieth century, the city of Edirne was a bustling center linking Istanbul to Ottoman Europe. It was also the capital of Edirne Province—among the most religiously diverse regions of the Ottoman Empire. But by 1923, the city had become a Turkish border town, and the province had lost much of its non-Muslim population. In The Je…

1
Jennifer Conrad on Teaching Through Picture Book Appreciation 39:33

7m ago39:33

39:33

I have never spoken to anyone like Jennifer Conrad who teaches literature to her senior high school students through picture book appreciation. In our interview, we discuss how her unique program evolved, and how her students develop and deepen their love for this genre through interaction with young children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visi…

1
Mark Griffiths, "Checkpoint 300: Colonial Space in Palestine" (U Minnesota Press, 2025) 47:04

11h ago47:04

47:04

Checkpoint 300, the highly securitized border facility between occupied Bethlehem and Jerusalem, is a central feature of Israeli control of Palestinian land and life. An apparatus of turnstiles, overcrowded corridors, and invasive inspections, the checkpoint regulates the movement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, granting access to some wh…

1
Reading the Bible with AI?: A Conversation with John Kaag, Philosopher and Co-Founder of Rebind AI 42:40

17h ago42:40

42:40

Rebind combines reading with AI-chat to deepen learning and simulate the experience of conversing with some of the greatest scholars and thinkers. With Rebind, you can read A Tale of Two Cities with Margaret Atwood, Huck Finn with Marlon James, and Candide with Salman Rushdie. John and his team have recently launched the Rebind Study Bible, an inte…

1
Alexander Cooley and Alexander Dukalskis, "Dictating the Agenda: The Authoritarian Resurgence in World Politics" (Oxford UP, 2025) 1:06:12

11h ago1:06:12

1:06:12

Following the end of the Cold War, the world experienced a remarkable wave of democratization. Over the next two decades, numerous authoritarian regimes transitioned to democracies, and it seemed that authoritarianism as a political model was fading. But as recent events have shown, things have clearly changed. In Dictating the Agenda: The Authorit…

1
Elizabeth Chika Tippett, "The Master-Servant Doctrine: How Old Legal Rules Haunt the Modern Workplace" (U California Press, 2025) 40:19

14h ago40:19

40:19

The field of employment law used to be called "master-servant law." Even if this term has fallen out of favor, a central truth has not changed: modern employment law still draws on centuries-old ideas about the rights and obligations of workers. In The Master-Servant Doctrine: How Old Legal Rules Haunt the Modern Workplace (U California Press, 2025…

1
Maria Bach, "Relocating Development Economics: The First Generation of Modern Indian Economists" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 33:59

13h ago33:59

33:59

Originating in the Nineteenth Century, the European idea of development was shaped around the premise that the West possessed progressive characteristics that the East lacked. As a result of this perspective, many alternative development discourses originating in the East were often overlooked and forgotten. Indian Economics is but one example. By …

1
Half of America's Colleges Are Coin Tosses, Here's How to Beat the Odds - with Gary Stocker, Founder, College Viability 36:53

1d ago36:53

36:53

It's YOUR time to #EdUp In this episode, part of our EdUp Extra series (because who doesn’t love a little extra goodness in their life), & sponsored by the 2026 InsightsEDU Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, February 17-19, YOUR guest is Gary Stocker, Founder, College Viability YOUR host is ⁠⁠Elvin Freytes How does a guy helping a friend prepa…

1
Jessica F. Green, "Existential Politics: Why Global Climate Institutions Are Failing and How to Fix Them" (Princeton UP, 2025) 27:51

1d ago27:51

27:51

It’s no secret that the Paris Agreement and voluntary efforts to address climate change are failing. Governments have spent three decades crafting international rules to manage the climate crisis yet have made little progress on decarbonization. In Existential Politics: Why Global Climate Institutions Are Failing and How to Fix Them (Princeton UP, …

1
Julia Wagner, "Hester Street" (Bloomsbury, 2025) 40:11

1d ago40:11

40:11

Joan Micklin Silver's groundbreaking debut feature film, Hester Street (1975), vividly portrays the immigrant experience through the eyes of Gitl (Carol Kane), a young, Orthodox Jewish woman who arrives in New York City from Eastern Europe at the end of the nineteenth century. Reunited with her already-assimilated husband, Gitl finds they now have …

1
Anna Nyburg and Charmian Brinson eds., "Refugees from Nazism to Britain in Trade, Industry, and Engineering" (Brill, 2025) 36:13

1d ago36:13

36:13

Refugees from Nazism to Britain in Trade, Industry, and Engineering (Brill, 2025) is a book in German Studies that explores the intricacies and impacts of refugees on British industry and engineering, through which new technology, business ideas, and strategies were imported to Britain. The book has fifteen chapters, detailing individual stories of…

1
Anne Irfan, "A Short History of the Gaza Strip" (Simon & Schuster, 2025) 34:49

1d ago34:49

34:49

In this episode, Joe Williams speaks to historian Anne Irfan about her new book, A Short History of the Gaza Strip (Simon & Schuster, 2025). Drawing on more than a decade of research, Irfan traces the political, social, and humanitarian history of Gaza from 1948 to the present, situating the territory’s current devastation within a much longer traj…

1
Brooke Barbier, "King Hancock: The Radical Influence of a Moderate Founding Father" (Harvard UP, 2023) 49:32

1d ago49:32

49:32

King Hancock: The Radical Influence of a Moderate Founding Father (Harvard UP, 2023) is a rollicking portrait of the paradoxical patriot, whose measured pragmatism helped make American independence a reality. Americans are surprisingly more familiar with his famous signature than with the man himself. In this spirited account of John Hancock's life…

