The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDVOG6tX8b8 Podcast audio: In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Onkar Ghate and Don Watkins unveil their new book, Profit Without Apology: The Need to Stand Up for Business. This book is the latest publication of ARI’s new initiative, Atlas Circle, an intellectual project aimed at standing up for business and helping business stand up for itself. Among the topics covered: Why Ayn Rand saw business as central to her moral defense of capitalism; The philosophical roots of today’s anti-business culture; How most people ignore the hard thinking that goes into business; Why understanding the morality of the profit motive is essential to standing up for business; The role of intellectuals in fostering a pro-business culture. Recommended in this podcast are the Atlas Circle’s manifesto, “Profit Without Apology: The Need to Stand Up for Business,” the title essay of the book Profit Without Apology. The podcast was recorded on July 22, 2025 and posted on July 24, 2025. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hGvQj376Uw Podcast audio: The 2025 Objectivist Summer Conference, held in Boston, Massachusetts, wrapped up two weeks ago, and now you can get a taste of the wide range of topics and speakers featured at the event in a new highlights video. The compilation includes clips from the following talks: “What is Western Civilization?” by Yaron Brook; “Revolutionary Constitutionalism” by C. Bradley Thompson; “Enlightenment on Trial: The Real Lessons of the American and French Revolutions” by Don Watkins; “Saving the Enlightenment” by Onkar Ghate; “The Road to Fascism (And Are We on It?)” by Nikos Sotirakopoulos; “Immigration Enforcement and the Betrayal of Due Process” by Agustina Vergara Cid; “Principles of a Proper Foreign Policy” by Peter Schwartz; “America Should Declare Independence from Altruism” by Ben Bayer; “Conceiving Values” by Greg Salmieri. In addition, we have published two full-length lectures from the conference: Tal Tsfany’s annual address to ARI supporters, covering the Institute’s progress over the past year and its plans for the future; and Ben Bayer’s Independence Day talk, “America Should Declare Independence from Altruism.”

https://youtu.be/9PCQRzAMohQ Podcast audio: As the Ayn Rand Institute marks its 40th anniversary, its mission to spread Objectivism through education has never been more urgent. In his 2025 Objectivist Summer Conference presentation, "Spreading Objectivism: A Vision for ARI's Future," President and CEO Tal Tsfany laid out a bold vision of the “big swings” ARI is taking to bring Objectivism into the cultural mainstream. At the heart of this expansion are major advances in ARI’s educational offerings. Tsfany announced that ARI is ahead of schedule in pursuing accreditation for a Master of Arts in Objectivist Studies, aiming to become an accredited university by 2028. Meanwhile, the new ARI Live Courses program will offer quarterly classes at dramatically reduced prices. And a newly launched Intellectual Incubator will help students develop as intellectual entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, ARI is scaling its cultural outreach. The Books for Teachers program aims to distribute 500,000 books annually by 2026 utilizing a  streamlined ordering system. Supporting this outreach is a new AI-enabled Institute website launching this fall, which will provide personalized learning tracks for 750,000 annual visitors. To further Rand’s vision of an alliance between businessmen and intellectuals, ARI launched the Atlas Circle, invitation-only intellectual retreats bringing together leading businessmen and Objectivist thinkers. The Circle's first publication, Profit Without Apology: The Need to Stand Up for Business, calls on productive businessmen to push back against moral vilification. ARI’s crowning project will be the Ayn Rand Center in Austin, TX, opening September 2, 2028. In addition to improved archival storage for the Ayn Rand Archives, the center will feature a cutting-edge interactive introduction to Rand’s novels, the Ayn Rand Immersive Experience. As Tsfany emphasized, these bold initiatives represent the unity of thought and action that Rand envisioned, scaled for our time. To learn more about ARI's efforts to fight for your values, watch Tal Tsfany's 2025 OCON talk.

