Free To Choose Media Podcast

While still in college, Barbara Branden, and her soon to be husband Nathaniel, began a relationship with Ayn Rand that lasted for almost two decades. They studied and discussed her ideas in depth and travelled the country speaking about Rand’s objectivist philosophy. The ideas were controversial and were not well accepted by the general public. In 1987 Bob Chitester sat down with Barbara to talk a...

Although recorded in the early 1990s, self-esteem was discussed as much then as it is today. Do you think it’s true that “…many, many groups that are the targets of prejudice and discrimination don’t show terrible low levels of self-esteem that a lot of psychological theory suggests they ought to have?” Listen in as Dr. Jennifer Crocker, former Professor of Psychology at SU...

In 1993 three giants in the field of neural research got together to discuss their work and how it related to learning and memory. Dr. Timothy Tully, former Senior Staff Investigator at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Dr. Eric Kandel, 2000 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology/Medicine, and the late Dr. Patricia Goldman-Rakic, Professor of Neuroscience at the Yale University School of Medicine, spen...

Larry Arnn, current President of Hillsdale College, met with his former teacher in 1999, the late distinguished fellow of the Claremont Institute, Harry Jaffa, to discuss his political philosophies. Jaffa believed the American Founders, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington, established the nation on political principles traceable from Locke to Aristotle. While he believ...

When two giants in their respective fields get together for a casual conversation, what topics are on the agenda? Listen in as the late George P. Shultz, former Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan, and the late Nobel economist Gary Becker discuss the International Monetary Fund, America’s dependence on oil, micro-lending, demography, immigration, and drugs. The subjects are as relevant to...

The late George P. Shultz, former Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan, and the late Robert Conquest, former Stanford Research Fellow and noted Soviet researcher, shared anecdotes about their contacts and experiences with the Soviet Union. Both men were impressed with former Soviet President Gorbachev’s candor and intelligence. During a visit to Stanford to see Shultz, Gorbachev talked about an...

In 1987, David Horowitz, a political activist, author, and founder of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, sat down with Bob Chitester to talk about his transformation from far left to far right. Born into a family that were members of the Communist Party USA, he spent his youth attending marches and communist summer camps. In the mid-’80s, Horowitz had a final reckoning with his years of doub...

This is the third and final hour of a three-part exchange between the late Friedrich von Hayek, economist and Nobel laureate, and the late Leo Rosten, author and social scientist. In this segment, von Hayek evaluates economic trends and comments on the direction in which he believed we were heading at the time. Additionally, von Hayek talks about his very brief foray into psychology, writing a boo...

This is the second hour of a three-part exchange between the late Friedrich von Hayek, economist and Nobel laureate, and the late Leo Rosten, author and social scientist. It encompasses von Hayek’s theories and the many people and events which shaped his thoughts and career. Von Hayek spends some time discussing John Maynard Keynes and he reveals that though they shared space in the field of econo...

Originally recorded in 1978, this is the first session of a lively and occasionally controversial three-part interview of the late Friedrich von Hayek, economist and Nobel laureate, by the late Leo Rosten, author and social scientist. It is a wide-ranging discussion of von Hayek’s life and work, primarily in the areas of philosophy of science, political philosophy, the free will problem, and epist...

Originally recorded in 2000, Ronald W. Jones is Xerox Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Rochester, and James Gwartney holds the Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar Chair at Florida State University. Gwartney is also a member of the Fraser Institute and is part of the team that puts together the Economic Freedom of the World Annual Report. In this podcast, these two illustrious econom...

In 1998, Bob Chitester sat down with the now late Dr. Christian de Duve, 1974 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, to talk about his background, what led him to choose his research path, and his desire to seek the truth. At some point, de Duve concluded that one of the ways to seek truth was through understanding life. However, as he tells Chitester, “You shouldn’t get away wi...

Former Secretary of State George P. Shultz is one of only two people to have held four different Cabinet posts. As Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1989, he was instrumental in shaping the administration’s foreign policy. Listen in as Secretary Shultz and Bob Chitester talk about Shultz’s background and the kind of upbringing and education that led to his i...

George Shultz, former Secretary of State, and Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union, were responsible for the initial meetings that led to melting the ice of the Cold War. In this conversation, the two diplomats talk about their first meeting and the impressions each had on the other. Their candid exchanges made it possible for the United States and the Soviet Union to begin the...

Richard Strier, author and winner of the Warren-Brooks Prize for Literary Criticism, talks with the late Richard Stern, author and professor of literature, about their memories, observations, and perspectives. Stern credits life experiences for giving texture and animation to his work and early influence from his family life on his strong preference for a concise and “boiled down” writ...

“How do we get new economic ideas? One of the fascinating questions that always bothers me, and many economists, right, is how do you get an Albert Einstein?” James Heckman posed this question to the late Robert Fogel in this discussion about Empirical Economics, originally recorded in 2001. The two Nobel prize winners talk about some of the history of economics and how changes in scie...

Listen to 30 minutes with the late Aaron Wildavsky, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, and Dr. Bruce Ames, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, both at UC Berkeley, as they discuss the development & refinement of research objectives. It was recorded in 1992.

Listen to 50 minutes with David Kelley, philosopher and founder of The Atlas Society, and Jim Powell, author, journalist, and CATO Senior Fellow, as they discuss the formation and testing of ideas in What is An Idea?. It was recorded in 1992.

Walter Wriston, the former Chairman and CEO of Citicorp, was widely regarded as the single most influential commercial banker of his time. Originally recorded in 2004, Conversation with Walter Wriston and Bob Chitester covers the winding road Wriston took to the pinnacle of his field and the influences that guided his journey. Listen in as they share anecdotes and personal information about their...

The late Dr. Milton Friedman, 1976 Nobel Laureate in Economics and host of Free To Choose, urges alertness to the difference between false and real problems concerning government in PRC Forum: Milton Friedman. The problem is not budget deficits, trade deficits, or federal debt. The problem is government spending relative to income, protectionist policies, and unfunded debt resulting from entitleme...

Listen to the late U.S. Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork and the late Nobel Prize winner Friedrich von Hayek, as they engage in a lively discussion of the economic theories developed in von Hayek’s book, “Law, Legislation and Liberty,” in Friedrich von Hayek & Robert Bork Part 3. It was recorded in 1978.

Listen to the late U.S. Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork and the late Nobel Prize winner Friedrich von Hayek, as they engage in a lively discussion of the economic theories developed in von Hayek’s book, “Law, Legislation and Liberty,” in Friedrich von Hayek & Robert Bork Part 2. It was recorded in 1978.

Listen to the late U.S. Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork and the late Nobel Prize winner Friedrich von Hayek, as they engage in a lively discussion of the economic theories developed in von Hayek’s book, “Law, Legislation and Liberty,” in Friedrich von Hayek & Robert Bork Part 1. It was recorded in 1978.

Listen to an hour with the late Lloyd Motz, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at Columbia University, and the late broadcaster Hugh Downs, as they discuss Motz’s life and work, including his book “The Essentials of Astronomy,” which is arguably the best introductory astronomy text ever written. Downs is a former student who took astronomy at Columbia in 1957. Dr. Motz, who was named prof...

Listen to Economists Keith Bush (Russia), Ben Slay (East-Central Europe), and John Tedstrom (East-Central Europe) discuss how to introduce a market economy in nations that have had totalitarian command economies for 40 to 70 years. The challenge is significant and there are varied approaches to the problem. It was recorded in 1991.