Mixed Signals
Bookstore Spotlight, Graduate Student Corner, American Historical Association prize winners, and an interview with Dr. Rebecca Charbonneau
In this week’s newsletter…
Bookstore Spotlight: Sappho Books in Sydney, Australia
We are starting a new segment, “Bookstore Spotlight”, to share community-driven independent bookstores around the world. Do you have a favorite bookstore that you want to see featured in the next edition of Bookstore Spotlight? Let us know in the comments!
After more than 30 years in a fast-paced healthcare settings, Gail and Jeanette took over Sappho Books in 2022. Gail left her career as a pediatric intensive care nurse to manage the business, while Jeanette continues to work as an emergency pediatrician, working at the bookstore on the side. A lifelong love of books motivated them to reimagine their goals and become caretakers of one of Sydney’s most loved general, secondhand bookshops. To the local patrons, Sappho Books isn’t just a bookstore, it’s an important community space.
Sappho Books was recently deemed “Australia’s Most Beautiful Bookshop” by The Guardian. The store is in a quirky, multi-level building built around 1880, and its bookshelves are packed with over 30,000 titles. In addition to contemporary and classic fiction, Sappho boasts a wide range of categories specializing in humanities, with impressive selections of philosophy, religion, poetry, history, literary criticism, psychology, cultural and gender studies. Many out of print and hard-to-find books can be found at Sappho. In the back is a leafy courtyard, which is the setting for a cafe during the day and bar at night, with poetry, live music and other events.
The store is also home to Da Capo Music, Australia’s only dedicated second-hand music store. Da Capo holds a carefully curated selection of sheet music and scores of every type, as well as books on all music related subjects.
If you’ve ever dreamed of owning a bookstore, read our interview below:
Q: What motivated you to own a bookstore?
A: We have always loved books and reading, but in the past few years life and work were so hectic that we didn’t enjoy a lot of down-time. Something had to change. We visited the store quite randomly after a pretty long absence, and after learning that the business was for sale, we started on a path to see whether we had what it takes to run a small business.
Q: What is the mission of your bookstore, and what makes Sappho Books unique?
A: Sappho is a lot of things to a lot of people, but essentially we aim to be a very good bookshop! We pride ourselves on stocking exclusively second- hand books and sheet music, and are very selective about what we buy. Cleaning, repairing and shelving second-hand books is very labour intensive and our store is usually in a state of highly-organized chaos.
We have seen a lot of businesses in the area taken over by large chains, so we operate in direct contrast to the sanitized homogeneity of other stores. Coming to our store is like a treasure hunt. Instead of laying out rows of books that we think you should buy, at Sappho, the more you look, the more you find. People often spend hours in our store and come out with beautiful books they never imagined they would find.
Q: What do you enjoy about running a bookstore?
A: Definitely our customers are what makes Sappho tick. We see a whole cross-section of society, all brought together by a love of reading. People come in here looking for one thing, but then get excited by something completely different. We love it when unusual books find their rightful owners. All our books are second-hand, and we get pretty excited about nice editions or covers of classic books which get another chance to be read, rather than just ending up in a landfill.
Q: What kinds of books do most people come to your store looking for?
A: You can never tell! Some of the most unlikely people come in searching for niche academic and esoteric material. We definitely sell a lot of contemporary and classic fiction, crime, and science fiction. We have extensive collections of poetry, self-help, philosophy and young adult fiction. We also have excellent sections on specific topics including sailing, Antarctica and, strangely enough, chess.
Q: Why did you decide to include a cafe and bar into your bookstore?
A: The kitchen and courtyard operate as a cafe during the day, and a cocktail and tapas bar at night. The courtyard is a beautiful space and the different elements compliment each other really well. We have a very welcoming team who know all the locals by name, as well as their orders! Our coffee is excellent and the food is simple, fresh, and beautifully presented, with many vegan and gluten-free options. People typically browse in the book or music shop, then head out to the courtyard for a meal and a chat with friends.
Q: How do you see your bookstore as part of the local community?
