The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Nikos Sotirakopoulos analyze the moral justification and the criticisms of dropping the atomic bombs on Japan in light of the movie Oppenheimer. The episode features audio clips of Ayn Rand discussing the right of military self-defense and the issue of “innocents in war.” Among the topics covered: The claim that Japan would have surrendered before the US dropped the bomb; Why the Japanese military kept fighting despite knowing the war was lost; Why the bomb was dropped when Japan was already defeated militarily; The crucial distinction between military defeat and unconditional surrender; The bogus claim that the bomb was dropped to deter the Soviet Union; The defense of your own citizens’ lives and rights as the moral purpose of war; How Rand thought about “innocents in war” and their moral responsibilities; A previously-unreleased clip of Rand speaking about the controversial issue of targeting civilians in war; Lessons to draw from this podcast. Mentioned in this podcast and relevant to the discussion are Rand’s 1966 article “The Roots of War,”  Rand’s 1972 and 1976 Ford Hall Forum lectures “A Nation’s Unity,” and “The Moral Factor,” Onkar Ghate’s article “Innocents in War?,” John David Lewis’ book Nothing Less than Victory, and Brandon Lisi’s New Ideal article “Rand and Oppenheimer: The Atomic Bomb Movie that Wasn’t.” The podcast was recorded on August 24, 2023. Listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch archived podcasts here. https://youtu.be/Nkyr79Uv1jk Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ziemowit Gowin is joined by Scott McDonald to discuss the latest events in the ongoing dispute between China and Taiwan. Among the topics covered: What Secretary of State Blinken’s recent visit to Beijing signals about U.S. policy toward China; Why Taiwan matters to the Chinese Communist Party; How the war in Ukraine is shaping hostilities between China and Taiwan; Why China’s attempt to assimilate Taiwan will probably fail; How classical Chinese philosophy informs Chinese foreign policy; Whether China is an enemy of the U.S.; How America’s interests in Taiwan can be served by taking action to prevent a Chinese invasion; How U.S. policy on China has been reactive and unprincipled. Relevant to the discussion is our previous New Ideal Live episode with Mr. McDonald,“What Does Xi Jinping's China Want?” This episode was recorded on August 11, 2023. Listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch archived podcasts here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_xskLlY6-E Podcast audio:

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 Watergate. Among the topics covered: Why Ayn Rand didn’t want to write about the scandal at first and why she later decided to do so; Rand’s evaluation of Nixon in the decades before the scandal; Rand's evaluation of the crude pragmatism of Nixon and his aides; Pragmatism as an anti-conceptual philosophy that still pervades our culture; Why the conservatives' obsession with scandals leads them to passively accept the moral premises of the left; How bad ideas, not money, corrupt politicians; Why Watergate-like chaos takes hold in a mixed economy; The fact that no real issues are discussed in America anymore; Parallels between Nixon and Donald Trump. Recommended in this podcast are Rand’s five articles covering Watergate compiled in The Ayn Rand Letter. The podcast was recorded on August 10, 2023. Listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch archived podcasts here. https://youtu.be/nESV0t5QEZk Podcast audio:

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, and that the anti-knowledge trend should be regarded as a moral crime against generations of students. Weaver’s article was originally published in New Ideal, the Ayn Rand Institute’s journal, on June 14, 2023. Podcast audio:

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 data show is happening in Europe; The rise in violence against women and Jews in Europe; Europe’s evasion and denial of the dangers of militant Islam; Immigrant crime and welfare benefits in Europe versus in the U.S.; Muslim assimilation in the U.S. versus in Europe; Multiculturalism’s role in the non-assimilation of immigrants in Europe; The meaning of multiculturalism, and the factors that drive or prevent assimilation; The nature of the “American Experiment,” and its implications for immigration; Europe’s approach to policing foreigners and its self-destructive results; How Muslim assimilation in America is hindered by giving Islam a protected status. Mentioned in this podcast and relevant to the discussion is Ayn Rand’s talk “Global Balkanization” (which can be found in essay form in The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought), and the New Ideal Live podcast episode "The Debate over the Right to Immigrate" with Ghate and Vergara Cid, where they discuss the immigration debate in America from a philosophical perspective. The podcast was recorded on August 2, 2023. Listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch archived podcasts here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk93Q3T-os8 Podcast audio:

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 extension is wrong; Why the “limited natural resources” argument against life extension is wrong; Why the “boredom,” “urgency” and “quality of life” arguments against life extension are wrong; Why the “glut of the able” argument against life extension is wrong; Why the “case against perfection” argument against life extension is wrong; How arguments against life extension are motivated by fear and not valuing life; What would James Taggart’s response be to life extension? Mentioned in this podcast and relevant to the discussion is Peter Attia’s book Outlive and the 2003 report of the President’s Council on Bioethics.  The podcast was recorded on July 27, 2023. Listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch archived podcasts here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcKtVvb4moI Podcast audio:

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 have scrutinized at least some of their most provincial beliefs about ethics," says Bayer. His article was originally published in New Ideal, the Ayn Rand Institute’s journal, on June 17, 2023.

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 books were expensively priced for academic markets, but ARI is making this valuable content accessible to anyone, anywhere on the globe for free.

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; Kitcher’s radical claim that philosophy has become disconnected from life, practical guidance, and useful methods, and his willingness to question whether the profession has any legitimate value; How Kitcher goes wrong by recommending a methodological turn towards pragmatism; Why the philosophy of science is noticeably working from better premises than other areas of academic philosophy; Why fundamental philosophic questions are crucially practical and must not be thrown out in favor of less ambitious, piecemeal investigation; Why, contrary to Kitcher’s pragmatist view, Objectivism says that the most abstract philosophic questions have the widest practical consequences. Mentioned in this podcast and relevant to the discussion are Ayn Rand’s “The Chickens’ Homecoming,” “Philosophy: Who Needs It,” “For the New Intellectual,” the entry on Linguistic Analysis in the Ayn Rand Lexicon, and Onkar Ghate’s “Let’s Revive Philosophy”. This episode was recorded on July 19, 2023. Listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch archived podcasts here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUHLl-uYr7w Podcast audio:

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 sex and gender; Walsh’s appeal to the Maasai tribe reveals a mentality that wants to return to a more primitive view of gender roles; How Walsh’s “documentary” lacks any genuine concern for truth; Walsh’s appeal to tribal views of gender roles as rooted in religiosity; How Walsh’s appeal to traditional gender roles is an attack on an individual’s pursuit of happiness; Walsh’s disingenuous response to legitimate issues regarding sex and gender; How both sides in this debate are wrong in their approach human sexuality and gender identity; “Essentialism,” determinism, and the mind-body dichotomy in relation to gender roles; Individualism as the antidote to tribalistic, dogmatic thinking about sex and gender. Mentioned in this podcast and relevant to the discussion is the New Ideal Live podcast episode “Kathleen Stock's Reasoned Critique of Gender Ideology” with Onkar Ghate, Ben Bayer, and Daniel Schwartz, where they discuss and assess Kathleen Stock’s arguments about what is wrong with contemporary gender ideology. The podcast was recorded on July 13, 2023. Listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch archived podcasts here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szTWy48PgiU Podcast audio: