About Rob Goldberg, Ph.D.

Rob Goldberg is an award-winning author, historian, and recognized authority on American toy culture.

He has been featured in The New Yorker and New York Times, and interviewed on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show and the Playground Podcast with Chris Byrne, aka The Toy Guy. TV and film appearances include The Toys That Built America on The History Channel and the documentary ‍Barbie Uncovered. His writing has been published in Ms. magazine and the Los Angeles Times. ‍

Rob holds a Ph.D. in American History from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the Chair of the History Department at Germantown Friends School, where he teaches courses on a range of topics including the history of play.

Rob loves to share his research and passion for the social history of toys and play with people of all ages. He is available for lectures, group talks, and interactive workshops on a variety of topics related to toys and the power of play for schools, businesses, and other organizations. His object-centered presentations to students, from third graders to undergrads, showcase the ways toy history is American history. He also leads workshops for educators who wish to bring toys into their history and social studies curriculum.

Institutions where Rob has given talks or workshops include:

Strong Museum of Play, Houston Toy Museum, University of Pennylvania, Rutgers University, UC-San Diego, University of Houston, Bard Graduate Center, the Center for Material Culture Studies.

To contact Rob for media interviews or a speaking engagement, click here.

On Instagram he is @toyhistorian.

More of his work can be found at Linktree.