A: Our courtyard has become a bit of a “third space” for a lot of locals who work, write, and meet regularly at Sappho. We are lucky enough to be close to three universities, so we are a popular place for students and university staff to meet, browse, and eat. We actively promote local writers and musicians, and work together with community groups to support local initiatives.
Q: Can you share more about the LGBTQI “Welcome Place” program that you are part of?
A: The “Welcome Here” programme is a way for us to visibly demonstrate support for the LGBTQI community. We display the logo on the front window of our store, and we have displays throughout the shop that show that Sappho Books is a safe and inclusive space.
Q: What kinds of events do you host at your bookstore?
A: We host a very popular monthly poetry night, as well as an open stage night, where we have seen diverse performances including a capella, poetry readings, burlesque, and mime performances. We actively promote local musicians and have recently scheduled acoustic, jazz, blues, and classical performers. We provide a friendly space where up-and-coming artists can gain performance experience.
We are expanding our evening program of social events to include silent book clubs and writing groups to encourage people to put down their phones and socialize with others who have similar interests. We are also developing a regular comedy night and will be launching this next month!
Q: What are your top 5 book recommendations at the moment?
A: Gail is reading: Saga Land: The Island Stories at the Edge of the World by Ruchard Fidler and Kari Gislason. She is also reading This is the Canon: Decolonise your Bookshelf in 50 Books by Joan Anim-Addo, Deirdre Osborne, and Kadija Sesay - a curated reading list highlighting diverse cultural perspectives from around the world.
Jeanette is reading: In Memoriam by Alice Winn.
Cathal is reading Pet by Akwaeke Emezi.
Ailsa is reading The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, and The Trees by Percival Everett.
Pip is reading Reaching Tin River by Thea Astley.
Q: Who is the cat that is in many photos of Sappho?
A: Charlie is a rescue cat who lives in our store, and is about 8 years old. He loves exploring the bookshelves. I once found him looking at the “Love and Relationships” section! He loves hanging out at the front desk and lying on piles of books, waiting to be admired and patted. He has many fans and is regularly photographed by our customers. He is frequently featured on our social media so check him out there!
Q: Anything else you want to share about Sappho?
A: Sappho is more than just a bookshop. It’s a community, and there is always something going on. Come and see us!
Follow Sappho Books on Instagram and Facebook @sapphobooks for events and other news. Email shop@sapphobooks.com.au or music@dacapo.com.au for more information!
5 Tips for Completing the Dissertation
Lauren Sperandio Phelps from Columbia University’s GSAS Writing Studio is back to share useful tips with dissertation writers to help you stay balanced and avoid burnout as you work hard to get across the finish line!
#1 Don’t write alone
Especially at the end of the dissertation, it can be tempting to isolate yourself at the library or at your desk until you are finished. That’s a recipe for burnout. When we say “don’t write alone,” we’re not just saying to sit down and write with another person. We mean, don’t cut yourself off from friends, family, and fun. Make sure that you are connecting with the people in your life who are there to encourage you. In addition to writing support from colleagues, your advisors, and the writing studio, you need to stay connected to people who can be there for you in other ways. Friends and family are important sources of encouragement and support throughout this process.
#2 Make time for your hobbies
It is important to take the time to recharge. There are a very lucky few who are energized by their dissertation writing, but taking the time to do something you enjoy will ultimately help you stay motivated. You can't process what you've been working on if you don't give your brain a break. Whether it's crafting, running, or playing video games, make some kind of activity part of your routine to help you stay balanced so that you don’t feel completely overwhelmed and defeated.
#3 Small steps
Look back at the different tasks that have become part of the writing process. Remind yourself that working on your dissertation can look a lot of different ways besides simply writing. Things like formatting, gathering citations, reviewing notes are all part of this process. If one day writing is not coming to you, switch to one of these other small steps. There's a great saying out there that you're not always going to have 100% every single day, but you can give 100% of whatever you have. So some days you're at 20%, especially towards the end. But if you give all of that 20% and knock out some citations or maybe some copyright stuff, then you're still making progress towards your end goal. This stage is all about just inching forward because the finish line is so close!
