Thursday, May 30, 2013

New video: American Freethought

The Thomas Paine Review congratulates longtime friend and colleague Rod Bradford on the production of an outstanding new four-part video series on the history of the freethought movement, a subject almost (and sadly) unknown to citizens of America and the world over. Rod and Tom Flynn (see credits below) have made a significant contribution with this new series. The first part is available for view at the link below and features a substantial section dealing with Thomas Paine.


This is a four-hour film series about the freethought movement  from the late eighteenth century until the 1930s. Part one only is available at this juncture and interested parties are now required to email the writer/producer for a password in order to view the video (see note at bottom of page).

Commentators include:

DAVID R. CONTOSTA, professor of history, Chestnut Hill College, author, Rebel Giants: The Revolutionary Lives of  Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin.

CAROL FAULKNER, professor of history, Syracuse University, author, 
Lucretia Mott's Heresy: Abolition and Women's Rights in Nineteenth-Century America.

CHRIS FINAN, President of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, author,
From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act: A History of the  Fight for Free Speech in America.

TOM FLYNN, Executive Director of the Council for Secular Humanism, editor of Free Inquiry and The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief.

JACK FRUCHTMAN JR., professor of political science, Towson University, author, Thomas Paine: Apostle of Freedom / The Political Philosophy of Thomas Paine.

LAWRENCE B. GOODHEART, professor of history, University of Connecticut, author of Abolitionist, Actuary, Atheist: Elizur Wright and the Reform Impulse

HELEN L. HOROWITZ, professor of history, Smith College, author of Rereading Sex: Battles Over Sexual Knowledge and Suppression in Nineteenth-Century America.

Written, produced, and directed by RODERICK BRADFORD, author of D. M. Bennett: The Truth Seeker. 

Note: When I first posted this, the movie was a simple click to view. The producer has, however, just changed the link (which I have edited) and required that you email for a password in order to view part one. I'll post updated links from time to time as they become available.

Kamikaze attack on Thomas Paine Hotel?

 or "medical siezure?" Wonder if they administered a breathalizer test?

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/updated_car_crashes_into_thetford_s_thomas_paine_hotel_1_2210436