Below is a list of some of my available public lectures
If you're intrigued by any of these talks, I'm available to book (on these topics or others) for your group or organization. I'm based out of Washington D.C. and can travel for in-person talks. I'm also available to give virtual presentations. Typically they run an hour + a 15-20 minute Q&A.
Feel free to use the "Contact" form at the top right of the page to reach out.
A History of American Dining --- ** By far my most popular talk, a crowd favorite **
Over the course of the past century the United States went from being revered for having one of the best food cultures in the world — a cuisine so deliciously unique that in the early 1900s, wealthy Europeans would travel to America for vacation simply to enjoy the splendid food — to today being (however unfairly) the subject of international ridicule for having a food culture dominated by junk foods, fast foods, and processed frozen meals. String cheese and SPAM anyone?
In this presentation we’ll eat our way (intellectually, of course,) through a culinary history of the United States. We'll sample the world-famous American restaurants of the 1890s, then trudge through the Great Depression to see how it affected American cuisine. We’ll see how World War Two radically changed American eating habits and then we'll push a wonky-wheeled shopping cart through the 1950s “dark ages” of American cuisine with its cavernous supermarkets peddling frozen TV dinners and jello salads. We'll explore the major “innovations” of processed food manufacturers as they introduced new products to dominate the American kitchen table. Ultimately we’ll see that what Americans were eating over the decades had a major impact on American society, culture, and family time. The saying is “you are what you eat.” Can what we eat teach us about who we are as a nation?
Click Here to Watch
Over the course of the past century the United States went from being revered for having one of the best food cultures in the world — a cuisine so deliciously unique that in the early 1900s, wealthy Europeans would travel to America for vacation simply to enjoy the splendid food — to today being (however unfairly) the subject of international ridicule for having a food culture dominated by junk foods, fast foods, and processed frozen meals. String cheese and SPAM anyone?
In this presentation we’ll eat our way (intellectually, of course,) through a culinary history of the United States. We'll sample the world-famous American restaurants of the 1890s, then trudge through the Great Depression to see how it affected American cuisine. We’ll see how World War Two radically changed American eating habits and then we'll push a wonky-wheeled shopping cart through the 1950s “dark ages” of American cuisine with its cavernous supermarkets peddling frozen TV dinners and jello salads. We'll explore the major “innovations” of processed food manufacturers as they introduced new products to dominate the American kitchen table. Ultimately we’ll see that what Americans were eating over the decades had a major impact on American society, culture, and family time. The saying is “you are what you eat.” Can what we eat teach us about who we are as a nation?
Click Here to Watch
Food Fight!: A look back at the political battles that shaped how Americans eat.
(If you enjoyed "A History of American Dining," this talk is essentially "part 2.")
What Americans eat has changed dramatically since 1945. The nation transformed from having a relatively wholesome and nourishing food system to having a food culture laden with fats, sugar, and ultra-processed unhealthy foods. As a result, our healthcare system currently spends one trillion dollars annually to combat diet-related diseases, which account for six in ten American deaths. How did we get here?
Beginning at the end of World War II, he’ll focus on watershed moments that radically changed how and what we eat. Among them, the urban riots of 1967-68 helped give rise to a federal policy that fostered the proliferation of fast-food restaurants across America. Government actions aimed at alleviating the economic problems of the 1970s led to our diets being infused with far more meat and ultra-processed foods saturated with fats and sugars. An unholy alliance between the U.S. government, ad agencies, and major food corporations helped to transform America into what food writer Greg Crister calls “the fattest nation on earth.”
Pietrobon also will examine how our dietary choices became more politicized over recent decades, with kale, quinoa, and other “healthy” foods being seen as elitist and liberal and the White House gleefully serving fast-food burgers to guests in 2019 as an ode to what “real” Americans eat.
Whether you watch next to a plate of carrots or a bowl of potato chips, it’s a talk you’ll savor.
Click Here to Watch
(If you enjoyed "A History of American Dining," this talk is essentially "part 2.")
What Americans eat has changed dramatically since 1945. The nation transformed from having a relatively wholesome and nourishing food system to having a food culture laden with fats, sugar, and ultra-processed unhealthy foods. As a result, our healthcare system currently spends one trillion dollars annually to combat diet-related diseases, which account for six in ten American deaths. How did we get here?
