Portraits of Liberty Podcast
1) Cato’s Letters: Against Tyranny and Corruption
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...Show More
2) A Son of the Forest: William Apess
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 Christ...Show More
3) The Forgotten Polish Republican: Wawrzyniec Goślicki and the Rights of a Free Commonwealth
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 ...Show More
4) A Quiet Rebel: José Castellanos
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,...Show More
5) Japan's Ignored Anarchist: Andō Shōeki
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 bas...Show More
6) Benjamin Franklin: A Versatile Genius, with Guest Mark Skousen
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 re...Show More
7) Joseph Hiam Levy: A Forgotten Radical for Liberty, with guest Matt Zwolinski
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 cooper...Show More
Joseph Hiam Levy: A Forgotten Radical for Liberty, with guest Matt Zwolinski
28:27 | Aug 12th, 2025
8) Liberty With an Asterisk: Black Americans In the Revolution Era
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 i...Show More
9) The Father of Abolitionism: John Rankin (With Caleb Franz)
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...Show More
10) How Self-Interest Built Societies: Bernard Mandeville
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 competi...Show More