1
Michael Kardos, "Fun City Heist" (Severn House, 2025) 21:51

1d ago21:51

21:51

Mo Melnick has perfect pitch, which didn’t help him in his career as a drummer, but he used to be in a rock band and now his job is sitting on the Jersey Shore renting out chairs and beach umbrellas. When the singer from his old band shows up and begs Mo to reunite for a final gig at the beachfront amusement park where they first started, Mo is ske…

1
Matt Houlbrook, "Songs of Seven Dials: An Intimate History of 1920s and 1930s London" (Manchester UP, 2025) 53:22

1d ago53:22

53:22

How has central London changed in the last 100 years? In Songs of Seven Dials An Intimate History of 1920s and 1930s London (Manchester UP, 2025), Matt Houlbrook, a Professor of Cultural History at the University of Birmingham, tells the story of a part of London that was the site for major contests over urban development, race, and the future of t…

1
Jimmy Wales with Dan Gardner, "The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things That Last" (Crown Currency, 2025) 50:07

1d ago50:07

50:07

In my interview with Jimmy Wales, father of Wikipedia, we celebrate his new book, The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things That Last (Crown Currency Publishing, 2025). We talk about how the book came about, how Wikipedia took flight, and how the challenges of maintaining trust and preserving neutrality shape the key to Wikipedia's …

1
Theresa Delgadillo, "Geographies of Relation: Diasporas and Borderlands in the Americas" (U Michigan Press, 2024) 55:52

1d ago55:52

55:52

Geographies of Relation: Diasporas and Borderlands in the Americas (U Michigan Press, 2024) offers a new lens for examining diaspora and borderlands texts and performances that considers the inseparability of race, ethnicity, and gender in imagining and enacting social change. Theresa Delgadillo crosses interdisciplinary and canonical borders to in…

1
Jonathan S. Jones, "Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and America's First Opioid Crisis" (UNC Press, 2025) 38:11

1d ago38:11

38:11

During the Civil War, the utility and widespread availability of opium and morphine made opiates essential to wartime medicine. After the war ended, thousands of ailing soldiers became addicted, or “enslaved,” as nineteenth-century Americans phrased it. Veterans, their families, and communities struggled to cope with addiction’s health and social c…

1
How Is a 70 Year Old Testing Organization Reinventing Itself with AI & Why Should You Care? - with Joy Jones, CEO, Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) 50:15

2d ago50:15

50:15

It's YOUR time to #EdUp In this episode, sponsored by the 2026 InsightsEDU Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, February 17-19, YOUR guest is Joy Jones, CEO, Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) YOUR host is ⁠⁠Dr. Joe Sallustio How does an organization that's been delivering the GMAT exam for over 70 years grow from 9 member schools in 1…

1
Oliver Davis and Tim Dean, "Hatred of Sex" (U Nebraska Press, 2022) 49:20

2d ago49:20

49:20

How well do we understand our relationship to sex? According to Oliver Davis and Tim Dean, authors of the new book Hatred of Sex (University of Nebraska Press, 2022), we tend to overlook the “unpleasurable pleasures” that are integral to sex. Sex undoes us, destabilizes us, takes us out of ourselves. Many of our 21st century cultural products—Queer…

1
The Renaissance of Marxist Studies: A Discussion with Babak Amini 20:05

3d ago20:05

20:05

The last few years have seen a resurgence of interest in academic research in Marxism and related fields, and many researchers have been stepping up to the plate to offer rigorous analysis and critical reanimations of Marxist theory. One particularly exciting place where this is included is the Palgrave series Marx, Engels and Marxisms, which has b…

1
Eileen Myles, "Pathetic Literature" (Grove Press, 2022) 31:59

3d ago31:59

31:59

“Literature is pathetic.” So claims Eileen Myles in their provocative and robust introduction to Pathetic Literature (Grove Press, 2022), a breathtaking mishmash of pieces ranging from poems to theater scripts to prose to anything in between, all exploring the so-called “pathetic” or awkwardly-felt moments and revelations around which lives are bot…

1
Carolyn J. Eichner, "Feminism's Empire" (Cornell UP, 2022) 1:22:43

3d ago1:22:43

1:22:43

Feminism's Empire (Cornell UP, 2022) investigates the complex relationships between imperialisms and feminisms in the late nineteenth century and demonstrates the challenge of conceptualizing "pro-imperialist" and "anti-imperialist" as binary positions. By intellectually and spatially tracing the era's first French feminists' engagement with empire…

1
Charles Higham, "Early Southeast Asia: From First Humans to First Civilizations" (NUS Press, 2024) 1:03:15

2d ago1:03:15

1:03:15

In September 2025 the Dutch government announced that it would return to Indonesia the fossilized remains of the famous ‘Java Man’, the first known example of an early species of human, homo erectus. The remains had been uncovered by a Dutch archaeologist in 1891-2 during the colonial period and taken to the Netherlands. In fact, Southeast Asia has…

1
Is a River Alive?: A Conversation with Robert Macfarlane 34:00

19m ago34:00

34:00

Hailed in the New York Times as "a naturalist who can unfurl a sentence with the breathless ease of a master angler," Robert Macfarlane brings his glittering style to a profound work of travel writing, reportage, and natural history. Is a River Alive? (W.W. Norton, 2025) is a joyful, mind-expanding exploration of an ancient, urgent idea: that river…

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