John Newton: podcast appearances and interviews

John Newton is the vice president of public policy and economic analysis at the American Farm Bureau Federation. His background includes a complex history as a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. Newton served as a sailor in the Royal Navy after being forcibly recruited and was enslaved for a period in West Africa. Following his rescue, he returned to sea, captained several slave ships, and continued investing in the trade before experiencing a religious conversion that led him to renounce slavery. Later, he became a prominent supporter of abolitionism and was ordained as a Church of England cleric. Newton served as a parish priest at Olney in Buckinghamshire for twenty years and authored hymns, including 'Amazing Grace' and 'Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken.' His life was marked by significant transformation, as he lived to see the abolition of the African slave trade by the British Empire in 1807, just months before his death. Newton's experiences and religious commitments contributed to his influence in social and religious spheres, reflecting a life of profound change and social impact.