Episodes

  • America Responds to Decades of Iranian Aggression

    America Responds to Decades of Iranian Aggression
    Mar 3 2026
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZV5I8YRYvI Podcast audio: In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Ben Bayer interviews Elan Journo about the American and Israeli attack on Iran. Topics include: The Institute’s Position on Iran; Answering critics; Congressional approval; Evaluating Trump; Prospects for Success or Failure. Resources: ARI Resources on the American Conflict with Iran This episode was recorded on March 3, 2026. Image credit: U.S. Navy / Handout / via Getty Images
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    20 mins
  • Choosing Life: An Interview with ‘The Green Prince’ Mosab Hassan Yousef

    Choosing Life: An Interview with ‘The Green Prince’ Mosab Hassan Yousef
    Mar 2 2026
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mzUUDz14Ac Podcast audio: In this special podcast episode, Yaron Brook and Elan Journo interview Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a Hamas founding leader who became one of Israel’s most valuable intelligence assets. Raised within the movement, Yousef recounts how his experiences led him to break decisively with Hamas and oppose it at great personal risk. The conversation centers on the ideological nature of Hamas, an aspect often evaded by its apologists. Drawing on firsthand experience, Yousef describes a movement rooted in a culture of sexual repression and the subordination of women. He argues that these are foundational aspects of the religious Islamic ideology that suppresses dissent, encourages mass murder, and brutalizes its own people. One of the most striking aspects of the interview is Yousef’s account of the conscious moral choice that guided his transformation: the choice to protect human life. In contrasting Hamas with Israel, he identifies a fundamental difference in values between a movement that glorifies death and a society that values human life. Topics include: Yousef’s defection from Hamas; The ideology of Palestinian brutality; Indoctrination in Palestinian society; Palestinians’ repeated rejections of peace; Risks of working with Israeli intelligence; October 7; Q&A. This podcast was recorded live on February 18, 2025, and is available on The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast stream. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here. Image credit: Noam Galai / via Getty Images.
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    1 hr
  • How the SCOTUS Tariff Decision Helps Slow the Advance of Authoritarianism

    How the SCOTUS Tariff Decision Helps Slow the Advance of Authoritarianism
    Feb 27 2026
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmnux6MriXE Podcast audio: In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Onkar Ghate and Ben Bayer discuss the recent decision in Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump, striking down the President’s expansive “Liberation Day” tariffs. The majority’s reasoning The major questions doctrine Statutory interpretation and legislative intent The dissent’s plausibility The separation of powers A stopgap against eroding separation of powers Scrutinizing deprivation of economic liberty, property Emergency powers Resources: Ben Bayer, “Ayn Rand on Free Trade, the 'Essence of Capitalism’s Foreign Policy'” Ben Bayer, “The Constitutionally Dubious Law Empowering Trump’s ‘Emergency’ Tariff Authority” Ben Bayer, “The Lawyers Defending Trump’s Tariffs Know They’re Un-American. Here’s How We Can Tell” This episode was recorded on February 25, 2026.
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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • Ayn Rand, the Immigrant: 100 Years Since She Came to America

    Ayn Rand, the Immigrant: 100 Years Since She Came to America
    Feb 26 2026
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDKszEjACFA Podcast audio: In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Ben Bayer interviews Agustina Vergara Cid and Brandon Lisi about their new article: “’I Chose to Be an American:’ Ayn Rand’s Immigration Story.” Topics include: Motivation for the article; Why Rand chose America; Obstacles Rand faced; How Rand pushed America to live up to its values; Archival resources consulted; Most surprising facts about Rand’s story; Impact of the article. Read the article here: “’I Chose to be an American:’ Ayn Rand’s Immigration Story.” This episode was recorded on February 23, 2026, and posted on February 24, 2026. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.
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    37 mins
  • Is Trump Distinctively Responsible for the Rise of Political Violence?

