New Books Network

In Artifactual: Forensic and Documentary Knowing (Duke University Press,
2023), Elizabeth Anne Davis explores how Cypriot researchers,
scientists, activists, and artists process and reckon with civil and
state violence that led to the enduring division of the island, using
forensic and documentary materials to retell and recontextualize
conflicts between and within the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot
communities. Davis follows forensic archaeologists and anthropologists
who attempt to locate, identify, and return to relatives the remains of
Cypriots killed in those conflicts. She turns to filmmakers who use
archival photographs and footage to come to terms with political
violence and its legacies. In both forensic science and documentary
filmmaking, the dynamics of secrecy and revelation shape how material
remains such as bones and archival images are given meaning. Throughout,
Davis demonstrates how Cypriots navigate the tension between an ethics
of knowledge, which valorizes truth as a prerequisite for recovery and
reconciliation, and the politics of knowledge, which renders evidence as
irremediably partial and perpetually falsifiable.

Elizabeth Anne Davis is Professor of Anthropology at Princeton University.

* This episode is part of a special collaboration between the New Books Network and the Society for the Anthropology of Europe,
a section of the American Anthropological Association. Together, we’re
highlighting exciting new work in Europeanist anthropology—featuring
authors from across the field, including winners of the William A.
Douglass Book Prize and contributors to the European Anthropology in Translation series published by Berghahn Books.
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Between 1933 and 1935, a trial was held in Bern against members of the Swiss extreme right-wing National Front who had distributed “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” a widely disseminated antisemitic publication that spread lies about Jews. The real target of the Jewish organizations that initiated the trial, however, was the pamphlet itself, its origin, its dissemination, and its use in Europe's fascist movements.

During the course of the trial, both sides received ample support in the form of material assistance and propaganda. The defendants and their supporters in Nazi Germany were able to rely on an extensive network that had been established in the early 1920s to combat “Judaeo-Bolshevism.” This conspiratorial “Antisemitic International” united German völkisch circles, Italian fascists, Russian monarchists, and French conspiracy theorists. On the other side, the plaintiffs actively sought to expose the “Protocols” as a forgery in the hope that this would counteract their impact.

In this lecture, Michael Hagemeister will use the Bern trial as a case study of Jewish legal self-defense in order to shed light on both the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and the concerted efforts against the “Antisemitic International” in the 1930s, which have received little attention from historians.

Read more about Michael Hagemeister's research on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

This lecture originally took place on April 10, 2024.
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John Ross speaks with Scott Forbes Crawford about his book The Han-Xiongnu War, 133 BC–89 AD (Pen & Sword Military, 2024) For more than two centuries, Han China fought a bitter struggle against the Xiongnu, a powerful confederation of horse-riding nomads from the Asian steppe. This was far more than a border war. It helped shape the future of China, transformed Central Asia, and opened the routes that would become known as the Silk Road.

In writing this history, Scott followed the example of China’s greatest historian, Sima Qian (the subject of BOA episode 82 ), and took a biographical approach. We learn about remarkable figures such as Modun, the ruthless founder of the Xiongnu Empire; Li Guang, the legendary “Flying General”; the explorer Zhang Qian; and Princess Jieyou, a royal diplomat/spy who spent decades advancing Han interests deep in Central Asia.

Notes:

The full title of Scott Crawford’s book is: The Han-Xiongnu War, 133 BC–89 AD: The Struggle of China and a Steppe Empire Told Through Its Key Figures (Pen & Sword, 2023)

To learn more about Scott’s work, including his novel Silk Road Centurion, visit his website : https://www.scottforbescrawfor...

The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press.
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Diseases Have No Eyes: Valley Fever and Environmental Health Justice (Temple University Press, 2026) investigates
how communities in Central Valley, California deal with Valley Fever, a
painful illness caused by a soil fungus. The airborne disease’s
symptoms can last from two months to a patient’s lifetime and may be
fatal. Nearly a
third of the national cases are reported in California, where those
infected are disproportionately farmworkers and people incarcerated in
the region. Poverty, pollution, and prison expose these groups to
cumulative environmental and health risks that deny Valley Fever
patients adequate medical treatment.

Dr.
Sarah M. Rios examines how these populations face racial health
disparities and develop strategies of care. She connects environmental
justice activists as well as prison advocates and abolitionists who
mobilize protests and issue calls to action to the past and ongoing
efforts for medical autonomy and healthy communities. Diseases Have No Eyes emphasizes that vulnerable groups have developed an expertise
and understanding of Valley Fever out of necessity. In the process,
these community members offer an alternative public health response that
extends beyond the individual body.

This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book
focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty
negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative
analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find
Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. 
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In this episode of the Language on the Move Podcast, Brynn Quick chats with Dr. Nicole Marinaro, a sociolinguist and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hamburg. Her work explores how language policies shape people's experiences of accessing healthcare and other public services. Dr. Marinaro’s research focuses on linguistic justice, examining how communication barriers affect patients who speak a language other than the majority language and how these barriers can lead to unequal access to care. Today she and Brynn discuss her 2025 paper "Operationalising linguistic unease for the evaluation of language policies in healthcare".

In this paper, Dr. Marinaro expands on the concept of "linguistic unease" as a practical framework for evaluating whether healthcare language policies truly meet patients' communication needs. Through her research, Dr. Marinaro aims to help policymakers and healthcare organizations create more inclusive systems that ensure everyone can communicate confidently and receive equitable care.

References

Gazzola, M., & Marinaro, N. (2022). Sprachenpolitik und Integration in Ausländerbehörden und Krankenhäusern: Der Fall Berlin und Leipzig. Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft für Interlinguistik, 2022, 57–84.

Marinaro, N. (2025). Operationalising linguistic unease for the evaluation of language policies in healthcare. Revista de Llengua i Dret (84), 73–93. DOI here

For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here.
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