James B. Haile III, "The Dark Delight of Being Strange: Black Stories of Freedom" (Columbia UP, 2024)

James B. Haile III, "The Dark Delight of Being Strange: Black Stories of Freedom" (Columbia UP, 2024)

Author: Marshall Poe May 13, 2025 Duration: 1:15:45
An ambitious genre-crossing exploration of Black speculative imagination, The Dark Delight of Being Strange: Black Stories of Freedom (Columbia University Press 2024) combines fiction, historical accounts, and philosophical prose to unveil the extraordinary and the surreal in everyday Black life.In a series of stories and essays, James B. Haile, III, traces how Black speculative fiction responds to enslavement, racism, colonialism, and capitalism and how it reveals a life beyond social and political alienation. He re-envisions Black technologies of freedom through Henry Box Brown’s famed escape from slavery in a wooden crate, fashions an anticolonial “hollow earth theory” from the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, and considers the octopus and its ability to camouflage itself as a model for Black survival strategies, among others. Looking at Black life through the lens of speculative fiction, this book transports readers to alternative worlds and spaces while remaining squarely rooted in present-day struggles. In so doing, it rethinks historical and contemporary Black experiences as well as figures such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, Henry Dumas, and Toni Morrison.Offering new ways to grasp the meanings and implications of Black freedom, The Dark Delight of Being Strange invites us to reimagine history and memory, time and space, our identities and ourselves. Winner, 2025 Hugh J. Silverman Book Prize, Association for Philosophy and Literature Finalist, 2025 PEN America Open Book Award James B. Haile III is a Professor of English & Philosophy at the University of Rhode Island. You can find him at the University of Rhode Island Philosophy Department website. You can find the host, Sullivan Summer, online, on Instagram, and at Substack, where she and Dr. Haile continue their conversation. Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/folkore

Hosted by Marshall Poe, New Books in Folklore is part of a much larger academic conversation happening across the New Books Network, a sprawling audio library built for the curious public. This particular channel focuses on the stories, traditions, and beliefs that cultures weave into their daily lives. Each episode features an in-depth conversation where an author discusses their newly published work on folklore with a knowledgeable interviewer, delving into the research and ideas behind the book. You’ll hear about everything from contemporary legends and digital storytelling to ancient myths and material culture, all explored with scholarly depth and genuine curiosity. It’s a space where academic work becomes accessible, moving beyond the journal article or monograph into a lively, direct exchange. For anyone fascinated by why we tell tales, how traditions evolve, or what our shared rituals reveal about us, this podcast offers a front-row seat to the latest scholarship. The broader network, with its many specialized channels, underscores a commitment to making expert knowledge freely available. Tuning in provides a unique form of continuing education, one thoughtful discussion at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

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Gregory Kenicer, "Scottish Plant Names: An A–Z" (Birlinn, 2026) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:26
Names are incredibly powerful things and are a crucial part of the way we see and classify the world around us. Plant names are especially fascinating in this respect. Some are simply descriptive or speak of ancient uses…