    Is Trump Distinctively Responsible for the Rise of Political Violence?
    Feb 19 2026
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89gUQLWQGG0 Podcast audio: In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo discuss the role of Trump in today’s rise in political violence. Topics include: How Trump’s campaign demonized fellow Americans Connection between tribalism and violence Trump’s whitewashing of violence Trump’s targeted political attacks Trump’s comfort with political force and strongmen How “crisis narratives” legitimize the use of force This episode was recorded on February 13, 2026. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here. Image credits: Zach D Roberts / NurPhoto via Getty Images; Brent Stirton / News / via Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch / Staff / via Getty Images
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    1 hr
  • Fear of Progress: The Quest To End Autonomous Driving

    Fear of Progress: The Quest To End Autonomous Driving
    Feb 12 2026
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49b6O7nOtZI Podcast Audio: In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Robertas Bakula and Mike Mazza discuss the opposition to autonomous vehicles. Topics include: Why some people oppose autonomous vehicles; The safety of autonomous vehicles; Economic costs of automobile Accidents; Fear of displacing jobs; The “common man” argument; Divine right of stagnation. Resources: Nathaniel Branden’s essay “Divine Right of Stagnation” in The Virtue of Selfishness This episode was recorded on January 12, 2026, and posted on February 12, 2026. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here. Image credits: Waymo: Mario Tama / Staff / via Getty Images; Hawley: Chip Somodevilla / Staff / via Getty Images
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    Less than 1 minute
  • Values Are Made, Not Found: Watch Gregory Salmieri’s Talk on “Conceiving Values”

    Values Are Made, Not Found: Watch Gregory Salmieri’s Talk on “Conceiving Values”
    Feb 11 2026
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOtmQv3O7T8 Podcast audio: It is common to think of values as things we “discover” about ourselves — pre-packaged preferences waiting somewhere deep inside. We speak, for example, of “discovering our passion” or of finally realizing “what we were meant to do,” as if these priorities had been there all along. On this view, valuing is automatic: we simply respond to our needs, desires, or emotions. In his 2025 Objectivist Summer Conference talk, titled “Conceiving Values,” Gregory Salmieri offers a different account. Drawing on Ayn Rand’s distinctive view, he argues that valuing is not passive or instinctive. It is an active, cognitive achievement — something we must choose, learn, and practice. Values, Salmieri explains, are goals within an ongoing process of self-sustaining action. Other organisms act to preserve themselves, but only human beings can conceptually identify and plan out their values. To concretize this process, Salmieri turns to the work of creators. An architect does not discover their buildings ready-made in the world; a novelist does not stumble upon finished stories; each must actively conceive a guiding idea and gradually give it concrete form. Likewise, valuing involves choosing long-range commitments that give direction to one’s actions and define the course of one’s life. Topics covered in Salmieri’s talk include: Conventional view of values vs. Objectivism’s; Values and life; Conceptual values in human beings; Knowledge and goals in valuing; Q&A. This talk was recorded live on July 5th in Boston, MA, as part of the 2025 Objectivist Summer Conference, and is available on The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast stream. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.
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    1 hr and 30 mins
  • Texas A&M’s Ban on Plato: Anti-”Woke” Censorship?

    Texas A&M’s Ban on Plato: Anti-”Woke” Censorship?
    Feb 5 2026
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g8n9_LOSwc Podcast audio: In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Sam Weaver and Ben Bayer discuss a new policy in Texas A&M University that restricts professors’ ability to teach topics related to gender and sexual orientation, which resulted in one professor being prevented from teaching Plato’s Symposium. Topics include: Texas A&M’s policy; The case of Plato’s Symposium; Relation to intellectual freedom; Who should decide in public universities; Motives behind the policy. Resources: Ayn Rand’s essay “Fairness Doctrine for Education” in Philosophy: Who Needs It Onkar Ghate and Sam Weaver’s article “Trump vs. Harvard: Intellectual Freedom in the Crosshairs” This episode was recorded on January 27, 2026, and posted on February 5, 2026. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here. Image credit: Jon Hicks / Stone / via Getty Images
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    58 mins