New Books Network

This material and theoretical history of seriality shows it to be the
dominant form of culture since its inception within 19th-century print
culture, as both a media structure and a psychic one.

The serial
is everywhere. Commonly identified by the segmented release structure of
an ongoing narrative—from installments of Victorian novels to TV
episodes to comic books—seriality names the spread of installment-based
storytelling across a range of media. However, Ryan Engley argues that
seriality is not only a narrative structure but also a psychic
structure. Seriality—in its dependence on gaps, delay, and
constraint—names the fundamental trauma of contemporary life: that there
exists an intrinsic relation between self and other, a relation that is
often difficult to see and difficult to bear.

Through formal
readings of media texts alongside Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis,
the dialectical method of G.W.F. Hegel, and Jean-Paul Sartre's
existentialism, Seriality: Media and the Psychic Form of Everyday Life (Bloomsbury, 2026) shifts
the focus of seriality studies. In so doing, Engley presents a rebuttal
to the common refrain that our lives, like contemporary media, have
become endlessly fragmented. Rather, Engley finds, we have become
radically—serially—connected.

Ryan Engley
is Assistant Professor of Media Studies at Pomona College, USA, where
he teaches and researches the intersection of psychoanalytic theory and
media studies. Along with Todd McGowan, Engley co-hosts the podcast Why Theory, which brings Continental philosophy and psychoanalytic theory together to examine contemporary phenomena.

Helena Vissing,
PsyD, SEP, PMH-C is a Licensed Psychologist practicing in California
and Associate Professor at California Institute of Integral Studies. She
can be reached at contact@helenavissing.com. She is the author of Somatic Maternal Healing: Psychodynamic and Somatic Treatment of Trauma in the Perinatal Period (Routledge, 2023).
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Steve Feldstein's Bytes and Bullets: Global Rivalries, Private Tech, and the New Shape of Modern Warfare (St. Martin's Press,
2026) opens with a juxtaposition: China spending vast sums to reach the
far side of the moon, and Ukraine using cheap drones to blunt a far
larger military. Both are stories about technology and power, but they
point in opposite directions.

In our conversation, Feldstein
argues that the outcome of technological competition is not
predetermined. Small states, non-state actors, and private companies
with the right engineers can now challenge much stronger adversaries. We
discuss Iran, whose military innovation grew out of decades of
sanctions rather than in spite of them, and why Western analysts
dismissed what was in plain sight. We then turn to China and Feldstein's
concern that the United States is making unforced errors, hollowing out
the basic research on which its edge depends.

Bytes and Bullets
resists both technological determinism and the claim that nothing has
changed. But this book is also candid about what cannot be predicted: as
machines take on decisions humans once made, who, if anyone, will set
the limits?

Our guest is Steven Feldstein, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program.

Our host is Eleonora Mattiacci, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Amherst College. She is the author of "Volatile States in International Politics" (Oxford University Press, 2023).
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Constructing the Medieval Maritime State: Identity, Violence, and Connection in the Mediterranean (Oxford
University Press, 2026) by Professor Travis Bruce explores how the
small medieval kingdom of Denia in Spain became a powerful maritime
state after the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate. Its rulers built
authority, not only through war and seafaring raids but also by
connecting Denia to wider Mediterranean trade, diplomacy, and culture.

The rise and evolution of the taifa
of Denia is a powerful case study for understanding the construction of
medieval maritime states in the Mediterranean. Dr. Bruce situates Denia
within the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate and explores how its rulers
forged legitimacy through identity formation, maritime violence, and
regional connectivity. Denia's identity was negotiated through
rulership, unfreedom, and cultural hybridity, and violence —
particularly predatory warfare and maritime jihad — functioned as both
statecraft and economic extraction. At the same time, Denia's
entanglement in commercial, diplomatic, and intellectual networks
positioned it as a key node linking the Islamic Mediterranean and the
Latin West. The state's trajectory cannot be reduced to narratives of
decline or simple religious conflict but instead reveals a process of
negotiation shaped by mobility, interdependence, and the fluid
boundaries between public and private power. This narrative reframes
Mediterranean history beyond Eurocentric paradigms and underscores the
significance of Islamic maritime states within the wider medieval world.

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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A gentle yet powerful blend of ancient wisdom and modern wellness that shows how seasonal living can enrich your days.

In
the Chinese Five Element system, which links nature’s cycles to our
emotional, physical, and spiritual selves, there are five seasons:
spring, summer, late summer, fall, and winter. You can feel the energy
of that fifth season when the air gets cooler, the light turns golden,
and we enjoy a few weeks of transition from the active energy of spring
and summer to the calming, restorative energy of fall and winter.

Leda
Elliott grew up in Japan and has long been a student of the dialogue
between East and West, between body and spirit. Drawing from decades of
experience in holistic practices, Leda has developed a unique method for
embracing the lessons we can learn from each season—late summer brings
grounding, fall brings release, winter brings stillness, spring brings
vision, and summer brings joy. Incorporating rituals, meditations, and
exercises attuned to each season’s energy can help us feel more aligned.
Things like the foods we eat, the colors we wear, and where we focus
our attention can all deepen our sense of connection to ourselves and
the world.

Leda’s peaceful spirit radiates onto the page in a book
offering tips and exercises, personal stories, illustrations, and
testimonials from her students. These heartfelt narratives demonstrate
how ancient practices can meet the challenges of modern life, providing
support for those navigating grief, stress, and fatigue.

The Five Seasons Method: A Gentle Path toward Emotional and Spiritual Balance (Scribner,
2026) will help readers of all ages and abilities get their energy back
into balance, one breath and one season at a time.

Leda Elliott
is a Tai Chi Master, Reiki Master, and the creator of The Five Seasons
Method, a wellness program that integrates Tai Chi, QiGong, breathwork,
and seasonal energy principles to help individuals cultivate balance,
vitality, and inner harmony. She trained under legendary Tai Chi
Grandmaster Bow Sim Mark and is the owner of A Thousand Cranes Studio,
where she offers in-person classes, private coaching, Reiki healing, and
global online workshops. For more information please visit this website.

Elizabeth
Cronin, Psy.D., is a clinical psychologist and certified mindfulness
meditation teacher in Norwood, MA. You can find her on Youtube or visit her website.
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Tune in to this interview about Body Language: Voice, Embodiment, and Textuality in the Hebrew Bible (Yale UP, 2026). Jacqueline Vayntrub is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Yale University in the Divinity School. She holds a Ph.D. with honors in Northwest Semitic Philology from the University of Chicago. Her research operates at the intersection of biblical philology, poetics, and the history of biblical scholarship. She is the author of Beyond Orality: Biblical Poetry on its own Terms (Routledge 2019), Body Language: Voice, Embodiment, and Textuality in the Hebrew Bible (Yale University Press, 2026), as well as the co-author of Hebrew Funerary Inscriptions from Iron Age Judah (Society of Biblical Literature Press, forthcoming). Her current major projects include a commentary on Ecclesiastes for the Old Testament Library series (Westminster John Knox Press), and serving as Project Director for an NEH-funded international collaboration investigating the institutional history and anti-Jewish scaffolding of modern biblical criticism.
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