The Atlas Society Presents - Objectively Speaking
The Atlas Society
We promote open Objectivism: the philosophy of reason, achievement, individualism, and freedom.
Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism was set forth in such works as her epic novel Atlas Shrugged, and in her brilliant non-fiction essays. Objectivism is designed as a guide to life, and celebrates the remarkable potential and power of the individual. Objectivism also challenges the doctrines of irrationalism, self-sacrifice, brute force, and collectivism that have brought centuries of chaos and misery into the lives of millions of individuals. It provides fascinating insights into the world of politics, art, education, foreign policy, science, and more, rewarding you with a rich understanding of how ideas shape your world. Those who discover Objectivism often describe the experience as life-changing and liberating.
Ayn Rand's philosophical works have been praised as presenting historic breakthroughs in thinking. At the Atlas Society, our scholars work to further develop this philosophy born in the mid-twentieth century. We present the empowering principles of Objectivism to a global audience, and offer those principles as a rational and moral alternative in the marketplace of philosophical ideas.
Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism was set forth in such works as her epic novel Atlas Shrugged, and in her brilliant non-fiction essays. Objectivism is designed as a guide to life, and celebrates the remarkable potential and power of the individual. Objectivism also challenges the doctrines of irrationalism, self-sacrifice, brute force, and collectivism that have brought centuries of chaos and misery into the lives of millions of individuals. It provides fascinating insights into the world of politics, art, education, foreign policy, science, and more, rewarding you with a rich understanding of how ideas shape your world. Those who discover Objectivism often describe the experience as life-changing and liberating.
Ayn Rand's philosophical works have been praised as presenting historic breakthroughs in thinking. At the Atlas Society, our scholars work to further develop this philosophy born in the mid-twentieth century. We present the empowering principles of Objectivism to a global audience, and offer those principles as a rational and moral alternative in the marketplace of philosophical ideas.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 28, 2026 • 57min
How Science Became Corrupted with Anna Krylov
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 287th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she is joined by professor Anna Krylov to discuss the dangers when institutions dedicated to truth-seeking come to prioritize ideology over scientific rigor, and what that means for the future of science.
How did institutions dedicated to truth-seeking come to prioritize ideology over scientific rigor, and what does that mean for the future of science? That’s what Anna Krylov examines in a recent article, “How Science Became Corrupted,” for the Heterodox STEM Substack. In a powerful critique of modern scientific publishing, Krylov argues that identity-based policies, “citation justice,” and editorial censorship have undermined peer review, distorted the production of knowledge, and replaced merit with social engineering. Krylov is a theoretical chemist and professor known for her outspoken defense of scientific rigor, open inquiry, and the pursuit of objective truth.
Jan 21, 2026 • 59min
Is Wokeness a Status Flex? with Musa al-Gharbi
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 286th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she sits down with sociologist Musa al-Gharbi to discuss his book "We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite," which examines the history and political economy of the symbolic professions from the interwar period through the present, tracing how journalists, academics, activists, and knowledge-sector professionals came to wield outsized cultural influence.
A sociologist and associate professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University, Al-Ghabri brings a rigorous, data-driven approach to understanding today’s ideological battles. He is also a prolific writer of many articles, including those posted to his Substack, Symbolic Capital(ism).
Jan 14, 2026 • 56min
Not Owned, Not Owed with Timothy Sandefur
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 285th episode of Objectively speaking where she sits down with three-time returning guest Timothy Sandefur to talk about his latest book "You Don’t Own Me: Individualism and the Culture of Liberty," which explores how the idea of individual freedom has shaped not only politics and economics but also the arts—from pop music to poetry, from “Star Trek” to the blues, and from Western novels to architecture.
Returning for a third time on Objectively Speaking, Sandefur is no stranger to The Atlas Society, having joined us previously to discuss his books Frederick Douglass: Self-Made Man and Freedom’s Furies: How Isabel Patterson, Rose Wilder Lane, and Ayn Rand Found Liberty in an Age of Darkness. Sandefur is the Vice President for Legal Affairs at the Goldwater Institute and holds the Duncan Chair in Constitutional Government. He is the author of nine books as well as more than 50 scholarly articles on a wide variety of legal subjects.
