John Brown Today

Send us Fan Mail To begin the fourth cycle of John Brown Today, Lou reflects upon the life and contribution of Brown biographer, Oswald Garrison Villard, whose life of John Brown was first published in 1910. As Lou argues, Villard did a great favor to historical study and John Brown students by commissioning extensive research for his work--research that he could not even utilize to the fullest ex...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lou reflects upon the critical thesis of the late Gabriel Moran (1935-2021), who indefatigably pointed out  the distinction between "America" as a dream (and as a vast continental land mass) and The United States of America as a nation. Following Gabriel's lead, Lou reflects upon the linguistic and political challenges of confusing the two, somethin...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lou revisits the Harper's Ferry raid of October 16, 1859, presents some preliminary thoughts on the contemporary perspective and then addresses a number of key points, along with a "January 6th" epilogue.  The key points addressed in this extended episode are: 1. What basically characterized John Brown’s earlier Virginia plan and how it was changed...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Lou tries to answer the question, "Did John Brown celebrate Christmas?"  This leads us to consider both Thanksgiving and Christmas in the antebellum era, what they represented to the North and South, respectively, and their social significance. Then, taking a quick tour of the archives, Lou pulls some different vignettes relating John Brown to Christmas....

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lou reflects upon the 1859 words of abolitionist orator Wendell Phillips, that the hanged John Brown had "given this nation a text."  Lou considers how W.E.B. DuBois used the abolitionist as a text in writing his biography John Brown in 1909. Almost seventy years later, the leftist historian Albert Fried  likewise did so in the writing of his historiogra...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lou reflects upon the "moral core" of Brown and Lincoln in juxtaposition. Mainly considering how these men are viewed in terms of religion and in regard to their roles in human liberation, Lou argues that Lincoln is neither a prophet nor a martyr, and that he is bested in both categories by Brown.  This episode is dedicated to the annual remembrance of J...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Lou talks with Dan Morrison, a journalist and artist who lives in Torrington, Connecticut, the birthplace of John Brown.  The basis of the conversation is Dan's recent explainer video, "Was John Brown a Terrorist?" an Explainer Video which succinctly and effectively addresses a theme that so many have distorted and skewed.  Dan is a listener of John...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lou discusses the story of Mary Ellen Pleasant, an African American woman who has been lauded for her civil rights activities in 19th century San Francisco, but--more important to this podcast--claimed to have been a confidant and supporter of John Brown. Along the way, Lou shares a number of examples of stories and reports that connected claimants to the John Bro...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lou continues his conversation with friend Ian Barford, the actor and  Brown-Douglass researcher. In this episode we discuss Ian's project on John Brown's relationship with Frederick Douglass and other black leaders of that period, including the impact that black nationalist archetypes had on Brown's thinking, and in turn how he responded in support...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to John Brown Today! In this episode, the first of two parts, I'm talking with my friend, Ian Barford, a Tony-nominated actor who is also a John Brown enthusiast and, in his own right, quite a scholar and researcher. For some years now, Ian has been working artistically on the theme of John Brown and Frederick Douglass, and I'm excited for the direction that...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lou reflects on the text of John Brown's 1859 document, "A Declaration of Liberty," which was intended as the official pronouncement of the liberation movement and "guerrilla" state that he intended to establish in the South after staging a political demonstration at Harper's Ferry.  After his movement failed and Brown was taken at Ha...

Send us Fan Mail In this special Father's Day episode, Lou reflects on the example and influence of Owen Brown (1771-1856), the father of abolitionist John Brown.  From Connecticut to the Ohio wilderness in the early 19th century, father and son Brown share a common religious faith and zeal for human rights and opposition to slavery.  Special attention is paid to John Brown's 1857 autobi...

