The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Sam Weaver discuss political controversies that have erupted in the last two years around the discussion of controversial issues, like race or gender, in public schools. They analyze the causes of these political battles and what it would take to resolve them. Among the topics covered: The recent history of attempts to control the content of education by both the left and the right;Why right-wing attempts to influence education make headlines and leftist efforts do not;How the focus on controversial topics rather than educational fundamentals reveals a lack of concern for children’s interests;The tribal motivation behind attempts to indoctrinate children with certain views;Why the government monopoly on education leads to pressure group warfare;Why separation of education and state is needed for the same reasons as separation of church and state;Why education would be far more innovative if the government were not involved in it;How to reform education by giving more control to parents and less to government officials;Whether public school districts have objected to ARI’s Free Books for Teachers program. The podcast was recorded on September 21, 2022. 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/TzpR_UUdAvk Podcast audio:

No death toll can truly capture the devastation that Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot and their ilk inflicted upon the world. Think of the engineered Great Famine in Ukraine (Holodomor), the Holocaust, the Cultural Revolution, the Killing Fields of Cambodia. Though today we recognize these leaders as monsters, we mustn’t forget that in their time Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and others had Western apologists and admirers. But surely the most consequential examples of such monsters today are Xi Jinping and especially Vladimir Putin. This is a reading of an article published in New Ideal on June 29, 2022, by Yaron Brook and Elan Journo. Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Nikos Sotirakopoulos, Elan Journo and Tristan de Liège discuss the phenomenon known as “hustle culture,” an attitude toward work that promotes relentless pursuit of career goals, and which critics say causes people to abandon their personal lives and experience burnout. Among the topics covered: The meaning of the new term “hustle culture”;Ayn Rand’s view of work versus the conventional view;Positive and negative aspects of “hustle culture” according to its defenders;The relation between challenging work and personal values;How to approach work when one’s job is unfulfilling;The need to think of one’s needs and values from a causal perspective and across one’s whole life;How to think about work in relation to one’s other values;Evaluating the advocates and critics of “hustle culture.” Mentioned in this podcast are Rand’s novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. The podcast was recorded on September 15, 2022. 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/R29szapduuM Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo discuss America’s failed response to 9/11 and some of its consequences, including the discrediting of American political and intellectual institutions, the proliferation of conspiracy fantasies, and the rise of “populism.” Among the topics covered: Why 9/11 was a turning point in American foreign policy and in the wider culture;How ARI’s analysis of 9/11 and America’s military response differs from mainstream analyses;Government institutions’ evasion of the nature of the Islamic totalitarianism movement that caused 9/11;How this evasion led to the deaths of American troops deployed to help create new Middle Eastern governments that empowered Islamists;How the evasive response to 9/11 discredited political institutions, the media, and the universities in the eyes of many Americans;How the post-9/11 climate of evasion mainstreamed conspiracy fantasies and unjustified skepticism of America’s military capabilities;How the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent bailouts further discredited the government, the media, and the universities;How the “populist” view of “elites” as the enemy was fueled by the financial crisis and the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic;Why the root of the problem is the failure to uphold America’s founding ideals. Mentioned in this podcast are Journo’s article “Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton Paved the Road to 9/11” and the book Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism, edited by Ghate and Journo. The podcast was recorded on September 7, 2022. 