The Thread

In light of the unfolding situation and unrest across America—and the debate about the use and effectiveness of non-violent and violent means of protest—we thought it would be a good time to re-run a prior season of The Thread that touched on this very issue and how it has played out previously in history.

The Transformation of Leo Tolstoy

Just before his death in 1910, the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy struck up a correspondence with a young lawyer in South Africa named Mohandas Gandhi, one that would change the young Indian’s life. Today Tolstoy is best known for penning War and Peace and Anna Karenina. But the Russian writer’s biggest legacy — and gift to the world — might be his ideas on nonviolent resistance, which emerged after he had a profound spiritual crisis in midlife.

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In light of the unfolding situation and unrest across America—and the debate about the use and effectiveness of non-violent and violent means of protest—we thought it would be a good time to re-run a prior season of The Thread that touched on this very issue and how it has played out previously in history.

Turning Enemies Into Friends

The Indian lawyer and activist Mohandas Gandhi was the first leader to take up the age-old doctrines of love and nonviolence and transform them into tools of political and social resistance. In doing so, he would inspire Bayard Rustin and other activists across the world. Armed only with love, humility and disobedience, Gandhi brought the most powerful empire on earth to the bargaining table — and eventually to its knees.

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In light of the unfolding situation and unrest across America—and the debate about the use and effectiveness of non-violent and violent means of protest—we thought it would be a good time to re-run a prior season of The Thread that touched on this very issue and how it has played out previously in history.

An Angelic Troublemaker 

The seasoned activist and Quaker Bayard Rustin was King’s mentor in nonviolence and the organizing genius behind the March on Washington in 1963. Many felt that Rustin was on his way to becoming the “American Gandhi.” There was just one problem: Rustin was gay, and as a result, would be forced to the sidelines of the civil rights struggle, and to the margins of American history.

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In light of the unfolding situation and unrest across America—and the debate about the use and effectiveness of non-violent and violent means of protest—we thought it would be a good time to re-run a prior season of The Thread that touched on this very issue and how it has played out previously in history. 

The Pride and The Power

Fifty years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated after leading the most influential protest movement in American history. King revolutionized the use of nonviolent resistance to combat racial injustice in the United States, but the Alabama preacher did not always believe in nonviolence. In fact, early on, King relied on armed guards for his protection until an older Quaker activist named Bayard Rustin walked into King’s home and changed the direction of the civil rights movement.

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From the minds behind The Thread, Flashback is a series of stories of unintended consequences, disastrous turning points, dangerous ideas, crazy coincidences, unsung heroes and forgotten villains. Find out how some of the best-laid plans can go horribly wrong, or prove unexpectedly magnificent. Click here to subscribe now: https://megaphone.link/HSW9425294283

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the minds behind The Thread, Flashback is a series of stories of unintended consequences, disastrous turning points, dangerous ideas, crazy coincidences, unsung heroes and forgotten villains. Find out how some of the best-laid plans can go horribly wrong, or prove unexpectedly magnificent. Click here to subscribe now: https://megaphone.link/HSW9425294283

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the minds behind The Thread, Flashback is a series of stories of unintended consequences, disastrous turning points, dangerous ideas, crazy coincidences, unsung heroes and forgotten villains. Find out how some of the best-laid plans can go horribly wrong, or prove unexpectedly magnificent. Click here to subscribe now: https://megaphone.link/HSW9425294283

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the minds behind The Thread, Flashback is a series of stories of unintended consequences, disastrous turning points, dangerous ideas, crazy coincidences, unsung heroes and forgotten villains. Find out how some of the best-laid plans can go horribly wrong, or prove unexpectedly magnificent. Click here to subscribe now: https://megaphone.link/HSW9425294283

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Enjoy a preview of our first episode of Flashback. From the minds behind The Thread, Flashback is a series of stories of unintended consequences, disastrous turning points, dangerous ideas, crazy coincidences, unsung heroes and forgotten villains. Find out how some of the best-laid plans can go horribly wrong, or prove unexpectedly magnificent. Click here to subscribe now: https://megaphone.link/HSW9425294283

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Each of us handles social distancing in our own way. Some are doing virtual yoga classes. Others are turning to art. And then there are those truly rare birds... like Sir Issac Newton. He once turned his time in quarantine into an opportunity to change the way we understand the world around us. Learn about history’s unintended consequences on Flashback, a new podcast from OZY and iHeart Radio Podcast Network. Find out how some of the best-laid plans can go horribly wrong or prove unexpectedly magnificent. Click here to subscribe now: https://megaphone.link/HSW9425294283

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.