The Atlas Society Presents - Objectively Speaking
by 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 bo
Episodes
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Is Violence the Left's Hidden Tradition? with Noah Rothman
Is political violence in America today really an equal-opportunity phenomenon, or does the historical record point overwhelmingly in one direction? Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 327th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she sits down with author Noah Rothman to talk about…
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Is China Harvesting Organs from Political Prisoners? with Jan Jekielek
What does it take to expose one of the world's most disturbing human rights abuses, and what does it reveal about the true nature of the regime committing it? Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 326 episode of Objectively Speaking, where she is joined by senior editor at The Epoch...
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The NGO Industrial Complex with Professor Gerald Steinberg
Who holds the world’s most powerful human rights organizations accountable, and how did groups founded as civil society projects become political powerhouses shaping the UN and international policy toward Israel? Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 325th episode of Objectively...
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Combatting Oxymoronic "Varieties" of Capitalism with Richard Salsman
Join Atlas Society Senior Scholar Richard Salsman, Ph.D., for the 324th episode of Objectively Speaking, in which he cuts through the confusing labels attached to capitalism, from "crony," "stakeholder," and "state capitalism." The concept “capitalism” is bandied about these days without clear...
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What Are "Luxury Beliefs"? with Rob Henderson
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 323rd episode of Objectively Speaking, where she sits down with author Rob Henderson to talk about his book "Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class," where he vividly recounts growing up in foster care, enlisting in the US Air...
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Why I Broke Up with the Democrat Party with Lindy Li
What happens when a party insider who raised millions of dollars for Biden and Harris decides to tell the truth about what she saw behind closed doors? Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 323rd episode of Objectively Speaking, where she sits down with Lindy Li to talk about her new...
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How to Reform Entitlements? with Romina Boccia
As Social Security and Medicare barrel toward insolvency, what can the United States learn from how other countries have restructured their retirement systems—and does Washington have the political will to act? Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 321st episode of Objectively…
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Are Data Centers Good, Actually? with Robert Tracinski
What is actually wrong with data centers? What productive purpose do they serve? And is the campaign against data centers just old-fashioned NIMBYism? Join Atlas Society Senior Fellow Robert Tracinski, a longtime commentator of how technophobia gets dressed up as public concern, sorts out...
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Channeling AI to Improve Mental Health with Anson Frericks
What happens when a company trades its brand for a cause—and can the same instinct for building things that work fix America's mental health crisis? Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 320th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she sits down with returning guest Anson Frericks to...
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The Future is Nuclear with Robert Zubrin
Could nuclear power solve our energy future, and could Mars become humanity's next frontier for civilization-building? Join Atlas Society Senior Scholar Richard Salsman, Ph.D., for the 318th episode of Objectivley Speaking in which he sits down with returning guest Robert Zubrin to talk about his...
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How Elite Law Schools Are Undermining America with Walter Olson
When lawsuits become weapons and law schools become factories for bad ideas, what happens to justice and the rule of law itself? Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 317th episode of Objectively Speaking as she sits down with Walter Olson, Senior Fellow at Cato, as part of our...
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Why Progress Has Heroes, Not Just Trends with Alexander Hammond
Why do most of us believe the world is getting worse when the data says otherwise, and who are the people actually responsible for the extraordinary progress we've made? Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 316th episode of Objectively Speaking as she sits down with author Alexander...
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America at 250: Reflecting on 1776 with Timothy Sandefur
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 315th episode of Objectively speaking where she sits down with four-time returning guest Timothy Sandefur to talk about his latest book "Proclaiming Liberty: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the Declaration of Independence," which revisits the...
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Did The New Deal Prolong The Depression? with Amity Shlaes
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 314th episode of Objectively Speaking as she sits down with Amity Shlaes, chair of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, to discuss her book "New Deal Rebels: An Anthology of Critics of the New Deal," which gathers the voices of economists,...
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Steve Jobs: The Untold Chapter with Geoffrey Cain
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 313th episode of Objectively Speaking as she sits down with returning guest Geoffrey Cain to talk about his new book “Steve Jobs in Exile: The Untold Story of NeXT and the Remaking of an American Visionary,” which draws on previously unpublished...
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Alan Greenspan: From Rand to Bland with Richard Salsman
Join Atlas Society Senior Scholar Richard Salsman, Ph.D., for the 312th episode of Objectively Speaking as he unpacks the paradox at the heart of Greenspan's career: how a man shaped by Ayn Rand's philosophy of reason and free markets came to spend two decades running the very institution…
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The "Founder" Spirit that Fuels, with Arthur Herman
What makes a true founder, and why does America keep needing them to break the cycle of stagnation? Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 306th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she sits down with returning guest Arther Herman to talk about his latest book, "Founder’s Fire: From...
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When Competence Becomes Countercultural with Doug Casey
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 310th episode of Objectively Speaking as she sits down with returning guest Doug Casey to talk about his latest co-authored book, "The Preparation: How To Become Competent, Confident, and Dangerous," which lays out a four-year, sixteen-cycle...
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When Empathy Becomes Suicidal with Gad Saad
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 309th episode of Objectively Speaking as she sits down with returning guest Gad Saad to discuss his book, Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind, and its blistering critique of maladaptively irrational altruism that has gripped our culture. Building on...
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Why Do Jews Lean Left? with Batya Ungar-Sargon
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 308th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she is joined by returning guest Batya Ungar-Sargon for a conversation about her latest book, "The Jews and the Left," which examines how one of the most consequential alliances in American political...
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Taking Tariffs to Court, with Sara Albrecht
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 307th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she sits down with the Chairman of the Liberty Justice Center, Sara Albrecht, to talk about the organization's recent legal victory over the Trump Administration’s tariffs before the U.S. Supreme Court....
