The Oxford Comment is a monthly podcast featuring insights from Oxford University Press authors, editors, and more.

The Oxford Comment

Research shows that American distrust in government, scientists, and media has reached new heights, and this distrust in institutions is reflected in much of the world.

In his play, Orestes, Euripides opines, "When one with honeyed words but evil mind persuades the mob, great woes befall the state." Might we still overcome this onslaught of misinformation and preserve our trust in the very institutions that have governed and enriched us, in some form or another, for centuries?

On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, we spoke with Brian Levack, author of "Distrust of Institutions in Early Modern Britain and America", Robert Faris, co-author of "Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics", and Tom Nichols, author of "Our Own Worst Enemy: The Assault from within on Modern Democracy" and "The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters", to discuss the past, present, and future of institutional distrust, with a particular focus on the contentious 2016 and 2020 US presidential elections.

Learn more about Brian Levack and "Distrust of Institutions in Early Modern Britain and America" here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/distrust-of-institutions-in-early-modern-britain-and-america-9780192847409
Learn more about Robert Faris and "Network Propaganda" here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/network-propaganda-9780190923631
Learn more about Tom Nichols and "Our Own Worst Enemy" and "The Death of Expertise" here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/our-own-worst-enemy-9780197518878 and here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-death-of-expertise-9780190865979

Please check out Episode 76 of The Oxford Comment and subscribe to The Oxford Comment through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our expert authors:
- Amazon Music: https://oxford.ly/3O8bPBH
- Apple Podcasts: https://oxford.ly/2RuYMPa
- Google Podcasts: https://oxford.ly/38UpF5h
- iHeartRadio: https://oxford.ly/3xBtxaQ
- Spotify: https://oxford.ly/2JLNTTO
- Stitcher: https://oxford.ly/2R0fVNZ
- TuneIn: https://oxford.ly/3jKR0OG
- YouTube: https://oxford.ly/2YY4iMT

The Oxford Comment Crew:
Executive Producer: Steven Filippi
Associate Producers: Meghan Schaffer, Rachel Havard, Erin Cox
Host: Meghan Schaffer

Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

© Oxford University Press

Distrust in Institutions: Past, Present, and Future - Episode 76 - The Oxford Comment

On today’s episode, we explore two recognizable components in contemporary conversations on gender and gendered violence. First, we welcomed Robert Lawson, the author of "Language and Mediated Masculinities: Cultures, Contexts, Constraints," to share how language intersects with masculinity in media spaces and how it may be our best weapon in combatting rising misogyny. We then interviewed Iqra Shagufta Cheema, the editor of "The Other #MeToos," who spoke with us about the origins of the #MeToo movement, how it has been received around the world, and how it has changed—and will continue to change—to meet the needs of the victims for which it advocates.

For more information on "Language and Mediated Masculinities," check out: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/language-and-mediated-masculinities-9780190081058
For more information on "The Other #MeToos," check out: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-other-metoos-9780197619872

Please subscribe to The Oxford Comment through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our expert authors:
- Amazon Music: https://oxford.ly/3O8bPBH
- Apple Podcasts: https://oxford.ly/2RuYMPa
- Google Podcasts: https://oxford.ly/38UpF5h
- iHeartRadio: https://oxford.ly/3xBtxaQ
- Spotify: https://oxford.ly/2JLNTTO
- Stitcher: https://oxford.ly/2R0fVNZ
- TuneIn: https://oxford.ly/3jKR0OG
- YouTube: https://oxford.ly/2YY4iMT

The Oxford Comment Crew:
Executive Producer: Steven Filippi
Associate Producers: Rachel Havard and Meghan Schaffer
Host: Rachel Havard

Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

© Oxford University Press

Revisiting Toxic Masculinity and #MeToo - Episode 85 - The Oxford Comment

On today’s episode, we’re joined by two preeminent scholars on the history and theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as this September marks the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith's first vision of the angel Moroni. We welcomed Richard Lyman Bushman, the author of "Joseph Smith’s Gold Plates: A Cultural History," to discuss with us the legacy of Joseph Smith’s Gold Plates and the origins of "The Book of Mormon" two centuries ago. We then interviewed Grant Hardy, whose new "The Annotated Book of Mormon" is the first ever fully annotated, academic edition of the book.

