Épisodes

  • School Choice: Matt Bateman on Understanding Education Freedom

    School Choice: Matt Bateman on Understanding Education Freedom
    Jun 27 2025
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5csuEpTn69o Podcast audio: In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Samantha Watkins interviews Dr. Matt Bateman, philosopher at GT School, co-founder of Higher Ground Education, and ARU instructor, about the school choice movement and the philosophical case for education freedom. Among the topics covered: What the expanding reach of school choice programs means for parental freedom; Why parents, not the government, should invest in education; Why the school choice movement should refocus its arguments on parental rights; How bureaucratic accountability measures undermine school choice efforts; Why Rand’s tax credit proposal is better than a voucher system; The worst thing about the public school system; Rand's influence on Bateman's approach to parenting and education. Recommended in this podcast are Ayn Rand's essays "Tax Credits for Education" , "The Comprachicos", and "Art and Moral Treason". This podcast was recorded Jun 3, 2025 and posted on June 26, 2025. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.
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    1 h et 4 min
  • News Roundup

    News Roundup
    Jun 23 2025
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDj_LhwM0Vw Podcast audio: In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo discuss two major recent events: Israel’s war against Iran and the political assassinations in Minnesota. Among the topics covered: The Israel-Iran War Why Israel's war against Iran is a positive development; Why a self-interested American foreign policy must break from the legacy of 9/11; The Minnesota assassinations How political violence is becoming a broader cultural trend; How political violence is a tribal phenomenon. The podcast was recorded on June 19, 2025 and posted on June 20, 2025. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.
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    33 min
  • OCON 2025: The Pre-Game Show

    OCON 2025: The Pre-Game Show
    Jun 18 2025
    Podcast Audio In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Elan Journo interviews ARI intellectuals about their upcoming talks at the Objectivist Summer Conference, taking place July 1-5 in Boston, Massachusetts. Among the topics covered: Audra Hilse’s talk, “Revised Blueprints: Early Versions of Part II of The Fountainhead,” which will draw on archival material to offer insights into Rand’s creative process; David Bakker’s talk, “Newton Versus Descartes on the Exactness of Mathematics,” which will examine how their contrasting views on mathematical precision shaped the development of modern science; Ben Bayer’s talk, “America Should Declare Independence from Altruism,” which will argue that America’s responses to 9/11 and Covid reflect a deep-rooted evasion of altruism’s moral flaws; Don Watkins’ talk, “Enlightenment on Trial: The Real Lessons of the American and French Revolutions,” which will challenge conventional narratives about both revolutions to reframe how we understand the Enlightenment’s true legacy. Registration is open for both in-person and virtual conference passes. The podcast was recorded on June 9, 2025 and posted on June 11, 2025. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.
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    25 min
  • The L.A. Riots and Mass Deportation: Both Evil

    The L.A. Riots and Mass Deportation: Both Evil
    Jun 16 2025
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YchKm3DnUFo Podcast Audio: In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Onkar Ghate and Ben Bayer discuss the ongoing mass protests in Los Angeles and how the Trump administration’s response also shows a disregard for the rule of law. Among the topics covered: The scale of the violence; Evidence that the rioters do not care about immigrants’ individual rights; Why the right to peaceably assemble does not imply a right to mass protest; The bad jurisprudence that supports the alleged right to mass protest; The lawlessness of Trump’s immigration policies; What a proper response to Trump’s lawless immigration policy looks like. Recommended in this podcast are The Ayn Rand Lexicon’s entry on free speech, Ghate and Bayer’s article “Ending Campus Protests Protects Free Speech,” and Bayer’s article “The Specter of Lawlessness Is Darker than You Think.” The podcast was recorded on June 9, 2025 and posted on June 11, 2025. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.
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    58 min
  • A Central Planner’s Trojan Horse: The Technological Republic

    A Central Planner’s Trojan Horse: The Technological Republic
    Jun 9 2025
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A28R9JnfNro Podcast audio: In this episode of The ARI Bookshelf, Elan Journo, Mike Mazza, Nikos Sotirakopoulos and Robertas Bakula discuss The Technological Republic, the recent New York Times bestseller by Alexander C. Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, and Nicholas W. Zamiska, the company’s head of corporate affairs and legal counsel. Karp and Zamiska argue that America’s future greatness hinges on a renewed commitment to national industrial policy. They claim that Silicon Valley is failing the nation by prioritizing personal ambition and consumer gratification over government-directed projects. In response, they claim to offer a new model of partnership between the U.S. government and American business. The discussion covered: The plausibility of the book’s arguments; How the book is a Trojan Horse for collectivism; How the book undermines freedom and promotes central planning; How the book rehashes old ideas; Why only a free society is worth defending; The disturbing metaphysical premises behind the book’s worldview. The video was recorded on June 2, 2025 and posted on June 5 2025.
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    55 min
  • Joe Rogan vs. Douglas Murray: Who’s Right About Trusting Experts?

    Joe Rogan vs. Douglas Murray: Who’s Right About Trusting Experts?
    Jun 2 2025
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY3NY7gFYtw Podcast audio: In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Ben Bayer and Tristan de Liège examine Douglas Murray’s recent critique of Joe Rogan and other influencers who share their platforms with unreliable pseudo-experts. They explain why Murray fails to clarify the standards for distinguishing expert from non-expert testimony. Among the topics covered: Why Douglas Murray’s challenge to Joe Rogan’s platforming of non-experts is only partly right; The proper role of expertise; How to properly think about expert consensus as a non-expert; How Murray is unclear about the standards we need for assessing expertise; Why philosophical expertise, not simply on-the-ground experience, is crucial in evaluating the ethics of an ongoing war; Why many people distrust experts. Recommended in this episode are Gregory Salmieri’s lecture “How to Be an Objective Consumer of Science,” Ben Bayer’s talk “Being Objective About the News.” The podcast was recorded on May 27, 2025 and posted May 30, 2025. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.
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    1 h et 9 min
  • Reading Reform Beyond Phonics | Sam Weaver

    Reading Reform Beyond Phonics | Sam Weaver
    Jun 1 2025
    https://youtu.be/iVJOTxv-tWk Podcast audio: American schools have long performed dismally at providing the education children need to read well. A movement in favor of systematic phonics instruction offers hope for improvement, but while phonics is essential to teaching children to read, they need further education to become highly capable readers. This talk by Sam Weaver defines a properly aspirational goal for reading education, explores the types of knowledge and skills that go into reading, and identifies key areas beyond phonics where American schools must improve if students are to achieve a high level of literacy. Recorded live on June 17 in Anaheim, CA as part of OCON 2024.
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    1 h et 1 min
  • The Making of the Atom Bomb | Evan Picoult

    The Making of the Atom Bomb | Evan Picoult
    May 30 2025
    https://youtu.be/o615h8druDE Podcast audio: The creation of the atom bomb during WWII was an extraordinary achievement, dramatized in part in the movie Oppenheimer. What were the three greatest challenges in making the bomb and how does the success in overcoming those very difficult obstacles illustrate the application of objectivity? Which great scientists’ work were most essential to the success of the project? As Ayn Rand said of Apollo 11, the Manhattan Project was “an achievement of reason, of logic, of mathematics, of total dedication to the absolutism of reality.” Recorded live on June 18 in Anaheim, CA as part of OCON 2024.
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    1 h et 36 min