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What's Driving the "Horseshoe of Nihilism"? with Gregg Hurwitz
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 306th episode of Objectively Speaking as she sits down with by New York Times #1 bestselling author Gregg Hurwitz to discuss the real-world rise of political violence, radicalization, and what he calls the "horseshoe of nihilism": the point where…
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When Courts Abandon The Rule of Law, with Lauren Sheets Jarrell
What is tort law actually for and when does it stop protecting individual rights and start undermining them? Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 305th episode of Objectively Speaking as she sits down with the lead author of the American Tort Reform Foundation's annual Judicial...
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Who Are "We the People"? with Randy Barnett
Who are “We the People”? Are we a collective body whose majority will is sovereign, or are we individuals whose inalienable rights government exists to secure? In Our Republican Constitution: Securing the Liberty and Sovereignty of We the People, Randy Barnett argues that America’s founding…
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Is The "New Right" Just Postmodernism in Disguise? with Hicks and Salsman
Join Atlas Society Senior Scholars Stephen Hicks and Richard Salsman for the 303rd episode of Objectively Speaking, where the duo discuss whether today's "post-liberal" New Right is genuinely charting new philosophical territory, or simply repackaging the same critiques of reason, individualism,...
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When Lawyers Become Legislators with Jim Copland
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 302nd episode of Objectively Speaking, where she is joined by James (Jim) R. Copland to discuss his book "The Unelected: How an Unaccountable Elite is Governing America," which explains how unaccountable agents have taken over much of the U.S....
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What if Humans Aren't Primates? with Jonathan Leaf
What if the latest science forced us to rethink human nature from the ground up? Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 301st episode of Objectively Speaking as she is joined by author Jonathan Leaf to discuss his book, "The Primate Myth: Why the Latest Science Leads Us to a New Theory…
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300th Episode: How To Fight Censorship with Nadine Strossen
What are the most powerful arguments against free speech, and why do they all fall short? For our 300th episode, The Atlas Society is excited to welcome back one of America’s foremost civil liberties advocates, Nadine Strossen. Co-author of War on Words: 10 Arguments Against Free Speech—And Why...
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The Real Cost of Short-Term Thinking with Robert Tracinski
What is irrational self-interest? What is enlightened self-interest, and why do so many people get it wrong? Using a jaw-dropping real-world story of pardons and political operatives, join Atlas Society Senior Fellow Robert Tracinski for the 299th episode of Objectively Speaking, where he…
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Are Trial Lawyers Killing Innovation? with Ted Frank
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 298th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she is joined by Ted Frank to discuss how an unchecked plaintiffs' bar uses litigation as a weapon—driving up costs, chilling research and development, and punishing the risk-taking that fuels progress…
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The Dark Side of "Social Emotional Learning" with Priscilla West
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 297th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she is joined by author Priscilla West to talk about her book, "The New Face of Woke Education," which exposes Social Emotional Learning (SEL) as a toxic brew of psychology and sustainability aimed to...
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Communism's Secret History with Joshua Lisec
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 296th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she meets with acclaimed ghostwriter and author Joshua Lisec to talk about his book, "Unhumans: The Secret History of Communist Revolutions (and How to Crush Them)," which argues that communism…
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The Lure of Conspiratorial Thinking with Michael Shermer
Join Atlas Society CEO for the 295th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she sits down with returning guest Michael Shermer to talk about his 2024 book "Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational," which presents an overarching review of conspiracy theories―who believes them and why,...
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The “America First” Principle and the U.S. War with Iran
What does it truly mean for a nation to act in its rational self-interest on the world stage? Join Atlas Society Senior Scholar Richard Salsman, Ph.D., for a discussion on why America is right to adopt self-interested foreign-military policies, as captured in the phrase “America First.” The U.S....
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Is Bitcoin for Everyone? with Natalie Brunell
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 293rd episode of Objectively Speaking, where she sits down with podcast host and Bitcoin advocate Natalie Brunell to discuss her new book "Bitcoin is for Everyone: Why Our Financial System is Broken and Bitcoin is the Solution." A journalist,...
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Special 10th Anniversary Podcast with Jennifer Grossman
It was March 2016—only 10 short years ago—when Jennifer Grossman reported for her first day on the job as CEO of The Atlas Society. Usually the one asking questions on Objectively Speaking, Grossman will swap seats with longtime friend of The Atlas Society, Naomi Brockwell, President and Founder...
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The Uyghur Struggle with Salih Hudayar
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 291st episode of Objectively Speaking as she sits down with Uyghur rights advocate and political leader Salih Hudayar, Foreign Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile, to discuss China’s persecution of the Uyghur people, the fight for…
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Is the Word 'Liberal' Worth Fighting For? with Stephen Hicks
All political labels are abused—some more than others. When should a label be abandoned, and when not? In contemporary American political journalism, liberal is one such contested word. In the 290th episode of Objectively Speaking, Stephen Hicks will discuss its value and prospects.
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Let Colleges Fail? with Richard Vedder
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 289th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she is joined by Professor Richard Vedder to talk about his book, "Let Colleges Fail: The Power of Creative Destruction in Higher Education," which makes the case that higher education must embrace…
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Finding Common Cause Across Secular-Religious Divide with Jay Lapeyre
Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 288th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she sits down with the President and CEO of Laitram, LLC, as well as Board Chair for Atlas Society, Jay Lapeyre to discuss the moral foundations of a free society and the values needed to sustain it. In…
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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…
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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…
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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…
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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...
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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…
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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...
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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...
About this show
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 bo
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