Ben Bayer makes a compelling case for America to break free from altruism, arguing that this ethical framework undermines individual rights and freedom. He critiques the COVID lockdowns, revealing how leaders from both parties have evaded responsibility under altruistic pressures. Bayer emphasizes the psychological effects of altruism, warning that it can stifle self-esteem and individual dignity. He calls for a cultural shift towards self-interest and moral independence, advocating for a deeper understanding of personal rights and a reevaluation of political moralities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtW5q-7XaTw Podcast audio: In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Ben Bayer and Agustina Vergara Cid discuss how arbitrary immigration laws strangle American business. Among the topics covered: How immigration restrictions impose a form of economic central planning; The role of the mixed economy in fueling the interest-group battle for legal carve-outs; How ICE raids are used to terrorize businesses and hard-working immigrants; How the Trump administration's visa rollback reveals its affinity for central planning; Why arbitrary immigration enforcement threatens to cripple every major American industry; Why supporting American business means defending the freedom to hire and trade. Recommended in this podcast are Vergara Cid’s article “Immigration Regulations Strangle American Businesses,” her OCON 2023 talk “The Immorality of the U.S. Immigration System,” and Bayer’s article “Ayn Rand on Free Trade, the ‘Essence of Capitalism’s Foreign Policy’.” The podcast was recorded on June 23, 2025 and posted on July 2, 2025. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5csuEpTn69o Podcast audio: In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Samantha Watkins interviews Dr. Matt Bateman, philosopher at GT School, co-founder of Higher Ground Education, and ARU instructor, about the school choice movement and the philosophical case for education freedom. Among the topics covered: What the expanding reach of school choice programs means for parental freedom; Why parents, not the government, should invest in education; Why the school choice movement should refocus its arguments on parental rights; How bureaucratic accountability measures undermine school choice efforts; Why Rand’s tax credit proposal is better than a voucher system; The worst thing about the public school system; Rand's influence on Bateman's approach to parenting and education. Recommended in this podcast are Ayn Rand's essays "Tax Credits for Education," "The Comprachicos," and "Art and Moral Treason." This podcast was recorded Jun 3, 2025 and posted on June 26, 2025. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDj_LhwM0Vw Podcast audio: In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo discuss two major recent events: Israel’s war against Iran and the political assassinations in Minnesota. Among the topics covered: The Israel-Iran War Why Israel's war against Iran is a positive development; Why a self-interested American foreign policy must break from the legacy of 9/11; The Minnesota assassinations How political violence is becoming a broader cultural trend; How political violence is a tribal phenomenon. The podcast was recorded on June 19, 2025 and posted on June 20, 2025. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMepGP0ehPo Podcast Audio In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Elan Journo interviews ARI intellectuals about their upcoming talks at the Objectivist Summer Conference, taking place July 1-5 in Boston, Massachusetts. Among the topics covered: Audra Hilse’s talk, “Revised Blueprints: Early Versions of Part II of The Fountainhead,” which will draw on archival material to offer insights into Rand’s creative process; David Bakker’s talk, “Newton Versus Descartes on the Exactness of Mathematics,” which will examine how their contrasting views on mathematical precision shaped the development of modern science; Ben Bayer’s talk, “America Should Declare Independence from Altruism,” which will argue that America’s responses to 9/11 and Covid reflect a deep-rooted evasion of altruism’s moral flaws; Don Watkins’ talk, “Enlightenment on Trial: The Real Lessons of the American and French Revolutions,” which will challenge conventional narratives about both revolutions to reframe how we understand the Enlightenment’s true legacy. Registration is open for both in-person and virtual conference passes. The podcast was recorded on June 9, 2025 and posted on June 11, 2025. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YchKm3DnUFo Podcast Audio: In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Onkar Ghate and Ben Bayer discuss the ongoing mass protests in Los Angeles and how the Trump administration’s response also shows a disregard for the rule of law. Among the topics covered: The scale of the violence; Evidence that the rioters do not care about immigrants’ individual rights; Why the right to peaceably assemble does not imply a right to mass protest; The bad jurisprudence that supports the alleged right to mass protest; The lawlessness of Trump’s immigration policies; What a proper response to Trump’s lawless immigration policy looks like. Recommended in this podcast are The Ayn Rand Lexicon’s entry on free speech, Ghate and Bayer’s article “Ending Campus Protests Protects Free Speech,” and Bayer’s article “The Specter of Lawlessness Is Darker than You Think.” The podcast was recorded on June 9, 2025 and posted on June 11, 2025. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A28R9JnfNro Podcast audio: In this episode of The ARI Bookshelf, Elan Journo, Mike Mazza, Nikos Sotirakopoulos and Robertas Bakula discuss The Technological Republic, the recent New York Times bestseller by Alexander C. Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, and Nicholas W. Zamiska, the company’s head of corporate affairs and legal counsel. Karp and Zamiska argue that America’s future greatness hinges on a renewed commitment to national industrial policy. They claim that Silicon Valley is failing the nation by prioritizing personal ambition and consumer gratification over government-directed projects. In response, they claim to offer a new model of partnership between the U.S. government and American business. The discussion covered: The plausibility of the book’s arguments; How the book is a Trojan Horse for collectivism; How the book undermines freedom and promotes central planning; How the book rehashes old ideas; Why only a free society is worth defending; The disturbing metaphysical premises behind the book’s worldview. The video was recorded on June 2, 2025 and posted on June 5, 2025.