Skipped History Newsletter

1 week ago | skippedhistory.substack.com | Ben Tumin

Next Saturday, June 7, at 4 PM, I’m performing the first of three shows based on Robert Caro’s extraordinary biography of Robert Moses, The Power Broker:As Caro demonstrates in his 1,300-page epic, and I bring to life on stage, we’re still living in the world Moses built. He was, in Caro’s words, “a genius of public works”—a Picasso, almost, in his own way—and yet one of the most racist people Caro has ever encountered.

2 weeks ago | skippedhistory.substack.com | Ben Tumin

In The Einstein of Sex: Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, the Visionary of Weimar Berlin, Daniel Brook revives the life story of an influential German thinker far ahead of his time. More than a century ago, Magnus Hirschfeld argued that gender and sexuality are fluid—and later, that race is a social construct. As you might expect, the Nazis weren’t fans, but they didn’t write Hirschfeld out of history.

2 weeks ago | skippedhistory.substack.com | Ben Tumin

In The Einstein of Sex: Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, the Visionary of Weimar Berlin, Daniel Brook revives the life story of an influential German thinker far ahead of his time. More than a century ago, Magnus Hirschfeld argued that gender and sexuality are fluid—and later, that race is a social construct. As you might expect, the Nazis weren’t fans, but they didn’t write Hirschfeld out of history.

3 weeks ago | skippedhistory.substack.com | Ben Tumin

InLand Power: Who Has It, Who Doesn’t, and How That Determines the Fate of Societies, Professor Michael Albertus (University of Chicago) explores how land has changed hands since the French Revolution. In places like the U.S., Canada, and Brazil, this “reshuffling” has shaped social hierarchies and the climate (spoiler: not in a good way). Today, signs point to us entering a new period of reshuffling.

3 weeks ago | skippedhistory.substack.com | Ben Tumin

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -31:10Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. InLand Power: Who Has It, Who Doesn’t, and How That Determines the Fate of Societies, Professor Michael Albertus (University of Chicago) explores how land has changed hands since the French Revolution. In places like the U.S., Canada, and Brazil, this “reshuffling” has shaped social hierarchies and the climate (spoiler: not in a good way).