Marcus Rediker
Historian (from below), award-winning author, filmmaker, playwright, Distinguished Professor, University of Pittsburgh
marcusrediker.com
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- Peter Linebaugh and I just published an essay about the life & work of Christopher Hill, one of the greatest historians of the 20c, in @thenation.com: “In 1965, [Hill] was elected master of Balliol College. History from below had arrived at the Oxford high table.” www.thenation.com/article/soci...
- Publication day! A four-year voyage comes to an end as *Freedom Ship* sails into port. Published by @VikingBooks. Thanks to all of you for your interest along the way. Available for purchase here: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/566407...
- I’ve known @martinespadapoet.bsky.social as a friend and comrade for 27 years. Every time he brings out a new book, it’s a big event for me. So it is with *Jailbreak of Sparrows*, published last month — it’s peoples’ poetry & peoples’ history all in one. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/724962...
- It is always a special thrill to receive a book a former student has published. Thanks and congratulations to Doug Egerton, whom I taught at Georgetown University longer ago than either of us would care to remember. Great title for a book about a towering figure! academic.oup.com/book/58911
- A fond memory from 2018, with Françoise Vergès, Angela Davis, and Tariq Ali at Nanterre University in Paris.
- Coming soon -- publication date is Tuesday, May 13, next week! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/566407...
- Our actor Mark Povinelli in Benjamin Lay’s cave in Abington, PA where the radical abolitionist lived for years. Join us for our play, *The Return of Benjamin Lay*, at @quintessencephl.bsky.social through May 18. www.quintessencetheatre.org/thereturnofb...
- A very kind endorsement from my friend Ed Baptist for my book *Freedom Ship*, which comes out next week, May 13! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/566407...
- The decision by Gregg Popovich to step down as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs brings back a very fond memory. I got a kind note from him a few years ago as he was reading my book *The Slave Ship*.
- We had a wildly enthusiastic opening of *The Return of Benjamin Lay* last night at the @quintessencephl.bsky.social in Philadelphia, after which the audience cheered Mark Povinelli and did not want him to leave the stage! The play runs through May 18. www.quintessencetheatre.org/thereturnofb...
- I am thrilled to say that our very own Mark Povinelli has been nominated for a prestigious New York Drama Desk Award for "Outstanding Solo Performance" in *The Return of Benjamin Lay*. Congratulations, Mark! The play continues at @quintessencephl.bsky.social in Philadelphia through May 18. Join us!
- When an op-ed you wrote seventeen years ago, "Atonement for the Slave Trade" for the *LA Times* is republished without your knowledge or consent in *Gulf News* in the United Arab Emirates -- what is going on? gulfnews.com/opinion/op-e...
- It is entirely appropriate that on this Mayday our play, *The Return of Benjamin Lay*, should have its first public performance at the @quintessencephl.bsky.social in Philadelphia! Here through May 18; join us! And have a happy international workers’ day! www.quintessencetheatre.org/thereturnofb...
- Up goes the new set for the run of our play, *The Return of Benajmin Lay*, in Philadelphia's @quintessencephl.bsky.social. Our first preview is on Mayday and the play runs through May 18. The art deco Sedgwick Theatre is gorgeous; lots of character! www.quintessencetheatre.org/thereturnofb...
- Three years ago, I helped to recruit Guillermo & Jorge Diaz-Graham to join the University of Pittsburgh Men’s basketball team. They have been model student-athletes, always team first. I am sorry to see them transfer, but I wish them all the best. They are great young men with bright futures ahead.
- Kind words from my friend Amitav Ghosh (@amitav.bsky.social) about my new book, *Freedom Ship: The Uncharted History of Escaping Slavery by Sea* to be published by @VikingBooks May 13. Pre-order here: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/566407...
- Peter Linebaugh and I have co-written an essay on the life and work of Christopher Hill, one the greatest historians of the last century. It will appear soon in @thenation.com. Christopher was a big influence on both us; we dedicated our book *The Many Headed-Hydra* to him and his wife Bridget Hill.
- Here is an excellent review of our latest graphic novel, *Revolution by Fire: New York’s Afro-Irish Uprising of 1741, A Graphic Novel*. The review is written by Hank Kennedy and was published in *Comics Journal*. www.tcj.com/reviews/revo...
- Here is another preview of our play, *The Return of Benjamin Lay*, which will be staged at the @quintessencephl.bsky.social May 1-18. Please join us and help spread the word to people in and around Philadelphia! billypenn.com/2025/04/24/s...
- These books embody a dialectic, from the violent repression of the slave ship to the triumphant resistance of the freedom ship. The descendants of the those who suffered the horrors of the Middle Passage turned the ship and seas into sites of liberation. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/566407...
- I don’t usually reread my books, but recently I had to reread one of them because I had to give a lecture on the subject and had forgotten a lot of what I had said! It was a strange experience, like visiting a ghostly former version of yourself.
- Here is our first preview for the opening of *The Return of Benjamin Lay* at Quintessence Theatre (@quintessencephl.bsky.social) in Philadelphia May 1 — a play “for the moment! www.phillyvoice.com/return-of-be...
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- Always a thrill. I just received my first copy of *Freedom Ship* — a distillation of five years of work and a companion volume to *The Slave Ship*. The book will be published by @vikingbooks.bsky.social May 13. Pre-order here: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/566407...
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- Here is part two of the podcast I did on pirates of the Golden Age with @wrkclasshistory.bsky.social. Check it out for an account of the struggles of seafaring motley crews on the high seas! www.patreon.com/posts/e104-p...
- Please join us for the launch of my new book, *Freedom Ship: The Uncharted History of Escaping Slavery by Sea,* at @cityofasylum.bsky.social, 40 W. North Avenue in Pittsburgh, 3:00 - 4:00 pm, Sunday, June 22. I'll be in conversation with Tony Norman. RSVP here: cityofasylum.org/program/pghw...
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- A fond memory, a meeting with the late Julius Scott in 2018, to celebrate the publication of his prize-winning book, *The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution*, with Robin Kelley & Peter Linebaugh as discussants. Here’s the video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlSX...
- Coming soon, May 13, my new book *Freedom Ship: The Uncharted History of Escaping Slavery by Sea* to be published by @vikingbooks.bsky.social. Thanks to Angela Davis for the kind words. Pre-order here: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/566407...
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- My pleasure to give a lecture, “Rethinking the Amistad Rebellion,” at the New Haven Museum as part of a public humanities program, linked to museum’s redesigned permanent exhibition on the topic from a “history from below” perspective. Good to see at a time when such museum work is under attack.
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- Some reactions to our play *The Return of Benjamin Lay* on opening night in NYC. www.instagram.com/benlayplay/r...
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- For all of you pirate lovers out there, here is a podcast interview I did with @wrkclasshistory.bsky.social about the history of piracy as seen from below. I hope you enjoy it!
- It was my good fortune yesterday to attend a theatre day involving three Pittsbugh Public high schools, organized by @quantumtheatre.bsky.social, during which students acted out plays of their own based on what they saw in *The Return of Benjamin Lay*. Inspiring and heartwarming!
- Very happy to see this starred review of *Freedom Ship* in *Library Journal*. The book will be published by @vikingbooks.bsky.social on May 13, 2025. www.libraryjournal.com/review/freed...
- Seen in the wilds of New York, street art about the kickass radical abolitionist bad Bennie Lay by @quakerpirate.bsky.social. Be sure to catch our stage play *The Return of Benjamin Lay * at the Sheen Center in Greenwich Village through April 6. www.sheencenter.org/events/detai...
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