Jan 7, 2026 • 60min
Jews vs. Rome: How Ancient Revolts Inform Modern History with Barry Strauss
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 284th episode of Objectivley Speaking where she interviews historian Barry Strauss about his book "Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World's Mightiest Empire," which offers a gripping account of one of the most momentous eras in human history: the two hundred years of ancient Israel’s battles against Rome that reshaped Judaism and gave rise to Christianity.
Barry Strauss is Corliss Page Dean Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and Bryce & Edith M. Bowmar Professor of Humanistic Studies Emeritus at Cornell. As a historian, Strauss has spent years researching and studying the leaders of the ancient world and has written and spoken widely of their mistakes and successes. Some of his previous titles include "Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine," "The War That Made the Roman Empire," and "Masters of Command: Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, and the Genius of Leadership."
Dec 30, 2025 • 59min
Can We Bring Back the Classics? with Roosevelt Montás
Join Atlas Society Senior Fellow Robert Tracinski for the 283rd episode of Objectively Speaking when she sits down with Roosevelt Montás to talk about his book "Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation," which describes how four authors―Plato, Augustine, Freud, and Gandhi―had a profound impact on Montás’s life, driving home why a liberal education can still remake lives.
Roosevelt Montás is a Senior Lecturer in American Studies and English at Columbia University and the director of the Center for American Studies’ Freedom and Citizenship Program, which brings low-income high school students to the Columbia campus to study political theory and then helps them prepare successful applications to college. He speaks and writes on the history, meaning, and future of liberal education and is the author of "Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation."
Dec 22, 2025 • 60min
Our Modern Political Philosophers with Stephen Hicks and Robert Tracinski
Join Atlas Society Senior Scholar Stephen Hicks and Senior Fellow Robert Tracinski for a conversation on emerging trends in conservative political philosophy. Together, they’ll explore the ideas of post-liberal, national conservative, and integralist thinkers, discuss influential American theorists driving the conversation, and contrast them with leading European voices such as Roger Scruton and James Orr.
Dec 17, 2025 • 59min
Plato vs. Aristotle? with Dr. Arthur Herman
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 281st episode of Objectively Speaking, with historian Arthur Herman as they discuss his book "The Cave and the Light: Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization," which answers the question of how the competing visions of Plato and Aristotle shaped the very way we think about politics, art, science, and the modern world.
A senior research fellow at the Civitas Institute, Herman is a Pulitzer Prize Finalist historian and biographer, authoring nine books, including the New York Times Best Seller How the Scots Invented the Modern World, Freedom’s Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, and 1917: Lenin, Wilson, and the Birth of the New World Disorder.
Dec 10, 2025 • 57min
What Anti-Zionism Gets Wrong with Josh Hammer
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 280th episode of Objectively Speaking when she sits down with Josh Hammer to talk about his book "Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West," which makes a case for why the key to the prosperity of the West is the flourishing of the Jewish State of Israel.
Josh Hammer is the Senior Editor at Large of Newsweek, where he hosts “The Josh Hammer Show.” A frequent pundit and essayist on political, legal, and cultural issues, Josh is also a research fellow with the Edmund Burke Foundation, a fellow with the Palm Beach Freedom Institute, and senior counsel for the Article III Project and Internet Accountability Project.
Dec 3, 2025 • 1h
Why Great Civilizations Fail? with Johan Norberg
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 279th episode of Objectively Speaking where she is joined by three-time returning guest Johan Norberg to talk about his latest book "Peak Human: What We Can Learn From History’s Greatest Civilizations," which explores the rise and fall of past societies to uncover the ideas, institutions, and innovations that fueled their success—and the mistakes that led to their decline.
Johan Norberg is a Cato Senior Fellow and the author and editor of more than 20 books that focus on globalization, human progress, and intellectual history. He previously joined The Atlas Society Asks to discuss his books "Open: The Story of Human Progress" and "The Capitalist Manifesto."
Nov 26, 2025 • 1h 8min
What are Concepts and Propositions? with David Kelley and Richard Salsman
Join Atlas Society founder and Senior Scholar David Kelley, Ph.D., along with Senior Scholar and Professor of Political Economy at Duke Richard Salsman, Ph.D., for a special webinar exploring the relationship between concepts, propositions, and objective knowledge—central themes in Kelley’s new essay Concepts and Propositions. Together, the duo will unpack why propositions are essential to reasoning, how Kelley’s work builds upon Rand’s theory of concepts, and what this expanded epistemology means for understanding truth, logic, and the pursuit of rational ideas in today’s intellectual climate.