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/qyuMYzV1Kvk Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Aaron Smith, Dan Schwartz, and Tristan de Liège discuss Stoic Wisdom: Ancient Lessons for Modern Resilience, a recent book by Nancy Sherman that promotes the philosophy of Stoicism while arguing that a healthy modern Stoicism requires important changes. They discuss major themes of Sherman’s book and how we should evaluate her perspective on Stoic philosophy. Among the topics covered: A brief overview of Stoic philosophy and its history;The Stoic view that emotions are products of our judgments and hence can be harmonized with reason;The Stoic view that emotions like desire, fear, anger, and distress are inherently irrational;What this view of emotions and Sherman’s modified version of it get wrong;Sherman’s take on the Stoic practice of “pre-rehearsing” the loss of one’s values;The metaphysical perspectives behind Stoicism’s emphasis on adversity versus Objectivism’s emphasis on achieving values;How contemporary interest in Stoicism relates to the widespread acceptance of the morality of altruism. Mentioned in this podcast are Smith’s article “The False Promise of Stoicism,” Ayn Rand’s essays “Causality Versus Duty” and “The Metaphysical Versus the Man-Made” from her book Philosophy: Who Needs It, and the Ayn Rand Lexicon entry on “Emotions.” The podcast was recorded on August 31, 2022. 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/pegi4KAKgpg Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss the Statement of Principles recently released by leaders of the “National Conservatism” movement outlining the ideas they think are necessary for “recovering and maintaining our freedom, security, and prosperity.” Journo and Sotirakopoulos discuss the “principles” the statement advocates, how they relate to America’s founding principles and the philosophic ideas behind this movement. Among the topics covered: “National Conservatism” as a movement to redefine conservatism to exclude individualism;Why “national conservatives” regard the family and the nation as the units of society and oppose claims to know universal truths;Why “national conservatives” think governments must promote religious ideas;The authoritarian implications of the “national conservative” view that government should promote the family and prevent immorality;The “national conservatives’” un-American view that rights are conditional and originate from group consensus;Why we must oppose both the “woke” religious phenomenon on the left and the religion of the “national conservatives.” Mentioned in this podcast are Ayn Rand’s essay “Conservatism: An Obituary” from the book Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, Leonard Peikoff’s essay “Religion Versus America” from the book The Voice of Reason, Journo’s articles “Meet the Conservative Authoritarians” and “The Vice of Nationalism,” and the New Ideal Live episode “The Threat of National Conservatism.” The podcast was recorded on August 24, 2022. 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/3yr1nHjDpQ8 Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate, Agustina Vergara Cid and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss Iran’s recent attempts — on American soil — to assassinate Masih Alinejad, a journalist and critic of the Iranian regime, and John Bolton, a former U.S. National Security Advisor, as well as the stabbing of author Salman Rushdie, whose murder Iran has advocated for over 30 years. They discuss the philosophic nature of the Iranian regime and how decades of failed U.S. policy has emboldened Iran and other enemies. Among the topics covered: The history of Iran’s fatwa against Rushdie;Alinejad’s activism and Iranian agents’ attempts to kidnap and assassinate her;Iran’s attempt to assassinate Bolton following the killing of Qassem Soleimani;How U.S. foreign policy over the last several administrations emboldened Iran and other enemies;The amorality of President Joe Biden’s statement about the attack on Rushdie;America’s long history of appeasing Iran even in the face of acts of war against the U.S.;The power of fundamentalist Islam and the need to convince its adherents that this ideology cannot win;How the U.S. should have responded to Iran’s 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran;Why an alliance of evil regimes would be insignificant if the U.S. stood up for American values;What a proper U.S. response to Islamic totalitarianism would involve;How the intellectuals’ propagation of cultural relativism and hatred for America has led to widespread misunderstanding of regimes like Iran. Mentioned in this podcast are Ghate and Elan Journo’s book Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism and Leonard Peikoff’s essays “End States Who Sponsor Terrorism” and “Religious Terrorism vs. Free Speech.” The podcast was recorded on August 17, 2022. 