Rudi Batzell
@rbatzell
historian of capitalism, racism, and labor, CDSA, cyclist and motorcycle maniac. Book now out, Organizing Workers in the Shadow of Slavery w/ UChicago Press
My book has a cover! Strange to have more than a decade of thinking and many years of research distilled into a single image, but thanks to the designers @UChicagoPress
Some nasty business here: Chicago-area children get deportation letters: Leave or “the federal government will find you.” chicagotribune.com/2025/07/20/tru…
Bernie may be the great Senator from Vermont but he’s Brooklyn through and through. An absolute honor to meet with one of my heroes and the champion for working people across our country, @BernieSanders.
Had a great meeting with @ZohranKMamdani and am deeply impressed by the grassroots campaign he is running. The Oligarchs are prepared to undermine democracy & spend tens of millions to buy the election for his opponents. We will not allow that to happen. Stand with Zohran.
Stephen Miller is basically running Columbia. Wrap your brain around that.
Talk about burying the lede @nytimes. Truly a shameful day for @Columbia to collaborate in this shakedown operation.
🚨 My next book, EXTRACTION: THE FRONTIERS OF GREEN CAPITALISM is out 9/23 with @wwnorton Today and tomorrow, you can pre-order it at 25% off 😊 Link below!
Essential effort to democratize the @AHAhistorians and reverse the shameful veto of the scholasticide motion on Gaza.
If you are a member, please vote!
The establishment is looking for someone with the charisma of Zohran and the politics of Bret Stephens. The problem is not that such a person doesn’t exist. It’s that the one person fitting the description has already served two full terms as president.
Pretty comprehensive article on ICE’s use of face masks, incl. a couple quotes from me, in @latimes. Link below.
Cyclists in Chicago: BE CAREFUL ON CALIFORNIA SOUTH OF DEVON SOUTHBOUND. On my way to the Chicago Cycling Club Monday night group ride I hit the seam between the asphalt and concrete and came down hard on my right side. Broken hip and wrist, was in the hospital for a week.
India is not the 4th most equal country in the world. We re-did correct & comparable calculations: India ranks 176 (& not 4) out of 216 on income inequality. On calorie consumption inequality, it ranks 102 out of 185. I explain this in @thewire_in m.thewire.in/article/econom…
Was incredible to talk with the great Dr. Gerald Horne about my book, Organizing Workers in the Shadow of Slavery, on his show Freedom Now a few weeks ago. Just found out it aired on @KPFK this morning. kpfk.org/archives/
From the port of Aden in the year 1150 to the streets of Phnom Penh in 2023--my take on the global history of capitalism is finally ready to go into print. This fall at a bookstore near you. penguinrandomhouse.com/books/541160/c…
The consolidation of a US reactionary political coalition of fossil capital, monopoly tech, and natsec hawks makes a lot of sense in the context of a existential battle to control global systems of energy, innovation + production. Must read @70sBachchan @kmac in @phenomenalworld
Thank you Joan W. Scott for being among the few elders of the historical profession willing to speak with common sense and clarity on the stakes of the @AHAhistorians elections
"all the news that's fit to print" aka story about how a guy from Africa who is Asian said so on his college app to a college where his dad worked, and to which he did not get in — sourced to an anonymous right-wing race realist. This is fucked nytimes.com/2025/07/03/nyr…
Amazing for Eric Adams that he finally gets to collaborate with Idi Amin.
the nytimes and idi amin agree: indians can’t be africans!
once you realize every NYT story is, at bottom, about ivy league college admissions, you will understand everything