In this podcast, we revisit the lives of Elizabeth Freeman, Lemuel Haynes, and James Forten, three Black Americans who lived through the contradictions of the Revolutionary era and helped expand its ideals. These three did not passively await emancipation but seized the rhetoric of liberty and used it to reshape law, religion, and civil society. Their stories illuminate the untold Black contribution to the founding vision of the American Republic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more ...
Jul 03, 2025•21 min•Ep. 72
An episode interviewing Caleb Franz covering the life of the abolitionist minister John Rankin. From his hilltop home in Ripley, Ohio, Rankin established a safe haven for enslaved people crossing the Ohio River. Over the course of his life, he became one of the most active conductors on the Underground Railroad, helping hundreds of enslaved people escape to freedom. Rankin was a powerful voice for individual liberty. His Letters on American Slavery , published in the 1820s, were among the earlie...
Jun 19, 2025•50 min•Ep. 71
This episode explores the provocative work of Bernard Mandeville, who argued that everything from commerce to civilization itself emerged not from altruism, but from self-interest, vanity, and competition. In his poetic satire and philosophical essays, Mandeville laid the groundwork for understanding society as an evolving system shaped by passions, not perfection. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 13, 2025•16 min•Ep. 70
Drawing from Hebert Spencer, Shyamji Krishna Varma, an Indian revolutionary and journalist, challenged British colonial rule. From his rise as a Sanskrit scholar to his establishment of India House and the Indian Sociologist in London, his work laid the foundation for a transnational anti-colonial movement. His life is a testament to how classical liberalism and the fight for self-determination were deeply intertwined in the battle against empire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more ...
Apr 08, 2025•27 min•Ep. 69
Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to Congress, remains one of the most principled pacifists in American political history. She was a vocal opponent of US intervention in European affairs in World War I and was the lone vote against US entry into World War II. Rankin endured harsh criticism for her choice for the rest of her political career. Rankin’s lifelong advocacy for women’s suffrage, social reform, and nonviolence cemented her legacy as a politician guided by conscience rather than...
Mar 04, 2025•16 min•Ep. 68
Born in west Africa and kidnapped into slavery at age eleven, Olaudah Equiano endured the horrors of the Middle Passage before being sold to British and American masters. As an enslaved seaman, he traveled the world, gaining skills and knowledge that would later shape his abolitionist message. After purchasing his freedom, Equiano settled in London, where he became a leading voice against slavery. His autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano , defied racist assumpt...
Feb 04, 2025•21 min•Ep. 67
From his critique of state-controlled education in “Baccalaureate and Socialism,” to his extensive correspondence with free-trade advocate Richard Cobden, to his independent political career in a tumultuous France, Bastiat’s insights are still applicable today. In this episode, we explore his lesser-known works and his reflections on freedom, self-ownership, and the dangers of state intervention. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jan 14, 2025•20 min•Ep. 66
The 16th-century Dominican theologian Francisco de Vitoria has been hailed as the father of international law. Vitoria's teachings at the University of Salamanca shaped the foundation of modern natural law and human rights, from his pioneering defense of indigenous rights in the New World to his profound contributions to political theory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 10, 2024•18 min•Ep. 65
Born in 1851, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk distinguished himself as an economist, writing on theories of capital and interest. His work, Karl Marx and the Close of His System , remains one of the most thorough rebuttals of the labor theory of value. But beyond his work as an economist, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk put theory into practice as a statesman arguing against the rapid fiscal expansion of the Austrian state. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Nov 12, 2024•15 min•Ep. 64
Over his 60-year career, English philosopher Herbert Spencer discussed a myriad of topics, including ethics, political philosophy, sociology, and psychology. Central to his intellectual journey, however, was his exploration of evolution—a concept that shaped his vision for a freer world. Though his name may not be widely recognized today, Spencer was once one of the foremost advocates for liberalism across the globe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 08, 2024•26 min•Ep. 63
Following World War II, Germany's economy was in ruins and was made even worse by ongoing price controls implemented by the state. Ludwig Erhard, an economist from a humble background, immediately abolished all price controls when elected director of economics in occupied Germany. The result is what economists and historians call an economic miracle, but what Erhard himself believed was the natural result of an economy freed from bureaucracy and state intervention. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...
Sep 10, 2024•18 min•Ep. 62
An episode interviewing senior fellow Mustafa Akyol about the life and legacy of Namık Kemal, the Ottoman journalist and author. Born into the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century, Namık Kemal became a prolific journalist and reformer who advocated for constitutional government within the Ottoman Empire. His outlook was defined by his commitment to individual rights that are applied equally to everyone. Though exiled by the Ottoman state numerous times, Namık Kemal helped pave the way for cons...