For more information on "Joseph Smith's Gold Plates," check out: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/joseph-smiths-gold-plates-9780197676523
For more information on "The Annotated Book of Mormon," check out: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-annotated-book-of-mormon-9780190082208

A PDF transcript for this episode can be found here: https://oxfordacademic.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/The-Oxford-Comment-Episode-86-transcript-final.pdf

Please subscribe to The Oxford Comment through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our expert authors:
- Amazon Music: https://oxford.ly/3O8bPBH
- Apple Podcasts: https://oxford.ly/2RuYMPa
- Google Podcasts: https://oxford.ly/38UpF5h
- iHeartRadio: https://oxford.ly/3xBtxaQ
- Spotify: https://oxford.ly/2JLNTTO
- Stitcher: https://oxford.ly/2R0fVNZ
- TuneIn: https://oxford.ly/3jKR0OG
- YouTube: https://oxford.ly/2YY4iMT

The Oxford Comment Crew:
Executive Producer: Steven Filippi
Associate Producers: Sarah Butcher
Host: Jack Dugan

Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

© Oxford University Press

The Revelation of the Book of Mormon at 200 - Episode 86 - The Oxford Comment

On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, we’re joined by three OUP colleagues to discuss current changes in academic publishing and what they will mean for the future of peer review.  First, we talk with Laura Jose, a Publisher in the Owned and Product Tower at OUP, about bias reduction in peer review. Next, we speak with Dr. Amanda Boehm, scientific managing editor for "JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute" and "JNCI Cancer Spectrum," about how diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives affect peer review. Lastly, we ask James Phillpotts, the Director of Content Transformation & Standards who serves as an OUP representative for the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), about the impact of NISO's recently released document on the standard terminology for peer review.

For more information on "JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute," check out: https://academic.oup.com/jnci
For more information on "JNCI Cancer Spectrum," check out: https://academic.oup.com/jncics

A PDF transcript for this episode can be found here:

Please subscribe to The Oxford Comment through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our expert authors:
- Amazon Music: https://oxford.ly/3O8bPBH
- Apple Podcasts: https://oxford.ly/2RuYMPa
- Google Podcasts: https://oxford.ly/38UpF5h
- iHeartRadio: https://oxford.ly/3xBtxaQ
- Spotify: https://oxford.ly/2JLNTTO
- Stitcher: https://oxford.ly/2R0fVNZ
- TuneIn: https://oxford.ly/3jKR0OG
- YouTube: https://oxford.ly/2YY4iMT

The Oxford Comment Crew:
Executive Producer: Steven Filippi
Associate Producers: Jenn Saboe
Host: Jenn Saboe

Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

© Oxford University Press

Supporting the Future of Peer Review - Episode 87 - The Oxford Comment

On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, we discuss the state of human infrastructure in the Anthropocene with a particular focus on how research can best be used to inform public policy. 

First, we welcomed Patrick Harris, co-editor-in-chief of the new transdisciplinary journal, Oxford Open Infrastructure and Health, to speak about the aims and scopes of OOIH, how OOIH is poised to meet the challenges of the Anthropocene, and the kind of research the editors are seeking. We then interviewed Jonathan Pickering, co-author of The Politics of the Anthropocene, the winner of the 2019 Clay Morgan Award Committee for Best Book in Environmental Political Theory. We spoke with him about how the shift from the Holocene to the Anthropocene has affected our core infrastructure systems and how good governance can help us mitigate the many challenges we’ll face in the future

For more information on "Oxford Open Health and Infrastructure," check out: https://academic.oup.com/ooih
For more information on "The Politics of the Anthropocene," check out: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-politics-of-the-anthropocene-9780198809623

A PDF transcript for this episode can be found here: https://oxfordacademic.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/The-Oxford-Comment-Episode-88-transcript.pdf

