About Derek Litvak

Derek Litvak is a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland—College Park. His dissertation, "The Specter of Black Citizens: Race, Slavery, and Citizenship in the Early United States," examines how citizenship was used to both bolster the institution of slavery and exclude Black Americans from the body politic.

NBN Episodes hosted by Derek:

Samantha Seeley, "Race, Removal, and the Right to Remain: Migration and the Making of the United States" (UNC Press, 2021)

December 16, 2021

Race, Removal, and the Right to Remain

Samantha Seeley
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Samantha Seeley is the author of Race, Removal, and the Right to Remain: Migration and the Making of the United States, published by the University of…

Lee B. Wilson, "Bonds of Empire: The English Origins of Slave Law in South Carolina and British Plantation America, 1660–1783" (Cambridge UP, 2021)

December 15, 2021

Bonds of Empire

Lee B. Wilson
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Lee B. Wilson is the author of Bonds of Empire: The English Origins of Slave Law in South Carolina and British Plantation America, 1660-1783, publishe…

Robinson Woodward-Burns, "Hidden Laws: How State Constitutions Stabilize American Politics" (Yale UP, 2021)

September 21, 2021

Hidden Laws

Robinson Woodward-Burns
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Robinson Woodward-Burns is the author of Hidden Laws: How the State Constitutions Stabilize American Politics, published by Yale University Press in 2…

Teri A. McMurtry-Chubb, "Race Unequals: Overseer Contracts, White Masculinities, and the Formation of Managerial Identity in the Plantation Economy" (Lexington, 2021)

September 14, 2021

Race Unequals

Teri A. McMurtry-Chubb
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Teri A. McMurtry-Chubb is the author of Race Unequals: Overseer Contracts, White Masculinities, and the Formation of Managerial Identity in the Planta…

Nate Holdren, "Injury Impoverished: Workplace Accidents, Capitalism, and Law in the Progressive Era" (Cambridge UP, 2020)

June 3, 2021

Injury Impoverished

Nate Holdren
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Nate Holdren is the author of Injury Impoverished: Workplace Accidents, Capitalism, and Law in the Progressive Era, published by Cambridge University …

Joshua D. Rothman, "The Ledger and the Chain: How Domestic Slave Traders Shaped America" (Basic Book, 2021)

May 20, 2021

The Ledger and the Chain

Joshua D. Rothman
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Joshua Rothman’s The Ledger and the Chain: How Domestic Slave Traders Shaped America was published by Basic Books in 2021, and tells a sprawling histo…

Justene Hill Edwards, "Unfree Markets: The Slaves' Economy and the Rise of Capitalism in South Carolina" (Columbia UP, 2021)

May 19, 2021

Unfree Markets

Justene Hill Edwards
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Justene Hill Edwards is the author of Unfree Markets: The Slaves’ Economy and the Rise of Capitalism in South Carolina (Columbia University Press, 202…

Brandon Mills, "The World Colonization Made: The Racial Geography of Early American Empire" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2020)

December 14, 2020

The World Colonization Made

Brandon Mills
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Brandon Mills is the author of The World Colonization Made: The Racial Geography of Early American Empire, published by the University of Pennsylvania…

Alexandra J. Finley, "An Intimate Economy: Enslaved Women, Work, and America’s Domestic Slave Trade" (UNC Press, 2020)

October 16, 2020

An Intimate Economy

Alexandra J. Finley
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Alexandra J. Finley is the author of An Intimate Economy: Enslaved Women, Work, and America’s Domestic Slave Trade, published by the University of Nor…

Sara Mayeux, "Free Justice: A History of the Public Defender in Twentieth-Century America" (UNC Press, 2020)

September 1, 2020

Free Justice

Sara Mayeux
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Sara Mayeux is the author of Free Justice: A History of the Public Defender in Twentieth-Century America, published by the University of North Carolin…

Khary O. Polk, "Contagions of Empire: Scientific Racism, Sexuality, and Black Military Workers Abroad, 1898-1948" (UNC Press, 2020)

August 19, 2020

Contagions of Empire

Khary Oronde Polk
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Khary Oronde Polk is the author of Contagions of Empire: Scientific Racism, Sexuality, and Black Military Workers Abroad, 1898-1948, published by the …

Ryan Hall, "Beneath the Backbone of the World: Blackfoot People and the North American Borderlands, 1720-1877" (UNC Press, 2020)

