The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast

“Woke” anti-racism is ascendant in our culture. But contrary to the claims of its advocates, it encourages, rather than combats, racism. And it actively harms, rather than helps, the people it claims to care about. So argues John McWhorter in Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America. In this New Ideal essay published November 3, 2021, Elan Journo discusses McWhorter’s trenchant book. “Woke” anti-racism, McWhorter argues convincingly, is animated not by a commitment to facts and evidence, but a zealot’s mentality. It is in fact a new religion. Narrated by Alex Wigger.

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Aaron Smith discuss major life lessons that we can learn from Ayn Rand. The discussion was held on the occasion of Rand’s birthday. Among the topics covered: Rand’s conviction that business is a moral activity;Why not all businessmen live up to the essence of their profession;The moral radicalism of Rand’s view of business;Rand’s portrayal of career as a source of joy;Rand’s unique view of the role of the material world in a spiritual life;The effort and thought needed to find joy in a career;The distinctive inspirational value of The Fountainhead’s portrayal of career;Rand’s rejection of unearned guilt;Her condemnation of the idea of original sin;The connection between unearned guilt and altruism;Rand’s view that the pursuit of happiness is a moral endeavor;The dedication required to truly pursue happiness;Rand’s view of what we owe each other;How to overcome unearned guilt induced by conventional morality. Mentioned in the discussion are Ayn Rand’s books The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged and Philosophy: Who Needs It. The podcast was recorded on February 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/qrOTV3G5sDE Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo interviews Peter Schwartz, former chairman of the board and currently a distinguished fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute, on his new book, The Tyranny of Need, and the rational alternative to the prevailing morality of self-sacrifice. Among the topics covered: What the morality of altruism is;Why altruism is not the same as benevolence and goodwill;What altruism looks like in practice;The difference between sacrifice and trade;The pernicious psychological effects of altruism;Why real selfishness requires moral principles;Why mindlessness and crime are not in one’s self-interest;Whether need can be a factor in rational decision-making, if not the standard;The difference between abdicating responsibility for one’s own life and working to sustain it;Why one should care about whether other people are selfish or altruistic;The future of the battle between altruism and Objectivism’s view of rational self-interest. Mentioned in the discussion is Peter Schwartz’s book The Tyranny of Need. This podcast was recorded on January 26, 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/n5cJ1X-j_JI Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Elan Journo discuss the philosophical ideas that worsen the “moral distress” currently plaguing doctors and nurses. Among the topics covered: How many health care workers are leaving their jobs or considering doing so;The conditions health care workers face as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic;The psychological harm experienced by those who work in these conditionsThe political causes of the challenges facing health care workers;How altruism infects people’s view of health care workers;Whether the unvaccinated are wholly to blame for the situation;The role of health care workers’ own acceptance of altruism in their “moral distress”;The moral attitude health care workers should have;The gulf between altruism’s positive reputation and its destructive effects;How we should view people who seek health care after making unhealthy choices. Mentioned in the discussion are an excerpt from Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged called “The Forgotten Man of Socialized Medicine” and Leonard Peikoff’s essay “Health Care Is Not a Right.” The podcast was recorded on January 19, 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/3_H6UYXzAyU Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss Ayn Rand’s distinctive understanding of racism. Among the topics covered: Why Rand thought racism is not fundamentally an issue of institutionalized power;Why Rand thought that racism is the idea that one’s character is produced by internal physiology;The difference between racism and having affection for one’s country;Why racism is a version of determinist collectivism;Whether individual freedom incentivizes racism;How racism rationalizes the desire for the unearned;Ayn Rand’s view of the Civil Rights Act of 1964;The invalidity of the concept of “states’ rights”;Whether racial solidarity is a valid response to racist oppression;Whether today’s race consciousness is racist;Why living in a racist society does not grant anyone any privilege;Why people don’t understand that race consciousness is a form of racism. Mentioned in the discussion is Ayn Rand’s essay “Racism” and the current Ayn Rand University course “The Road to Critical Race Theory” (taught by Ghate and Sotirakopoulos), which is still open to auditors. This podcast was recorded on January 13, 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/z-siihWqMl0 Podcast audio:

Religion threatens the human mind and scientific progress.

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Agustina Vergara Cid interviews Amesh Adalja, a well-known expert on pandemic preparedness, about the Omicron variant, the idea of “zero Covid,” and other issues related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Among the topics covered: What Omicron’s high transmissibility means for hospital capacity;How government Covid policies have changed from the early months of the pandemic;The problem with focusing on case numbers rather than hospitalizations and deaths;The merit of a harm-reduction approach to Covid-19 versus an “abstinence only” approach;Why the virus that causes Covid-19, unlike the measles virus, cannot be eliminated;The effectiveness of the currently available vaccines against Omicron;The benefits of vaccine boosters for different populations;Whether measuring every patient hospitalized “with Covid” is a good indication of hospital capacity;Omicron’s effect on children and the value of pediatric vaccination;The next generation of Covid-19 vaccines;The protection offered by natural immunity before and after the arrival of Omicron;The merits of Paxlovid and other antiviral therapeutics;What explains the unavailability of Covid-19 tests, and their effectiveness at detecting Omicron;The validity of the CDC’s new recommended isolation period. Mentioned in the discussion is Adalja’s article “‘Abstinence only’ approach to COVID failed in 2021 — missed opportunity for teaching harm reduction,” published in The Hill. The podcast was recorded on January 5, 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/X5zJe_UQLzA Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Aaron Smith and Sam Weaver share with the audience how the Ayn Rand Institute is advancing its mission to spread awareness and understanding of the philosophy of Objectivism. Among the topics covered: The impact of ARI’s “Books for Teachers” program on students;How ARI’s essay contests help motivate students to engage deeply with Rand’s ideas;The impact of classroom visits by ARI intellectuals;How the Ayn Rand University fosters new Objectivist intellectuals. This podcast was pre-recorded on December 15, 2021 and broadcast on December 31, 2021. 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/O-YdSenk35w Podcast audio:

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo and Onkar Ghate discuss the successes and errors of the video “9 Life Lessons from Ayn Rand,” which is an attempt to draw life guidance from Ayn Rand’s philosophy by the YouTube channel Philosophies for Life. Among the topics covered: Why Philosophies for Life’s treatment of Rand is worth discussing;The video’s well-intentioned but conventional attempt to present Rand’s view of reason;The video’s misunderstanding of what Rand means by selfishness and sacrifice;The contrast between Rand’s unconventional, principled conception of the virtue of honesty and the video’s conventional account;Philosophies for Life’s failure to capture Rand’s views of independence and citizenship;The distinction between the idea of playing the victim and Rand’s concept of the sanction of the victim;The meaning of the quote “There are no evil thoughts except one: the refusal to think,” from Atlas Shrugged;The view that people are naturally selfish versus Rand’s conception of free will. Mentioned in the discussion are Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged and her essays “The ‘Conflicts’ of Men’s Interests” and “Doesn’t Life Require Compromise?” from The Virtue of Selfishness and “Who is the Final Authority in Ethics?” from The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought. The podcast was recorded on December 22, 2021. 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/nhKETQs7I60 Podcast audio:

The most contemptible parasites are the power-lusters who relentlessly expand the system, argues Ben Bayer in this podcast of his article in New Ideal, the journal of the Ayn Rand Institute, on July 28, 2021.