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podcaster — educator — advisor — writer — scholar — speaker — historian —
Natalia Mehlman Petrzela is a History Communicator.
Natalia 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 FIT NATION: The Gains and Pains of America’s Exercise Obsession (University of Chicago Press, 2023). The New York Times described her as “changing what it means to be a scholar.”
Natalia is a recent Carnegie Corporation Fellow (2024-25) and a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar (2025-26). She is currently working on two new books, a short history of the school culture wars, and a history of the Hamptons, with historian Neil J. Young. Natalia began her career as a public school teacher, and she is currently Lead Historian on the Jewish American Hidden Voices curriculum for the New York City Department of Education.
Natalia is Executive Producer and host of the podcast EXTREME (BBC/Novel) and host of WELCOME TO YOUR FANTASY (Pineapple Street Studios/Gimlet). She is a a frequent media guest expert, public speaker, and contributor to outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Atlantic, MS NOW, and the History Channel.
Natalia is Professor of History at The New School, Her work has been supported by the Spencer, Whiting, Rockefeller, and Mellon Foundations, the Carnegie Corporation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She holds a B.A. from Columbia and a Ph.D. from Stanford and lives in New York City.
Speaking Agent
Tori Marra — Outspoken Agency
tori@outspokenagency.com
Books
Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America’s Exercise Obsession
“A whirlwind journey…” — The New York Times
“Ms. Petrzela’s account moves at a quick-lap pace: She scans the market from top to bottom, from the Equinox gym to the Zumba class in a local church hall… [her] hybrid career gives her insider access to the fitness industry” — Wall Street Journal
“Petrzela rips back the plush carpet of elite institutions to reveal the rotting foundation beneath.” — Washington Post
How is it that Americans are more obsessed with exercise than ever, and yet also less healthy? What does “fitness” even mean, and what is it for? How, over the past century, has working out evolved from a strange subculture to a social imperative?
If a shared American creed still exists, it’s a belief that exercise is integral to a life well lived. A century ago, working out regularly was considered a weird ritual, but today, it’s almost impossible to avoid exhortations to exercise: Walk 5K to cure cancer! Ignite your inner sex kitten at pole-dancing class! Sweat like (or even with) a celebrity in spin class! Exercise is everywhere, and can at the same time be a force for empowerment and exclusion. Fit Nation explains how we got here and imagines how we might create a more inclusive, stronger future.
Classroom Wars: Language, Sex, and the Making of Modern Political Culture
No matter which way your politics lean, you won’t be able to understand modern American conservatism without reading this brave and original book.” — Jonathan Zimmerman, Judy and Howard Berkowitz Professor in Education, University of Pennsylvania.
"an intelligent, compelling study... an excellent history that ingeniously challenges interpretive narrowness." — Carlos Kevin Blanton, Journal of American History
"Petrzela breaks important new ground." — Andrew Hartman, H-1960s
Why are the battles over schoolhouse issues so intense? How are today’s fights over teaching about race, sex, and values rooted in the past and how might we resolve them in the future?
Public schools are the spaces, for better or worse, where Americans figure out the sort of society they want to live in. Delving deep into 1960s and 70s California, one of the most tumultuous moments in recent American history, Classroom Wars charts the rise of innovative new curricula that teach about culture, race, and sexuality, and the intense opposition – and national attention – they inspired.
NYC DOE Curriculum: Jewish American Hidden Voices
Natalia Mehlman Petrzela serves as the lead scholar for the Hidden Voices :Jewish Americans in U.S. History curriculum, a K to 12 resource commissioned by the New York City Department of Education to bring underrepresented histories into everyday classrooms, which is free for all educators.
She led the design of this curricular resource that situates Jewish American life within the wider narrative of United States history, rather than isolating the discussion of Jews to the study of the Holocaust or trainings on antisemitism. Jewish American Hidden Voices highlights the diversity of Jewish identities, contributions, and perspectives across time and geography.
Through this project, Natalia aims to give students a fuller understanding of American history while supporting schools in addressing the ignorance that fuels rising antisemitism with education, context, and nuance.
Podcasts
UPCOMING EVENTS
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Women’s History Month Lecture: Fitness History as Feminist Practice with Natalia Mehlman Petrzela
Northern Arizona University: March 3rd, 2026, 7:00 PM
The history of exercise in the United States is by no means limited to women’s stories, but the act of writing the history of fitness draws on the work of feminist scholars who expanded the realm of historical study to include the body, fashion, pop culture, and more. In this talk, historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela will both trace the rich history of American fitness culture from a strange subculture to a social imperative and reflect on the process of researching and writing her book, Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America’s Exercise Obsession, drawing on over more than two decades spent in and around gyms and other exercise spaces.
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Jews in The Curriculum: Opportunities and Challenges in Humanities Classrooms
Center for Jewish-Inclusive Learning: March 10, 2026, 8:30am
The Center for Jewish-Inclusive Learning invites middle- and high-school humanities teachers to deepen their understanding of the complex and often misunderstood story of the Jewish people from its ancient roots to the present day and to delve into how this story shows up in their classrooms.
Teachers will have the opportunity to develop their foundational knowledge and then build upon it through breakout workshops on specific topics they select based on their area of interest.
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Andrew Hartman: Marx in America
The New School: March 9, 2026, 6:00pm
Andrew Hartman will speak about his recent book, Karl Marx in America.
To read Karl Marx is to contemplate a world created by capitalism. People have long viewed the United States as the quintessential anti-Marxist nation, but Marx’s ideas have inspired a wide range of people to formulate a more precise sense of the stakes of the American project. Historians have highlighted the imprint made on the United States by Enlightenment thinkers such as Adam Smith, John Locke, and Thomas Paine, but Marx is rarely considered alongside these figures. Yet his ideas are the most relevant today because of capitalism’s centrality to American life.
Moderated by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Professor of History and Faculty Co-Director of the Center for the American Experience.