In an exclusive Transatlantic Tales interview, William Wells Brown (1814-1884) talks about his years of lecturing and performing in Britain to raise awareness against slavery in his native United States. Born in Kentucky, Brown escaped to the northern states aged 20 and became a writer and campaigner for Abolition. In 1849, he travelled to Europe to continue his work. On the show, he talks about how he made his British lectures more entertaining by commisisoning a panorama, his protest at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and how he felt about allowing British supporters to send money to his American enslaver to secure his freedom. Brown says he has fond memories of Britain, especially of the support he received in cities like Manchester, from audiences whose livelihoods would suffer if the supply of cotton from the plantations of the south was interrupted.

How the interview with Mr Brown was secured: 

- Text Q and A with ChatGPT, asking it to answer as William Wells Brown

- Audio recording of the questions on iPhone with Voice Record Pro 7

- Copy and paste of Brown's answers to Natural Readers text to audio

- Capture of audio output on Macbook using Audio Hijack

- Audio edit in Final Cut Pro 

Follow Charles Miller on X and his Transatlantic Tales blog.

Every year, the town of Uttoxeter in the English Midlands, commemorates the story of Dr Johnson, the great lexicographer, doing penance in the marketplace for his disobedience to his father, who used to run a bookstall there on market days.

The American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne was so taken with the story that when he was in Britain, he visited Uttoxeter to see for himself the site of Johnson's penance.

In this episode, Charles Miller joins the annual commemoration in Uttoxeter and hears how the story of Johnson moved not only Hawthorne but also the Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle and is a living tradition in the town to this day.

With thanks to those interviewed on the show: John Glandfield, the Mayor of Uttoxeter, Peter Selo, Richard Davies and Phil Jones from the Johnson Society and to two A level students from a local school.   

Links:

James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson (search for "Uttoxeter")

Nathaniel Hawthorne's chapter, 'Lichfield and Uttoxeter' from Our Old Home.

Thomas Carlyle on Samuel Johnson

Phil Jones, Chairman of the Johnson Society: Samuel Johnson: Reception and Representation, 1750–1960.

The Johnson Society

Follow Charles Miller on X and his Transatlantic Tales blog.