John Brown Today
John Brown Today
Latest Episodes
Experiment: "John Brown Speaks" Meets Google's Notebook LM
In this episode, Lou uploads the transcript of the extended introduction of his book, John Brown Speaks (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) to one of Google's AI programs, Notebook LM. Notebook LM "reads" the introduction and t...
2011 Throwback: Should John Brown Be Posthumously Pardoned?
In this episode, Lou introduces the question of whether John Brown should be posthumously pardoned. The theme begins with biographer David S. Reynold's Op-Ed in the New York Times on December 1, 2009 entitled, "Freedom's Martyr," in wh...
The Terrible Parable of the Dumbass Doyles
In this episode, Lou revisits the story of James and Maehala Doyle of Tennessee, who devoted themselves and their family to supporting slavery and opposing antislavery and abolitionist settlers in the Kansas Territory. In the Pottawatomie incid...
John Brown, Accomplices, and the Struggle Against Systemic Racism: A Conversation with Dan Morrison
In this episode, Lou speaks with Dan Morrison, the founder of the John Brown Project and a documentary filmmaker from Torrington, Connecticut, John Brown’s birthplace. Morrison details his work, i...
The John Brown Lens: What would Brown Say About Contemporary Zionist Israel, the Charlie Kirk Tragedy, & Trump's War on the History of Slavery
In this episode, Lou breaks with the regular approach of this podcast to put a John Brown lens on pressing contemporary issues. He specifically addresses three main topics, arguing why John Brown would be an anti-Zionist due to the movem...
Fan Mail
Dear Dr. DeCaro, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for the incredible work you're doing with the John Brown Today podcast. I had no idea who John Brown even was until my junior year at the University of Rhode Island, when I took an African American history course. That class opened my eyes and your podcast has deepened my understanding in ways I never expected. What I appreciate most is how you cut through the myths and misconceptions that surround John Brown. Those depictions of him as either a fanatic or a footnote. Your passion, scholarship, and clarity have helped me see him as a deeply moral, purposeful person whose legacy is both misunderstood and profoundly important. The way you break down how these misunderstandings took root, and why they’ve persisted, really helps frame the bigger picture of American memory and racial justice. I even had the chance to visit Harpers Ferry recently, and walking through that space, with your insights in mind, made it an incredibly powerful experience. Thank you again for your important work. Please keep it going! It's making a real difference.
Providence, Rhode Island