The New Books Network’s Drugs, Addiction and Recovery Channel Will Teach You Tons
A Review For Great Pods!
This week’s review is a bit different. Instead of a single show, I want to turn you on to a network, through the lens of one of its individual channels. That network is the New Books Network, and the channel is the one that focuses the Drugs, Addiction, and Recovery topics. If this is confusing, allow me to explain.
The New Books Network was founded by Marshall Poe, a celebrated historian and writer. In the early days of podcasting (the 2000s), Marshall saw an opportunity to bring new awareness to books that otherwise didn’t get a whole lot of press, namely those published through university and other educational publishing houses. Now more than a decade old, the New Books Network has roughly 50 channels on topics including Folklore, Criminal Justice Reform, Philosophy, and so much more and their collective episodes have been downloaded over a million times.
What makes the channel unique is its revolving cadre of hosts. Each channel has anywhere from a few to a dozen hosts that conduct interviews as their schedule sees fit. When you download an episode (just pick whatever topic interests you), you may find yourself listening to an interview led by a professor, a student, an advocate, or a journalist. The varied backgrounds of the hosts bring a measure of individuality to the channels, which coupled with the vast array of topics the network covers, means you truly never know what you’re going to get with every interview.
How do I know all this? Naturally (here comes the disclosure) I’m a host myself!
That’s why I chose the Drugs, Addiction and Recovery channel. I was introduced to the network through this channel by a guest on my podcast, Emily Dufton. An author and journalist, Emily is also a host on the channel and soon I was a dedicated listener. Naturally, when a few months later they asked for applications from anyone interested in hosting, I jumped at the chance. Now, a year plus later, I’ve hosted three episodes with another on the way.
I’ve checked out numerous of the other channels, but because I’m a host on the Drugs, Addiction and Recovery channel (and because my expertise is in drug use and policy), I see it as a good example of the entire network. However, my note would be that not all the channels are exactly the same.
What I love about this network is the knowledge of the hosts and guests alike. Each episode is like listening in on a panel of experts on that particular topic, from harm reduction to drug use throughout history to evolving drug policy. Time and again, I discover new books I’m excited to read and new specialists I’m excited to follow. And I always come away having learned something.
Now, there are a few drawbacks. While the copious channels means there is something for everyone at the New Books Network, the goal of the channels, to highlight academic books, means that at times the interviews are, in a word, dense. And as these are authors, not media personalities, some interviews are as dry as old paint, despite my excitement for the topics. It creates an interesting contradiction, one in which I am more willing to take a flyer on an episode on a topic I wouldn’t normally listen to, but am also much quicker to turn it off when it doesn’t interest me. Call it the fallacy of choice, because there’s just so much to listen to!
Overall, I’d give the New Books Network’s Drugs, Addiction and Recovery channel a solid 8.75 and I think that’s pretty representative of the network as a whole. There’s something for everyone (I personally subscribe to roughly five channels) but it also may be a bit dry and dense for some.
You can find the New Books Network at their website or on Great Pods!
