Marcus Rediker
@marcusrediker.bsky.social
Historian (from below), award-winning author, filmmaker, playwright, Distinguished Professor, University of Pittsburgh
marcusrediker.com
marcusrediker.com
Artist Leah Gordon’s exhibition, “Monument to the Vanquished Peasant,” is now up and running at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry through Jan. 26, 2026. Leah designed a special wallpaper for the show, featuring the many-headed hydra. I love it!
www.theherbert.org/news/333/a-n...
www.theherbert.org/news/333/a-n...
November 4, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Artist Leah Gordon’s exhibition, “Monument to the Vanquished Peasant,” is now up and running at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry through Jan. 26, 2026. Leah designed a special wallpaper for the show, featuring the many-headed hydra. I love it!
www.theherbert.org/news/333/a-n...
www.theherbert.org/news/333/a-n...
Last week I saw another painting by Caravaggio in person: “Supper at Emmaus” (1606), at the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan. For his technical mastery, innovative methods, and psychological/emotional depth, I regard him as the world’s greatest painter. I wish I could write history the way he paints.
November 2, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Last week I saw another painting by Caravaggio in person: “Supper at Emmaus” (1606), at the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan. For his technical mastery, innovative methods, and psychological/emotional depth, I regard him as the world’s greatest painter. I wish I could write history the way he paints.
Next Thursday, October 30, in Milan, at 6:30 pm, I will speak, at the invitation of my friend and editor Raf Scelsi, on the theme “Piracy and the Maritime Origins of the Working Class.” Join us at the Shake Bookshop, Via Ingegnoli 13.
October 23, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Next Thursday, October 30, in Milan, at 6:30 pm, I will speak, at the invitation of my friend and editor Raf Scelsi, on the theme “Piracy and the Maritime Origins of the Working Class.” Join us at the Shake Bookshop, Via Ingegnoli 13.
The smile on my face as I lectured at the University of St. Thomas two weeks ago says it all. I had a great time on my visit, thanks to Kanishka Chowdhury, his colleagues, and his students.
October 20, 2025 at 11:30 AM
The smile on my face as I lectured at the University of St. Thomas two weeks ago says it all. I had a great time on my visit, thanks to Kanishka Chowdhury, his colleagues, and his students.
We offer through @pmpress.bsky.social a special discount on our children’s book, *Fearless Benjamin: The Quaker Dwarf who Fought Slavery*, co-written with Michelle Markel and illustrated by Sarah Bachman. Use OCTOBER at checkout for a 20% discount.
pmpress.org/index.php?l=...
pmpress.org/index.php?l=...
October 19, 2025 at 11:42 AM
We offer through @pmpress.bsky.social a special discount on our children’s book, *Fearless Benjamin: The Quaker Dwarf who Fought Slavery*, co-written with Michelle Markel and illustrated by Sarah Bachman. Use OCTOBER at checkout for a 20% discount.
pmpress.org/index.php?l=...
pmpress.org/index.php?l=...
Also from my collection, the great Haitian artist, Frantz Zéphirin's painting entitled *The Spirit of the Indian Facing Colonization*, depicting the Spanish ship, *Conquistador*; the mask of red death killing an indigenous woman; and the face of the African who will replace her.
October 18, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Also from my collection, the great Haitian artist, Frantz Zéphirin's painting entitled *The Spirit of the Indian Facing Colonization*, depicting the Spanish ship, *Conquistador*; the mask of red death killing an indigenous woman; and the face of the African who will replace her.
As many of you know, I collect Haitian art. The most famous painting in my collection is Frantz Zephirin’s *The Slave Ship Brooks*, which has been exhibited around the world, including the 2022 Venice Biennale. Here are photos of the painting and of Frantz when he had just completed it.
October 17, 2025 at 11:13 AM
As many of you know, I collect Haitian art. The most famous painting in my collection is Frantz Zephirin’s *The Slave Ship Brooks*, which has been exhibited around the world, including the 2022 Venice Biennale. Here are photos of the painting and of Frantz when he had just completed it.
Here is a lovely blog post by @leehall.bsky.social, for our book launch of *Fearless Benjamin*, Tues., Nov 11. I love the title: "It’s Never Too Late to Have a Truth-Filled Childhood.” Please mark your calendars, spread the word, and join us for the event!
www.radnorquakers.net/its-never-to...
www.radnorquakers.net/its-never-to...
October 15, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Here is a lovely blog post by @leehall.bsky.social, for our book launch of *Fearless Benjamin*, Tues., Nov 11. I love the title: "It’s Never Too Late to Have a Truth-Filled Childhood.” Please mark your calendars, spread the word, and join us for the event!
www.radnorquakers.net/its-never-to...
www.radnorquakers.net/its-never-to...
It’s publication day! Our children’s book, *Fearless Benjamin: The Quaker Dwarf who Fought Slavery*, co-written with Michelle Markel and illustrated by Sarah Bachman, is out today with @pmpress.bsky.social. Use BEN! at checkout for a 20% discount. Help spread the word!
pmpress.org/index.php?l=...
pmpress.org/index.php?l=...