Please subscribe to The Oxford Comment through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our expert authors:
- Amazon Music: https://oxford.ly/3O8bPBH
- Apple Podcasts: https://oxford.ly/2RuYMPa
- Google Podcasts: https://oxford.ly/38UpF5h
- iHeartRadio: https://oxford.ly/3xBtxaQ
- Spotify: https://oxford.ly/2JLNTTO
- Stitcher: https://oxford.ly/2R0fVNZ
- TuneIn: https://oxford.ly/3jKR0OG
- YouTube: https://oxford.ly/2YY4iMT

The Oxford Comment Crew:
Executive Producer: Steven Filippi
Associate Producers: Ed Aymar, Meghan Schaffer
Host: Meghan Schaffer

Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

© Oxford University Press

Infrastructure, Public Policy, and the Anthropocene - Episode 88 - The Oxford Comment

On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, the last for 2023, we spotlight two aspects of Native American culture that transcend tribe and nation and have been the recent focus of OUP scholars: language and religious beliefs. 

For our first interview, we were joined by Rosemarie Ostler, author of "The United States of English: The American Language from Colonial Times to the Twenty-First Century," to speak about the Native American English dialect, how English became more widely spoken amongst Native Americans, and current programs to preserve Native American languages. We then spoke with Gregory Shushan, author of "Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions," about near-death experiences, Native American myths, shamanism, and religious revitalization movements across indigenous cultures in North America.

For more information on "The United States of English," check out: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-united-states-of-english-9780197647295
For more information on "Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions," check out: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/near-death-experience-in-indigenous-religions-9780197685433

A PDF transcript for this episode can be found here: https://oxfordacademic.blubrry.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-Oxford-Comment-Episode-89-transcript.pdf

Please subscribe to The Oxford Comment through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our expert authors:
- Amazon Music: https://oxford.ly/3O8bPBH
- Apple Podcasts: https://oxford.ly/2RuYMPa
- Google Podcasts: https://oxford.ly/38UpF5h
- iHeartRadio: https://oxford.ly/3xBtxaQ
- Spotify: https://oxford.ly/2JLNTTO
- Stitcher: https://oxford.ly/2R0fVNZ
- TuneIn: https://oxford.ly/3jKR0OG
- YouTube: https://oxford.ly/2YY4iMT

The Oxford Comment Crew:
Executive Producer: Steven Filippi
Associate Producer: Rachel Havard
Host: Rachel Havard

Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

© Oxford University Press

A Spotlight on Native American Language and Religion - Episode 89 - The Oxford Comment

Toby Young's original setting refreshes this well-known text with a masterful and memorable melody that is imbued with an indelible tenderness. Young makes use of effective textural changes and syncopation, fusing the flavour of a contemporary worship song with the structure and scoring of a traditional carol.

More on the OUP site

O holy night! - Toby Young

Lucy Walker's thoughtful setting of 'There is no rose' flows between swells of emotion and warm chromatic inflections in the Latin refrains. This piece captures the natural emphases of the text, seamlessly moving between irregular and simple metres.

There is no rose - Lucy Walker

Quartel's arrangement of the 'Huron Carol', renamed 'Iesous ahatonnia' to reflect its origins, sets new texts by Wendat poet Andrée Levesque Sioui and invites choirs and audiences to learn from the past while working to shape a better future.

Iesous ahatonnia’ - Sarah Quartel

In this fun and snappy arrangement of a well-loved Christmas carol, Crawford has breathed new life into the melody using playful alternations between 3/4 and 6/8 metre. The simple vocal lines are underpinned by a supportive, bouncy piano accompaniment.

Joy to the world! - Lowell Mason

Setting a text by Marc Bratcher, 'I too shall walk to Bethlehem' depicts a journey to the Bethlehem stable 'where once a child was born', recounting the strength, courage, and heart acquired from the encounters along the way. Unison passages in upper and lower voices move seamlessly into warm homophonic harmonies, with brief moments of divisi. A flowing piano accompaniment provides support during, and interludes between, verses.

I too shall walk - John Rutter

Learn more about the origins of the exhibition from curator Lauren Hinkson.

Transcript
Lauren Hinkson: Welcome to the exhibition "Jenny Holzer: Light Line." I’m Lauren Hinkson, the Associate Curator for Collections here at the Guggenheim. 