#4 Mind your metaphors
Are the metaphors you are using to talk about writing your dissertation positive or negative? For example do you talk about it like cultivating a garden or do you talk about it like pulling teeth? It is important to be aware of your mindset. Instead of telling yourself “I’m ready for this to be over” or “I'm running a race and both my legs are broken,” remind yourself of metaphors like “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Reflect on how you’re talking and thinking about your dissertation so that you are not accidentally elevating the stress and anxiety that’s already there. These little words of encouragement can be so helpful.
#5 Do what works for you
At the end of the dissertation you’re tired. It can be incredibly tempting to feel like you need to completely redo the way that you write but you’ve gotten so close to the finish line already, and realistically, the end of your dissertation is not the time to completely revamp your writing process. Maybe you don't feel great about every piece of how your writing practice works, but if it is currently working and serving you, then stick with it. There is a lot of advice out there that tells people to do things like write early in the morning or maintain a strict, specific schedule. Don’t give into that pressure. If those things don’t work for you or feeling pressure to write a certain way adds to your stress, be self aware. Recognize, if what you’re doing works, just because the advice says one thing doesn't mean you have to follow it. Advice isn't one size fits all. The reality is we're all a little bit different and the rhythms of our lives just work differently.
Know a graduate student currently working on their dissertation? Share our newsletter with them so they can have access to other helpful free information in Graduate Students Corner
AHA Award Winners
The American Historical Association recently celebrated their 2024 prize winners! Below are just a few of the interviews with awardees who have been featured on the NBN discussing their fantastic books. Check out the AHA announcement and full list of winners here.
Tune in to Dylan C. Penningroth’s interview discussing his book, Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights which won The Littleton-Griswold Prize in US law and society, and The Beveridge Family Prize in the history of the US, Latin America, or Canada since 1492. Penningroth examines the last decades of slavery through the 1970s to upend the idea that African Americans avoided and were ignorant of the law until the 1940s. He reveals the ways that African Americans constantly engaged with the legal system and helped shape the law.
In this episode, Tristan Brown talks about his book, Laws of the Land: Fengshui and the State in Qing Dynasty China, which won The John K. Fairbank Prize in East Asian history since 1800. Brown examines fengshui, the knowledge of orienting structures, such as graves and houses, in accordance with well-established cosmological principles. He analyzes fengshui as a form of knowledge production and argues that the legal system’s entanglement with fengshui shows a vibrant interaction of various epistemological systems.
Listen to Ari Joskowicz share his book, Rain of Ash: Roma, Jews, and the Holocaust, winner of The George L. Mosse Prize in the intellectual and cultural history of Europe since 1500. He traces how historical narratives are developed and shared. In this compelling study, he analyzes Roma use of Jewish institutions, funding sources, and professional networks to gain acknowledgment and compensation for their suffering during the Holocaust.
In Since Time Immemorial: Native Custom and Law in Colonial Mexico, Yanna Yannakakis investigates the ways that the legal category of “Native custom,” that Indigenous people used in legal disputes in colonial Mexico, gained local meaning and shifted over time. She suggests that Indigenous claims to custom were a way to deal with historical change and ensure new rights for the future. Her work also demonstrates how imperial legal orders developed on the ground as well as from being imposed from above.
Listen to Kathryn Cramer Brownell share more about her book, 24/7 Politics: Cable Television and the Fragmenting of America from Watergate to Fox News, which won The Eugenia M. Palmegiano Prize in the history of journalism. She demonstrates that cable became a potent means of political communication that prioritized cult followings and loyalty to individual brands. Cable thus fundamentally reshaped party politics, and, in the process, sowed the seeds of democratic upheaval. Brownell argues that cable television itself is not to blame for today's rampant polarization and scandal politics, but the intentional restructuring of television as a political institution is.
Check out the New Books in History channel to hear more interviews with historians doing compelling research!
