American history, political freedom, foreign policy, Iran, the Middle East, and the lessons the past can teach us about the political challenges facing America today.
Larry Kelley is an author and political commentator whose work examines freedom, American history, international affairs, political movements, and the historical forces that continue to shape the modern world.
A Conversation With Larry Kelley
Larry Kelley brings a historical perspective to modern political and foreign-policy questions. Rather than examining today's headlines in isolation, his work frequently looks backward to the events, people, political movements, wars, and ideas that helped create the world in which we now live.
His articles in The Freedom Chronicles explore questions involving American liberty, political parties, Iran and Persia, Islamism, the Middle East, Western civilization, revolutionary movements, and the responsibilities of governments created to protect the freedom of their citizens.
Larry is also the author of An American Slave in Barbary: The Odyssey of Winston Prescott Jones, a historical novel set during the formative years of the American Republic and America's confrontation with the Barbary powers of North Africa.
Suggested Podcast Topics
Larry is available for long-form interviews, historical discussions, political commentary, author interviews, and conversations connecting current events with American and world history.
America's Forgotten War With the Barbary States
Long before America became a world power, the young republic faced piracy, hostage-taking, slavery, ransom demands, and warfare along the coast of North Africa.
Larry can discuss Thomas Jefferson, the Barbary powers, America's early foreign-policy dilemma, and how those events influenced the nation's understanding of freedom, military power, and its responsibilities toward American citizens overseas.
Can Iran Become Persia Again?
Larry has written extensively about Iran, the Iranian regime, the Iranian resistance, and the historical distinction between the Persian people and the government that rules them.
This discussion can explore whether political change inside Iran could transform the Middle East and what role, if any, the United States and the West should play.
When Does a Political Party Deserve to Die?
George Washington warned against the dangers of political factions, yet political parties appeared almost immediately during the founding era.
Larry can discuss the rise and fall of America's earliest political parties, the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans, and what their history may teach us about today's political institutions.
Thomas Jefferson, American Freedom and the Barbary Crisis
America's early presidents faced an uncomfortable question: how should a republic dedicated to liberty respond when its citizens were captured and enslaved abroad?
Larry can discuss Jefferson, the Barbary conflict, America's early naval power, and the difficult transition from a vulnerable former colony into an independent republic capable of defending its citizens.
What Does Government Exist to Protect?
America's founding documents placed liberty and individual rights at the center of the American political experiment.
Larry can discuss the relationship between government and freedom, how America's founders understood political power, and whether modern governments remain faithful to the principles upon which they were established.
Revolutionary Movements and Political Alliances
Larry has examined historical alliances between movements whose ideologies may differ dramatically but whose immediate political objectives overlap.
The conversation can examine communist, socialist, revolutionary, and Islamist movements historically and consider why political coalitions sometimes form between groups that appear, on the surface, to have little in common.
About Larry Kelley
Larry Kelley is an American author and political commentator with a particular interest in freedom, American history, foreign policy, Iran, the Middle East, political movements, and the lessons history provides for understanding current events.
Through his continuing column, The Freedom Chronicles, Larry examines the ideas, conflicts, governments, political movements, and historical events that affect individual liberty and the future of Western civilization.
His historical novel, An American Slave in Barbary: The Odyssey of Winston Prescott Jones, follows an American caught in the dangerous world of the early nineteenth-century Mediterranean and North Africa during the era of the Barbary powers.
The novel uses historical fiction to introduce readers to a period when the young United States was struggling to define what independence meant and how far the nation was willing to go to protect the freedom of its citizens.
Possible Questions for Larry
- Why did America's conflict with the Barbary powers become such an important test for the young republic?
- What did Thomas Jefferson believe America should do about Americans being captured and enslaved overseas?
- What parallels do you see between America's early encounters with North Africa and foreign-policy challenges today?
- Why do you distinguish between the Iranian regime and the Persian people?
- Could a political transformation inside Iran fundamentally change the Middle East?
- Why was George Washington concerned about the development of political parties?
- Why did the Federalist Party disappear while other American political movements survived?
- Can a modern American political party reach a point where it no longer represents the principles upon which it was founded?
- Why do revolutionary political movements sometimes cooperate with groups whose beliefs seem incompatible with their own?
- What motivated you to write An American Slave in Barbary?
- How much of the world portrayed in your novel is based upon actual historical events?
- What can Americans today learn from the generation that founded the Republic?
About the Book
An American Slave in Barbary: The Odyssey of Winston Prescott Jones
Set against the turbulent world of the early American Republic and the Barbary powers of North Africa, Larry Kelley's historical novel follows Winston Prescott Jones through an extraordinary journey involving capture, slavery, survival, political intrigue, and America's emerging confrontation with the Barbary states.
The story places an individual struggle for freedom within the larger story of a young nation learning what it means to defend the liberty of its people.
The Freedom Chronicles
In The Freedom Chronicles, Larry Kelley writes about freedom, history, politics, Iran, the Middle East, Western civilization, American government, and the historical forces influencing today's world.
Podcast hosts and producers are encouraged to browse Larry's recent columns for additional interview topics.
Why Invite Larry?
Larry's interviews can move beyond short political talking points and into the history behind contemporary events. His work is particularly suited for podcasts interested in:
- American history
- Conservative political thought
- American founding principles
- Individual liberty
- Iran and Persia
- Middle Eastern history and politics
- Foreign policy
- The Barbary Wars
- Thomas Jefferson and the founding generation
- Political parties and revolutionary movements
- Historical fiction
- Books and authors
Book Larry Kelley
Interested in having Larry join your podcast, radio program, livestream, interview, or discussion?
Please include the name of your program, your proposed topic, the approximate interview length, and several possible recording dates.
Information for Producers
Larry is available for discussions concerning his books, articles, historical research, American politics, foreign policy, freedom, Iran, and the Middle East.
For interview requests, please provide:
- Podcast, radio program, channel, or publication name
- Website or channel URL
- Host's name
- Proposed discussion topic
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- Producer or host contact information
Larry Kelley
Author and Political Commentator
The Freedom Chronicles