The Libertarian Tradition

The Libertarian Tradition

Author: Jeff Riggenbach Language: English Episodes: 81
In The Libertarian Tradition, Jeff Riggenbach draws from his extensive background as a journalist, author, editor, broadcaster, and educator to explore the philosophical and historical roots of libertarian thought. This podcast delves into the ideas and figures, both famous and overlooked, who have shaped this enduring political tradition. Riggenbach’s approach is that of a seasoned storyteller and analyst, offering listeners a deep, narrative-driven examination of concepts like individual liberty, free markets, and limited government. Each episode is built on rigorous research and presented with a clear, engaging delivery, moving beyond abstract theory to connect principles to real-world events and intellectual history. You’ll hear detailed discussions that trace the evolution of libertarianism, analyzing its key texts and the context from which they emerged. The podcast serves as an audio library and commentary, where complex ideas are made accessible without being diluted. For anyone curious about the foundations of this ideology, The Libertarian Tradition provides a substantive, thoughtful resource. It’s a series for those who prefer their exploration of political philosophy to be thorough, well-reasoned, and free from partisan soundbites, all guided by Riggenbach’s knowledgeable perspective.
Episodes
Roger J. Williams and the Science of Individuality [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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But the most effective mechanism ever devised for making effective pooling of our faculties as easy as it can be — the free market — is also the natural result of reducing general laws to a bare minimum and leaving peopl…
The English Civil War and the First Libertarian Movement [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Whatever their motives may have been, whatever at any given moment they thought of themselves as doing, Anthony Ashley Cooper and John Locke advanced the libertarian idea, just as John Lilburne did. All three of them are…
Mervyn Peake (1911–1968) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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American libertarians would be particularly interested in Peake's great novel, since the perspective on the individual and society that pervades it is very libertarian in the broadest sense of that word...
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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What Thoreau was defending here, in 1849, was essentially the same concept the English philosopher Herbert Spencer defended two years later, in his book Social Statics , as "the right to ignore the State."...
Emma Goldman (1869–1940) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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No other woman in America ever had to suffer such persistent persecution.
Eric Arthur Blair aka George Orwell (1903–1950) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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One doesn't have to read far into the works of George Orwell to discover that he had no understanding of economics whatsoever and was not personally a libertarian in the sense we have in mind when we use that word today.…
Voltairine de Cleyre (1866–1912) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Freethought, de Cleyre wrote, was "the right to believe as the evidence, coming in contact with the mind, forces it to believe. This implies the admission of any and all evidence bearing upon any subject."...