Scholarly Sources with Rebecca Charbonneau
Rebecca Charbonneau is a historian of science with expertise in radio astronomy and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). She is a historian of science by training, and earned her Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge. She is currently a Historian at the American Institute of Physics.
Her book Mixed Signals: Alien Communication Across the Iron Curtain was published by Polity Press in 2024.
Q: What are you reading right now?
A: It’s embarrassing that I haven’t read it up until now, but I just started reading The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. I’m an avid fan of science fiction. I’ve made it a goal to slowly work my way through the classics, and this one has been on my list for a while. So far, I find it deeply resonant, particularly because I’m a strong believer in the power of community, which is such a central theme in the story.
Q: What is your favorite book or essay to assign to give to people and why?
A: More Work for Mother: The Ironies Of Household Technology From The Open Hearth To The Microwave by Ruth Schwartz Cowan. The book examines the history of household technologies and challenges the assumption that advancements like washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and other "modern" appliances necessarily equated to liberation or less labor for women. Cowan argues that these technologies often shifted work rather than reducing it, reconfiguring the domestic workload in ways that still disproportionately burdened women. I think it’s an essential case study demonstrating that technology and "progress" don’t always lead to greater freedom or ease. It’s also a fantastic feminist intervention in the history of technology, urging us to critically evaluate who benefits— and who doesn’t— from technological innovation. I think about it every time I do laundry….
Q: Is there a book you read as a student that had a particularly profound impact on your trajectory as a scholar?
A: Yes! When I was a college student I picked up Galileo's Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and One Scholar's Search for Justice by Alice Dreger, just for fun. I was an astronomy-major-turned-art-history-major living in Rome for a summer doing research on Caravaggio paintings, and it just seemed like a funny title that piqued my interest. The author, a historian of science and medicine, had a career I had never heard of before, and I was stunned to discover I could combine my two research interests into a single job. I was so inspired by this discovery that I took the train from Rome up to Florence to view Galileo’s actual middle finger, where it currently resides in a glass jar in the Museo Galileo. I spent the entire train ride back scheming up ways to become a historian of astronomy.
Q: Which deceased writer would you most like to meet and why?
A: Carl Sagan. I think he was a genuinely beautiful writer. My favorite of his works is The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God, a collection of lectures and essays that pays homage to William James’ The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature. James’ work, originally published in 1902, is a seminal exploration of the nature of religious belief and experience. He examines how individuals across cultures and traditions seek meaning and connection. Sagan’s book mirrors this structure but turns its focus toward humanity's quest to understand the cosmos, blending science with philosophical and existential inquiry.
And that’s what I admire so much about him. Sagan wasn’t just a talented writer, scientist, and science communicator— he was also a visionary who embraced an interdisciplinary approach to science. He integrated the arts, philosophy, and history into his work, recognizing that the human pursuit of knowledge is as much about wonder and imagination as it is about empiricism. I’d love to discuss with him how he balanced these perspectives and how he might view the challenges and opportunities facing science today.
Q: What's the best book you've read in the past year?
A: I'm not sure if it's the best book I've read this year (too hard to pick!), but one that has really stuck with me is Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell. I write primarily about the 1960s and 70s, and cults were a significant part of the cultural landscape during those decades. The book offers an engaging survey not only of the history of cults but also of “cultish” language and behaviors and how they permeate many aspects of our lives. It explores why cults captivate people and how elements of cult thinking can affect even those who think they're too self-possessed to become drawn into cult influence. It gave me a lot to think about regarding religion, groupthink, and the roots of community. I’ve even applied some of its ideas to my research on SETI in the 60s and 70s. While much of the SETI community was deeply rooted in the world of science and physics, there were certainly some pseudoscientific (dare I say cultish) elements at play within parts of it, and the book helped me think more critically about those dynamics.
Q: Have you seen any documentaries that left an impression on you recently?
A: This might seem a bit funny or unexpected, but I recently became fascinated with the Netflix documentary Martha, directed by R.J. Cutler, about Martha Stewart. As evidenced by my recommendation of More Work for Mother, I’ve long been intrigued by questions surrounding the division of domestic and public spheres, how women navigate power, and whether women can occupy the role of an anti-hero. The documentary portrays Martha as a complex figure— abrasive, cold, perhaps power and money-hungry— but also as someone who elevated domestic labor, reframing it as an art form rather than a chore.
