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Marcus Rediker

@marcusrediker.bsky.social

11K followers 370 following 420 posts

Historian (from below), award-winning author, filmmaker, playwright, Distinguished Professor, University of Pittsburgh marcusrediker.com

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Marcus Buford Rediker is an American historian, writer, professor, and social activist. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1976 and attended the University of Pennsylvania for graduate study, earning a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in history. He taught at Georgetown University from 1982 to 1994 and is currently a Distinguished Professor of Atlantic History of the Department of History at the University of Pittsburgh. .. more

Political science 43%

Sociology 20%

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 4h

Happy to say, we have and will continue to do so. The actor in our play, *The Return of Benjamin Lay*, was Mark Povinelli, past president of LPA. We performed a reading of the play at the LPA convention in Baltimore in 2024.

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Reposted by Marcus Rediker

Dr Lily Chadwick @lilyrchadwick.bsky.social · 16h

FHA is very pleased to announce that registration is now open for our annual fall event!

Please join us online Sunday, 16 November for a book talk given by Professor Marcus Rediker featuring his new work, Freedom Ship: The Uncharted History of Escaping Slavery by Sea @marcusrediker.bsky.social

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 16h

Sarah is brilliant, literally and figuratively!

Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 16h

Thanks, Thom!

Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 16h

Thank you, Ali. Ben Lay is coming back from the dead to inspire us!

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 19h

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=...

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 5d

Thank you, Chris!

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Marcus Rediker

Chris Dixon @withmovements.bsky.social · 5d

I loved listening to this interview @marcusrediker.bsky.social did on @kpfa.org about his new book *Freedom Ship*! Rediker tells the inspiring history of enslaved Black people in the U.S. deep South who escaped by ship with the help of free Black communities and abolitionist white sailors.

Escaping Over Water | KPFA

In the decades leading up to the Civil War, enslaved people who traveled to freedom on foot did so mainly from Southern states that bordered free states. But those in the deep South didn’t have that o...

kpfa.org

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 6d

I’ll apply.

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 7d

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.

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 8d

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!

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 9d

Thanks, Alex!

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Reposted by Ana Lucia Araújo

Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 9d

The talk I gave yesterday in the #slaveryarchive Book Club series, about my new work *Freedom Ship*, is now available on Youtube. Thanks to @araujohistorian.bsky.social and @elotroalex.bsky.social for the invitation and for organizing the event.

www.youtube.com/live/H17ToyM...

#Slaveryarchive Book Club with Marcus Rediker (University of Pittsburg)

YouTube video by #Slaveryarchive Book Club

www.youtube.com

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 10d

Excellent!

Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 10d

Monday, Oct. 6, 7:00 pm, I will take part in a discussion at the East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul, MN of the question “Why is it Important to Know the History of Resistance to Slavery?” Thanks to my friend Peter Rachleff for the invitation. Join us!

eastsidefreedomlibrary.org/event/book-d...

Book Discussion with pre-eminent scholar Marcus Rediker: WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO KNOW THE HISTORY OF THE RESISTANCE TO SLAVERY? - East Side Freedom Library

East Side Freedom Library Monday, October 6, 2025, 7pm Join historian Marcus Rediker, author of the new book, FREEDOM SHIP: THE UNCHARTED HISTORY OF ESCAPING SLAVERY BY SEA, for a conversation about t...

eastsidefreedomlibrary.org

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Reposted by Nandita Sharma

Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 11d

Here is a review of my new book *Freedom Ship* by Eric Foner, published yesterday in *The New York Review of Books* (@nybooks.com).

www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

The Underground Railroad’s Stealth Sailors | Eric Foner

The web of Atlantic trading routes and solidarity among maritime workers, many of them Black, meant fugitive slaves’ chances of reaching freedom below deck were better than over land.

www.nybooks.com

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 12d

Thanks, Howard!

Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 12d

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

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Reposted by Ana Lucia Araújo

Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 13d

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...

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 14d

Fabulous!

Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 14d

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...

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 18d

Congratulations, @mbarcia24.bsky.social!

Reposted by Adrian Vickers

Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 18d

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...

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 19d

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.

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 20d

Congratulations, Manuel!

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 22d

Thanks @awstiles.bsky.social!

Reposted by Marcus Rediker

AW Stiles @awstiles.bsky.social · 22d

One copy for our free little library and one to keep. Looking forward to sharing this great book about Benjamin Lay by @marcusrediker.bsky.social

The front cover of the book Fearless Benjamin by Michelle Markel and Marcus Rediker, illustrated by Sarah Bachmab

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 23d

Thanks, Samuel. I’ve been following this closely and find it fascinating.

Reposted by Harvey J. Kaye

Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 23d

Here is a one-hour interview I did about my new book, *Freedom Ship* with Morteza Hajizadeh for New Books Network (@newbooksnetwork.bsky.social).

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...

Marcus Rediker,

Podcast Episode · New Books Network · 09/20/2025 · 1h 5m

podcasts.apple.com

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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 24d

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!

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