Leonard Cassuto
NEWS
ASU’s Humanities Institute hosts Dr. Leonard Cassuto
20 March 2025
ASU’s Humanities Institute welcomes renowned scholar Leonard Cassuto, emphasizing the transformative power of strong academic writing in shaping important discussions.
Literary Hub - Feature
4 November 2024
Very pleased that Academic Writing as if Readers Matter is being excerpted on Literary Hub.
Beat the Big Guys Pocast
4 November 2024
Thanks to Sandy Rosenthal for this enjoyable podcast conversation about Academic Writing as if Readers Matter
Author Interview with The Harvard Gazette
4 November 2024
Author interview with me about Academic Writing as if Readers Matter in The Harvard Gazette
Forbes Article featuring *Academic Writing as if Readers Matter*
4 November 2024
Some good words from Forbes about Academic Writing as if Readers Matter
New Books Network with Steven Rodriguez
4 November 2024
Check it out here!
Office Hours with John Gardner
4 November 2024
Episode 131- Leonard Cassuto- Student-Centered Graduate Education
Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning Podcast
4 November 2024
Season 8, Episode 3: Why is There No Training on How to Teach Graduate Students? with Leonard Cassuto
Future U Podcast
4 November 2024
On Tuesday, February 20, 2024, I had the pleasure to talk with hosts Jeff and Michael on the Future U Podcast to discuss the role of Ph.D. students and the implications of the challenges they face for higher education.
Happy Doc Podcast
18 January 2022
They say that the secret to enjoying golf is to remember your good shots and forget your bad ones. Making this podcast on The New PhD felt like hitting a good golf shot.
The New PhD is being translated into Chinese
18 January 2022
Just got the news that The New PhD will soon be translated into Chinese. I don’t know why I get a charge out of putting books on my shelf that I can’t even read, but I do, and there you have it.
Phd Futures Now! Bonus Episode
15 May 2021
May 12 was a big day for the podcasting department! I had the honor of being on the Phd Futures Now podcast again. You can check it out here.
Interviewed on the New Books Network Podcast
15 May 2021
Podcast alert: On May 12, Bob Weisbuch and I talked about The New PhD on the New Books Network. Click here to check it out!
Interviewed on PhD Futures Now! Podcast
30 April 2021
A pleasure to talk with the wise Teresa Mangum about the troubled higher ed landscape on April 27. (Can you call a problem a “crisis” if you’ve been dealing with it for 50 years?) Thanks to PhD Futures Now for this podcast!
Interviewed on Communication Matters
30 April 2021
Thanks to the National Communication Association for having Bob Weisbuch and me on their excellent podcast , “Communication Matters,” on April 8, to talk about The New PhD (our book) and a new PhD (for grad students, in the world). Please give it a listen.
Interviewed on Leonard Lopate at Large
24 February 2021
Must-see radio encore: My coauthor, Bob Weisbuch, and I talked about The New PhD on “Leonard Lopate at Large” on February 11th. Here is a recording of the event.
The New PhD Reviewed in Forbes
24 February 2021
In a reflection of growing bipartisanship, The New PhD is reviewed in Forbes. Here is a link to read the full review.
Interviewed on NPR’s All Things Considered
24 February 2021
On January 23, my coauthor, Bob Weisbuch, and I appeared on All Things Considered to talk about The New PhD. (Actually, I should drop the false cool and add an exclam because I think that this is really neat!) Here is the link to our segment.
Quoted in The Paper of Record
18 August 2018
The Ronell case that’s currently attracting headlines is rather bizarre, but it has some deep roots—and those I have something to say about. Read NYT columnist Ginia Bellafante’s take here.
Teaching a Professional Development Workshop at Princeton
12 April 2018
If you were following me (I mean, physically following me) and wondering why I kept driving to Princeton during this past fall and spring, it was to teach a professional development seminar, “American Higher Education: History and Challenges,” to a core group of graduate students there, together with various faculty and administrators who also attended.
The Princeton Graduate School reported on it here.
(Also, I suggest you try following me on twitter instead. It burns less gas.)
