In 2004, when he was executive officer of the CUNY Graduate Center's department of history, Professor Joshua Freeman was my first contact and mentor in the early years of grad school. His expertise and generosity helped me and many others in our transition to a rigorous Ph.D. program. He is now a Distinguished Professor at the GC and teaches at CUNY's Queens College, sharing his deep knowledge of American politics, economics, and society with students throughout New York City. This conversation touches on his experiences growing up in Brooklyn, his early connection to the Civil Rights Movement, the motivation behind his recent book American Empire, and his development as one of the nation's prominent scholars of American labor.