Aug 13, 2024•46 min•Ep. 61
Born into poverty and indentured servitude, Lemuel Haynes became the most prominent black preacher of 18th-century America. He combined his experiences as a soldier of the American Revolution and a devout Calvinist to expound the philosophical principles of liberty. From the pulpit, he condemned slavery and upheld the principles of the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 04, 2024•21 min•Ep. 60
Though obscure today, the German sociologist Franz Oppenheimer crafted a radical theory of the state. In his book The State , he argued that the state's origins were not in public justice or establishing laws but in the reign of a conquering group over their defeated foes. His work influenced libertarian theorists such as Albert Jay Nock, Walter Block, and Murray Rothbard. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 18, 2024•17 min•Ep. 59
Despite its reputation as a dark age, the Medieval period was not devoid of intellectual substance. An example of this is William of Pagula, a 14th-century English priest and scholar who wrote The Mirror of King Edward III , a political treatise condemning the king's practice of purveyance and excessive taxation. Using a mixture of Biblical and Classical authorities, William made the moral case against interfering with property rights. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
May 14, 2024•16 min•Ep. 58
Born into slavery, Elizabeth Freeman gained her freedom in 1781, eighty years before the American Civil War. Freeman did not escape to Pennsylvania as was common at the time. She gained her freedom through the courts. Upon winning her case, she changed her name to Elizabeth Freeman to celebrate her new life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Apr 16, 2024•14 min•Ep. 57
Born between the Scottish Lowlands and Highlands, Ferguson made a name for himself writing philosophical history, an early precursor to sociology. In his famous work, An Essay on The History of Civil Society, Ferguson explained how civilization is refined over many generations as society evolves to deal with ever-increasing complexity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 28, 2024•16 min•Ep. 56
Despite his upbringing in poverty and vicious racial discrimination, the black freeman James Forten rose to become one of the foremost sailmakers in Philadelphia and a crucial voice in the abolition of slavery. Though largely forgotten today, Forten defied the racial stereotypes of his day and became a symbol of black achievement in the new nation of America. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 27, 2024•23 min•Ep. 55
This month, we examine the often-overlooked legacy of William Graham Sumner, a 19th-century sociologist, economist, and political thinker. Despite his pivotal role in establishing sociology as a discipline at Yale, Sumner's contributions have been overshadowed, partly due to his association with Herbert Spencer, who has been incorrectly labeled a social Darwinist. The episode delves into Sumner's life ideas, covering his critique of imperialism, the Forgotten Man, and the phenomenon of concentra...
Jan 30, 2024•22 min•Ep. 54
Renowned for his larger-than-life character, Karl Hess started as a conservative but slowly shifted away from the Republican party, turning towards the New Left. Eventually seeing the contradictions of both the right and the left, Hess became an anarchist without hyphens. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 20, 2023•19 min•Ep. 53
Jane Jacobs revolutionized the study of cities. She did not see them as merely areas of high population densities, but as huge laboratories for experimentation making cities the flash points of the history of human progress. Her intellectual career was spent checking the hubris of government officials. Further Reading: A City Cannot Be a Work of Art: Learning Economics and Social Theory From Jane Jacobs by Sanford Ikeda More articles and podcasts from Libertarianism.org: The Rise of Free Cities:...
Nov 15, 2023•22 min•Ep. 52
Celebrating the tenth anniversary of Havel's Place in Georgetown, an episode dedicated to the dissidents of Czechoslovakia responsible for the Velvet Revolution in 1989, overthrowing the brutal Communist regime without violence or bloodshed. Find out more at Libertarianism.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 02, 2023•19 min•Ep. 51
Coming soon, a brand new podcast from Libertarianism.org... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 02, 2023•3 min
A special 50th episode of Portraits about why a layperson should study history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 30, 2022•13 min
Despite his obscurity today, the French Irish economist Richard Cantillon was the first person to put forward a theory of the entrepreneur in the market economy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 18, 2022•19 min
In 1879, Henry George wrote Progress and Poverty, still one of the bestselling economics books of all time; in it, he argued for the abolition of all kinds of taxes but one. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 05, 2022•20 min
Marie De Gournay’s “The Equality of Men and Women” is one of the first books to use equality to define the relationships between the sexes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Apr 07, 2022•17 min
Though born into obscurity, Josiah Wedgwood would become a household name across the European continent over the course of his life, representing refinement and taste. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 24, 2022•19 min
The ancient Indian writer Kautilya had more knowledge of economic affairs than any thinker for over a thousand years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 10, 2022•21 min
The life of the subversive novelist José Rizal proves that sometimes the pen really is mightier than the sword. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 24, 2022•23 min
