The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast

https://youtu.be/emKgc2aO7x8 Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Agustina Vergara Cid interviews Gregory Salmieri about his essay “Free Speech as a Right and a Way of Life.” Among the topics covered: What free speech is and why a defense of it is needed; How to respond to acts of de-platforming and cancellation; Why the right to free speech is absolute; How public education violates free...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C-eEwx1jv0 Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Onkar Ghate and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss the question of whether Kamala Harris is a communist, and if not, what the real problem with her views is. Among the topics covered: The essence of the Marxist ideology; Why Harris is not a communist; How the “communist” label helps New Right tribalists hide their o...

https://youtu.be/FpjW9B8aE8Q Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo discuss how the failure of American post-9/11 policy led to the October 7 attacks. Among the topics covered: How the failed American response to 9/11 paved the way for October 7; How religion and altruism undermined the response to Islamic totalitarianism; How the West lies to itself about the nat...

The new Right’s absurd positions cannot be explained by their adherence to any coherent ideology, but only by their tribal view of the world.

We must understand the philosophical foundations of the right to free speech to apply it to contemporary controversies.

https://youtu.be/sdNoDhkU_eA Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo and Harry Binswanger analyze Alexandra Popoff’s new biography, Ayn Rand: Writing a Gospel of Success, particularly its portrayal of Rand as a “Jewish thinker.” They address the false attempt to link Rand’s “ethnicity” to her philosophy. Among the topics covered: The determinism of labeling Rand as “influence...

The West is free today because it didn’t allow even the death of innocents to impede its right to self-defense.

Cartels thrive on the criminalization of immigration that allows them to prey on migrants at the border.

The U.S. the US withdrew from Afghanistan 3 years ago on August 26, 2021. Blame our political and intellectual leaders, across two decades, for evading the ideological nature of the enemy and, consequently, miring U.S. forces in a “no-win” war.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBhhQHNCAFI Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss the Democratic National Committee’s 2024 Platform. Among the topics covered: The ambiguity of “freedom” in the Democrats’ rhetoric; How the platform packages legitimate freedom with the “freedom” to take from others; How the platform packages equality of rights w...

In this episode, Ben Bayer reads aloud his article, “Debunking the Supernaturalism That Haunts Secular Ethics.” In that essay, he examines secular thinkers' approach towards ethics. As he argues, scientists like Richard Dawkins accept ethical claims that are fundamentally based on religious thinking. To combat this approach to ethics, we need a naturalistic alternative: and one has been offered by...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjAt5kXxxBs Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Agustina Vergara Cid criticize various pro-immigration arguments and discuss how they undermine a proper moral defense of immigration. Among the topics covered: How conventional pro-immigration arguments are based on altruism and collectivism; How altruism leads to the infantilization of r...

https://youtu.be/fC2PeuDuR5E Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer interviews Paul Taske, associate director of litigation at NetChoice, to discuss the Supreme Court’s recent NetChoice decision and what it means for the future of free speech in America. Among the topics covered: The Supreme Court’s decision to send the question about regulating social media platforms back to...

https://youtu.be/lOPRUlOyTMU Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Mike Mazza discuss why the trans movement is essentially religious and unscientific. Among the topics covered: The religious character of the trans movement; Why many of its scientific claims are dishonest; How religious conservatives reinforce the movement’s irrationality; Why debates about gender have...

https://youtu.be/WSCTJ5fxqq8 Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Sam Weaver discuss how the introduction of both the Ten Commandments and DEI into the public school system represents an assault on intellectual freedom. Among the topics covered: How recent public-school mandates in Louisiana and Oklahoma use force to promote religion; Why the mandates are an assault on t...

https://youtu.be/1UvPyAQ6s5E Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer examines a discussion between Richard Dawkins and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, explaining why so-called secular humanists have been unable to offer a rational moral alternative to religion. Among the topics covered: Ali's rationalizations for her religious conversion; Why Western civilization is not purely Christian; How...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHXGamIEZ6g Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss how the Republican National Convention’s platform has turned away from its traditional appeal to small government and turned instead towards adopting many of the big government policies that socialists envy. Among the topics covered: The RNC platform on energy po...

https://youtu.be/4ivJl__LyWw Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate, Ben Bayer and Elan Journo discuss the Trump assassination attempt and the violent climate of tribalism in our culture. Among the topics covered: The evil of using physical force to settle political disagreements; Why it’s important to comment on this event; The increasing normalization of political violence...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPEzaQP0SyU&t=1s Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss historian Niall Ferguson’s “We’re All Soviets Now,” a viral essay about American economic and cultural decline. Among the topics covered: Ferguson’s argument that America is following the path of the late USSR; The disanalogies between America and the...

https://youtu.be/GdlePIECjGc Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Adi Dynar discuss the Supreme Court's overturning of its 1984 Chevron doctrine, which held that courts should sometimes defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of a vague law. Among the topics covered: How Chevron gave the executive branch the power to make law, thereby incentivizing the passing of va...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEKVbWwlqhM Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Mike Mazza responds to an episode of Neil deGrasse Tyson's StarTalk, in which neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky argues against the existence of free will. Among the topics covered: The meaning and stakes of the free will debate; Why determinists are wrong to focus on atomistic choices about preferences: How free...

https://youtu.be/hGoQ52C0PAg Podcast audio: In this special episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo interviews Robert Mayhew, Tara Smith, and Greg Salmieri at the Objectivist summer conference in Anaheim, California. They celebrate the release of Smith's new book on the First Amendment and the republication of the essays in Mayhew's series on Ayn Rand's novels, discussing the importance of written...

https://youtu.be/LaS-oLBiRbI Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo interviews Tara Smith about her new book Egoism Without Permission: The Moral Psychology of Ayn Rand’s Ethics. Among the topics covered: What Rand means (and doesn't mean) by egoism and the virtues; Why  having desires and owning your emotions are crucial to having a good life, even though emotionalism is ba...

https://youtu.be/z5ptDg7iHlA Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Robertas Bakula interviews three of ARI's fellows to discuss their upcoming talks at Objectivist Summer Conference in Anaheim, California, which is being held from June 13 to 18. Among the topics covered: Jason Rheins’ talk “Socratic Wisdom,” concerning the value of knowing your own ignorance; Tristan de Liège’s talk “H...

https://youtu.be/N3B8VRLXjeg Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Sam Weaver and Onkar Ghate discuss the nature and significance of the Trump phenomenon. Among the topics covered: Why Trump’s base of support is significant; Why it’s important to study the Trump phenomenon; The meaning and consequences of Trump’s 2016 election Trump’s anti-intellectual character; Understanding Trump’s...