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/AL0eYahBE4Q Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Onkar Ghate discuss the idea held by critics of “cancel culture,” such as John McWhorter and Bari Weiss, that we should not call our political opponents evil. They discuss why we should sometimes regard those who disagree with us as immoral or evil — and treat them accordingly. Among the topics covered: The phenomenon often called “cancel culture” and how critics conceptualize it;Objectivity versus the “principle of charity” endorsed by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt;What’s wrong with McWhorter’s case for not morally judging political opponents who have different value priorities from us;How the idea that values are not the province of reason breeds reluctance to make moral judgments;What’s wrong with Weiss’s idea that political disagreements shouldn’t affect personal relationships;Why Objectivism rejects the view that we can pass moral judgment only on people’s actions, not their ideas;How the Atlas Society’s stance that ideas are not subject to moral judgment has led to their failure to take ideas seriously. Mentioned in this podcast are Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Coddling of the American Mind; John McWhorter’s article “I’m Pro-Choice. But I Don’t Think Pro-Lifers Are Bad People”; Bari Weiss’s article “The New Founders America Needs”; Jonathan Howard’s article “Is Discussing the Consequences of Anti-Vaccine Disinformation Fun?”; Leonard Peikoff’s essay “Fact and Value”; and the New Ideal Live episodes “The Fuel on the Fire of ‘Cancel Culture’” and “Challenging 'Cancel Culture.'” The podcast was recorded on August 10, 2022. 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/x5VIfRZpMbI Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Mike Mazza interviews Keith Lockitch about the Ayn Rand University and his upcoming course, Foundations of Physical Science, one of the many new courses being offered by ARU. Among the topics covered: The Ayn Rand University’s vision of providing a foundation for life;How the new ARU courses align with that vision;Whether ARU is aimed at a specific age group;Whether ARU courses will be offered more than once;An overview of Lockitch’s Foundations of Physical Science course;How the course fits with ARU’s broader vision;Why a strong math background is not required for Lockitch’s course;The textbooks and workload students can expect;The value of learning ancient astronomy and techniques of observational astronomy;The importance of astronomy in prehistoric times;How mobile apps are going to be used in the course;A brief description of the course outline and its philosophic framework;What people with a degree in physics or astronomy can gain from the course;Other courses that may be available in ARU in the future. Mentioned in the discussion is Leonard Peikoff’s course History of Philosophy. To register for Lockitch’s Foundations of Physical Science course or any other course at ARU, go to university.aynrand.org to see the course catalog. This episode was recorded on August 4, 2022. 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/B8ReglVFX4w Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer, Dan Schwartz and Agustina Vergara Cid address questions on Objectivism submitted by the podcast’s audience about the meaning of the term “objectivity,” the difference between evasion and selective focus, and the strongest objections to Objectivism. Among the topics covered: If objectivity designates a certain relationship between consciousness and existence, how can reality itself be objective?The two meanings of “objectivity”: one epistemological, one metaphysical;Whether Objectivism’s use of the term “objective” to refer to a relationship between mind and reality is idiosyncratic;Can you reach a false conclusion while being objective?Is it evasion to narrow your focus to the good or positive things within a certain context?When and how it’s appropriate to focus on the benefits rather than the downsides of a particular situation;Focus as paying attention to something versus the specifically Objectivist meaning of focus as a state of “purposeful alertness;”How to prioritize one’s attention in light of Objectivism’s view that one should be motivated primarily by values rather than fear.What are the strongest objections to Objectivism?The difference between plausible objections and those that are common or valid;The objection that Ayn Rand’s argument for her ethics justifies maintaining physical survival, but does not justify fulfilling and enjoying one’s life;What this objection misses about the distinctive nature of life as a human being, such as the importance of mental well-being;Whether survival and flourishing are separate goals in cases like choosing to live a longer but less enjoyable life by adopting a healthier diet;The objection raised by many scientifically minded people that Objectivism is wrong to think human beings have free will;The failure of free-will skeptics to take seriously the introspective evidence for free will or to fully recognize the implications of determinism;The objection that claims Rand is a materialist. Mentioned in this podcast are Leonard Peikoff’s book Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, the Ayn Rand Lexicon entry on “Objectivity,” Bayer’s blog post “The History of Objectivity in Light of Rand’s Epistemology and Ethics,” Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged, Lecture 2 of Peikoff’s course Understanding Objectivism, and Harry Binswanger’s course Free Will. The podcast was recorded on July 27, 2022. 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/kihr3tvoq8Q Podcast audio: