The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast

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 characters; Why self-esteem is not the result of the opinions of others or an automatic recognition of one’s inherent value; Why self-esteem is a necessary condition for happiness and success; Why self-esteem is necessary for success in work and creativity; Why self-esteem is necessary for success in one’s relationships; Rand’s view of the moral nature and necessity of self-esteem. Mentioned in this podcast and relevant to the discussion are The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (request a free copy of Atlas Shrugged here), and an article by Elan Journo on “Why So Many People Struggle to Gain Self-Esteem.” The podcast was recorded on July 5, 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=kuxZuhxbHDQ Podcast audio:

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 dishonest; How immigrants make us safer by serving in the military; How restrictions on immigration have contributed to a shortage of skilled workers in areas of the economy the military depends on; Why we need a targeted response to actual national security threats, not blanket prohibitions on immigration; How those who oppose immigration, like environmentalists arguing against fossil fuels, selectively look for evidence to support their ideology; Why mainstream thinkers fail to consider the benefits of immigration to national security. Mentioned in the discussion is the New Ideal Live episode “The Debate Over the Right to Immigrate.” The podcast was recorded on June 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=O0F2QooSNhk Podcast audio:

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 phonics as the ‘conceptual’ method of learning to read; Dan Schwartz previews his talk, “The Galileo Affair,” which will fight back against a recent trend in academia that blames Galileo for his famous clash with the Church; Nikos Sotirakopoulos previews his talk, “The Left’s Long War on Israel,” which will explain the Left’s longstanding opposition to Israel, and why this opposition follows from their collectivistic, anti-achievement ideology; Agustina Vergara Cid previews her talk, “The Immorality of the U.S. Immigration System.” Agustina will share real-life stories of hardworking immigrants trying to work in the US, revealing that the US immigration system is much more unjust than most of us think; Question period. Virtual passes to OCON 2023 can be purchased here until July 1. This episode was recorded on June 21, 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=vMy274gjH1k Podcast audio:

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 a well-founded understanding of the scientific method. Among the topics covered: The recent controversy over the influence of "Critical Social Justice" in science; The claims of the "Critical Social Justice" advocates; How the controversy is muddled by the failure to distinguish the scientific method from the scientific institutions which aim to practice it; Why so-called Diversity Statements vitiate the quality of scientific research; Why scientists' failure to understand their own method makes them vulnerable to bad ideas; How a vague view of merit hinders a proper defense of science; The need for a philosophical foundation for science. The podcast was recorded on June 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://youtu.be/hdVpP429qK4 Podcast audio:

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 Palestinian movement, including its debt to communist ideology and its terroristic tactics; Why the Palestinian movement gained international sympathy; The rise of the Islamist movement; How a hostility to human life and freedom animated all these movements; Why we should support Israel. Mentioned in the discussion is the book What Justice Demands: America and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. This episode was recorded on June 8, 2023. Listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch previous episodes here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYt20K39JJ8&t Podcast audio:

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 New Ideal on April 12, 2019.

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 humility entails servility, despite failed attempts to reconcile it with the love of truth; Why intellectual ambitiousness demands working hard to attain knowledge; The difference between earned certainty, probability, and the false certainty claimed by religious mystics; How intellectual humility discourages people from being intellectually and professionally ambitious in their own lives; Why it is important to know when you are not certain, and how to deal with real uncertainty. Mentioned in this podcast and relevant to the discussion are “‘Intellectual Humility’ Is a Cop-out” by Gena Gorlin, “The Old Morality of the New Religions” by Ben Bayer, and entries in the Ayn Rand Lexicon on humility and pride. This episode was recorded on May 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://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g5bHpMuu-s Podcast audio:

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 goals of promoting individual freedom and preserving traditional ways of life; Why traditionalism is a philosophy of stagnation, and the dynamism inherent to capitalism is the exact opposite of traditionalism; Why the constant, ambitious pursuit of new knowledge and technological advancement is a fundamental human need; Why the “right to stagnate” mentality leads to hatred of production and innovation and sets people against one another; Why a fear of progress and a desire to stagnate reveal a profound lack of self-esteem. Mentioned in this podcast and relevant to the discussion are Ayn Rand’s essay “The Age of Envy” published in Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution and “The Missing Link” published in Philosophy: Who Needs It as well as “The Divine Right of Stagnation” by Nathaniel Branden. This episode was recorded on May 18, 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=299nLFmdrkA Podcast audio:

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 accessibility; How “artificial intelligence” differs from human intelligence; The real problems facing AI development today, vs. the doomsday scenarios; The ways we can protect ourselves against malicious people and states aiming to use AI for destructive purposes; Why the difference in kind between AI and human conceptual understanding makes an artificial intelligence “singularity” unlikely; The irrationality of the recent push to pause AI development and how it will hold back human progress; Why arbitrary fears about AI doomsday scenarios belong to science-fiction and are philosophically invalid. This episode was recorded on May 8, 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=U0qeF1zdYo0 Podcast audio:

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 Russia’s attack on Ukraine is not analogous to America’s war in Iraq; David Frum’s analysis of the Iraq War in The Atlantic; John Bolton’s and Bret Stephens’ analysis of the war and the failure to question whether Iraq was the right target; The disastrous results of the war, including increased reluctance to defend American interests militarily; How America’s response to 9/11 set the stage for the rise of populism and widespread distrust of institutions; The erosion of American exceptionalism in the wake of the Iraq War. Mentioned in the discussion are the book Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism: What Went Wrong After 9/11 and Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, which is free to students. This episode was recorded on May 5, 2023. Listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch previous episodes here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlOaqmnrpRk Podcast audio: