I recently spoke with Nathan Hopson about Manga’s First Century for the New Books Network podcast. The episode is available now on the NBN website and through your podcast feeds.
interview
Sidewise Awards
As announced on File 770 a few days ago, I’m excited to be one of the three new judges joining the Sidewise Awards jury. I’ll start reading books for the 2026 awards year. As a history nerd, I’ve always been a fan of alternate history, and I’m excited to have the excuse to really dig into the subgenre and highlight exciting works in it. I hope to see you at Worldcon and World Fantasy in 2026! And if you’re looking to read one great work of alternate history, I highly recommend the 2025 winner Sargassa by Sophie Burnham, or the classic Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson.
Also, I was interviewed last month for this article in The New Republic on the One Piece flag at protests.
Manga’s First Century: The reviews are in!
Well, two of them anyway.
Publishers Weekly called the book “a vivid ode to the variety and depth of an enduringly popular art form” in their positive review.
And this past week Kirkus Reviews published a very positive review, calling it, “Deeply considered and information rich, a useful, fascinating work of comics history.”
I was also interviewed for this piece on NPR and this piece on DW.com, both about Gen Z protestors and the One Piece flag.
Interview at CBAMR
I’m interviewed over at Comic Book and Movie Reviews today, talking about Manga’s First Century. Thanks to CBAMR for the opportunity!
Also, last Friday I was quoted in this CNN story on protesters in Asia carrying the Straw Hat flag.
Talking about Toriyama Akira on The World
I spoke to The World in Boston about Toriyama Akira’s legacy yesterday, after his tragically young death a week ago, at the age of 68, was announced. You can listen to the interview online.
Podcast: “The Making of a Historian”
I talked to my former grad school colleague Brendan Mackie on his podcast, “The Making of a Historian,” about manga and anime after 1963. This is definitely one of my favorite conversations about these topics and I’m really glad to have had the opportunity.
Andrea Horbinski 