Portraits of Liberty

Long before the American Revolution, in the 1720s, a series of newspaper essays known as Cato’s Letters warned readers that power corrupts and liberty survives only through constant vigilance. In this episode of Portraits of Liberty, we explore how John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon’s fiery writings helped shape the American tradition of free speech, self-defense, and resistance to tyranny. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Born of Pequot descent, William Apess was the first Native American to publish a full-length autobiography. Apess became a Methodist minister and one of the most piercing moral critics of white Christian America’s hypocrisy. Drawing on the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, and the language of natural rights, Apess demanded that liberty, equality, and self-government apply to Native peoples as much as they were to anyone else. From his autobiography, A Son of the Forest, and his fiery essay “An Indian’s Looking-Glass for the White Man” to his leadership in the Mashpee Revolt, Apess held the American republic accountable to its professed creed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the late sixteenth century, Wawrzyniec Goślicki authored De Optimo Senatore (The Accomplished Senator), a bold argument for a politics grounded in natural law, civic virtue, and the constitutional liberties of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Joined by Walker Haskins, our editor for intellectual history, Paul Meany, covers Goślicki’s career as a bishop, diplomat, and political theorist. They discuss Goślicki’s vision of checks on executive power and his rejection of arbitrary rule. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode explores the often overlooked classical liberal tradition of civil disobedience through the remarkable story of José Castellanos Contreras, a Salvadoran diplomat who, during World War II, defied orders and international law to save thousands of Jewish people from Nazi death camps. His story, forgotten for decades, embodies the liberal conviction that moral law supersedes state authority.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode explores the thought of Andō Shōeki, a Japanese philosopher who denounced feudal hierarchies, Confucian dogma, and the samurai class. Shōeki’s vision of a natural, egalitarian society based on voluntary cooperation challenges the notion that anarchist or libertarian thought is uniquely Western. His work is an early critique of state power, anticipating later theories by figures like Franz Oppenheimer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, economist and historian Mark Skousen joins us to discuss his latest book, The Greatest American: Benjamin Franklin, The World's Most Versatile Genius. Skousen highlights Franklin’s remarkable range of life experiences from scientist and inventor to statesman, printer, and philosopher—showing why Franklin has long been considered by historians to be the most modern of the Founding Fathers. Skousen reflects on Franklin’s lessons on liberty, enterprise, and the pursuit of a flourishing life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

J.H. Levy was a prominent but now largely forgotten voice in the individualist intellectual circles of Victorian Britain, known for his passionate defense of self-ownership and voluntary social cooperation. Matt Zwolinski introduces listeners to Levy’s life, intellectual context, and the principles that drove his activism in organizations like the Personal Rights Association.This episode is also available to watch on Youtube. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 information.

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 earliest and most forceful arguments for the immediate abolition of slavery. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

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 information.

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 political expediency. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 assumptions, advocating for economic prosperity through free trade rather than human bondage. By blending personal testimony with political and economic arguments, Equiano helped redefine abolitionist thought, paving the way for the eventual end of the transatlantic slave trade. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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/privacy for more information.