I'm stunned to find out that William James accounted himself a pacifist. The context at the turn of the 19th into the 20th century has been entirely transformed. His problematic relation to his own hypermasculine student Teddy Roosevelt.

An amazing and seemingly destined transmission and return: Ballou to Tolstoy, Tolstoy to Gandhi, Gandhi to King. If the podcast makes an historical contribution, it is in this episode.

A hero of Thoreau and Emerson ("Civil Disobedience" is Lucretia Mott without Jesus), spearhead of abolitionism, feminism (a convener of Seneca Falls), and pacifism. One of the greatest persons and personalities America has produced. I use her s...

One of the fundamental influences on Tolstoy (with whom he corresponded), and hence on Gandhi and King, Ballou (1803-1890) gave much more careful and elaborate accounts of non-resistance than most of his contemporaries.Also, he completel...

Wright "shocks all the old women with his infidel writings," said Thoreau in his journal. Boy we can see why.