Episode 38: Jean Paul Marat, unsung hero of the French Revolution

Historian Dr. Clifford Conner talks about John Paul Marat's unparalleled and unacknowledged influence on the causes and success of the French Revolution—an event Conner describes as arguably the most significant chapter in human history. Conner shares an updated account of his vivid and colorful 1997 book, Jean Paul Marat, only the second English-language biography in the last hundred years of the controversial and often misunderstood French revolutionary.

During the program. Dr. Conner compares Marat to persecuted journalist Julian Assange. Like the Wikileaks founder, Marat, the popular and charismatic truth teller, was falsely smeared and accused and arrested. He was forced underground for 3 years until the insurrection of August 10, 1792—the second of the four most significant turning points of the Revolution.

Other celebrated and key figures of the French Revolution—Danton, Robespierre, Desmoulins, Hebert, Mirabeau, Freron, Paine, Lafayette—are included in Conner's reflections on Marat's life during this turbulent, world changing epoch. His story concludes with a moment by moment retelling of Charlotte Corday’s ghastly murder of the heroic figure.