Media &Upcoming Events
From book talks and speaking engagements to Jean’s upcoming public history events, stay tuned below for opportunities to connect with Jean and learn more about the fascinating stories she uncovers in the archives.
Original opera based on Driven Out
Composer Eric Tuan’s new seven-movement opera, “Echoes of Eureka,” follows the story of Charley Wei Lum, a young Chinese immigrant who settled in Eureka in the 1880s.
Performed for the first time in May 2025, this opera subsequently brought the history of Chinese immigration in California to European audiences throughout its summer tour season.
Listen to the first movement
Composer and artistic director Eric Tuan directing the internationally acclaimed Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir for the world premiere of “Echoes of Eureka.”
Live Events
UPCOMING EVENTS:
April 23, 2026, 12:30 p.m.: A History of Native American Slavery, Colonial Relations and Structures Research Group. Radboud University, Nijmegen, NL.
May 11, 2026, 4 p.m.: "Voices Out of Bondage: California Slave Narratives," Cambridge American History Series. Sibella Room, Jesus College, Cambridge University.
May 12, 2026: "That's History: That's Truth. I Seen it Myself," T'tc~tsa (Wailaki), Enslavement of California Native Americans. Legacies of Slavery Institute, Cambridge University.
May 16, 2026: "California, A Slave State." Northwest Writing Club (Liverpool, UK).
WATCH JEAN LIVE:
On August 10, 2023, Jean testified before the San Francisco Human Rights Commission’s Reparations Committee.
PAST EVENTS (selected):
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, “California A Slave State 250 Years: Bondage and Freedom,” Carr Institute for Human Rights Policy, March 3, 2025.
University of Bergamo, September 12, 2025 (Bergamo, Italy)
Roosevelt Institute for American Studies, May 15, 2025 (Middleburg, Netherlands)
“California, A Slave State,” May 13, 2025, (University of Leiden)
San Diego Chinese History Museum, October 19, 2024 (San Diego, CA)
Book Club of California, July 15, 2024 (virtual)
Rural Chinatowns and Hidden Sites Conference, June 18 – June 21, 2024 (Salt Lake City, UT)
BOUND FOR CALIFORNIA Chinese Labor in California–Free and Unfree, sponsored by Labor Fest at Angel Island, June 14, 2024 (Angel Island, CA)
Bancroft Library Roundtable, Berkeley, CA, “California A Slave State: History and Reparations,” May 16, 2024 (Virtual)
Department of Ethnic Studies, Women’s History, California Poly Humboldt, March 21, 2024
Department of American Studies, Stanford University, February 15, 2024 (Virtual)
Department of American Studies, San Jose State University, February 14, 2024 (Virtual)
“Resilience: A Story of 19th-Century Chinese Immigrants in Antioch and Beyond,” speaker series hosted by Tricycle: The Buddhist Review and May We Gather with funding from the Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative, January 24, 2024
Nevada County Historical Society, January 18, 2024 (Nevada City, CA)
17th Annual Heyday Harvest, Thursday, October 26, 2023 (Virtual)
LA County Historical Society, Tuesday, September 26, 2023 (Virtual)
UUSF Human Rights Working Group Forum, Sunday, October 1, 2023 (Virtual)
Book Breaks via Gilder Lehrman Center, September 10, 2023 (Virtual)
Northwest Neighbors Village Virtual Speaker’s Series, Tuesday, September 26, 2023 (Virtual)
The Commonwealth Club (San Francisco), August 16, 2023 — Watch now!
Politics & Prose (Washington, DC), July 22, 2023
MOCA Museum of the Chinese of America (New York), July 20, 2023
California Historical Society, July 11, 2023
Clarke Museum and Humboldt County Historical Society (In Person and Virtual), July 8, 2023
Northtown Books, Arcata, CA, July 7, 2023University of Bergamo, ItalyMay 13, 2025, “California, A Slave State,” Dept. of History. University of Leiden
Radio, Podcasts & TV
RADIO (recorded):
KPFK Los Angeles, Capitalism, Race, and Democracy with Steve Zeltzer, Oct. 1, 2023 — Listen Now!
KPFK Los Angeles, Freedom Now! with Gerald Horne, Oct. 14, 2023 — Listen Now!
San Diego News Now, KBPS (NPR), June 22, 2023 — Listen Now!
The World, KBPS (NPR), June 21, 2023 — Listen Now!
Letters and Politics, KPFA, June 28, 2023 — Listen Now!
KQED Forum, July 7, 2023— Listen Now!
Leonard Lopate Show on WBAI, June 19, 2023 — Listen Now!
PAST RADIO EVENTS (live):
The Jefferson Exchange on JPR, July 6, 2023
What’s The 411? With Sharon Kay, July 5, 2023
The Laura Coates Show on Sirius XM, June 28, 2023
Leonard Lopate Show on WBAI, June 19, 2023
PODCASTS:
Yale University Podcast, “California’s History of Slavery and Slave Revolts,” June 27, 2023 — Listen Now!
BBC’S History Extra, “California’s hidden history of slavery,” August 23, 2023 —Listen now!
Axelbank Reports History and Today with Evan Axelbank, “Jean Pfaelzer - "California: A Slave State," June 25, 2023 — Listen Now!
Explaining History Podcast, “Slavery in California - In conversation with Jean Pfaelzer” — Part 1, Part 2
New Books Network, “California, A Slave State,” June 23, 2023— Listen Now!
Facepalm America Podcast with Beowulf Rochlen, “The Intense History of California as a Slave State,”Aug. 2023— Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Scholars’ Circle Podcast, July 16, 2023— Listen Now!
The Rob Burgess Show, Aug. 11, 2023 — Listen Now!
Race to Social Justice Podcast with hosts Keva White and John Kepner — Tune in soon!
Hidden History LA Podcast with host Robert Peterson — Tune in soon!
TV:
Headline Humboldt, “The Eureka Chinatown Project” — Watch Now!
Print Media
IN THE NEWS:
LA Times
“How one author uncovered the fact that California was — and remains — a slave state,” June 28, 2023.
The Atlantic
“Finding Common Cultural Ground With Your Kids: Entertainment musts from Franklin Foer,” June 25, 2023.
The New York Times
“Newly Published, From Susan Sontag to the Black Working Class,” June 23, 2023.
Counter Punch
“What’s Next for Native Americans? A Report From the San Francisco Bay Area,” June 16, 2023.
NBC News
“California's earliest Black settlers bought land only for it to be stolen. Their descendants want it back.” June 3, 2023.
Alta Online
“11 New Books for June,” May 31, 2023.
Napa Valley Register
“Thomas D. Elias: Who’s being ignored as state mulls slavery reparations,” May 12, 2023.
Immigration Prof
“From the Bookshelves: California, a Slave State by Jean Pfaelzer,” April 4, 2023.
