Liberia: Remembering the Future

Episode 6 of Liberia: Remembering the Future – and Episode 2 in our Samuel Doe mini-series.In this episode, we move from the aftermath of the 1980 coup into the pivotal year of 1985.We discuss the first election after five years of military rule, allegations of rigging, the return and failed coup attempt of Thomas Quiwonkpa, and the reprisals that followed. The conversation also explores how that moment added an ethnic dimension to Liberian politics that would bring long term repercussions.Along the way, Aaron reflects on the internal tensions of Doe’s rule, the People’s Redemption Council, the pressures of constitutional change, and the wider atmosphere of fear, violence and uncertainty in the first half of the 1980s.Topics include:- Samuel Doe and the People’s Redemption Council- Thomas Quiwonkpa and the split within the 1980 coup leadership- Liberia’s 1985 election- allegations of rigging- the November 1985 coup attempt- reprisals against Gio and Mano communities- the ethnicisation of Liberian politics- Liberia, the Cold War, and US backing under ReaganLiberia: Remembering the Future is a conversational podcast hosted by Gerry Naughton and Aaron Weah, exploring Liberia’s history, politics, culture and future through informed, accessible discussion. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit liberiartf.substack.com/subscribe

Part 1 in our three-part mini-series on Samuel Kanyon Doe.In this episode:- Samuel K. Doe's pivotal role in Liberian history- How he rose from soldier to ruler- Understanding the 1980 coup- The promises and contradictions of the Doe era- Why Doe still provokes strong feelings todayHosts:Gerry NaughtonAaron WeahPodcast:Liberia: Remembering the Future – conversations about Liberia’s history, culture, politics, identity and future.Subscribe / follow:- Spotify- Apple Podcasts- SubstackAlso available:Transcript and more available on Substack: https://liberiartf.substack.com/Coming next:Samuel Doe Part 2 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit liberiartf.substack.com/subscribe

Bonus episode – SuakokoToday is International Women’s Day, so we’re sharing a short outtake from our conversation about Liberia’s early history.It begins with a question – what if Liberia had never become an independent republic? – and ends with the remarkable story of Chief Suakoko, a woman who helped open the interior of the country to negotiation and dialogue.A small digression, but a fascinating one. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit liberiartf.substack.com/subscribe

Episode summaryIn this episode Aaron and Gerry explore the long presidency of William V.S. Tubman and the reformist ambitions of William Tolbert.For more than three decades Liberia appeared politically stable under the True Whig Party. Yet beneath that stability deeper tensions were building – tensions that would eventually reshape the country.Topics covered• Tubman’s rise to power in 1944• The consolidation of the True Whig Party state• Liberia’s role in Pan-African diplomacy• Economic modernisation and inequality• Tolbert’s reform agenda• The growing tensions of the late 1970sListen to the full seriesYou can listen to Liberia: Remembering the Future on:• Substack• Spotify• Apple Podcasts• Pocket CastsAbout the podcastLiberia: Remembering the Future is a podcast exploring Liberia’s past, present and future through memory, history and conversation.Hosted by Aaron Weah and Gerry Naughton. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit liberiartf.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Gerry Naughton and Aaron Weah explore the political foundations and contradictions of Liberia’s First Republic. The discussion centres on the 1930 forced labour scandal, when Liberia was accused of practices indistinguishable from slavery, leading to the resignation of President Charles D. B. King. They unpack how fraudulent elections, economic crisis, and elite capture of the state shaped this period.The conversation also examines the League of Nations investigation, its devastating findings, and the moral shock it caused at home and abroad.Moving beyond villains and heroes, the episode reflects on the legacies of figures such as J. J. Roberts and Edwin Barclay, the rise of the True Whig Party, and deep class divisions within settler society. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit liberiartf.substack.com/subscribe

In Part 1, we sketched the basic shape of the relationship – the founding myth, the strange intimacy, the blind spots, the dependency, the pride. In Part 2, we stay with the same question but get more concrete: what does “US influence” actually look like when you’re living it?We talk about how power travels – through money, through institutions, through culture, and through habits of thinking you barely notice until you try to name them. We also look at the ways Liberians have navigated that influence with intelligence and pragmatism, not just as victims of history.This is not always a neat picture, which is the point: it’s messy, layered, sometimes contradictory. Liberia’s relationship with the US isn’t simply a story of control; it’s also a story of imagination, strategy, and people working with what’s in front of them.If you’re new to the series, Liberia: Remembering the Future is a set of short, informal backgrounders – rigorous on the facts, but conversational in tone. Aaron brings the grounded expertise; Gerry brings the outsider’s questions and a long memory of how Liberia is usually talked about. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit liberiartf.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, we begin a longer conversation on US influence in Liberia: from the country’s founding to the deeper assumptions that still shape politics, power, and identity today. We look at how Liberia’s relationship with its ‘big brother’ was formed, how it functions in practice, and why its legacy remains so complicated.This is Part 1 of a two-part discussion. Bonus material for subscribers will be published alongside Part 2. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit liberiartf.substack.com/subscribe

What we coverWho Dr Amos Sawyer was, and why he mattered at a critical moment in Liberia’s historySawyer’s role as an academic-president — and why that mattered in a post-war contextThe tension between institutional reform and personal power in Liberian politicsMemory, restraint, and why some political virtues are easier to admire than to inheritHow Sawyer’s legacy still challenges Liberia today This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit liberiartf.substack.com/subscribe