{"podcast":{"title":"New Books in Intellectual History","slug":"new-books-in-intellectual-history-1045753","podcast_index_feed_id":1045753,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/w9MOrNGB","website_url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/ea7b1c52-c072-4295-b066-cec4067bc5e2/849571c7-bcd2-4e7f-b939-f60b0b82e141/3000x3000/7b472a09e0ba06314b3d8cd1401cd52a.png?aid=rss_feed","author":"New Books Network","episode_count":600,"summary":"This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: ⁠https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/⁠ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history","last_synced_at":"2026-09-19T12:22:14.721883+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-intellectual-history-1045753"},"episode":{"title":"Eran Shalev, \"The Star-Spangled Republic: Political Astronomy and the Rise of the American Constellation\" (U Virginia Press, 2025)","slug":"eran-shalev-the-star-spangled-republic-political-astronomy-and-the-rise-of-the-american-constellation-u-virginia-press-2025","published_at":"2026-08-24T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-intellectual-history-1045753/eran-shalev-the-star-spangled-republic-political-astronomy-and-the-rise-of-the-american-constellation-u-virginia-press-2025","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-intellectual-history-1045753","url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com","audio_url":"https://injector.simplecastaudio.com/ea7b1c52-c072-4295-b066-cec4067bc5e2/episodes/a47ed1f2-ac53-4264-8e4a-8ad9673bf10f/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=ea7b1c52-c072-4295-b066-cec4067bc5e2&awEpisodeId=a47ed1f2-ac53-4264-8e4a-8ad9673bf10f&feed=w9MOrNGB","summary":"Why does the American flag use stars to represent the states? In The Star-Spangled Republic: Political Astronomy and the Rise of the American Constellation (U Virginia Press, 2025), Eran Shalev answers this and many other questions, considering the cosmic imagery—so familiar today but so peculiar on reflection—that suffused the United States’ early political culture. In this comprehensive study, Shalev uncovers how “political astronomy”—the discussion and representation of politics through astronomical models, allusions, and metaphors—reflected and facilitated the emerging worldview that enabled Americans to justify and find meaning in the country’s new democratic modes of governance and its federal system. No other scholar has looked at American political rhetoric through this lens; in so doing, Shalev is able to explain in fascinating detail how Americans turned away from the sun of heliocentric monarchy toward the night sky full of federated constellations, and to discover republicanism imprinted in the firmament. Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history","meta_description":"Why does the American flag use stars to represent the states? In The Star-Spangled Republic: Political Astronomy and the Rise of the American Constellatio…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1945,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-intellectual-history-1045753/episodes/eran-shalev-the-star-spangled-republic-political-astronomy-and-the-rise-of-the-american-constellation-u-virginia-press-2025/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-intellectual-history-1045753/eran-shalev-the-star-spangled-republic-political-astronomy-and-the-rise-of-the-american-constellation-u-virginia-press-2025.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}