Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Ruth Ben-Ghiat is Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University. She writes about authoritarianism, propaganda, and democracy protection. She is the recipient of Guggenheim and other fellowships and a media commentator. She publishes Lucid, a Substack newsletter on threats to democracy in the U.S. and abroad.

Her New York Times bestseller Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, examines how authoritarian leaders use corruption, violence, propaganda, and machismo to stay in power, and how resistance to them has unfolded over a century. She is a consultant for television and film productions, including the Academy Award-winning 2022 movie Pinocchio (Guillermo del Toro, 2022), and the Netflix docuseries Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial (Joe Berlinguer, 2024). She advises Protect Democracy and civil society organizations, including churches and multinational corporations, that face autocratic interferences in the US and around the world.