Frances Wright imagined a community system that would accomplish the seemingly impossible, and she was a product of her times in this. Communities like the one Wright tried to establish at Nashoba were all the rage in the early 19th century. What did Frances Wright learn from the Harmony Society and Robert Owen’s New Harmony in Indiana? What did Wright learn from her friend and supporter George Flower’s earlier experiences in Illinois? How do these communities fit into the history of American life, if we stop labeling them as quirky anomalies or foolish disasters? As we face our own, remarkably similar economic age, informed by radical new technologies (in her day the industrial revolution, in ours a digital revolution) that reshaped economic relationships, what can we learn from attempts like Nashoba and New Harmony?

Our expert guests this week are Silvia Rode (University of Southern Indiana) and Caroline Kisiel (DePaul University).

This is a podcast about Frances Wright, reformer, philosopher, writer, activist, abolitionist before it was cool. Feminist long before the word existed.

Want to go deeper? Find shownotes with links to resources and rabbit holes here on our substack site⁠. There’s even more to read on our Bookshop.org lists here!

Frances Wright: America’s Forgotten Radical is a co-production of Newyear Media and Her Reputation for Accomplishment, written and hosted by Eleanor Rust and Tristra Yeager. Made possible by a grant from the Working Men's Institute, New Harmony, Indiana, and by the generosity of the Efroymson Family Fund. Thanks also to the Bloomington Area Arts Council for supporting this podcast.

Frances Wright is voiced by Emily McGee. Music by Eleanor Dubinsky. Editing and audio support by Josh Perez.