October 14, 2025 at 11:01 AM
It’s publication day! Our children’s book, *Fearless Benjamin: The Quaker Dwarf who Fought Slavery*, co-written with Michelle Markel and illustrated by Sarah Bachman, is out today with @pmpress.bsky.social. Use BEN! at checkout for a 20% discount. Help spread the word!
pmpress.org/index.php?l=...
pmpress.org/index.php?l=...
It was my great pleasure last night to speak, along with James Robinson, organizer Peter Rachleff, Walter Greason, and Ben Mchie at the East Side Freedom Library, an inspiring community center and liberated zone in St. Paul, MN! Thanks to Ry Siggelkow for the photo.
October 7, 2025 at 1:36 PM
It was my great pleasure last night to speak, along with James Robinson, organizer Peter Rachleff, Walter Greason, and Ben Mchie at the East Side Freedom Library, an inspiring community center and liberated zone in St. Paul, MN! Thanks to Ry Siggelkow for the photo.
Excited to announce, two new translations of *The Many-Headed Hydra* appear this month: in Catalán, translated by Marta Cazorla Rodríguez, Manifest Books, Barcelona, and in Polish, translated by Andrzej Wojtasik, by Praktyka Teoretyczna, Warsaw. Thanks to all who gave new life to a 25-year old book!
October 6, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Excited to announce, two new translations of *The Many-Headed Hydra* appear this month: in Catalán, translated by Marta Cazorla Rodríguez, Manifest Books, Barcelona, and in Polish, translated by Andrzej Wojtasik, by Praktyka Teoretyczna, Warsaw. Thanks to all who gave new life to a 25-year old book!
Happy to announce, we will launch our children’s book, *Fearless Benjamin* Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 6:00 pm at the Abington Quaker Meeting House, where Benjamin Lay worshipped and where he is buried. See the flyer below for more info. Mark your calendars, join us, & spread the word! @pmpress.bsky.social
October 2, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Happy to announce, we will launch our children’s book, *Fearless Benjamin* Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 6:00 pm at the Abington Quaker Meeting House, where Benjamin Lay worshipped and where he is buried. See the flyer below for more info. Mark your calendars, join us, & spread the word! @pmpress.bsky.social
Sat., Oct. 4, at 2:00 pm EDT it will be my pleasure to speak about my new book *Freedom Ship* with the #slaveryarchive Book Club. Please register through the link below and join us! Warm thanks to @araujohistorian.bsky.social and Alex Gil for organizing the event.
us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
October 1, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Sat., Oct. 4, at 2:00 pm EDT it will be my pleasure to speak about my new book *Freedom Ship* with the #slaveryarchive Book Club. Please register through the link below and join us! Warm thanks to @araujohistorian.bsky.social and Alex Gil for organizing the event.
us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Next Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 6:30 pm I will speak about my new book *Freedom Ship* in McNeely Hall, Room 100, at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis. Thanks to Kanishka Chowdhury for organizing the event. Join us!
uofstthomasmn.my.salesforce-sites.com/summit__Summ...
uofstthomasmn.my.salesforce-sites.com/summit__Summ...
September 30, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Next Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 6:30 pm I will speak about my new book *Freedom Ship* in McNeely Hall, Room 100, at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis. Thanks to Kanishka Chowdhury for organizing the event. Join us!
uofstthomasmn.my.salesforce-sites.com/summit__Summ...
uofstthomasmn.my.salesforce-sites.com/summit__Summ...
My blurb: "Manuel Barcia brilliantly shows how the concept ‘pirate’ … served the vast and violent purposes of empire. He also demonstrates that the theme of piracy broadly conceived now attracts the best scholars exploring the biggest issues in global history.”
yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
September 26, 2025 at 10:55 AM
My blurb: "Manuel Barcia brilliantly shows how the concept ‘pirate’ … served the vast and violent purposes of empire. He also demonstrates that the theme of piracy broadly conceived now attracts the best scholars exploring the biggest issues in global history.”
yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
Always a pleasure to visit St. Nicholas Church in Millvale, PA, and to see the spectacular murals painted by Maxo Vanka in 1937 and 1941. The first image is entitled “The Capitalist.” The second, taken from the ceiling, reminds me of the work of William Blake.
September 25, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Always a pleasure to visit St. Nicholas Church in Millvale, PA, and to see the spectacular murals painted by Maxo Vanka in 1937 and 1941. The first image is entitled “The Capitalist.” The second, taken from the ceiling, reminds me of the work of William Blake.
Yesterday I visited the very impressive International African American Museum in Charleston, SC. I especially liked the replica “Praise House” that was built inside the museum. I also admired the numerous films and contemporary art projects. Highly recommended!
September 20, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Yesterday I visited the very impressive International African American Museum in Charleston, SC. I especially liked the replica “Praise House” that was built inside the museum. I also admired the numerous films and contemporary art projects. Highly recommended!
Friday, Sept. 19, 6:00 pm: I'll be part of “Sailing to Freedom,” a free program sponsored by the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program/College of Charleston – the opening of a new exhibition and a book talk about *Freedom Ship*. Info/register here:
calendar.charleston.edu/event/sailin...
calendar.charleston.edu/event/sailin...
