https://youtu.be/UA8uWCfm81k Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Ben Bayer and Agustina Vergara Cid discuss Donald Trump’s promise to enact mass deportations of millions of illegal immigrants. Among the topics covered: How Trump’s plan to enact mass deportations would have massive costs; Why the Alien Enemies Act does not justify mass deportations; How the Alien Enemies Act would grant Trump immense new powers; Why mass deportations would fail to secure our borders or enhance national security; Why mass deportations would threaten the rights of American citizens; The importance of respecting the rule of law while also treating peaceful illegal immigrants justly. Mentioned in this podcast is the New Ideal podcast episode with Ben Bayer and Agustina Vergara Cid “The Absurdity of Calling the U.S.-Mexico Border Crisis an 'Invasion'.” The podcast was recorded on December 5, 2024, and posted on December. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Watch archived podcasts here.

The discussion delves into the troubling bias in Western media's coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, highlighting a pro-Palestinian agenda that often compromises objectivity. Reporters grapple with the ethical dilemma of moral judgment versus unbiased reporting. The speakers argue that media narratives frequently downplay Hamas's actions, distorting public perception. They critique the oversimplified moral frameworks used in reporting, calling for a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics at play.

https://youtu.be/vCiKkxLAFJY Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Sam Weaver and Tristan de Liège discuss Atlantic writer Derek Thompson’s idea that Americans are afflicted by a religious obsession with work that he calls “workism” and their view of the role of work in human life. Among the topics covered: Thompson’s view on work and why it's worth talking about; Why making work central to one’s life doesn’t entail adopting a religious perspective; Understanding what causes burnout and lack of fulfillment in work; The Objectivist perspective on work. Mentioned in this podcast are Ayn Rand’s novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, her essay “Causality Versus Duty”, Gregory Salmieri’s essay “The Act of Valuing (and the Objectivity of Values)” in A Companion to Ayn Rand edited by Allan Gotthelf and Salmieri, and de Liège’s Ayn Rand University course Philosophical Perspectives on Work. This podcast was recorded on November 7, 2024, and released on November 20, 2024. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Watch archived podcasts here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4kQrSryOiQ Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Elan Journo, Ben Bayer, and Onkar Ghate discuss the 2024 U.S. election results. Among the topics covered: Why the Democrats and Kamala Harris didn’t deserve to win; How Harris should have dealt with the failures of the Biden administration; The American sense of life vs. the view of the elites; Why Trump didn’t deserve to win; The Republican Party’s capitulation to Trumpism; How policy will change under the new administration; The Trump campaign’s appeal to the worst in Americans. The podcast was recorded on November 13, 2024 and posted on November 15, 2024. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.

https://youtu.be/rPsgR0WCqxw Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Elan Journo and Ben Bayer discuss Ayn Rand’s radical view on abortion rights and the debates over abortion as an election issue. Among the topics covered: Why Ayn Rand defended abortion rights as a matter of individual freedom; How to understand abortion as an election issue after the Dobbs decision; How to evaluate recent Democratic arguments for abortion rights; How state ballot initiatives on abortion fail to uphold women’s right to life; What the future holds for abortion rights as an election and moral issue. Mentioned in this podcast are Ayn Rand’s entry in the Objectivist Lexicon on “Abortion,” Ayn Rand’s essay “On Living Death,” and Ben Bayer’s essay “Ayn Rand’s Radical Case for Abortion Rights” and book of essays, Why the Right to Abortion is Sacrosanct. The podcast was recorded on October 21, 2024. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Watch archived podcasts here.

https://youtu.be/MLF5deQWbrc Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Aaron Smith interviews Elan Journo to discuss his critical evaluation of two popular but deeply flawed biographies of Ayn Rand: Jennifer Burns’ Goddess of the Market and Anne C. Heller’s Ayn Rand and the World She Made. Among the topics covered: The standards of objectivity that the biographies fail to meet; The authors’ disregard for how Rand thought of herself and her work; Examples of the books’ lack of objectivity; How the authors mishandled the biographies' sources; Why ignoring Rand’s philosophy makes the books less interesting and intelligible. Recommended in this podcast are Journo’s articles “‘Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right’ Is Worse than Incompetent” and “Postscript: ‘Ayn Rand and the World She Made’ Is an Exploitative, Tabloid Biography,” and Allan Gotthelf and Gregory Salmieri’s book A Companion to Ayn Rand. The podcast was posted on October 23, 2024. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.

Dive into the celebration of a landmark collection of essays that reshaped moral philosophy. The discussion highlights Ayn Rand's radical approach to self-interest and challenges traditional views on morality. Listeners will explore how personal integrity and rational judgment play crucial roles in ethical exchanges. Additionally, the episode unpacks significant essays that analyze political equality and the intricacies of racism. This thought-provoking dialogue encourages a rethinking of personal values and moral frameworks.

https://youtu.be/Lsm2sRbywwg Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo discuss Western misconceptions around October 7 and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Among the topics covered: Why the war is really between Israel and Iran; How pragmatism effects the West’s inability to understand Iran; How Palestinian grievances help pragmatists evade Iran’s ideology; Why most Palestinian grievances are deliberately made up; How October 7 demonstrates the power of philosophy. Mentioned in this podcast are Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo book Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism and Elan Journo’s book What Justice Demands. The podcast was recorded on October 4, 2024 and posted on October 7, 2024. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.

https://youtu.be/IBopAUk3s4A Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Mike Mazza and Tristan de Liège discuss the private space industry and Ayn Rand's philosophical thoughts on the subject. Among the topics covered: How state monopolization forestalled the development of the private space industry; Why Rand saw the Apollo 11 mission as a philosophical, not a political achievement; How pull peddling threatens space entrepreneurship; How the goal of making a profit enables progress in the private space industry; What's wrong with the objection that private business will corrupt science; How space exploration benefits us. Recommended in this podcast are Rand’s piece “Apollo 11,” the essay “Common Fallacies About Capitalism” in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, and Keith Lockitch’s “Ayn Rand on Apollo 11.” The podcast was released on October 2, 2024. Watch archived podcasts here.

https://youtu.be/5Bpu-bAQXMs Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Robertas Bakula discuss the recent antitrust case against Google and what it reveals about the nature of antitrust law. Among the topics covered: Why Ayn Rand regarded antitrust law as immoral and un-American; What evidence the DOJ’s antitrust case against Google is based on; How antitrust law is non-objective in theory and in practice; Why the DOJ’s antitrust case against Google is non-objective and unjust; How antitrust law criminalizes businesses for being successful as such; How the DOJ’s antitrust case equivocates political and economic power; Why we need to fight for the moral right of businesses to be successful. Mentioned in this podcast are Ayn Rand’s articles “The Age of Envy,” “America’s Persecuted Minority: Big Business,” and “Antitrust: The Rule of Unreason,” as well as our previous New Ideal podcast episode “Recent Antitrust Attacks on ‘Big Tech’.” The podcast premiered on September 25, 2024. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.