Tony Michels
Professor and Reboot Faculty
Tony Michels is author of A Fire in Their Hearts: Yiddish Socialists in New York (Harvard Univ. Press, 2005), editor of Jewish Radicals: A Documentary History (New York Univ. Press, 2012), and co-editor of The Cambridge History of Judaism. Volume Eight: The Modern World, 1815-2000 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2017). He is a professor of American Jewish history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he serves as Director of the Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies. Michels is currently writing a book tentatively entitled “To the East Broadway Station: The Russian Revolution in American Jewish HIstory.” His article on Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers appeared in the Sound Issue of Guilt and Pleasure.
Articles
Blog
A Purim Call for Mutual Recognition
We live in an ungenerous time. Innocent mistakes are treated as punishable offenses. Well-meaning comments are turned into their opposite. Identification with others can be misconstrued as a self-serving gesture. But history tells us there are less stingy ways of thinking and feeling and so, as Purim approaches, we revisit an essay by Jewish Studies Professor and Reboot faculty member Tony Michels from 2022. Michels goes back to an interesting episode from a century ago that reminds us that oppression and liberation are the great themes of Jewish history and Black history. Purim reminds us of this. And it is our obligation to honor this shared heritage in our own lives. Read more here.
Appears in
Podcasts
The Strange World of Nasology and the Jewish Shnozz
In the mid 19th century, “Nasology” emerged, a pseudoscientific belief that claimed that you could tell a person’s personality type by the shape of their nose. Dr. Eddy Portnoy and Dr. Tony Michels get into the nitty gritty of the satirical origins of Nasology, its impact on the Jewish community, and what exactly the deal is with the stereotypical “Jewish shnozz.” Plus Jewish beauty queens, miraculous beauty products, and Tony Michels’ 7th grade yearbook superlative. Listen now to the season finale of The Jewish Bizarre podcast!
Podcasts
Jewish Geniuses, Idiots, and the Greatest Mohel
Throughout history Jews have earned a reputation for being highly educated, after all, Jews have won 20% of the Nobel Prizes despite being only .18% of the world’s population. But are there really more Jewish geniuses? Our own geniuses, Jessica Chaffin, Dr. Tony Michels, and Dr. Eddy Portnoy look at Jewish scholars and Jewish idiots throughout history to determine where this stereotype comes from, whether there is any truth to it, and what the repercussions are today. Plus non-Jewish Jews, excommunication letters, and the greatest mohel to ever come out of Russia. Catch it all in the latest episode of The Jewish Bizarre streaming now wherever you get your podcasts.
Podcasts
The Tonsil Riots and other Jewish Uprisings
In the latest episode of The Jewish Bizarre, Eddy Portnoy and Tony Michels dive into the Tonsil Riots of 1906 – an uprising led by Jewish mothers in New York City after their kids were operated on without their knowledge – the Kosher Meat Boycott of 1902, and other Jewish protests that are absent from the cultural lexicon. Plus, the largest funeral to ever occur in New York City, inventive uses for raw meat, and a riotous story from Dr. Tony Michels’ own life. Listen now!
Podcasts
Jewish Anarchists and the Yom Kippur Balls
The second episode of The Jewish Bizarre podcast is now streaming! In the late 1880s, young Eastern European Jewish immigrants had discovered anarchism, Marxism, and other such ideologies that had radicalized them against religion. In an effort to protest religion and expose the lie they thought it was, they threw outrageous balls throughout New York City… on Yom Kippur. Tony Michels, Jessica Chaffin, and Eddy Portnoy discuss whether these anarchists were protesting or celebrating the holiday; plus, eating festivals, what it means to be Jewish, and what exactly you are allowed to enjoy on Yom Kippur. Listen now.
Podcasts
Only Murders in the Shtetl
With the continuing obsession with crime podcasts, we are revisiting Episode 1 of The Jewish Bizarre Podcast: Only Murders in the Shtetl! In December 1875, a Jewish woman named Sarah Alexander is found dead in a Brooklyn cornfield, her neck slashed. The investigation and murder trial sweeps the nation and forever changes the perception of Jews in the United States. Dr. Eddy Portnoy (YIVO), Dr. Tony Michels (UW-Madison), and Jessica Chaffin (ASK RONNA) dive into what happened and why the case was so intriguing. Plus murder pamphlets, Jewish gangsters, and the other stories Jewish Historians didn’t want you to know. Listen Now! Find out more here and listen now to the full season of The Jewish Bizarre podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcasts, YouTube or wherever else you get your podcasts.
The Jewish Bizarre
Now Streaming: Dig into bloody murders, rioting mothers, anarchist parties and pseudoscience – everything you never learned in Hebrew school and that your Rabbi still doesn’t want you to know. Dr. Eddy Portnoy, academic advisor for the Max Weinreich Center and Exhibition Curator at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Dr. Tony Michels, professor of Jewish American History at UW Madison, and Jessica Chaffin, writer, comedian and host of the popular podcast Ask Ronna join up on the Jewish Bizarre Podcast to discuss the strangest corners of Jewish history. Learn more here.