John Brown Today

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Lou interviews the preeminent cultural historian of the 19th-century USA, David S. Reynolds. This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Reynolds' landmark biography, John Brown Abolitionist. Reynolds opens by describing his most recent project, the forthcoming Two Ships (Penguin), and then revisits the writing of John Brown Abolitionist, rehearsing some key themes from the book as well as reflecting on his  background and methodology as a cultural historian. The interview finishes with a shift to Reynolds' 2020 opus, Abe, a cultural biography of Abraham Lincoln. 

There is also an AI-generated visual overview available based on this interview. See "John Brown Sparked a War" (https://youtu.be/OMEwfYZQ3hM).

Content Warning: This episode contains two direct quotes from historical sources that include a racial slur. The audio has been edited to reduce the volume of the word to minimize harm to listeners.

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, I am inviting you on a peculiar historical tour of the term, "Secret Six." While John Brown students are accustomed to seeing this term used to speak of Brown's key supporters, this episode is about the origin of the term and its significance in the literature about Brown.  As you'll discover, while the "tour" of "Secret Six" is full of trivial and interesting cases where the term has been used since the nineteenth century, it was not really applied to Brown's story until the twentieth century.  While the term has its uses, students of Brown should know that in many respects, "Secret Six" has largely been used by the abolitionist's detractors more than his admirers.  The tour bus has arrived, so join me for the "Secret Six" tour. . .

Episode music: "Paradox" by Quincas Moreira (YouTube music)

Support the show

Send us a text

In this episode, Lou shares an extended reflection on Malcolm X that is attuned to the memory and legacy of John Brown. Going beyond easy, almost cliché use of Malcolm's words, Lou draws on his background as a Malcolm X biographer to reflect upon both the strategic and personal approach of the memorable black leader to John Brown's legacy.

This May 19, 2025 is the centennial of Malcolm X's birth.  With one foot in the antebellum era and another foot in the Civil Rights era, the stretch may be challenging, but it's well worth the effort.

Happy 225th Birthday, John Brown.  Happy 100th, Malcolm.

Music: "Blue Mood" by Robert Munzinger (YouTube)

Send us a text

In this episode, Lou explores the appellation, "Secret Six," which is often associated with the so-called inner circle of John Brown's supporters. Taking you on this imaginary tour, Lou travels through time to find references to the "Secret Six," finding a lot of interesting and sometimes musing flotsam and jetsam and a couple of high-profile associations with "Secret Six." But what he doesn't find is a term that has any real association with John Brown, his followers, or their stories. Join Lou as he gets to the bottom of "Secret Six"--which, it turns out, isn't very deep at all.

Music: "Paradox" by Quincas Moreira (YouTube)

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Lou discusses two recent online articles to illustrate how John Brown is often appropriated and misused by writers in discussing contemporary issues.  The first article discussed is an effort to draw a parallel between John Brown and Luigi Mangione, who allegedly murdered a healthcare executive in cold blood last year. The second article presents John Brown as a Christian Nationalist. In both cases, Lou objects to the misuse of John Brown, showing how inaccurate these appropriations tend to be. 

Links to the articles, fyi:

Will Shetterly, "What you say about Luigi Mangione is what you would've said about John Brown," Medium (Dec. 14, 2024).

Shiv Parihar, "John Brown, Christian Nationalist," Providence Magazine (Dec. 13, 2024). 

Theme music: "Land of My Fathers" by The 126ers (YouTube)

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Lou discusses the animals--pets, livestock, and others who are part of the John Brown story, from the dogs of Harper's Ferry to a cat who went to Kansas.  Just when you thought you'd heard everything about John Brown, huh?

Guest music: "Story of a Toy" by Freedom Trail Studio (Youtube)

Also available on the John Brown Today YouTube station

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in 1906, and was a German Lutheran pastor, a figure noted in the theological world for his neo-orthodox views, and his most popular book, The Cost of Discipleship.  Bonhoeffer is more widely remembered as an anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church which opposed the Nazis.  In the 1940s, Bonhoeffer joined the German underground, but was arrested and incarcerated at Tegel Prison, where he remained for over a year. However, In 1945, documents were discovered that named Bonhoeffer among the dissidents and orders for his execution were made directly by Hitler himself.  Bonhoeffer received no fair trial and had no lawyer to defend him. To humiliate him, Bonhoeffer was marched in the nude to his gallows with a few other victims, although the time for execution may have been drawn out and all the more traumatic. According to one source, Nazis were known to interrupt a hanging, revive the victim, and then continue the process repeatedly before final execution. 

Today Dietrich Bonhoeffer is considered a hero. The question posed in this brief episode is, why is Bonhoeffer a hero for so many, but John Brown is not?

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

After the better of two years, John Brown Today is going back in production. This is just a brief message to greet listeners and to update them a bit, and thank them for maintaining an interest in this podcast. John Brown Today is coming back and I'm looking forward to what lies ahead.  So stay tuned.  

Please note that two episodes will be uploaded for December 2024.

Music: "Burden Laid Down" by The Westerlies (YouTube)

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Lou does a deep dive evaluation of the legend of John Brown kissing a black baby on the day of his execution,  a story that has been enshrined in poetry and paintings.  Sharing his research on the topic, Lou considers the evidence and draws some interesting conclusions suggesting that this legend may have more than a core of truth.

Check out the video version on my YouTube channel here.

Guest music (closing): Aaron Lieberman, "Move Up to the Mountains" (YouTube)

Support the show

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Lou shares a conversation with author Ed Maliskas, a musician, clergyman, and researcher, the author of John Brown to James Brown: The Little Farm Where Liberty Budded, Blossomed, and Boogied (2016).  In this fascinating discussion, Ed talks about coming to learn about the old Kennedy Farm in Maryland where John Brown and his raiders lived prior to the Harper's Ferry raid in the summer and early fall of 1859.  However, as Ed learned, the farm, often referred to as the "John Brown farm" (not to be confused with John Brown's own home and farm in Lake Placid, N.Y.) has unfolding importance to black history--a site considered precious to the influential black fraternal order of  Elks in the 20th century, and later a popular R&B dance venue where many memorable black artists performed from the late 1950s until the mid-1960s, the last performer being the Godfather of Soul, James Brown.  Who would think that a humble little farm in Maryland would have such a historical pedigree--indeed, Ed Maliskas argues it was essentially the birthplace of the southern Civil Rights movement!

Musical wallpaper for this episode:

American Frontiers by Aaron Kenny (YouTube)
New World A'Comin and Harlem by Duke Ellington (performed by the Cincinnati    Symphony Orchestra)

And from some of the artists who performed at the Kennedy Farm:

Sadie Mae by Sammy Fitzhugh & His Moroccans
Feel Alright by Jimmy Dotson
Hurt Me to My Heart by Faye Adams
Money Honey by Clyde McPhatter & the Drifters
Party Lights by Claudine Clark
Mystery Train by Junior Parker
Show Me Your Monkey by Kenny Hamber
It's Just a Matter of Time by Brook Benton

Support the show