The Political Theory Review

40 Episodes
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By: Jeffrey Church

Conversations with scholars on recent books in Political Theory and Social and Political Philosophy.This podcast is not affiliated with the University of Wisconsin, and no opinions expressed on this podcast are that of the University of Wisconsin. Image: Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), After a model by Jean Antoine Houdon (French, Versailles 1741–1828 Paris), in the public domain courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of ArtHost contact: Jeffrey Church, jchurch4@wisc.edu

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Paul Stern - Dante's Political Philosophy
Paul Stern - Dante's Political Philosophy episode artwork
#213
Today at 2:35 PM

A conversation with Paul Stern about his recent book, "Dante's Political Philosophy: Rethinking Paradiso" (Cambridge UP).


Mårten Björk and Tormod Johansen - The End of Law
Mårten Björk and Tormod Johansen - The End of Law episode artwork
#212
07/15/2026

A conversation with Mårten Björk and Tormod Johansen about their recent book "The End of Law: Political Theology and the Crisis of Sovereignty" (Routledge).


Paul DeHart - The Social Contract in the Ruins
Paul DeHart - The Social Contract in the Ruins episode artwork
#211
07/06/2026

A conversation with Paul DeHart about his recent book, "The Social Contract in the Ruins" (U of Missouri Press).


Jan-Werner Mueller - Street, Palace, Square
Jan-Werner Mueller - Street, Palace, Square episode artwork
#210
06/26/2026

A conversation with Jan-Werner Mueller about his recent book, "Street, Palace, Square: The Architecture of Democratic Spaces" (Penguin Books).


Mark Hoipkemier - The Price of the Common Good
Mark Hoipkemier - The Price of the Common Good episode artwork
#209
06/16/2026

A conversation with Mark Hoipkemier about his recent book "The Price of the Common Good: Markets, Corporations, and Political Economy" (Notre Dame Press).


Steven Lukes - The Diversity of Morals
Steven Lukes - The Diversity of Morals episode artwork
#208
06/08/2026

A conversation with Steven Lukes about his recent book, "The Diversity of Morals" (Princeton UP).


Christian Miller - The Honesty Crisis
Christian Miller - The Honesty Crisis episode artwork
#207
06/05/2026

A conversation with Christian Miller about his recent book, "The Honesty Crisis: Preserving Our Most Treasured Virtue in an Increasingly Dishonest World" (Oxford UP).


Ian Shapiro - After the Fall
Ian Shapiro - After the Fall episode artwork
#206
05/19/2026

A conversation with Ian Shapiro about his recent book, "After the Fall: From the End of History to the Crisis of Democracy, How Politicians Broke Our World" (Basic Books).


Stephen Darwall - Modern Moral Philosophy in the Nineteenth Century
Stephen Darwall - Modern Moral Philosophy in the Nineteenth Century episode artwork
#205
05/12/2026

A conversation with Stephen Darwall about his recent book, "Modern Moral Philosophy in the Nineteenth Century" (Cambridge UP).


Natalia Alexander - Growing People: the Enduring Legacy of John Dewey
Natalia Alexander - Growing People: the Enduring Legacy of John Dewey episode artwork
#204
05/07/2026

A conversation with Natalia R. Alexander about her recent book, "Growing People: the Enduring Legacy of John Dewey" (Columbia UP).


Allison Merrick - Nietzsche on the Methods and Aims of Philosophy
Allison Merrick - Nietzsche on the Methods and Aims of Philosophy episode artwork
#203
04/24/2026

A conversation with Allison Merrick about her recent book, "Nietzsche on the Methods and Aims of Philosophy" (Cambridge UP)


Tejas Parasher - Radical Democracy in Modern Indian Political Thought
Tejas Parasher - Radical Democracy in Modern Indian Political Thought episode artwork
#202
04/23/2026

A conversation with Tejas Parasher about his recent book "Radical Democracy in Modern Indian Political Thought" (Cambridge UP).


