New Books Network

For nearly two decades, 100 Words or Less has become one of independent music's most respected interview podcasts, capturing thoughtful, unfiltered conversations with the artists, writers, musicians, and creative voices who have shaped punk, hardcore, and underground culture. What began as a podcast has evolved into an enduring archive of stories that might otherwise disappear into the endless scroll of digital media.
100 Words or Less: Interviews from Independent Culture (Book 1) collects twenty of the podcast's most memorable conversations in print for the first time. Featuring interviews with Fall Out Boy, Jimmy Eat World, AFI, Quicksand, American Football, Terror, Have Heart, Scowl, Lucero, Snapcase, Chelsea Wolfe, Hanif Abdurraqib, Dan Carlin, Roman Mars, and many more, the book explores creativity, longevity, community, and the values that continue to define independent culture.
More than a collection of interviews, this volume serves as a snapshot of a creative community told in its own words. Through honest conversations and shared experiences, host Ray Harkins documents not only the artists themselves, but the ideas, relationships, and DIY spirit that have connected generations of musicians and fans.
Published by Iodine Recordings, this first volume is presented as a 300+ page softcover edition featuring a soft-touch cover with French flaps and premium interior paper, designed to be both a lasting document and an essential addition to any music library.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ray Harkins is the host of the long-running music interview podcast 100 Words Or Less, where he has spent years in in-depth conversation with artists across the punk, hardcore, and independent music worlds. A lifelong participant in underground music culture, he first gained recognition as the vocalist for the influential hardcore band Taken in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Beyond performing and broadcasting, Harkins has built a career on the industry side of music, working as an A&R at Century Media Records and later as a manager at Tandem, where he continues to advocate for and develop emerging and established artists. Drawing on decades of firsthand experience on both sides of the microphone, this book collects and contextualizes conversations that document the creative lives, histories, and perspectives of a wide range of musicians.

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What can architecture tell us about Mongolian identity, history, and cultural belonging? In this episode of the Nordic Asia Podcast, Ning Ao is joined by Nandin and Lingchen Kong to explore Mongolian architecture, from its historical roots and traditional forms to its presence in contemporary society. How have Mongolian architectural traditions evolved in response to changing social and political contexts? What happens when traditional architectural forms meet modern urban development? And how does architecture reflect, preserve, and reshape ideas of Mongolian identity?
Nandin is a Mongolian architect and partner and design director at the architecture and design film, PLAT ASIA.
Lingchen Kong is a PhD candidate in Architecture at the University of Cambridge.
This episode is hosted by Ning Ao, a PhD candidate at the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies at Lund University, Sweden.
The Nordic Asia Podcast is a collaboration sharing expertise on Asia across the Nordic region, brought to you by the following academic partners: Asia Centre, University of Tartu (Estonia), Asian studies, University of Helsinki (Finland), Centre for Asian Studies, Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania), Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Turku (Finland), Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University (Sweden) and Centre for South Asian Democracy, University of Oslo (Norway).
We aim to produce timely, topical and well-edited discussions of new research and developments about Asia.

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This conversation was hosted by Chella Ward as part of the Open University’s Islamophobia Awareness Month events in 2026. Salman Sayyid and AbdoolKarim Vakil join Chella to discuss their longstanding work towards a people’s definition of ‘Islamophobia’. Here they explain that Islamophobia is a kind of racism, and discuss what work a definition can do to change the social contract and work towards a fairer society. They draw on their numerous books and articles, as well as on the practical work they did as part of the team behind the definition of Islamophobia drafted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims, and accepted by universities, councils and civil society organisations across the political spectrum.

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In Good Vibes Only: Phenomenology and the Biopolitics of Algorithmic Legitimation, Robin James argues that “vibes” have become a way for how we see ourselves and understand our tastes, as well as how corporations and governments see us in order to categorize and control. Vibes, according to James, are an orientation that situate beings and things in space with others, closer to some things than others, facing is certain directions, and more likely to be grouped together. Drawing from a diverse set of theoretical and methodological perspectives, including continental feminist philosophy, critical philosophy of race, phenomenology, and popular music studies, James walks the reader through how vibes are understood, the mathematical models that vibes are based on, and how vibes function as a new form of biopower and therefore as a means of categorization and control.
You can find a transcript of our conversation here.

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It’s April, 1959, a respected naval commander comes back from time at sea to find out that his wife is having an affair. Despondent and angry, he drives to the apartment of his wife’s lover to talk to him. The lover ends up dead. The murder trial of Commander Kawas Nanavati captivated Bombay because it had everything—sex, betrayal, intrigue. When the jury verdict came out, many were outraged and they thought the jury system was to blame. The trial came to be known as “The Last Jury Trial in India” because it heralded the end of the jury in India and became a lightning rod for concerns about the jury being corrupted by prejudice and the media.
The Last Jury Trial in India is a four-part series hosted by Sonali Chakravarti, professor of government at Wesleyan University.

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