The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast

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:

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.