At the same time, her work also has an ambivalent legacy. By celebrating domestic labor, she simultaneously raised expectations for women, which some may find empowering, but others could view as reinforcing the burdens of traditional roles. The tension between her success and the societal pressures it may have exacerbated is endlessly fascinating to me— it’s a powerful lens for examining how women carve out power in constrained spaces, and how they can be both celebrated and punished for it.
Q: What do you plan on reading next?
A: I’m very excited to dig into Seb Falk’s The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science, which was recently awarded the Osterbrock Prize by the American Astronomical Society. The Light Ages is such an excellent title for a book on medieval astronomy, inverting the traditional narrative that tells us the “dark ages” were a period of scientific and creative doldrums in Europe. I can’t wait to see how Falk changes my perspective on this period of European history of science. I also had the pleasure of knowing him when I was a Ph.D. student at Cambridge, and it’s always great fun to read the works of friends and colleagues.
Q: What sparked your interest in researching the US and USSR search for extraterrestrial intelligence?
A: I first became interested in this particular topic when I stumbled across the book Intelligent Life in the Universe by Carl Sagan and Soviet astronomer Iosif S. Shklovsky during my master’s studies at Oxford. The book was a collaborative effort by a Soviet and an American, both involved in their respective sides of the space race, on the peculiar topic of whether there might be intelligent civilizations in our galaxy. I couldn’t believe how such a book could have possibly come to be, published at such a tense time for scientists. In investigating its origins, I fell down a rabbit hole of the Cold War pursuit of contact with ET and discovered the network of collaboration across the Iron Curtain during this period. I was entranced by the parallels I saw– scientists who were interested in communication with aliens, who were simultaneously challenged by communication barriers here on Earth.
Q: If you could send one message to aliens, what would you say?
A: I think the Voyager Golden Record had it almost quite right. In my view, music and art represent the highest achievements of our species. I’d send a collection of our greatest hits (perhaps some of the terrible ones, too) for alien art historians and music critics to unpack and interpret. Too often we hear about messages that strive to find the universal language of the cosmos. I’m much more interested in sharing what makes humanity unique— the complexity, diversity, and creativity that define our species. My message wouldn’t be concerned with delivering a universal message, but about offering a glimpse into the intricate tapestry of human experience, with all its contradictions and flaws!
Q: Who should read Mixed Signals: Alien Communication Across the Iron Curtain?
A: Anyone who is curious about how science, politics, and culture intersect. Anyone interested in the efforts of the scientific community to investigate one of humanity’s most profound questions: are we alone in the universe?
Mixed Signals examines two sides of science: its role in warfare and destruction, and its capacity for innovation, peace, and exploration. It delves into the uncomfortable tension between these opposing themes, as it shows how scientists strove to answer this important question about our place in the universe. In doing so, the book illuminates both humanity’s hopes— for connection, communication, and knowledge— and our fears, including the possibility of self-destruction and the challenges of communicating not only with extraterrestrial civilizations but even among ourselves.
Q: Anything else you’d like to share?
A: Just my gratitude. I’m incredibly grateful to the many mentors, colleagues, and thinkers who have influenced my work and continue to challenge and inspire me. I’ve alluded to the power of community a couple of times in this interview, and I want to emphasize how Mixed Signals grew out of an amazing community of historians, astronomers, and friends. Although writing is often said to be a solitary task, I often feel as though I cannot take full credit for my book as I certainly couldn’t have done it alone. In many ways Mixed Signals is a book about community: scientists who wanted to reach out not only across national borders but across the vastness of space for connection and communication. As I wrote this book, I felt that powerful pull towards connection and curiosity every step of the way.
Listen to Rebecca discuss here fascinating research, and subscribe to the New Books Network History of Science Channel to catch more excellent interviews like this one!
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