Beginning at the end of World War II, he’ll focus on watershed moments that radically changed how and what we eat. Among them, the urban riots of 1967-68 helped give rise to a federal policy that fostered the proliferation of fast-food restaurants across America. Government actions aimed at alleviating the economic problems of the 1970s led to our diets being infused with far more meat and ultra-processed foods saturated with fats and sugars. An unholy alliance between the U.S. government, ad agencies, and major food corporations helped to transform America into what food writer Greg Crister calls “the fattest nation on earth.”
Pietrobon also will examine how our dietary choices became more politicized over recent decades, with kale, quinoa, and other “healthy” foods being seen as elitist and liberal and the White House gleefully serving fast-food burgers to guests in 2019 as an ode to what “real” Americans eat.
Whether you watch next to a plate of carrots or a bowl of potato chips, it’s a talk you’ll savor.
Click Here to Watch
The Great American Road Trip
Perhaps no genre of book is so typically American than the road trip story. From the chronicles of the settlement of the West, to the modern cross-country road trip, travel narratives have infused American history and popular culture. Many of these stories are written from the perspective of travelers who found themselves to be outsiders along the way. From Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi to John Steinbeck's Travels With Charlie to Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, in most of these stories the protagonist is positioned as an explorer in a new and unfamiliar landscape (whether that be Jim Crow-era Alabama or the vast expanse of the American West) on a journey of self-discovery to encounter the “real” America.
Beyond the literature, scores of Americans have fond childhood memories of their summer travels, or recall carefree college road trips. Why is it that road trips are such an integral part of American culture? What is so compelling about travel stories? What can the long history of road tripping teach us about American history, culture, and society?
Join Dr. Allen Pietrobon for a historical journey that explores the nature and impact of American road-tripping from the 1800s to the present.
Click Here to Watch
Perhaps no genre of book is so typically American than the road trip story. From the chronicles of the settlement of the West, to the modern cross-country road trip, travel narratives have infused American history and popular culture. Many of these stories are written from the perspective of travelers who found themselves to be outsiders along the way. From Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi to John Steinbeck's Travels With Charlie to Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, in most of these stories the protagonist is positioned as an explorer in a new and unfamiliar landscape (whether that be Jim Crow-era Alabama or the vast expanse of the American West) on a journey of self-discovery to encounter the “real” America.
Beyond the literature, scores of Americans have fond childhood memories of their summer travels, or recall carefree college road trips. Why is it that road trips are such an integral part of American culture? What is so compelling about travel stories? What can the long history of road tripping teach us about American history, culture, and society?
Join Dr. Allen Pietrobon for a historical journey that explores the nature and impact of American road-tripping from the 1800s to the present.
Click Here to Watch
Epidemics in American Society
The current covid-19 crisis is not the first time that the United States has suffered through a major disease outbreak that altered American lives. In fact, up until the 1960s, epidemics were actually quite common in America; something that was always lurking in the background of American life.
In this talk, however, we will explore some of the lesser known pandemics that struck the United States over the years. How did Americans deal with sudden pandemics throughout their history? Where did they come from? Who was most affected by them? And is there anything we can learn from those experiences as we navigate our own pandemic crisis?
Click Here to Watch
The current covid-19 crisis is not the first time that the United States has suffered through a major disease outbreak that altered American lives. In fact, up until the 1960s, epidemics were actually quite common in America; something that was always lurking in the background of American life.
In this talk, however, we will explore some of the lesser known pandemics that struck the United States over the years. How did Americans deal with sudden pandemics throughout their history? Where did they come from? Who was most affected by them? And is there anything we can learn from those experiences as we navigate our own pandemic crisis?
Click Here to Watch
Speakeasies and the Roaring Twenties
The 1920 Constitutional amendment prohibiting the consumption of alcohol had been billed as a solution to the nation's most pressing social issues, including alcoholism, childhood malnutrition, and domestic violence. Instead, it uncorked a vibrant cultural rebellion and a host of new social problems, with its heady effects still felt today.
Attempts to circumvent or profit from Prohibition gave crime new meaning, provoking a 12-year-long gang war that made Al Capone a household name. Women became more liberated, unleashing a sexual revolution, and jazz transformed from an underground expression of the African American experience into the soundtrack of a new generation.