Ryan Reed and Christopher Hallenbrook - Justice Across Generations
Ryan Reed and Christopher Hallenbrook - Justice Across Generations episode artwork
#201
03/19/2026

A conversation with Ryan Reed and Christopher Hallenbrook about their recent book, "Justice Across Generations: Equality, Opportunity, and the Social Contract" (Palgrave Macmillan).


Colin Bird, Jeffrey Church, and Nicholas Tampio - How to Teach Political Theory
Colin Bird, Jeffrey Church, and Nicholas Tampio - How to Teach Political Theory episode artwork
#200
03/05/2026

A 200th episode special-- Colin Bird, Jeffrey Church, and Nicholas Tampio discuss how to teach the introduction to Political Theory course, with reference to their textbooks:

Colin Bird, An Introduction to Political Philosophy (Cambridge UP)
Jeffrey Church, Introduction to Political Theory (Sage/CQ Press)
Nicholas Tampio, Teaching Political Theory (Edward Elgar Press)


Michael Illuzzi - Mending the Nation
Michael Illuzzi - Mending the Nation episode artwork
#199
03/05/2026

A conversation with Michael Illuzzi about his recent book, "Mending the Nation: Reclaiming We the People in a Populist Age" (U Kansas Press).


Shuk Ying Chan - Postcolonial Global Justice
Shuk Ying Chan - Postcolonial Global Justice episode artwork
#198
02/23/2026

A conversation with Shuk Ying Chan about her recent book, "Postcolonial Global Justice" (Princeton UP).


Matthew Benjamin Cole - Fear the Future
Matthew Benjamin Cole - Fear the Future episode artwork
#197
02/02/2026

A conversation with Matthew Benjamin Cole about his recent book, "Fear the Future: Dystopia and Political Imagination in the Twentieth Century" (University of Michigan Press).


Michael Lazarus - Absolute Ethical Life
Michael Lazarus - Absolute Ethical Life episode artwork
#196
01/20/2026

A conversation with Michael Lazarus about his recent book, "Absolute Ethical Life: Aristotle, Hegel, and Marx" (Stanford University Press).


Laura K. Field - Furious Minds
Laura K. Field - Furious Minds episode artwork
#195
01/12/2026

A conversation with Laura K. Field about her recent book, "Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right" (Princeton UP).


David Wiens - From the Best to the Rest
David Wiens - From the Best to the Rest episode artwork
#194
01/06/2026

A conversation with David Wiens about his recent book, "From the Best to the Rest: Idealistic Thinking in a Non-Ideal World" (Oxford UP).


Raissa von Doetinchem de Rande - The Politics of Islamic Ethics
Raissa von Doetinchem de Rande - The Politics of Islamic Ethics episode artwork
#193
12/18/2025

A conversation with Raissa von Doetinchem de Rande about her recent book, "The Politics of Islamic Ethics: Hierarchy and Human Nature in the Philosophical Tradition" (Cambridge UP).


John McCormick - The People's Princes
John McCormick - The People's Princes episode artwork
#192
12/09/2025

A conversation with John McCormick about his recent book, "The People's Princes: Machiavelli, Leadership, and Liberty" (U of Chicago Press).


John Harpham - The Intellectual Origins of American Slavery
John Harpham - The Intellectual Origins of American Slavery episode artwork
#191
12/02/2025

A conversation with John Harpham about his recent book, "The Intellectual Origins of American Slavery: English Ideas in the Early Modern Atlantic World" (Harvard UP).


Alex Zakaras - Freedom for All
Alex Zakaras - Freedom for All episode artwork
#190
11/18/2025

A conversation with Alex Zakaras about his recent book "Freedom for All: What a Liberal Society Could Be" (Yale UP).


Roxanne Euben - Driven to Their Knees
Roxanne Euben - Driven to Their Knees episode artwork
#189
10/28/2025

A conversation with Roxanne Euben about her recent book, "Driven to their Knees: Humiliation in Contemporary Politics" (Princeton UP).


