The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast

Ayn Rand once observed that Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. “has had the worst philosophical influence on American law." In this New Ideal article from October 6, 2021 (read by Alex Wigger), Tom Bowden examines the influence of Holmes's iconic dissent in the case of Lochner v. New York. "Holmes believed that the Supreme Court presides over an empty Constitution—empty of purpose, of moral content, of enduring meaning—bereft of any embedded principles defining the relationship between man and the state," Bowden observes. "This distinctively Holmesian view, novel in 1905, is today’s orthodoxy." Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate, Keith Lockitch and Alex Epstein discuss recent hit pieces by the Washington Post and DeSmog.com that attempt to smear Epstein, an energy expert, and what these smear attempts reveal about the sorry state of today’s debate over climate and energy. Among the topics covered: The value of Epstein’s new book, Fossil Future;The failure of our “knowledge system” to publicize the full context of information about energy and climate;The difference between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports and their interpretation by our knowledge system;The Post’s refusal to acknowledge the actual contents of Epstein’s argument;A critical examination of the article’s evidence-free claims about previous criticisms of Epstein;The unseriousness and dishonesty of the attempt to smear Epstein by making insinuations about his college writings;The religious mentality behind the Post article;How Epstein’s public commentary helped preempt the worst claims of the planned piece;Epstein’s response as a model of genuine thought, vs. the Post’s approach;How Epstein’s demands helped prevent the damaging effects of the hit piece;Whether the response had greater impact than the hit piece;Whether it would make sense to address this incident in a postscript to the new book;How the Objectivist moral perspective helped Epstein’s response and his work on energy;What hostility to advocacy for fossil fuels reveals about problems in the knowledge system. Mentioned in the discussion is Epstein’s new book, Fossil Future. The podcast was recorded on April 14, 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/yVpZ9V1lz7k Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Agustina Vergara Cid and Ben Bayer discuss the reaction to President Biden’s off-script declaration that Vladimir Putin cannot remain in power and the important role of moral judgment in foreign policy. Among the topics covered: The moral failings of the Biden administration’s foreign policy;The meaning of Biden’s comment on Putin in the context of his speech;The Biden administration’s separation of morality from policy in its “clarification” of the comment;Why Biden’s critics are wrong to assume that harsh moral judgment makes one vulnerable to evil;Dictatorships’ dependence on the moral support of their citizens;Ayn Rand’s view of the importance of acting on moral judgment in foreign policy;How Russia’s membership in the UN is a symptom of American moral neutrality;How the U.S. could act on the moral condemnation of Russia without going to war;The claim that the American judgment of Russia is an instance of “cancel culture;”Why moral condemnation is a form of persuasion that can prevent violence;How to regard Russia’s possession of a powerful military when pronouncing moral judgment on it;Whether moral judgment is important in all branches of government. Mentioned in the discussion are the essay “How Does One Lead a Rational Life in an Irrational Society?” by Ayn Rand, the book What Justice Demands by Elan Journo, the articles “Ayn Rand’s Radical View of the United Nations” and “The Real Reason Why Russia Won’t Be Kicked Out of the UN” by Agustina Vergara Cid, and the New Ideal Live episodes “The Meaning of Russia’s War on Ukraine” and “Nationalism and Russia’s War on Ukraine.” The podcast was recorded on April 6, 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/QayVZHwVetw Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer interviews Rob Tarr, an expert on economics, about how Ayn Rand’s philosophical approach to economics can help us understand the nature and causes of inflation. Among the topics covered: Whether inflation is an increase in the price level or in the money supply;Ayn Rand’s explanation of the epistemological causes of inflation in “Egalitarianism and Inflation”;How Rand’s economic views contrast with the Keynesian view;How Rand’s economic views compare to those of various free market economists;Different ways of measuring inflation;The causes of the current increase in prices;How the Federal Reserve manipulates money supply and interest rates;The impacts of Federal Reserve policy on productive activity;Why proposed remedies like price controls, increased corporate taxes and antitrust prosecutions only make matters worse;Whether mainstream economists have learned or will learn anything from their failed predictions. Mentioned in the discussion are Rand’s lecture “Egalitarianism and Inflation,” her book Philosophy: Who Needs It (in which the lecture is reprinted), the bound volume of her periodical the Ayn Rand Letter (in which it first appeared) and Tarr’s essay “Economic Theory and Conceptions of Value: Rand and the Austrians versus the Mainstream” from the book Foundations of a Free Society, edited by Gregory Salmieri and Robert Mayhew. The podcast was recorded on March 19, 2022 and was broadcast on March 30, 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/IGlEC7iGvc8 Podcast audio:

By many of her fans and critics, Ayn Rand was often seen as belonging within the “conservative” movement. But Rand was not simply critical of “conservatism,” she repudiated it emphatically. Whereas she viewed the “liberals” of her time as morally corrupt for stealthily pushing the United States toward statism, she thought that there was something “more reprehensible still”: the attempt by “conservatives” to “defend freedom by stealth.” In this essay, originally published in New Ideal on June 30, 2021, Elan Journo looks at what Rand objected to, and why. Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer interviews Harry Binswanger about his article “The Possible Dream” (recently republished in New Ideal), which channels Ayn Rand's philosophy to refute the conventional idea that perfection is impossible. Among the topics covered: The conventional idea, represented by the song “The Impossible Dream,” that ideals are unachievable in reality;The cultural consequences of the idea that moral perfection is impossible;The mystical origin of the idea that moral perfection is impossible;The personal consequences of accepting the anti-perfection doctrine, versus setting realistic goals and celebrating achievements;The importance of recognizing that standards are man-made and can be chosen rationally;What it means to achieve moral perfection;How the possibility of perfection is an implication of Ayn Rand’s philosophy;How to determine whether a concept or standard is valid or invalid;Why the altruistic moral standard is not based on reality;The relation of the possibility of perfection to the possibility of certainty;Applying the idea that perfection is possible to philosophy of mathematics;Binswanger’s experience writing the article under Rand’s editorial supervision. Mentioned in the discussion are Binswanger’s article “The Possible Dream,” the periodical he edited, the Objectivist Forum, and his book How We Know. The podcast was recorded on March 2, 2022 and was broadcast on March 23, 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/-t_IUk4T45A Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo and Ben Bayer analyze the concept of “nationalism,” apply it to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and draw lessons from this event for understanding the rise of nationalism in the United States. Among the topics covered: The current situation in Ukraine and the state of the global response;The role of nationalism in Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine;Conservative arguments that Ukraine’s fight is a good kind of nationalismAyn Rand’s distinction between tribalistic nationalism and nationalism based on rational values;How conservatives like Hazony smuggle in tribalistic nationalism by conflating it with rational patriotism;Why tribalistic nationalism is wrong and individualism has universal, objective value;Why Hazony’s tribalistic nationalism would justify the Russian invasion, despite Hazony’s claims to the contrary;Why individualism versus collectivism is the fundamental political alternative, not nationalism versus imperialism;The importance of clarifying the concepts one uses to understand the world;The destructive potential of anti-individualistic American nationalism;How to evaluate American politicians who defended Vladimir Putin;The mixture of good and bad forms of nationalism in modern-day Israel;How to evaluate Ukraine’s policy of conscription. Mentioned in the discussion are Ayn Rand’s lecture “Global Balkanization,” Elan Journo’s article “The Vice of Nationalism” and the New Ideal Live episode “The Threat of National Conservatism,” which was based on his article “Meet the Conservative Authoritarians.” The podcast was recorded on March 16, 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://www.youtube.com/embed/n7E1PEvVFdE Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Harry Binswanger, Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo discuss why schisms occur within intellectual movements, and the principles that guide the Ayn Rand Institute in navigating schisms within the Objectivist movement. Among the topics covered: Background on ARI’s new essay on schisms in the Objectivist movement;Ayn Rand’s view of the necessity of moral judgment;The role of proportionality in moral judgment;Why ARI is publicly stating the principles it uses to navigate conflicts;Why disagreement is a normal feature of all intellectual movements;Why disagreement is to be expected even in the Objectivist movement;Schisms in other positive intellectual movements;Why ignoring disagreement is not justified in a “war of ideas”;Why schisms clarify issues fundamental to intellectual movements;The philosophic disagreement at the root of the dispute with David Kelley;Why ARI vets the moral and intellectual integrity of those who speak on its behalf;The importance of withdrawing one’s moral sanction from evil;Why objectivity requires distinguishing between public and private information;Why arbitrary claims cannot be evaluated and must be dismissed;How to evaluate public allegations made about private events;Whether outsiders must take a side on a private dispute made public;Why the “court of public opinion” has no mechanism for evaluating the objectivity of testimony. Mentioned in the discussion are the essays “Of Schisms, Public and Private” by Ghate and Binswanger, and “Fact and Value” by Leonard Peikoff. The podcast was recorded on March 9, 2022. Note: this podcast has been edited from its original livestream. 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/y0ftTQV7jI0 Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Aaron Smith, Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo discuss the philosophic meaning of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the global reactions to it and the war’s wider implications for America and freedom. Among the topics covered: America’s long-standing lack of a real foreign policy;The cause of this approach: the refusal to think of foreign policy in moral terms;Whether businesses and governments should trade with countries like Russia;How America’s and Europe’s unintelligible actions have harmed Ukraine;Putin’s miscalculations about the results of the invasion;The amorality of deference to or praise for Putin;Policy changes needed to signal the willingness to reform foreign policy along moral lines;Why abolishing the United Nations is needed to withdraw moral sanction from Russian and Chinese tyranny;The importance of giving moral and material support to Ukraine;Additional diplomatic and economic punishments of Russia that the U.S. can inflict;How a morally principled foreign policy is needed to maintain long-term opposition to Russia’s threat. The podcast was recorded on March 2, 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/hymaGEFVDNI Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Keith Lockitch and Elan Journo discuss how the film Don’t Look Up fuels “climate anxiety.” Among the topics covered: “Climate anxiety” and its consequences for young people especially;The distortion of science by climate change activists;The satirical premise of Don’t Look Up;The dishonest parallels between the story and the climate change controversy in reality;How climate change distortions spawn “climate anxiety”;The importance of looking at the full context when assessing the consequences of climate change;Don’t Look Up’s attack on businessmen;The philosophic themes of environmentalism. Mentioned in the discussion are Ayn Rand’s essay “The Anti-Industrial Revolution,” Keith Lockitch’s article “Industrial Capitalism Protects Us from Climate-Related Risks,” Alex Epstein’s forthcoming book Fossil Future and his website EnergyTalkingPoints.com. This episode was recorded on February 23, 2022. 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://youtu.be/rbytProzeSs Podcast audio: