Episodes

  • The Constitution Ignored: Trump’s War on Venezuela

    The Constitution Ignored: Trump’s War on Venezuela
    Jan 8 2026
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28TpOvna_78 Podcast audio: In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Onkar Ghate, Elan Journo and Ben Bayer discuss the recent American attack on Venezuela to capture Nicolas Maduro. Topics include: Invalid “international law” objections; An act of war; Drug, “narcoterrorism” and oil excuses; Nationalistic “spheres of influence”; The altruistic conception of “self-interest”; Contempt for the Constitution; Ayn Rand on the Roots of War. Resources: Ayn Rand, "The Roots of War" ARI Podcast, "How Drug Boats Could Be Used to Rationalize an Unjust War with Venezuela," December 11 ARI Podcast, “Trump’s Anti-Capitalist Control Over Business,” Sept 18, 2025 Onkar Ghate, "Saving the Enlightenment," OCON 2025 This episode was recorded on January 7, 2026, and posted on January 8, 2026. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here. Image Credit: Tomas Ragina / iStock / via Getty Images
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 12 mins
  • Newton Versus Descartes on the Exactness of Mathematics

    Newton Versus Descartes on the Exactness of Mathematics
    Jan 7 2026
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shwbIXkaZPs Podcast audio: This talk comparing Newton and Descartes approach to mathematics by David Bakker was recorded live on July 2nd 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. Image Credits: Newton: GeorgiosArt / iStock / via Getty Images. Descartes: ilbusca / DigitalVision Vectors / via Getty Images
    Show More Show Less
    18 mins
  • Steven Pinker’s Weak Defense of Enlightenment Values vs. Religion

    Steven Pinker’s Weak Defense of Enlightenment Values vs. Religion
    Jan 6 2026
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClmXn3-j2t4 Podcast audio: In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Onkar Ghate and Ben Bayer discuss a recent essay by Steven Pinker and Marian Tupy (“The Golden Age of Humanity? We’re Living In It”) that aims to offer a secular alternative to the recent resurgence in religious culture. Topics include: The Anti-Enlightenment Phenomenon; Pinker and Tupy’s secular strengths; A weak critique of Christian morality; Christian morality and antisemitism; Understanding the crisis of meaning; Unphilosophical moral foundations; Alternative, Pro-Enlightenment moral foundation. Resources: “The Objectivist Ethics,” Ayn Rand “Finding Morality and Happiness Without God,” Onkar Ghate “Debunking the Supernaturalism That Haunts Secular Ethics,” Ben Bayer This episode was recorded on December 16, 2025, and posted on January 2, 2026. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here. Image Credit: Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt / AFP / via Getty Images
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Re-release: Christmas Is About Joy, Not Guilt

    Re-release: Christmas Is About Joy, Not Guilt
    Dec 24 2025
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hJO4ofx6VU Podcast audio: In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, originally released on December 23, 2024, Ben Bayer and Agustina Vergara Cid explore the true meaning of Christmas by examining the history and philosophical significance of our holiday practices. Among the topics covered: The secular meaning of Christmas; A proper view of Christmas’s commercial aspects; Why some people are antagonistic towards the Christmas spirit; How the doctrine of original sin undermines Christmas joy. Mentioned in this podcast are Ben Bayer’s articles “Give the Gift of a Guilt-Free Christmas” and “The Meaningful Delights of a Worldly Christmas" and Onkar Ghate’s essay “An Atheist’s Tribute to Christmas”. This podcast was recorded on December 18, 2024 and released on December 23, 2024. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.
    Show More Show Less
    36 mins
  • RFK Jr.’s Irrational Anti-Vaccine Policies: Interview with Dr. Amesh Adalja

    RFK Jr.’s Irrational Anti-Vaccine Policies: Interview with Dr. Amesh Adalja
    Dec 18 2025
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI3qhwVi1Eg Podcast audio: In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Samantha Watkins interviews Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and a senior scholar at the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University, about the alarming trend of anti-vaccine irrationality coming from government leaders. Topics include: The state of vaccine science Hepatitis B vaccine Covid vaccine The cause of conspiracism The real-world impact of conspiracism A healthy culture’s approach to vaccine science Resources: “A Pro-Freedom Approach to Infectious Disease” by Onkar Ghate, in which he shares ARI’s view of the role of government with respect to infectious disease This episode was recorded on December 15, 2025, and posted on December 18, 2025. Image Credit: Alex Wong / via Getty Images
    Show More Show Less
    42 mins
  • How Drug Boats Could Be Used to Rationalize an Unjust War with Venezuela

    How Drug Boats Could Be Used to Rationalize an Unjust War with Venezuela
    Dec 11 2025
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBSu1A2_BSg Podcast audio: In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Ben Bayer and Elan Journo discuss the recent American attacks on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and scrutinize pretexts for war with Venezuela. Topics include: “War crimes” and international law; The fake “terrorist” threat; The “war on drugs”; The Venezuelan military “threat”; Authoritarian presidential power. Resources: Ayn Rand, “The Roots of War” This episode was recorded on December 9, 2025, and posted on December 11, 2025. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here. Image Credits: Venezuela flag: Kryssia Campos / Moment / via Getty Images; Trump: Chip Somodevilla / via Getty Images
    Show More Show Less
    50 mins
  • Spinoza: A Hero of the Enlightenment

    Spinoza: A Hero of the Enlightenment
    Dec 8 2025
    Podcast audio: This talk by Alex Silverman was recorded live on July 2nd 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.
    Show More Show Less
    28 mins
  • ICE Raids vs. Rule of Law: Interviewing Institute for Justice’s Josh Windham

    ICE Raids vs. Rule of Law: Interviewing Institute for Justice’s Josh Windham
    Dec 4 2025
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KEOmlA-YRo Podcast audio: In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Agustina Vergara Cid interviews Josh Windham, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice, about the Trump administration’s immigration policy and its violations of constitutional rights. Topics include: The Garcia Venegas case; Arbitrary “mass deportations”; Kavanaugh on permissible profiling; Qualified immunity; DHS’ denial of reality; Precedent for current enforcement; American principles betrayed; Standing up to authoritarianism. This episode was recorded on December 2, 2025, and posted on December 4, 2025. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here. Image credits: Police: Octavio Jones / AFP / via Getty Images; Constitution: Tetra Images / via Getty Images
    Show More Show Less
    54 mins