John Brown Today

By Louis DeCaro Jr.Society & Culture Education History

John Brown Today episodes

March 16, 2022 A Disparate Legacy: Oswald Garrison Villard and the John Brown Biography
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 extent himself. On the other hand, Villard depreciated John Brown as a restless and principled murderer, used his economic clout to the disadvantage of W.E.B. DuBois, another biographer of Brown, and fueled more hostile biographies that followed. As Lou discusses in this episode, Villard did so for reasons both ideological and familial.

Hey friends, click on this link to get your JOHN BROWN TODAY Podcast Mug!
Support the show
40 min
January 31, 2022 Interrogating History: The Mayflower, “America,” and John Brown
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, something that is done as much by rightwingers as by critics of racism, including such eminent voices as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. What is the significance of confusing the USA with "America"? Lou explores this theme, observing that, interestingly, John Brown typically did not make this error. He was quite aware that the problem with slavery and racism against which he struggled was a problem of The United States of America.

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Gabriel Moran, teacher and friend.--LD

If you're interested in exploring Gabriel's thinking about "America," see his book, America in the United States and the United States in America: A Philosophical Essay (iUniverse, 2018).

Hey friends, click on this link to get your JOHN BROWN TODAY Podcast Mug!
Support the show
38 min
January 16, 2022 Light vs. Lies: The Real History of the Harper's Ferry Raid (with a Jan. 6th epilogue!)
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 in the 1850s, and why it was changed?
2. Why did John Brown choose to capture the federal armory and what did he intend when he did so?
3. To what degree did John Brown’s movement in Harper’s Ferry attract local enslaved people?
4. Was the raid on Harper’s Ferry an ill-fated venture that had no real chance of success?
5. In what ways has our understanding of the HF raid been misshapen, and how has it come down to us?

John Brown's truth is ours too. He did his part. Let's do our part too and save our nation from rightwing rebellion, which is the spirit of the slaveholders.

Hey friends, click on this link to get your JOHN BROWN TODAY Podcast Mug!

Feedback?
https://www.speakpipe.com/JOHNBROWNTODAY
Support the show
52 min
December 24, 2021 My John Brown Holiday Notes
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.

Merry Christmas to those who observe the day, and happy holidays and happy new year to all!

Hey friends, click on this link to get your JOHN BROWN TODAY Podcast Mug!
Support the show
24 min
December 13, 2021 A Text For the Nation: John Brown Beyond Biography
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 historiographic memoir, John Brown's Journey (1978). Both writers demonstrated that Wendell Phillips was correct: Brown has given this nation a text, a fact that will not lessen in time.

Hey friends, click on this link to get your JOHN BROWN TODAY Podcast Mug!
Support the show
31 min
November 30, 2021 John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Moral Core: A Juxtaposition for December 2
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 John Brown's hanging on December 2, 1859.

Hey friends, click on this link to get your JOHN BROWN TODAY Podcast Mug!
Support the show
50 min
November 17, 2021 Explaining John Brown Correctly: A Conversation with Dan Morrison
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 Brown Today but he does a lot of thinking about the Old Man on his own, and he's working on a project that will interest JBT listeners for sure. This episode closes with Dan's Explainer Video soundtrack, but you will be able to view and listen to it on YouTube here:
https://youtu.be/ysIo0yyHxBc.

Hey friends, click on this link to get your JOHN BROWN TODAY Podcast Mug!
Support the show
33 min
October 17, 2021 Mary Ellen Pleasant and "The Rule of Credible Evidence"
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 Brown story, some of them obviously false, others arguably true, and some in-between, with a mix of the credible and interesting with fabrications and farce. This is especially the case with Mary Ellen Pleasant whose claims, made before she died in 1904, to having aided and supported John Brown, particularly with a gift of $30,000, have been renewed in the press in recent years, winning Pleasant a place in Black History as an ally of John Brown. Unfortunately, whatever her legacy entailed, her place in the John Brown story is quite questionable, and in "Mary Ellen Pleasant and 'The Rule of Credible Evidence,'" Lou will explain why.

PS Happy 162nd Harper's Ferry Raid Anniversary, Browniacs!

Hey friends, click on this link to get your JOHN BROWN TODAY Podcast Mug!
Support the show
27 min
September 27, 2021 The Voices of the Past: A Conversation with Ian Barford (Part 2)
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 of black self-determination. There is also some musing in regard to a trip to Kansas this past summer which they shared, both doing archive work as well as visiting historic sites.

If you're interested, you can read an article and see pictures from that Kansas trip on the John Brown Today blog by clicking on this link.

Hey friends, click on this link to get your JOHN BROWN TODAY Podcast Mug!
Support the show
25 min
September 06, 2021 The Voices of the Past: A Conversation with Ian Barford (Part 1)
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 his work has taken. This summer, Ian and I traveled around Kansas, visiting historical sites and then the beautiful Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka, where I dug in for several days of solid research.

If you're interested, here's a link to the John Brown Today blog, where you'll find an article with pictures and links from our Kansas trip.

I'm sure you'll enjoy our conversation and reflections on John Brown.

Hey friends, click on this link to get your JOHN BROWN TODAY Podcast Mug!

Support the show
36 min

About John Brown Today

From the publisher's feed

John Brown Today is a podcast devoted to historical and contemporary themes relating to the abolitionist John Brown (1800-59), the controversial antislavery and antiracist freedom fighter. John Brown…