Talking back to Damon Runyon
27 March 2018
And so it appears that I appear on March 28th at the The Actors Company Theater after an amusing theater production called Three Wise Guys which is based on the writings of Damon Runyon to do what is called a talkback after the show. I am not in the habit of engaging in such manner of activities, but I have no doubt that all of the citizens on hand have a good time. If you like to be one of them, you look here for further details.
All Publicity is Good Publicity Dept.
6 February 2018
It’s possible for a person to live a whole life without being attacked in Commentary magazine. Not me, though. I’m just glad they’re reading. Here’s what happens when they do.
Swedish translation of interview with me
30 January 2017
Take note: Weronika Pawlak, a translator at Jagiellonian University in Poland, has just published this translation into Swedish of an interview with me that was originally published in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Danish translation of a page from this site!
27 September 2016
In a treat for my many Danish readers, the translator Mille Eriksen has translated a page from this site. Read all about Hard-Boiled Sentimentality in Danish here.
Interview on Jack London
17 April 2016
Dan Schneider, the founder of the “Cosmoetica” interview show talks to me and my old friend Jay Williams about Jack London, an author I’ve taught and have written for many years. Watch it here.
Interviewed in the Washington Post
6 December 2015
Jeff Selingo, one of the more astute observers of the American higher ed scene, turns his eye to graduate school in his December 4th column. I and my book figure heavily in his assessment.
Podcast on GradSquare
4 December 2015
In no time I’m becoming a podcast veteran. Marco Altmirano, the entrepreneurial PhD who founded GradSquare.com, did this nice one with me in November.
"Year of the Humanities" Podcast with me
13 November 2015
The University of Pittsburgh has designated this year as “Year of the Humanities.” My visit last month was one of the events that will mark the year, and while I was there, Dan Kubis, a Pitt PhD who works in the provost’s office there, conducted a podcast interview with me that was recently edited and posted. I thought Dan did a great job; he pointed some things out to me about my work that I wasn’t fully aware of myself.
Interview with me in the Chronicle of Higher Ed
9 November 2015
I’m used to seeing my name in the Chronicle of Higher Education, but as the writer, not the subject of someone else’s article. The table is turned here.
Interview with me by journalist Freddie DeBoer
3 November 2015
Here’http://bit.ly/20s9VNT is an interview with me about The Graduate School Mess by journalist (and recent PhD) Freddie DeBoer. I read it and think it fascinating from start to breathless finish.
Brian Lehrer Show
1 October 2015
Long time listener, first time guest: me on the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC, the New York NPR show. Listen here.
Podcast on the New Books Network
26 September 2015
The Graduate School Mess has now taken me into the world of twenty-first century broadcasting with my first podcast, on the New Books Network. It was fun to make this; my interviewer, Marshall Poe, the head of the network, knows his business. To listen, follow this link.
Excerpt in Salon
19 September 2015
I try to act, you know, blase and all like a professional author, when I get publicity. But I must admit that it’s pretty cool to have my book excerpted in Salon.com.
Review in the Atlantic
18 September 2015
In which “ The Graduate School Mess gets its day in The Atlantic, a magazine I actually subscribe to.
Inside Higher Ed review
6 September 2015
Inside Higher Ed has reviewed The Graduate School Mess. The reporter also interviewed me. Read all about it here.
The Press Pursuit Continues
2 September 2015
I continue to be hounded by the fourth estate, but somehow I bear up under the harsh glare of their scrutiny. This time they pinned me down under a video camera too. Check it all out here.
Fortune Magazine
30 July 2015
I wasn’t expecting to see my own byline in Fortune Magazine, even via reprint, but if you live long enough, anything can happen. Click here and you’ll see it too.
Me on TV, talking about Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman
13 July 2015
So here I am on Fox TV’s New York morning show talking about Harper Lee’s new novel without the benefit of having read it. (Fortunately, no one else had either—it won’t be released till tomorrow.)
New Book Preview
29 June 2015
The argument of The Graduate School Mess is on display in this June, 2015 essay on graduate teaching.
Book Launch Scheduled! September 11th, Cambridge MA
12 May 2015
The Graduate School Mess: What Caused It and How We Can Fix It is on its way. Harvard University Press will publish it in September, and I will journey to the source to officially launch the book at a Friday Forum sponsored by the Harvard Bookstore. Time: 3 pm.
Place: The Harvard Bookstore. Details here.
