February 8, 2023

The Struggle and Resistance of Black Women Beneficiaries of Social Welfare

Gladys L. Mitchell-Walthour

On September 27, 2022, Renée Graham, a Boston Globe columnist, published a piece entitled “Brett Favre, Welfare Queen: The Same People Who Denounce Welfare Don’t Seem Outraged Over the Former Quarterback’s Alleged Misappropriation of Antipoverty Funds.” Her bold title was...

February 1, 2023

Why Historically Black Colleges and Universities Are Vital and Valuable to the U.S. Higher Education System

James V. Koch and Omari H. Swinton

Are Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) “vital and valuable” to contemporary America? Absolutely. HBCUs capably fill a niche in higher education (and in society) that the typical American college or university either ignores or downplays. Many Americans, especially those...

January 25, 2023

Families for Our Ideas: Beatrice Marovich in Conversation with Krista Dragomer on the Art of Sister Death

When I submitted the final manuscript of Sister Death: Political Theologies for Living and Dying to Columbia University Press, the document did not include images. Somehow, partly through the organic growth of the book and partly through happy accident, the...

January 17, 2023

Q&A: David Bordwell on Perplexing Plots

The art of storytelling is an ever-evolving relationship between writers and their audiences that gets more complex over time. For instance, nonlinear story lines, once considered complex, are now part of mainstream films and mystery and suspense thrillers. David Bordwell,...

January 10, 2023

Resolving to Downsize

Robyn Massey

As one of the many readers or viewers who has engaged with Marie Kondo’s advice on how to think about, purge, and organize possessions, I was attracted to a recent work, Downsizing: Confronting Our Possessions in Later Life, by David...

January 3, 2023

Announcing Our 2023 History Catalog

Letter from the Editors: We are pleased to present the 2023 history catalog from Columbia University Press. We have a slate of new books that examine the life and legacy of globally important intellectual figures, U.S. intrigue in the Cold...

January 3, 2023

Announcing Our 2023 Literary Studies Catalog

Letter from the Editors: We are very excited to share our new catalog in literary studies, which includes a wide range of books in a variety of areas. Imani Owens’s Turn the World Upside Down, is one of the first...

December 20, 2022

Ten Tips on How to Make a Great Podcast

Siobhán McHugh

Academics and educators are increasingly turning to podcasts to disseminate research and advance teaching and learning. Although it’s relatively easy to make a podcast compared to other media formats, it’s much harder to make a great one! There are over...

December 9, 2022

Q&A: Kenneth D. Frank in Conversation with Robyn Massey about Sex in City Plants, Animals, Fungi, and More

From the garden in the back of his downtown rowhouse, Kenneth D. Frank observed the cornucopia of organisms that interacted and mated before his eyes. These observations made him wonder: how does the city interfere with these organismal orgies? In...

November 22, 2022

Joseph Mitchell’s Human Interest in the Fulton Fish Market

Jonathan H. Rees

During lockdown, when I wasn’t teaching history online, I read old newspaper and magazine articles about the Fulton Fish Market—hundreds of them, if not several thousand. These stories form the core of my new history of that New York City...

November 19, 2022

Buddhism, Relationships, and Authenticity

Avram Alpert

A few years ago, I was driving through the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney with my wife, who is Australian. We were not yet married at the time and were still learning about each other. We had been silent for...

November 18, 2022

East Bay Booksellers Cultivates an Ecosystem of Thought

Brad Johnson

Bookselling in the late twenty-first century is, and must be, more than simply the sum of its constituent words. It isn’t a trade secret that books can be purchased for cheaper beyond my store. I can rage against that reality,...