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HOT TYPE: New releases by Swarthmoreans
Peter Biskind ’62
Pandora’s Box: How Guts, Guile, and Greed Upended TV
Harper Collins
Bestselling author of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, and Down and Dirty Pictures, Biskind turns his eye toward the new golden age of television, sparked by the fall of play-it-safe network TV and the rise of boundary-busting cable, followed by streaming, which overturned both. The book features candid and colorful interviews with executives, writers, showrunners, directors, and actors.
Daniel Headrick ’62
Humans Versus Nature: A Global Environmental History
Oxford University Press
Headrick posits that environmental changes — epidemics, climate shocks, and volcanic eruptions — have molded human societies and cultures, sometimes overwhelming them. He traces the history of anthropogenic changes in the environment — species extinctions, global warming, deforestation, and resource depletion — back to the age of hunters and gatherers. Headrick shows how human interventions such as irrigation systems, overfishing, and the Industrial Revolution have harmed the societies that initiated them.
John C. Pollock ’64, Douglas A. Vakoch, and Amanda M. Caleb
COVID Communication: Exploring Pandemic Discourse
Springer
Can our language choices affect the way we react to the threat of disease? COVID Communication focuses on how we understand COVID-19 — medically, socially, and rhetorically. The book fills a gap in the pandemic literature by promoting interdisciplinary analysis of communication methods, realized through a health humanities approach. It centers human experience and culture within conversations about the biological reality of a pandemic.
Jeffrey Hart ’69
Essays on the History and Politics of the Internet: Cyberpolitics
Cambridge Scholars
Many of the internet’s creators shared a vision of building a system that would empower individuals anywhere in the world to share their knowledge and creativity. This democratic dream came out of an age where many preexisting power structures were being questioned. Hart argues that the internet has actually resulted in the creation of new centers of power and influence, many of which are anti-democratic.
Eliot Lee Grossman ’70
The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal: 40 Years Later
Bronstein Publishers
Grossman argues that Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed for the death of a Philadelphia police officer in 1981 to conceal the involvement of corrupt police in the murder of a fellow officer. Grossman contends that Abu-Jamal was subjected to a mockery of a trial in which his constitutional rights were violated. Over 40 years later, he writes, the struggle to “Free Mumia!” continues as he remains imprisoned on a life sentence.
Chris Caruso ’80
Abandoned Houses
Unsung Artists Music
Produced with Caruso’s longtime collaborator Greg Dabal, this four-song album features Bruce Torley on bass and Larry Kucher on drums. The songs address age, friendship, relationships, and suburban decay. The release is Caruso’s first on CD (available on his Bandcamp page). The album and his back catalog are also available for streaming on his website, unsungartistsmusic.com.
Michael Hardt ’82
The Subversive Seventies
Oxford University Press
To Hardt, popular understandings of the political movements of the ’70s — often seen as fractious, violent, and largely unsuccessful — are inaccurate and preclude valuable lessons for the political struggles of today. By approaching the subversive from the perspectives of those who sought to transform the fundamental structures of society, Hardt provides a novel account of the theoretical and practical projects of liberation that still speak to us today.
Cleveland Justis ’91 and Daniel Student
Don’t Lead Alone: Think Like a System, Act Like a Network, Lead Like a Movement!
Fast Company Press
It’s not easy to figure out what kind of impact you want your work to have, find and connect with the right collaborators, and get them all moving in the same direction. Justis and Student have created a road map for effective partnerships to increase impact and profitability. Using real-life examples and practice exercises, the authors explain how to acquire and use skills to solve complex problems and propel your organization forward.
Caitlin Killian ’95
Failing Moms: Social Condemnation and Criminalization of Mothers
Polity
Failing Moms uncovers how women have been interrogated, held against their will, and jailed for a rapidly expanding list of offenses, such as falling down the stairs while pregnant or letting a child spend time alone in a park. Killian analyzes how and why mothers are on the precipice and what must change to prevent mass penalization and instead support mothers and their children.
Esther Zeledón ’04
Creating Your Limitless Life … on Your Own Terms!
Dean Publishing
Zeledón’s pioneering work as a diplomat, scientist, and life coach has proven effective for people across communities, corporations, and countries. Creating Your Limitless Life is her formula for balanced success and brilliant productivity that everyone can use to create their limitless life.
Adam Bisno ’06
Big Business and the Crisis of German Democracy: Liberalism and the Grand Hotels of Berlin, 1875–1933
Cambridge University Press
In 1932, some of the most prominent Jewish businessmen and liberals in Germany chose to let Adolf Hitler use their hotel, the Kaiserhof, as his Berlin headquarters. There, he and his henchmen plotted the assumption of power, the end of German democracy, and the ruin of their hosts. A cautionary tale, Bisno finds the weaknesses in liberalism that made it no match for the fascist onslaught.
Carlos Villafuerte ’08
The Selfish Guide to Fulfillment, Meaning, and Purpose
Cultum Vita
Villafuerte calls on his years of experience as a life coach and training consultant to help readers connect to themselves, build stronger relationships with others, and live a life of fulfillment, meaning, and purpose on their own terms. Using both vulnerable personal stories and inspiring client stories, The Selfish Guide focuses on one message above all: It’s OK to love who you are because you are enough.
Bruce Dorsey, Professor of History and Department Co-Chair
Murder in a Mill Town: Sex, Faith, and the Crime That Captivated a Nation
Oxford University Press
In December 1832, a farmer found the body of young, pregnant Sarah Maria Cornell hanging outside a New England mill town. The discovery would lead to a tense murder investigation, a church sex scandal, a celebrity trial, and America’s first “crime of the century.” Dorsey tells the gripping story of Cornell’s murder and the trial, illustrating how a local crime quickly captivated the nation.
Krista Thomason, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Dancing with the Devil: Why Bad Feelings Make Life Good
Oxford University Press
Thomason examines individual bad feelings — anger, envy and jealousy, spite, schadenfreude, and contempt — and argues that we don’t have to battle negative emotions or “channel” them into something productive, because bad feelings aren’t obstacles to a good life; they are part of what makes life meaningful. Drawing on insights from the history of philosophy, she illustrates what’s been misunderstood about bad feelings and shows readers how to live better with them.
The Bulletin receives numerous submissions of new publications from the talented Swarthmore community and can feature only a fraction of those submissions here. Please note that work represented in Hot Type does not necessarily reflect the views of the College.