Natalia Petrzela

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela is a historian of contemporary American politics and culture. She is the author of Classroom Wars: Language, Sex, and the Making of Modern Political Culture (Oxford University Press, 2015), and a book about the rise of American fitness culture, forthcoming in 2022. She is co-producer and host of the podcast WELCOME TO YOUR FANTASY, from Pineapple Street Studios and Gimlet, and the co-host of Past Present Podcast. Natalia is a frequent media guest expert, public speaker, and contributor to international and domestic news outlets, from the New York Times to the Atlantic to CNN. She is Associate Professor of History at The New School and holds a B.A. from Columbia and a master’s and Ph.D. from Stanford and lives with her husband and two children in New York City.