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Sheryl Sandberg and Jody Williams: A Study in Contrasts

What do Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Jody Williams have in common? According to a recent article in Foreign Policy Journal, “two remarkable women have been in the news promoting their books. [Sandberg's ubiquitous Lean In and Williams' recent UC Press book, My Name Is Jody Williams] Both women are brilliant, hardworking, dedicated, focused [more...]

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When Breast Isn’t Best: Spiked Reviews Bottled Up

In the wake of Mayor Bloomberg’s decision last summer to remove formula samples from the diaper bags given to new mothers in New York City, the breast vs. bottle feeding debate is more contentious than ever.

The Spiked Review of Books recently took up this issue in a review of Suzanne’s Barston’s new book, Bottled Up: How [more...]

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Among Murderers: Prisoners Respond to Sabine Heinlein

Sabine Heinlein sent a finished copy of her book, Among Murderers, to Richie, an interviewee serving time at Attica prison. He then passed it around to friends and fellow cellblock-mates. Two of them were so moved by her research on the struggle to navigate life after a murder conviction, they felt compelled to write responses to Heinlein.

Below are [more...]

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UC Press Podcast: Sabine Heinlein on Life After a Murder Conviction

What is it like for a convicted murderer who has spent decades behind bars to suddenly find himself released into a world he barely recognizes? What is it like to start over from nothing? To answer these questions Sabine Heinlein followed the everyday lives and emotional struggles of Angel Ramos and his friends Bruce and [more...]

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UC Press Podcast: Leslie C. Bell on the Hardships of Hookup Culture

While young women today benefit from unprecedented education and opportunity compared to previous generations, many have trouble navigating personal and sexual relationships, Leslie C. Bell argues in her new book, Hard to Get: Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom. Drawing from her years of experience as a researcher and a psychotherapist, Bell takes us directly into the lives [more...]

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Roger Lancaster's NYT Op-Ed on Just Laws for Sex Offenders

Roger N. Lancaster, professor of anthropology and cultural studies at George Mason University and author of Sex Panic and the Punitive State, recently penned an op-ed for the New York Times on how restrictions for sex offenders should be determined and the implications of creating policies in direct response to traumatic events. Read his take below:

Panic [more...]

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Randol Contreras Disarms Myths About Gun Violence

Brian Lehrer recently spoke with Randol Contreras, author of The Stickup Kids, for his show on WNYC. Now a sociology professor at Cal State Fullerton, Contreras came of age in the South Bronx during the 1980s, a time when the community was devastated by cuts in social services, a rise in arson and abandonment, and the rise of [more...]

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W. Joseph Campbell's Top Mythbusting Posts of 2012

The author of Getting It Wrong: Ten of the Greatest Misreported Stories in American Journalism, W. Joseph Campbell, has rounded up 2012′s most prominent media-driven myths and errors. Visit Campbell’s blog, Media Myth Alert, for the year’s five top writeups, the first of which is excerpted below:

Calling out the New York Times on ‘napalm girl’ photo error (posted June 3)

The 40th anniversary of the [more...]

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UC Press Podcast: Suzanne Barston on the Politics of Breastfeeding

Suzanne Barston, subject of the popular web series, “A Parent Is Born,” found that, despite every effort, she couldn’t breastfeed her son, Leo. This difficult encounter with nursing—combined with the overwhelming public attitude that breast is not only best, it is the yardstick by which parenting prowess is measured—drove Barston to explore the silenced, minority [more...]

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The UC Press Guide to the Affordable Care Act

In light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold most of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, you may want to take a look at Inside National Health Reform, John McDonough’s firsthand account of the intense effort required to bring this legislation into law. McDonough served as Senior Advisor on National Health Reform to the U.S. Senate Committee on [more...]

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