August 18, 2020

Beneath the Backbone of the World

Ryan Hall
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Ryan Hall is the author of Beneath the Backbone of the World: Blackfoot People and the North American Borderlands, 1720-1877, published by the Univers…

Aaron Carico, "Black Market: The Slave's Value in National Culture after 1865" (UNC Press, 2020)

August 17, 2020

Black Market

Aaron Carico
Hosted by Derek Litvak

On the eve of the Civil War, the estimated value of the U.S. enslaved population exceeded $3 billion--triple that of investments nationwide in factori…

Verónica Martínez-Matsuda, "Migrant Citizenship: Race, Rights, and Reform in the U.S. Farm Labor Camp Program" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2020)

July 27, 2020

Migrant Citizenship

Verónica Martínez-Matsuda
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Verónica Martínez-Matsuda about her book Migrant Citizenship: Race, Rights, and Reform in the U.S. Farm Labor Camp Program (University of Pennsylvania…

Justin Gomer, "White Balance: How Hollywood Shaped Colorblind Ideology and Undermined Civil Rights" (UNC Press, 2020)

July 24, 2020

White Balance

Justin Gomer
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Justin Gomer is the author of White Balance: How Hollywood Shaped Colorblind Ideology and Undermined Civil Rights, published by the University of Nort…

Paige Glotzer, "How the Suburbs Were Segregated: Developers and the Business of Exclusionary Housing, 1890-1960" (Columbia UP, 2020)

June 15, 2020

How the Suburbs Were Segregated

Paige Glotzer
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Paige Glotzer is the author of How the Suburbs Were Segregated: Developers and the Business of Exclusionary Housing, 1890-1960, published by Columbia …

Jeff Forret, "William’s Gang: A Notorious Slave Trader and his Cargo of Black Convicts" (Cambridge UP, 2020)

April 2, 2020

William’s Gang

Jeff Forret
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Jeff Forret is the author of William’s Gang: A Notorious Slave Trader and his Cargo of Black Convicts, published by Cambridge University Press in 2020…

Alan Taylor, "Thomas Jefferson’s Education" (Norton, 2019)

March 16, 2020

Thomas Jefferson’s Education

Alan Taylor
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Alan Taylor is the author of Thomas Jefferson’s Education published by W. W. Norton & Company in 2019. Thomas Jefferson’s Education tells the stor…

Paul J. Polgar, "Standard-Bearers of Equality: America’s First Abolition Movement" (UNC Press, 2019)

March 12, 2020

Standard-Bearers of Equality

Paul J. Polgar
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Paul J. Polgar is the author of Standard-Bearers of Equality: America’s First Abolition Movement, published by University of North Carolina Press in 2…

R. Scott Huffard, Jr., "Engines of Redemption: Railroads and the Reconstruction of Capitalism in the New South" (UNC Press, 2019)

February 5, 2020

Engines of Redemption

R. Scott Huffard, Jr.
Hosted by Derek Litvak

R. Scott Huffard Jr. is the author of Engines of Redemption: Railroads and the Reconstruction of Capitalism in the New South, published by the Univers…

Catherine A. Stewart, "Long Past Slavery: Representing Race in the Federal Writers’ Project" (UNC Press, 2016)

January 30, 2020

Long Past Slavery

Catherine A. Stewart
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Catherine A. Stewart is the author of Long Past Slavery: Representing Race in the Federal Writers’ Project, published by the University of North Carol…

Keri Holt, "Reading These United States: Federal Literacy in the Early Republic, 1776-1830" (U Georgia Press, 2019)

January 27, 2020

Reading These United States

Keri Holt
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Keri Holt is the author of Reading These United States: Federal Literacy in the Early Republic, 1776-1830, published by the University of Georgia Pres…

Brandon R. Byrd, "The Black Republic: African Americans and the Fate of Haiti" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2019)

December 24, 2019

The Black Republic

Brandon R. Byrd
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Brandon R. Byrd is the author of The Black Republic: African Americans and the Fate of Haiti, published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 201…

S. Deborah Kang, "The INS on the Line: Making Immigration Law on the US-Mexico Border, 1917-1954" (Oxford UP, 2017)

November 11, 2019

The INS on the Line

S. Deborah Kang
Hosted by Derek Litvak

Today I talked to S. Deborah Kang about her book The INS on the Line: Making Immigration Law on the US-Mexico Border, 1917-1954, published by Oxford U…