{"podcast":{"title":"New Books in Public Policy","slug":"new-books-in-public-policy-671623","podcast_index_feed_id":671623,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/ssMyj0Zi","website_url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/9aa0f1bb-a097-4f50-990d-432361b1630a/f7f90a07-58e9-4a6e-a1af-07c56c30e4b9/3000x3000/746defd0a8e281e3e6946bc6cd1b4cc1.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/public-policy","last_synced_at":"2026-09-26T22:19:16.166192+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-public-policy-671623"},"episode":{"title":"Chika Watanabe, \"Play to Survive: Disaster Preparedness Along the Ring of Fire\" (Stanford UP, 2026)","slug":"chika-watanabe-play-to-survive-disaster-preparedness-along-the-ring-of-fire-stanford-up-2026","published_at":"2026-09-04T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-public-policy-671623/chika-watanabe-play-to-survive-disaster-preparedness-along-the-ring-of-fire-stanford-up-2026","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-public-policy-671623","url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com","audio_url":"https://injector.simplecastaudio.com/9aa0f1bb-a097-4f50-990d-432361b1630a/episodes/6150adea-f05f-491b-a90c-9e48558c1de0/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=9aa0f1bb-a097-4f50-990d-432361b1630a&awEpisodeId=6150adea-f05f-491b-a90c-9e48558c1de0&feed=ssMyj0Zi","summary":"We live in a fragile world. This much is evident as stories abound of natural disasters that wipe out communities in an instant. How can we survive the future on such a planet, amid intensifying climate change? This question is particularly poignant along the Ring of Fire, a tectonic belt in the Pacific region that routinely faces some of the most devastating disasters in the world. Based on ethnographic research spanning seven years, Play to Survive: Disaster Preparedness Along the Ring of Fire (Stanford University Press, 2026) examines the work of preparedness training in Japan and Chile, two primary nations along the Ring of Fire that experience frequent and intense disasters. Experts from these countries have often collaborated to create some of the most advanced disaster preparedness systems in the world. Dr. Chika Watanabe traces how local city officials, NGOs, and members of neighborhood and grassroots organizations are, counterintuitively, using fun, playful methods to teach preparation for our darkest hours. While there are many important studies of post-disaster response, much less is written about the future-orientation of disaster preparedness. This book shows how a transnational group of preparedness experts orient people toward potential disasters in gentle and hopeful ways, focusing on improvisation and repair. In a time of political and environmental destabilization globally, this book offers a unique look at how playful preparedness can reset relationships to environments, to the future, and to each other. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil w…","meta_description":"We live in a fragile world. This much is evident as stories abound of natural disasters that wipe out communities in an instant. How can we survive the fu…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3114,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-public-policy-671623/episodes/chika-watanabe-play-to-survive-disaster-preparedness-along-the-ring-of-fire-stanford-up-2026/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-public-policy-671623/chika-watanabe-play-to-survive-disaster-preparedness-along-the-ring-of-fire-stanford-up-2026.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}