Geoffrey Marshall Mentoring Award
16 March 2015
So I won a mentoring award from the Northeast Association of Graduate Schools. Now the press is hounding me, as you can see here.
(Thanks to Fordham’s graduate dean, Eva Badowska, for nominating me, and to James Van Wyck for helping to coordinate the nomination. And to my wonderful graduate students, past and present.)
"Fictions Evangelicals Read" at Drew University
16 March 2015
My PhD student, James Van Wyck, has curated an exhibition on American evangelical fiction at Drew University. I showed up for the opening to celebrate James’s impressive achievement. Coverage here.
NY Observer profiles me
21 January 2015
Hard-nosed investigation of NYC’s Leading Professors, under which I bear up somehow.
a personal essay
11 November 2014
I write about myself all the time, but in the service of larger aims. This one is just about my experience: the essay is called I Just Wanted to Hear Your Voice.
My "5 Best" Column in the Wall Street Journal
5 September 2014
Who knew that the first daily newspaper to publish my picture would be the Wall Street Journal? I was invited to write one of their “5 Best” columns; my subject was “tough guys.”
Read it here, or download a PDF.
In which I take up the twitter gantlet: @LCassuto
28 July 2014
I will admit that I resisted tweeting, and will also admit that after a couple of months at it, I like certain aspects of it. Follow me and see if I’m doing a decent job of it: @LCassuto.
Wall Street Journal
13 December 2013
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted to this part of the site since I’m not sure what counts as “news.” I write a column for the Chronicle of Higher Education almost every month, so it doesn’t feel newsworthy to me when one of those comes out (and they may be found on the “Other Writing” part of this site right after they appear on the Chronicle’s).
But some writing of mine is more occasional, so I’ve decided to proclaim it “news.” The latest such news is this essay on Edith Wharton’s The Custom of the Country that appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
Woody Guthrie
24 November 2012
The research for this article on Woody Guthrie didn’t quite take me from California to the New York Island, but it came close: I roamed and rambled from Brooklyn to Oklahoma, and had a thoroughly great time doing so. The piece was subsequently picked up by Andrew Sullivan at the Daily Beast and The Utne Reader.
Cambridge Companion to Baseball Wins an Award
5 June 2012
The Cambridge Companion to Baseball just won the award for Best Anthology from the North American Society for Sports Historians (NASSH)! The editors would like to congratulate and thank all of the contributors for their great work.
More Hard-Hitting Investigative Journalism
2 April 2012
I really don’t know how much longer I can stand this incessant probing.
Korean Edition of Hard-Boiled Sentimentality Published
15 March 2012
The Korean translation of Hard-Boiled Sentimentality has been published by Mujintree Press. My delight is undiminished by my inability to read my own name on the cover.
Culture Wars Redux: The stormy early reception of The Cambridge History of the American Novel
3 October 2011
The first review of The Cambridge History of the American Novel appeared in The Wall Street Journal. It was an extravagant attack by the conservative commentator Joseph Epstein, who described it as the work of “barbarians.” (You can read it here.)
The barbarians remain grateful for the attention. We’ve used the opportunity to respond at length. First to the mattresses was my coeditor Ben Reiss, who wrote this piece in Slate. The following week, my own essay appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Read these all together and then I dare you to tell me that the culture wars are over.
Entering Ukranian popular culture
5 September 2011
My essay on baseball and American innocence has been translated into Ukranian here.
Manchester Guardian sponsors a live chat based on one of my columns
23 August 2011
The chat took place on July 1, actually, but the best bits, as they call them, were just published. If you’re interested, you can find the whole transcript here.
Link to baseball lecture I gave in April
16 June 2011
My talk at BC in April was captured on video. You can watch it here.
Here also is a link to an interview of me on Rochester’s NPR station by baseball aficionado Curt Smith. The focus is The Cambridge Companion to Baseball.
Lots of new appearances listed!
15 March 2011
With two new books (The Cambridge Companion to Baseball, The Cambridge History of the American Novel) coming out this spring, I’ll be appearing often to talk about them. For details see the “Appearances” section of this site.
