The Atlas Society Presents - Objectively Speaking

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 life—between Jews and the progressive movement—has come undone, and what its unraveling reveals about antisemitism on the left. Returning for a second time on Objectively Speaking, Batya previously joined to discuss her books, "Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America's Working Men and Women" and "Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy." Host of "Batya!" on NewsNation, she holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and has written for outlets like the New York Times, the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Newsweek, and the New York Review of Books Daily.

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. Can the President unilaterally impose sweeping taxes on Americans without Congress's approval—and what does it take to stop him when he tries? In February 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court answered with a resounding "no," issuing a landmark 6-3 ruling in Trump v. V.O.S. Selections that struck down the Trump Administration's "Liberation Day" tariffs and reaffirmed that the power to tax belongs to Congress, not the executive. Sara Albrecht is Chairman of the Liberty Justice Center, the nonprofit, public-interest law firm that brought V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump and prevailed at every level of the federal judiciary, from the U.S. Court of International Trade to the Supreme Court. Beyond her work at Liberty Justice Center, Sara serves on the boards of the Illinois Policy Institute, Empower Illinois, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Unify America, and the Harris Theater for Music and Dance.

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 the far left and far right bend toward each other and meet in a shared rejection of meaning, a "No Lives Matter" zone. What's driving the "horseshoe of nihilism," and why are so many people being pulled toward it? Fresh off his standout appearance at The Atlas Society's Galt's Gulch 2026 student conference, Hurwitz unpacks how monetized algorithms select for users most vulnerable to radicalization, why so many people, especially young men, feel unmoored from reality, and how much responsibility each of us bears for where our attention goes. The author of 27 thrillers, including the bestselling “Orphan X” series and upcoming novella “The Delivery”, Hurwitz has been published in 33 languages and currently serves as Co-President of International Thriller Writers. Beyond fiction, he's written screenplays and television scripts for many of the major studios and networks, published poetry, and is an award-winning documentary producer.

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 Hellholes report, Lauren Sheets Jarrell, as part of our mini-series on tort reform to discuss the relationship between civil litigation, accountability, and the proper role of law in a free society. In addition to authoring the flagship report that identifies the jurisdictions where civil courts most fail to deliver balanced justice, Jarrell directs ATRA's amicus program, advancing sound legal principles in state and federal courts across the country. Her work focuses on lawsuit abuse, no-injury class actions, and the structural reforms needed to restore the courtroom to its proper purpose: protecting individual rights and holding genuine wrongdoers to account.

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 charter was designed not as a license for democratic majorities, but as a bulwark protecting the rights of each individual against the encroachments of government—and that the long drift toward a “Democratic Constitution” has eroded the very liberties the Founders enshrined. Barnett is the Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University Law Center and Faculty Director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution; he argued Gonzalez v. Raich before the U.S. Supreme Court and was a lead architect of the constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act in NFIB v. Sebelius. As part of this episode, Barnett will also draw on his new true-crime memoir, Felony Review: Tales of True Crime and Corruption in Chicago, recounting the murder cases and moral dilemmas he confronted as a young prosecutor in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, as well as his biography A Life for Liberty: The Making of an American Originalist, which traces his decades-long fight to restore the Constitution’s original meaning.

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, and capitalism that have long animated the postmodern left. Drawing on recent work by figures like James Orr and Roger Scruton, Hicks and Salsman examine what the New Right actually believes, where it converges with the postmodernism it claims to oppose, and whether both movements ultimately share a pre-modern rejection of Enlightenment values.

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. government apparatus. This episode is part of our mini-series on tort reform to discuss why a combination of historical accident, decisions by judges and law professors, and self-interested advocacy by litigators has built an onerous and expensive legal regime. A senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and director of Legal Policy, Copland works to develop and communicate novel, sound ideas on how to improve America’s civil and criminal justice systems. He has authored many policy briefs, book chapters, articles, and opinion pieces in publications including the Harvard Business Law Review, the Wall Street Journal, and The Federalist Society.

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 of Human Nature," which examines groundbreaking research in neuroscience and genetics to propose a bold new framework for understanding who we are and why we do what we do. A playwright, journalist, and cultural critic, Leaf has the rare gift for making big ideas accessible. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and National Review, among many other publications, and he has been nominated for Best Play of the Year at the Innovative Theater Awards. His unique background across the arts and journalism brings a fresh perspective to some of science's most provocative questions.

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 They Fail, Strossen examines the flaws in pro-censorship arguments and offers a compelling defense of the right that is central to both individual liberty and our democratic self-government.  A constitutional law professor and the ACLU’s first female president from 1991 to 2008, Strossen has been named one of America’s "100 Most Influential Lawyers" by the National Law Journal. Her return to Objectively Speaking deepens a conversation she began with us around her earlier book, HATE: Why We Should Resist it With Free Speech, Not Censorship—and her argument is more timely than ever: the cure for harmful speech is more speech, not silence.