For more than forty years, American conceptual artist Jenny Holzer has presented her astringent ideas, arguments, and sorrows in public places and international exhibitions. Her medium is language. Whether inscribed on a plaque, poster, or condom, Holzer’s incisive text-based practice draws on the explosive power of the written word. The work tackles some of the most pressing issues and themes of our time—from climate justice to women’s rights, from war to corruption. Holzer is a vital voice in both art and activism. 

Starting in the 1970s with a series of posters around New York City and continuing through her recent light projections on landscape and architecture, Holzer’s practice has rivaled ignorance and violence with humor, kindness, and courage. For "Light Line," Holzer has conceived of the installation of work from throughout her career as a singular conceptual project—a holistic installation that builds on and refracts concerns about society, politics, and the work of living that have been an undercurrent in her practice. 

As you move through the museum, you will see and be absorbed by the monumental LED display climbing all six ramps of the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed rotunda to the building’s apex. This work is titled "Installation for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum." It is a collection work owned by the Guggenheim. The work is a reimagining of Holzer’s 1989 LED sign that was shown here some thirty-five years ago.  

The new manifestation of Holzer’s electronic sign transforms the building with a display of scrolling texts that Holzer has written over her career. The work is both witty and profound at the same time, with iconic statements from early works, such as “You Are the Victim of the Rules You Live By,” “Private Property Created Crime,” and “Abuse of Power Comes as No Surprise.”   

The texts and themes in the LED sign also materialize in other works on view in "Light Line," reinforcing the correspondences in Holzer’s conceptual practice across time and medium. There are also new works incorporating texts by poets, politicians, activists, and literary figures, as well as sources like government dossiers and redacted FBI files. These take new forms in the exhibition, including light projections on the building and gold-leaf paintings. 

These messages are thought-provoking, with the artist hoping that they would sharpen people’s awareness of the political and social connotations urgent to our time. They are meant not only to be read but also heeded.

Exhibition Website

Introduction to Jenny Holzer: Light Line

A shining city on a hill. America the beautiful. The United States has long been mythologised as the land of dreams and opportunity. And since the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s it has been undisputedly the most powerful nation on earth. But is it a fading force? The idea of an America in decline has gained traction in recent years and has, of course, been capitalized on by President Trump. Is America’s ‘greatness’ under threat?
In this episode of LSE iQ, a collaboration with the LSE Phelan US Centre's podcast, The Ballpark, Sue Windebank and Chris Gilson speak to LSE’s Elizabeth Ingleson and John Van Reenen and Ashley Tellis from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 

Contributors
Elizabeth Ingleson
John Van Reenen
Ashley Tellis

Research
Made in China: When US-China Interests Converged to Transform Global Trade by Elizabeth Ingleson
The Fall of the Labor Share and the Rise of Superstar Firms by David Autor, David Dorn, Lawrence F Katz, Christina Patterson and John Van Reenen, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 2020.
Revising U.S. Grand Strategy Toward China by Robert D. Blackwill and Ashley J. Tellis

LSE Phelan United States Centre: https://www.lse.ac.uk/United-States 
Listen to The Ballpark podcast: https://www.lse.ac.uk/united-states/the-ballpark/Podcasts; LSE Player, Spotify; Soundcloud
Related interviews on The Ballpark with guests on this episode
Dr Ashley Tellis - The Future of US-China Competition
Dr Elizabeth Ingleson - Made in China: When US-China Interests Converged to Transform Global Trade

LSE IQ podcast

Will the US remain the world's superpower?

Welcome to the last episode of YJBM Science News for the school year of 2023-2024! We are so thankful to all our listeners who were here for our journey. We will continue releasing our other podcast project over the summer, and in the meantime - stay tuned for next year’s Yale Science News, starting in August of 2024!

Links:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07407-y
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-01870-3
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41556-024-01413-y
https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.20230849

More about YJBM at:
https://medicine.yale.edu/yjbm/ 

Our Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/theyjbm/

YJBM Science News Podcast: Episode 19

Oxford University Press’s academic insights for the thinking world combine authority, innovation, and excellence.  We share audio resources for students, scholars, and researchers.

Distrust in Institutions: Past, Present, and Future - Episode 76 - The Oxford Comment

Oxford Academic (OUP)

Related tracks