New Book Coming Out! The Cambridge Companion to Baseball
28 February 2011
Years in the making and now upon us with as much fanfare as Cambridge University Press can muster, The Cambridge Companion to Baseball is the most concentrated baseball book ever: a medium-sized book that contains everything you’d ever need to know about baseball. No less an authority than Jim Bouton (my own nominee for greatest baseball writer, ever) calls it “the perfect companion,” and if you disagree with him I’ll have to ask you to step outside.
Official publication date of The Cambridge Companion to Baseball is April 7th, but you can order it now from the homepage of this website.
Interview with me about Art of Captivity Exhibition
6 October 2010
This interview with me ran in Idiom art magazine on October 5th.
Follow this link to some intramural Fordham coverage.
Exhibition: The Art of Captivity
2 September 2010
Two art exhibitions have lately grown out of a course on captivity literature that I devised in 2007. “The Art of Captivity, Part One,” which marks my art curating debut, will open to the public on September 22nd at Fordham University’s Center Gallery in the lobby of the Loewenstein Building at 113 West 60th Street. (It’s free.) I’ll be leading a formal opening and panel discussion featuring some of the artists in the exhibition on Tuesday, October 5th at 6 pm. The exhibition runs until October 28th.
The second exhibition, “The Art of Captivity, Part 2,” will open on October 26th at the Susan Eley Fine Art Gallery (46 West 90th St., 2nd Floor), and will run until December 3rd.
For information about both exhibitions, including images of the artwork, go here. A downloadable exhibition catalogue is in the late stages of preparation. I’ll post another news item when it’s ready.
I’ll be teaching two courses related to the exhibit this fall.
The Today Show!
4 August 2010
So one thing led to another the past couple of days until I found myself on the Today Show this morning. Here is the clip:
Keynote address in Denmark
27 July 2010
I’ll be a keynote speaker at a conference in Aarhus, Denmark, on “Emotion, Media, and Crime.” Read more about the conference here.
Even more appearances!
27 October 2009
I just posted a handful of 2010 events in the “appearances” section of the site.
More new appearances
30 August 2009
I’ve updated the appearances section of this site with details of various engagements this fall.
Hard-Boiled Sentimentality Nominated for a Macavity Award
4 May 2009
Well, the Edgar Award went to another book last week (dang), but nominations spring eternal (I hope). Mystery Readers International just nominated Hard-Boiled Sentimentality for a Macavity Award in the Nonfiction/Critical category. The details are here. The Macavity Awards will be given out at Bouchercon in October.
New Appearances, Writing
27 April 2009
I’m scheduled for some new appearances in the next few months in New York and Boston. Also, check out the “Other Writing” page for some new additions, including my sportswriting debut.
"Looking for Ripley" on BBC Radio 4
1 March 2009
BBC Radio 4 aired its documentary on Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley character yesterday, February 28th. I’m one of interviewees on the program (or should I say, programme). You can listen to it on the BBC site until next Saturday, March 7th.
Patricia Highsmith Documentary
30 January 2009
I’ll be appearing in a radio documentary on Patricia Highsmith that’s being produced by BBC Radio 4 for airing on February 28th at 10:30 a.m. UK time. You can listen from the BBC Radio 4 website. Further details soon.
Hard-Boiled Sentimentality Nominated for an Edgar Award!
16 January 2009
Hard-Boiled Sentimentality was nominated today for an Edgar Award in the Critical/Biographical category by the Mystery Writers of America. See the full list of Edgar nominees here. The awards banquet is on April 30, 2009.
Hard-Boiled Sentimentality named one of the LA Times's ten best crime and mystery books of the year
5 December 2008
Here’s columnist Sarah Weinman’s list
Radio Appearance Saturday 11/15
12 November 2008
I’ll be appearing on WFUV’s Fordham Conversations program this Saturday, November 15th, talking about Hard-Boiled Sentimentality. The program airs at 7 a.m. In the unlikely event that you miss it, it will be archived here. Here’s the podcast.
I’ve been on the program twice before, talking about freak shows and the current state of the university; you can look those programs up in the archives as well.
Hard-Boiled Sentimentality reviewed in the LA Times
18 October 2008
Crime writing aficionada Sarah Weinman gets my affiliation wrong (which she corrects in her blog) but she gets the book right in this review (which has already been reprinted in Newsday).
Team of Investigative Journalists Combs Over My Life
14 September 2008
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