The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast

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:

In this episode, Ben Bayer reads aloud his article, “Effective Altruism's Faith-Based Sacrifice for the Future.” In that essay, he examines "longtermist" philosophy and its relation to "effective altruism." Bayer notices that "the more we learn about the causes the effective altruist leadership has embraced, the more we should question the moral foundation of the movement." The moral foundation of the movement, and the real source of its absurdities, is altruism. Bayer's article was originally published in New Ideal, the Ayn Rand Institute’s journal, on March 22, 2023.

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss the libertarian support for Putin and other authoritarian regimes. They explore the libertarian movement's decades-long sympathy for evil regimes, its anti-state, anti-American foreign policy, and how the movement's rejection of morality has led to sanctioning tyrants. Among the topics covered: Recent libertarian defenses of authoritarian regimes; How these libertarians are primarily anti-state, not pro-liberty; Murray Rothbard as the spokesman of the libertarian movement's anti-state, anti-American foreign policy; Rothbard's positive view of dictatorships as flowing from his rejection of morality; Altruism — not imperialism — as the cause of the US engaging in self-sacrificial wars; How the "big tent" approach to liberty explains the prevalence of the worst ideas within libertarianism; How Objectivism can appeal to the best people within libertarianism. Recommended in this podcast is Peter Schwartz’s essay “Libertarianism: The Perversion of Liberty” in Ayn Rand’s The Voice of Reason. The podcast was recorded on April 28, 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/vAp-aQCxg1E Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Elan Journo discuss Ayn Rand’s philosophic analysis and critique of “liberals.” They explain what makes Rand’s evaluation of “liberalism” different from that of “conservatives,” why she thought “liberals” began concealing their collectivist goals, and how today’s “liberals” are different from (and worse than) those of Rand’s time. Among the topics covered: Ayn Rand’s analysis of “liberalism” as distinctive; Problems with the term “liberal” and how “liberalism” changed in the twentieth century; Rand’s critique as stemming from individualism, not anti-communism; Why Rand saw active-minded “liberals” as an audience worth reaching; How Rand saw the contrast between Objectivism, "liberalism," and "conservatism"; Why Rand viewed President Kennedy as steering the country toward fascism; Ways Kennedy's policies fostered government control and the erosion of freedom; Why Rand thought “liberals” kept their ideological motives hidden; How the New Left openly embraced the collectivism the Old Left whitewashed; Whether “liberals” today are different from those of Rand’s time; Why concern for truth should be what motivates political thought and action. Recommended in this podcast are Journo’s “Ayn Rand’s Devastating Critique of ‘Liberals’” and Rand’s “The Intellectual Bankruptcy of Our Age,” “The New Fascism: Rule by Consensus,” “The Wreckage of Consensus,” “Conservatism: An Obituary,” and “The Left: Old and New.” The podcast was recorded on April 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://youtu.be/uQuprxoqZ64 Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Agustina Vergara Cid and Nikos Sotirakopoulos challenge Robert Reich’s unjust crusade against billionaires. Agustina and Nikos unpack the pernicious motivations behind the attacks against successful billionaire producers and give an impassioned moral defense of their right to the wealth they have created. Among the topics covered: How widespread the attacks on the rich are in Western society; How the ‘wage-theft’ argument is based on a false, Marxist view of wealth; How attacks on billionaires conflate economic with political power; How wealth is a creation of the individual, not of exploitation or ‘society’; The anti-profit mentality is driven by hatred of successful producers; Why morally defending billionaires and their wealth is an act of justice. Mentioned in this podcast and relevant to the discussion is Ayn Rand’s lecture “America’s Persecuted Minority: Big Business,” available on ARI Campus and as an essay in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, and Agustina Vergara Cid’s op-ed in the Orange Country Register “Why I admire the GOATs of the business world.” The podcast was recorded on April 14, 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=GJ_WIeM8NZs Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer, Ziemowit Gowin, Harry Binswanger, Shoshana Milgram, and Don Watkins discuss new course offerings at the Ayn Rand University (ARU). Among the topics covered: The goals of the Ayn Rand University and how students can benefit from it; Shoshana Milgram’s course Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment: Investigating the Mind of a Murderer; How ARU courses facilitate in-depth study of Objectivism through feedback and interaction; Harry Binswanger’s new courses on Objectivist Logic and Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology; The best ARU courses for those new to Objectivism; How ARU helps to train new intellectuals; How ARU coaches help students to personalize the program and apply it to their lives; New courses on Philosophy, Work, and Business and Persuasion Mastery; Wrap up: ARU logistics, testimonials, and application information. Mentioned in the discussion are the website for applying to ARU and new reading groups focused on Ayn Rand’s non-fiction, and Ayn Rand’s essay “For The New Intellectual.” This episode was recorded on April 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=-PayhoZ6SSk Podcast audio:

In this episode, we read aloud “Why Nationalism Is Hostile to America,” an article written by Yaron Brook and Elan Journo. In that essay, they examine the true nature and consequences of the rise of nationalism in America, especially the so-called national conservatism. Brook and Journo argue that the principles and ideas of the advocates of national conservatism are ultimately anti-American, as they reject the founding principles of America: the individual rights. The article was originally published in New Ideal in two parts: on February 1 and February 8, 2023.