Considering that even the president himself drank in violation of the law, why bother with prohibition? How had alcohol become such a problem that the U.S. banned all “intoxicating beverages”? Why did the ban fail so spectacularly? How did this period change America?
Click Here to Watch
The 1920 Constitutional amendment prohibiting the consumption of alcohol had been billed as a solution to the nation's most pressing social issues, including alcoholism, childhood malnutrition, and domestic violence. Instead, it uncorked a vibrant cultural rebellion and a host of new social problems, with its heady effects still felt today.
Attempts to circumvent or profit from Prohibition gave crime new meaning, provoking a 12-year-long gang war that made Al Capone a household name. Women became more liberated, unleashing a sexual revolution, and jazz transformed from an underground expression of the African American experience into the soundtrack of a new generation.
Considering that even the president himself drank in violation of the law, why bother with prohibition? How had alcohol become such a problem that the U.S. banned all “intoxicating beverages”? Why did the ban fail so spectacularly? How did this period change America?
Click Here to Watch
The Gilded Age and Today
Crippling economic crisis. Fears related to immigration and disease. Income inequality. Corporate monopolies. Technological disruption. Corporate money unduly influencing politics.
Sound like 2021? Actually, here we’re talking about America from 1875 to 1900.
Known as “The Gilded Age,” it was a crucial era of industrialization, political turmoil, and social change that set the United States on the path to becoming the most economically powerful country in the world. With these changes came economic and social turbulence and dislocation. Many enterprising Americans took advantage of the “disruption” to succeed. Others were left behind, ill-equipped to compete in the new economy. The wealth gap between the rich and the poor was astronomical as industrial tycoons like the Rockefellers and the Carnegies built unthinkably large business empires and then used their monopoly power to hold down wages and shut down competition. They deployed their vast profits to buy politicians, corruptly tilting politics and the economy in their favor. Strikes and labor violence, protests and counter-protests bloodied the streets. All the while Americans grew increasingly divided and angry at their political leaders. One of their proposals: a ban on certain “dangerous” immigrant groups that the politicians tried to pin the blame on. Does the Gilded Age seem familiar yet?
Click Here to Watch
Crippling economic crisis. Fears related to immigration and disease. Income inequality. Corporate monopolies. Technological disruption. Corporate money unduly influencing politics.
Sound like 2021? Actually, here we’re talking about America from 1875 to 1900.
Known as “The Gilded Age,” it was a crucial era of industrialization, political turmoil, and social change that set the United States on the path to becoming the most economically powerful country in the world. With these changes came economic and social turbulence and dislocation. Many enterprising Americans took advantage of the “disruption” to succeed. Others were left behind, ill-equipped to compete in the new economy. The wealth gap between the rich and the poor was astronomical as industrial tycoons like the Rockefellers and the Carnegies built unthinkably large business empires and then used their monopoly power to hold down wages and shut down competition. They deployed their vast profits to buy politicians, corruptly tilting politics and the economy in their favor. Strikes and labor violence, protests and counter-protests bloodied the streets. All the while Americans grew increasingly divided and angry at their political leaders. One of their proposals: a ban on certain “dangerous” immigrant groups that the politicians tried to pin the blame on. Does the Gilded Age seem familiar yet?
Click Here to Watch
Suburban Life in the 1950s
The 1950s are often remembered in an idyllic and nostalgic way, sparking images of a single-family home in a leafy suburban neighborhood. Backyard barbeques and white picket fences. An American-built car in the driveway. The perfect picture of the American dream.
It’s easy to understand how some people long for that era. After all, the country was globally respected, the economy boomed, and an abundance of well-paid industrial jobs grew the middle-class. Life was safe and pleasant in the newly built suburbs which had seemed to sprout up from farmlands overnight. About 15 percent of the population, or 20 million Americans, had moved from cities to suburban homes in places like Glenmont, Md., or Levittown, Pa., marking one of the largest migrations in American history.
How and why did the unique form of suburban living first arise in America? What are the legacies of the suburbs and how did they shape American politics, culture, race relations, and gender dynamics? What can we learn about our ideas about the 1950s and how they continue to impact American culture and politics today?
