The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Harry Binswanger discuss Ayn Rand's little-known analysis of the Watergate scandal, fifty years after the Congressional hearings. They draw attention to how Rand's evaluation differed from the conventional commentary of the day, and her analysis of how pragmatism and the mixed economy function as the deepest causes behind political scandals like Wat...

In this episode, Sam Weaver reads aloud his article, “The Knowledge Gap Highlights a Failing of America’s Schools.” In that essay, he examines The Knowledge Gap, a 2019 book by education writer Natalie Wexler. Although Wexler's book sheds light on the shocking degree to which American elementary schools have abandoned teaching knowledge of the world, Weaver argues that her assessment is charitable...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate, Nikos Sotirakopoulos, and Agustina Vergara Cid discuss Europe’s immigration policies, its failure to assimilate immigrants and adopt rational policies toward them, and what America needs to learn from Europe’s failures to avoid these problems. Among the topics covered: The need to distinguish normal immigration from a refugee crisis; What statistical...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Dan Schwartz and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss the significance of Dr. Peter Attia’s new book Outlive and challenge some common arguments against life extension. Among the topics covered: Why we should care about extending our lives and our health; How Peter Attia’s book fits into and changes the debate on life extension; Why the egalitarian argument against life...

In this episode, Ben Bayer reads aloud his article, “Religious Skeptics Should Question Their Moral Theology.” In that essay, he argues that even though more secular people have rejected God and religion as such, they should take one more step and reject the conventional morality that comes from traditional religious beliefs. "Many secular people who have thrown off the religion of their parents h...

In this special episode, Ben Bayer and Elan Journo preview the release of scores of in-depth historical, literary, and philosophical essays on Ayn Rand’s novels. Originally included in a series of books edited by Robert Mayhew, these articles are a tremendous educational resource that can greatly add to the public understanding of Rand as a novelist and seminal philosopher. Until now, the Mayhew b...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer, Mike Mazza and Aaron Smith discuss What's the Use of Philosophy?, a recent book by leading philosopher Philip Kitcher, in which Kitcher calls out academic philosophy for its useless work and corrupt methods. Among the topics covered: Why it is significant that an established professor of philosophy has written a damning critique of his own profession;...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss Matt Walsh’s film What Is a Woman? and how it reflects a deeper tribalism about sex and gender roles within the so-called culture wars and our current political climate. Among the topics covered: How Walsh’s film is much more propaganda than a sincere documentary; Why appeals to common sense can’t settle questions of s...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ziemowit Gowin and Tristan de Liège defend self-esteem against attacks and misrepresentations by presenting Ayn Rand’s distinctive view of self-esteem as a psychological and moral necessity for successful living. Among the topics covered: Why we should care about how to think about self-esteem as a value; Rand’s view of self-esteem as portrayed in her fictional c...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Agustina Vergara Cid and Onkar Ghate analyze the impact of immigrants on national security and evaluate the argument that America’s national security requires strict limits on immigration. Among the topics covered: How the argument that immigration is a threat to national security is biased against immigrants; Why limiting immigration to prevent terrorism is dish...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo is joined by four of the Ayn Rand Institute’s fellows to preview talks they will be giving at our upcoming Objectivist Summer Conference 2023. Among the topics covered: Sam Weaver previews his talk, “The Reading Wars Today,” which addresses the destructive opposition to teaching children to read using phonics, and explains why Ayn Rand described phoni...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Sam Weaver and Mike Mazza discuss a recent paper, "In Defense of Science," which examines the increasing intrusion of "Critical Social Justice Epistemology" on scientific institutions. They explore issues such as this movement’s assault on objectivity and knowledge, how scientists are pressured into conformity, and why most defenders of science fail to articulate...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss the movements and regimes which have sought to destroy Israel since its founding seventy-five years ago. Among the topics covered: How to study history objectively; How the conflict started, and the motives of the Arab countries that invaded Israel in 1948; The rise of Pan-Arabism and the Six-Day War; The rise of the P...

In this episode, we read aloud Elan Journo's article, “Ayn Rand's Devastating Critique of 'Liberals'.” In that essay, he presents Rand's analysis of liberals' most fundamental moral-political goals, and their consequences. Journo shows that part of the strength of Rand's analysis is that she engaged with liberals' ideas seriously and, above all, objectively. His article was originally published in...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer is joined by professor and clinical psychologist Gena Gorlin to discuss the widespread notion that “intellectual humility” is the rational antidote to dogmatism. Among the topics covered: How academic and popular defenders of reason have mixed up a legitimate concern for careful thinking methods with the illegitimate idea that nothing is certain; Why hu...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Nikos Sotirakopoulos and Elan Journo discuss recent calls by Tucker Carlson and other conservative voices to resist technological and economic progress in the name of preserving traditional values and lifestyles. Among the topics covered: Conservative policy proposals that oppose economic and cultural progress; How conservatives are torn between the contradictory...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Mike Mazza are joined by software engineer Chad Mills to discuss recent developments in AI and the ethics of AI development. Among the topics covered: What artificial intelligence is, vs. the way AI is perceived by the public; The most impressive uses of AI technology that bring value to human life; How AI is rapidly heading towards greater user acc...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo explore the moral and political lessons of the Iraq War. Among the topics covered: Why Americans need to examine the lessons of the Iraq War; The 9/11 terrorist attacks and the context leading up to the war; The focus on weapons of mass destruction and intelligence weaknesses while evading the threat of Islamic totalitarianism; Why Rus...

In this episode, Ben Bayer reads aloud his article, “Effective Altruism's Faith-Based Sacrifice for the Future.” In that essay, he examines "longtermist" philosophy and its relation to "effective altruism." Bayer notices that "the more we learn about the causes the effective altruist leadership has embraced, the more we should question the moral foundation of the movement." The moral foundation of...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss the libertarian support for Putin and other authoritarian regimes. They explore the libertarian movement's decades-long sympathy for evil regimes, its anti-state, anti-American foreign policy, and how the movement's rejection of morality has led to sanctioning tyrants. Among the topics covered: Recent libertarian defen...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Elan Journo discuss Ayn Rand’s philosophic analysis and critique of “liberals.” They explain what makes Rand’s evaluation of “liberalism” different from that of “conservatives,” why she thought “liberals” began concealing their collectivist goals, and how today’s “liberals” are different from (and worse than) those of Rand’s time. Among the topics c...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Agustina Vergara Cid and Nikos Sotirakopoulos challenge Robert Reich’s unjust crusade against billionaires. Agustina and Nikos unpack the pernicious motivations behind the attacks against successful billionaire producers and give an impassioned moral defense of their right to the wealth they have created. Among the topics covered: How widespread the attacks on th...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer, Ziemowit Gowin, Harry Binswanger, Shoshana Milgram, and Don Watkins discuss new course offerings at the Ayn Rand University (ARU). Among the topics covered: The goals of the Ayn Rand University and how students can benefit from it; Shoshana Milgram’s course Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment: Investigating the Mind of a Murderer; How ARU courses facilit...

In this episode, we read aloud “Why Nationalism Is Hostile to America,” an article written by Yaron Brook and Elan Journo. In that essay, they examine the true nature and consequences of the rise of nationalism in America, especially the so-called national conservatism. Brook and Journo argue that the principles and ideas of the advocates of national conservatism are ultimately anti-American, as t...

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo discuss the heckling and public shaming of Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan by Stanford Law School (SLS) students and the school’s associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at a Federalist Society (FedSoc) event. Ghate and Journo delve into the viral video of the event, Stanford’s letter apologizing to the judge, and the philosop...