Profile
Natalia Mehlman Petrzela is Professor of History, NSSR/Lang, and historian of contemporary American politics and culture. She is the author of, most recently, Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America's Exercise Obsession (University of Chicago Press, 2023), which is currently in development as a documentary. She is a columnist for MSNBC Opinion and a frequent media guest expert, public speaker, and contributor to outlets, including The New York Times and Washington Post. A former K-12 teacher, Petrzela is currently the lead scholar on the New York City Department of Education’s Jewish American Hidden Voices curriculum, launching June 2025. She is co-producer and host of the podcast Welcome to Your Fantasy, from Pineapple Street Studios/Gimlet, cohost of the Past Present podcast, and host and Executive Producer of the BBC podcast, EXTREME. She is working on two new books. One, A Thinking American’s Guide to the Classroom Culture Wars has earned her recognition as a Carnegie Corporation Fellow and a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar. The second is a history of Long Island’s East End, co-authored with historian Neil J. Young. She holds a BA from Columbia University and a PhD from Stanford University.
Degrees Held
PhD, 2009, History, Stanford University
MA, 2004, History, Stanford University
BA, 2000, History, Columbia College
Professional Affiliation
Society for U.S. Intellectual History
History of Education Society
Organization of American Historians
American Historical Association
Recent Publications
Books
Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America's Exercise Obsession, Chicago University Press, 2022
Classroom Wars: Language, Sex, and the Making of Modern Political Culture, Oxford University Press, 2015 (paperback 2017)
Peer-Reviewed Articles and Book Chapters
"Family Values Feminism," in Kruse, Kevin, and Zelizer, Julian, eds., Myth America: Historians Take on the Biggest Lies and Legends About Our Past, Basic Books, 2023.
"From Performance to Participation: The Origins of the Fit Nation," Transatlantica, 2020.
"The Siren Song of Yoga: Sex, Spirituality, and the Limits of American Countercultures," Pacific Historical Review, 2020.
“An Intellectual History of the Gym, (Thanks, Gender!),” in Haberski, Raymond and Andrew Hartman, eds., American Labyrinth: Intellectual History for Difficult Times, Cornell University Press, 2018.
“HealthClass2.0: Crossing Boundaries Through Campus-Based Civic Engagement,” Anthropology Now, Vol. 7 No. 2
“Revisiting the Rightward Turn: Max Rafferty, Education, and Modern American Politics,” The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics, and Culture, Vol. 6, No.2.
With Sarah Manekin, “The Accountability Partnership: Writing and Surviving in the Digital Age,” in Dougherty, Jack, and Nawrotzki, Kristin, eds., Writing History in the Digital Age, University of Michigan Digital Humanities Series
“Before the Federal Bilingual Education Act: Legislation and Lived Experience,” Immigration and Education: A Special Issue of the Peabody Journal of Education, Vol.85, No.4., 406-424.
“’Sex Ed… and the Reds?’ Reconsidering the Anaheim Battle over Sex Education, 1962-1969,” History of Education Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 2, 203-232.
Selected Recent Public Writing
"The Quick Study" column, Observer, March 2022-present.
"The Birth of a New Brand of Exercise Fetish," The Nation, December 2022.
"Why American Kids Grow Up Hating Exercise," Slate, September 2022.
"Overzealous Covid Measures are Hurting Education," Chronicle of Higher Education, August 2022.
"SEL Doesn't Have to Be a Classroom Culture War," CNN, May 2022.
"School Culture Wars Stirred Up Voters For a Reason: Classrooms Really Did Change," Washington Post, November 2021.
"Goodbye to the Cult of SoulCycle," New York Times, February 2021.
Performances and Appearances
For a complete selection of recent performances and media appearances, please visit my media page.
Research Interests
20th-Century U.S. history, especially of politics, society, and culture, with a focus on gender, sexuality, race, and identity. My first book project focuses on the emergence of and battles over the teaching of Spanish-bilingual and sex education during the 1960s and 1970s as a lens through which to contemporary politics. My newer work takes up a different facet of American social politics, exploring the enduring but evolving presence of self-help cultures and the pursuit of wellness in U.S. history.
Awards And Honors
Best Podcasts of 2021 Lists for "Welcome to Your Fantasy," including Vogue, New York Times, Financial Times, Esquire, GQ, The Guardian.
Robert L. Heilbroner Center for Capitalism Studies Research Grant (2016-17)
Provost’s Office Faculty Research Fund (2016-17)
Mellon Foundation Civic Humanities Pedagogy Grant (with Verso Books) (2016-17)
Roy A. Hunt Foundation Grant for HealthClass2.0 (2014-16)
Frederick Lewis Allen Memorial Room Writer, New York Public Library (2014-15)
Provost’s Office Faculty Research Fund, The New School (2014-15)
Multiple Civic Engagement and Social Justice Grants (2012-14)
Rockefeller Foundation/New School for Public Engagement Collaborative Innovation Grant for HealthClass2.0 (2013-15)
Mrs. Giles M. Whiting Foundation Dissertation Fellow (2008-09)
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Summer Seminar Fellow, “Sequels to the Sixties,” Cambridge, MA (2008)
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Dissertation Fellow (relinquished) (2007-08)
Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellow (2007-08)
Centennial Award for Excellence in Teaching, Stanford University (2004)
Portfolio
Website