September 18, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Friday, Sept. 19, 6:00 pm: I'll be part of “Sailing to Freedom,” a free program sponsored by the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program/College of Charleston – the opening of a new exhibition and a book talk about *Freedom Ship*. Info/register here:
calendar.charleston.edu/event/sailin...
calendar.charleston.edu/event/sailin...
Saddened to hear of the death of Vincent Scotti Eirene, one of Pittsburgh’s greatest activists over the past forty years. A man of spirit, humor, and fierce devotion to peace and social justice, he was truly one of a kind. Had a good bit of the Yippie in him. Here is one of his favorite photos. RIP.
September 17, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Saddened to hear of the death of Vincent Scotti Eirene, one of Pittsburgh’s greatest activists over the past forty years. A man of spirit, humor, and fierce devotion to peace and social justice, he was truly one of a kind. Had a good bit of the Yippie in him. Here is one of his favorite photos. RIP.
Thanks to Harris Feinsod for an excellent tour yesterday of Frederick Douglass-related places in Fell’s Point, Baltimore, the waterfront district where he lived much of his life between 1826-1838. Here is the central house on “Douglass Row,” five townhouses he built in 1892, and a nearby mural.
September 16, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Thanks to Harris Feinsod for an excellent tour yesterday of Frederick Douglass-related places in Fell’s Point, Baltimore, the waterfront district where he lived much of his life between 1826-1838. Here is the central house on “Douglass Row,” five townhouses he built in 1892, and a nearby mural.
Tuesday, Sept. 16, 10:30 am, I'll give a talk/workshop at Johns Hopkins entitled "How to Write (Maritime) History from Below." The event is sponsored by the Tidewater Initiative and the Maritime Committee of the Maryland Center for History and Culture. Join us!
sites.krieger.jhu.edu/tidewater/ev...
sites.krieger.jhu.edu/tidewater/ev...
September 12, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Tuesday, Sept. 16, 10:30 am, I'll give a talk/workshop at Johns Hopkins entitled "How to Write (Maritime) History from Below." The event is sponsored by the Tidewater Initiative and the Maritime Committee of the Maryland Center for History and Culture. Join us!
sites.krieger.jhu.edu/tidewater/ev...
sites.krieger.jhu.edu/tidewater/ev...
Happy to share the book cover of our fourth and now officially forthcoming graphic novel *Black Schooner: Rebellion on the Amistad* by David Lester, Paul Buhle, and myself, to be published by @beaconpress.bsky.social in June 2026. More info available here:
prhcomics.com/book/?isbn=9...
prhcomics.com/book/?isbn=9...
September 11, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Happy to share the book cover of our fourth and now officially forthcoming graphic novel *Black Schooner: Rebellion on the Amistad* by David Lester, Paul Buhle, and myself, to be published by @beaconpress.bsky.social in June 2026. More info available here:
prhcomics.com/book/?isbn=9...
prhcomics.com/book/?isbn=9...
Next Monday & Tuesday, Sept. 15 & 16, I’ll give two talks in Baltimore, one at the Bird in Hand bookstore about *Freedom Ship*, the other at Johns Hopkins University about “How to Write (Maritime) History from Below.”
sites.krieger.jhu.edu/tidewater/ev...
sites.krieger.jhu.edu/tidewater/ev...
sites.krieger.jhu.edu/tidewater/ev...
sites.krieger.jhu.edu/tidewater/ev...
September 8, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Next Monday & Tuesday, Sept. 15 & 16, I’ll give two talks in Baltimore, one at the Bird in Hand bookstore about *Freedom Ship*, the other at Johns Hopkins University about “How to Write (Maritime) History from Below.”
sites.krieger.jhu.edu/tidewater/ev...
sites.krieger.jhu.edu/tidewater/ev...
sites.krieger.jhu.edu/tidewater/ev...
sites.krieger.jhu.edu/tidewater/ev...
It was my great pleasure yesterday to visit “The Art of Labor,” an exhibition at Rivers of Steel in Homestead, PA. The works of art came from the collection of my dear friends Joe White and Delsa White, based on a lifetime of commitment to struggles from below.
riversofsteel.com/experiences/...
riversofsteel.com/experiences/...
September 4, 2025 at 11:40 AM
It was my great pleasure yesterday to visit “The Art of Labor,” an exhibition at Rivers of Steel in Homestead, PA. The works of art came from the collection of my dear friends Joe White and Delsa White, based on a lifetime of commitment to struggles from below.
riversofsteel.com/experiences/...
riversofsteel.com/experiences/...
Sad to learn of the death of Eduardo Torres Cuevas, Director of the National Library of Cuba. Here I am with Eduardo and Alejandro de la Fuente at the Havana Book Fair in 2015.
September 1, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Sad to learn of the death of Eduardo Torres Cuevas, Director of the National Library of Cuba. Here I am with Eduardo and Alejandro de la Fuente at the Havana Book Fair in 2015.