Click Here to Watch
The 1950s are often remembered in an idyllic and nostalgic way, sparking images of a single-family home in a leafy suburban neighborhood. Backyard barbeques and white picket fences. An American-built car in the driveway. The perfect picture of the American dream.
It’s easy to understand how some people long for that era. After all, the country was globally respected, the economy boomed, and an abundance of well-paid industrial jobs grew the middle-class. Life was safe and pleasant in the newly built suburbs which had seemed to sprout up from farmlands overnight. About 15 percent of the population, or 20 million Americans, had moved from cities to suburban homes in places like Glenmont, Md., or Levittown, Pa., marking one of the largest migrations in American history.
How and why did the unique form of suburban living first arise in America? What are the legacies of the suburbs and how did they shape American politics, culture, race relations, and gender dynamics? What can we learn about our ideas about the 1950s and how they continue to impact American culture and politics today?
Click Here to Watch
The Debate of the Century
The 2016 presidential debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump broke records with nearly 85 million viewers. That’s near Super Bowl levels. But despite drawing record viewers, it was far from the most important debate in American history.
That title belongs to the first-ever televised presidential debate, between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960. The result was seen as being so disastrous for Nixon, who was regarded of having “won” the debate, but looked so terrible on the television screen compared to Kennedy’s radiance that it impacted him negatively. Afraid that inconsequential TV optics might undermine their otherwise strong performances, it would be 16 years before presidential candidates agreed to debate live on TV again.
Allen will take us back to the Eisenhower Era, a time before the “celebrity president.” We will examine the lives and backgrounds of John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, and we’ll see how Kennedy became president by dominating the television narrative and using innovative campaign techniques that set the model for presidential election campaigns to this very day.
It was also an election that was plagued by allegations of voter fraud, rigged counts, and problematic absentee voting. When it became clear that Kennedy only won by 113,000 votes, outraged Republicans grew convinced that cheating had tipped the election and lobbied for an investigation.
Click Here to Watch
The 2016 presidential debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump broke records with nearly 85 million viewers. That’s near Super Bowl levels. But despite drawing record viewers, it was far from the most important debate in American history.
That title belongs to the first-ever televised presidential debate, between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960. The result was seen as being so disastrous for Nixon, who was regarded of having “won” the debate, but looked so terrible on the television screen compared to Kennedy’s radiance that it impacted him negatively. Afraid that inconsequential TV optics might undermine their otherwise strong performances, it would be 16 years before presidential candidates agreed to debate live on TV again.
Allen will take us back to the Eisenhower Era, a time before the “celebrity president.” We will examine the lives and backgrounds of John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, and we’ll see how Kennedy became president by dominating the television narrative and using innovative campaign techniques that set the model for presidential election campaigns to this very day.
It was also an election that was plagued by allegations of voter fraud, rigged counts, and problematic absentee voting. When it became clear that Kennedy only won by 113,000 votes, outraged Republicans grew convinced that cheating had tipped the election and lobbied for an investigation.
Click Here to Watch
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Oppenheimer: the Man, the Movie, the Birth of the Atomic Age |
J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the most famous names of the 1940s & 50s, was made famous again by his recent Hollywood treatment. But there was much more to the man and that era in American life than the film depicted.
This lecture with Global Affairs professor Allen Pietrobon will take us back to the dawn of the Atomic Age to explore the Manhattan Project and the people behind it. But not all Americans (or even those who worked with him) celebrated Oppenheimer or the devastating weapon he foisted upon the world, a weapon we are still living under the threat of today. We’ll also look at some of the anti-nuclear activism that this birth of the “Atomic Age” spurred, based on Pietrobon’s new book, Norman Cousins: Peacemaker in the Atomic Age.
This lecture with Global Affairs professor Allen Pietrobon will take us back to the dawn of the Atomic Age to explore the Manhattan Project and the people behind it. But not all Americans (or even those who worked with him) celebrated Oppenheimer or the devastating weapon he foisted upon the world, a weapon we are still living under the threat of today. We’ll also look at some of the anti-nuclear activism that this birth of the “Atomic Age” spurred, based on Pietrobon’s new book, Norman Cousins: Peacemaker in the Atomic Age.