Send us Fan Mail This is the edited audio of a short video done to commemorate the 220th birthday of John Brown in 2020.  This brief reflection on Brown's life and significance entails his upbringing, biographical profile, his impact on anti-colonial revolutionaries, his cultural diminishment in the USA, and concludes with statements by Frederick Douglass (read by Michael Sweeting) and James...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lou recalls the important role of Boyd B. Stutler (1889-1970), "the godfather of John Brown scholars." Lou sketches Stutler's life, from his youth as a newspaperman and one of the youngest mayors in his era, to his role as a war time correspondent and veterans' magazine editor. Above all, Stutler was the key figure in gathering John Brown mater...

Send us Fan Mail In this John Brown birthday episode, Lou presents a reflection upon the "reunion" meeting at John Brown's farm that took place on July 4, 1860,  before the Brown family sold the property and relocated to California three years later.  Based on an account published in William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator (July 27, 1860),  Lou reflects on this meeting--attended...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lou discusses the historical and cultural context of Charles Sheldon's 1910 poem, "God's Angry Men," which compares the biblical liberator Moses with John Brown. Opening with a reading of the poem by actor Norman Marshall, Lou revisits Sheldon as a clergyman in the "social gospel" tradition, and also features a couple rare vignettes o...

Send us Fan Mail In the first installment of a feature called "Letters and Friends," Lou meets (via zoom) with the wonderful scholar and author, Margaret Washington of Cornell University, author of a number of important works, especially Sojourner Truth's America (2009).   The conversation, built around a letter by John Brown to his wife, Mary, in January 1858 (transcribed in abbrev...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lou reflects upon the story of John Brown's involvement in the Masons, first his membership and then  his drastic turnabout in becoming an antagonistic opponent of the "Worthy Brotherhood."  Not only is this a peculiar aspect of Brown's biography, but it raises some questions, including if Masons then and now continue to claim John Brown as a b...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lou pays a zoom visit to the award-winning folk musicians and activists Terry Leonino and Greg Artzner, the duo known as Magpie . Since 1973, Terry and Greg have brought their unique sound and remarkable versatility to audiences everywhere, featuring traditional and vintage Americana to contemporary and stirring original compositions.   With two strong voices in h...

Send us Fan Mail How many John Browns can you think  of? In this episode, Lou shares some reflections on biography and how John Brown has been portrayed in biographical and cultural terms since his death in 1859 and up through today.  While this episode is about Old Brown, there is some reflection on Old Abe, but rest assured, it's all in good fun.  Or is it?  I doubt the Lincoln Squirrel is...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lou reviews America's "Good Terrorist": John Brown and the Harper's Ferry Raid , by Charles P. Poland, Jr., Ph. D.   "[W]hile this is a new book," Lou observes, "there is something very old about it, a  refurbished version of the old anti-Brown story that was so pervasive from the early-to-mid-20th century—that old hackneyed tale...

Send us Fan Mail What can be learned by looking at a person's bookshelf?  In this episode, Lou reflects upon John Brown's early business and financial difficulties and argues that despite the simplistic and often manipulative way that writers have portrayed this theme in Brown's biography, few if any biographers have taken an adequate look at both Brown's business life and the...

Send us Fan Mail One of the most incredible stories related to John Brown that really is not about him is the story of Alexander Milton Ross, a Canadian public figure of the nineteenth century. Ross was most widely known and celebrated in the later nineteenth century because of his antislavery activities and his reputation as a leading abolitionist figure prior to and during the Civil War. However...

Send us Fan Mail Spoiler Alert! If you have not seen the popular movie, "Emperor," you may want to watch it before you listen to this podcast. In this episode, Lou discusses the somewhat mysterious life of Shields Green, a.k.a. Emperor, one of John Brown's Harper's Ferry raiders.  As Lou recounts, it was the making of the "Emperor" movie that prompted him first to wan...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Lou takes a "deep dive" on understanding John Brown as a person, from describing his physical and personality traits to an extended discussion about Brown's religious views and his inclination to take up for the underdog.  Arguing that Brown certainly is different from popular portrayals, Lou unpacks a biographer's perspective on "the Old...