Lisa Herzog - The Democratic Marketplace
Lisa Herzog - The Democratic Marketplace episode artwork
#188
10/14/2025

A conversation with Lisa Herzog about her recent book "The Democratic Marketplace: How a More Equal Economy Can Save Our Political Ideals" (Harvard UP).


Douglas Moggach - Freedom and Perfection
Douglas Moggach - Freedom and Perfection episode artwork
#187
09/30/2025

A conversation with Douglas Moggach about his recent book "Freedom and Perfection: German Political Thought from Leibniz to Marx" (Cambridge UP).


William Galston - Anger, Fear, Domination
William Galston - Anger, Fear, Domination episode artwork
#186
09/11/2025

A conversation with William Galston about his recent book, "Anger, Fear, Domination: Dark Passions and the Power of Political Speech" (Yale UP).


Cass Sunstein - On Liberalism
Cass Sunstein - On Liberalism episode artwork
#185
09/10/2025

A conversation with Cass Sunstein about his recent book "On Liberalism: In Defense of Freedom" (MIT Press).


John Christman - Reconceiving Freedom from the Shadows of Slavery
John Christman - Reconceiving Freedom from the Shadows of Slavery episode artwork
#184
08/28/2025

A conversation with John Christman about his recent book, "Reconceiving Liberty from the Shadows of Slavery: Liberty in a Nonideal World" (Cambridge UP)


Linda Zerilli - A Democratic Theory of Truth
Linda Zerilli - A Democratic Theory of Truth episode artwork
#183
08/12/2025

A conversation with Linda Zerilli about her recent book, "A Democratic Theory of Truth" (U of Chicago Press).


Alyssa Battistoni - Free Gifts
Alyssa Battistoni - Free Gifts episode artwork
#182
07/23/2025

A conversation with Alyssa Battistoni about her recent book, "Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature" (Princeton UP)


Amit Ron and Abraham Singer - Everyone's Business
Amit Ron and Abraham Singer - Everyone's Business episode artwork
#181
07/09/2025

A conversation with Amit Ron and Abraham Singer about their recent book, "Everyone's Business: What Companies Owe Society" (U Chicago Press).


Robert Gooding-Williams - Democracy and Beauty
Robert Gooding-Williams - Democracy and Beauty episode artwork
#180
06/19/2025

A conversation with Robert Gooding-Williams about his recent book, "Democracy and Beauty: the Political Aesthetics of W.E.B. DuBois" (Columbia UP).


Natasha Piano - Democratic Elitism
Natasha Piano - Democratic Elitism episode artwork
#179
06/04/2025

A conversation with Natasha Piano about her recent book, "Democratic Elitism: the Founding Myth of American Political Science" (Harvard UP).


Agustina Paglayan - Raised to Obey
Agustina Paglayan - Raised to Obey episode artwork
#178
05/20/2025

A conversation with Agustina Paglayan about her recent book, "Raised to Obey: The Rise and Spread of Mass Education" (Princeton UP)


Ryan Balot - Tragedy, Philosophy, and Political Education in Plato's Laws
Ryan Balot - Tragedy, Philosophy, and Political Education in Plato's Laws episode artwork
#177
05/16/2025

A conversation with Ryan Balot about his recent book, "Tragedy, Philosophy, and Political Education in Plato's Laws" (Oxford UP).


Michael Fuerstein - Experiments in Living Together
Michael Fuerstein - Experiments in Living Together episode artwork
#176
04/25/2025

A conversation with Michael Fuerstein about his recent book, "Experiments in Living Together: How Democracy Drives Social Progress" (Oxford UP).


Laurie M. Johnson - The Gap in God''s Country
Laurie M. Johnson - The Gap in God''s Country episode artwork
#175
04/10/2025

A conversation with Laurie M. Johnson about her recent book, "The Gap in God's Country: A Longer View on Our Culture Wars" (Wipf & Stock).


Leah Downey - Our Money
Leah Downey - Our Money episode artwork
#174
03/19/2025

A conversation with Leah Downey about her recent book "Our Money: Monetary Policy as if Democracy Matters" (Princeton UP).