Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
This talk was recorded live on July 3rd 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: newideal.aynrand.org/podcasts
Subscribe to ARI’s YouTube channel to make sure you never miss a video:
youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=AynRandInstitute
Download or stream free courses on Ayn Rand’s works and ideas with the Ayn Rand Institute app:
– App Store itunes.apple.com/us/app/ayn-rand-university/id1452535178?mt=8
– Google Play play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aynrandu
ARI is funded by donor contributions. You can support our work by becoming an ARI Member or making a one-time contribution: ari.aynrand.org/donate
Explore these ideas further! ARI's online publication, New Ideal, explores pressing cultural issues from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism: newideal.aynrand.org
******
Keep in Touch! Sign up to receive email updates from ARI: aynrand.org/signup
Follow ARI on Twitter: twitter.com/AynRandInst
Follow ARI on Facebook: facebook.com/AynRandInstitute
Follow ARI on Instagram: instagram.com/aynrandorg
Subscribe to the ARI Live! podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ayn-rand-institute-live/id1440399458
******
Join an upcoming virtual or in-person event: ari.aynrand.org/events
Visit ARI’s website for more about our content and programs: ari.aynrand.org
This talk was recorded live on July 3rd 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: newideal.aynrand.org/podcasts
Subscribe to ARI’s YouTube channel to make sure you never miss a video:
youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=AynRandInstitute
Download or stream free courses on Ayn Rand’s works and ideas with the Ayn Rand Institute app:
– App Store itunes.apple.com/us/app/ayn-rand-university/id1452535178?mt=8
– Google Play play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aynrandu
ARI is funded by donor contributions. You can support our work by becoming an ARI Member or making a one-time contribution: ari.aynrand.org/donate
Explore these ideas further! ARI's online publication, New Ideal, explores pressing cultural issues from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism: newideal.aynrand.org
******
Keep in Touch! Sign up to receive email updates from ARI: aynrand.org/signup
Follow ARI on Twitter: twitter.com/AynRandInst
Follow ARI on Facebook: facebook.com/AynRandInstitute
Follow ARI on Instagram: instagram.com/aynrandorg
Subscribe to the ARI Live! podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ayn-rand-institute-live/id1440399458
******
Join an upcoming virtual or in-person event: ari.aynrand.org/events
Visit ARI’s website for more about our content and programs: ari.aynrand.org
![Mamdani’s Victory: How Bad Is It for America?
Mamdani’s victory is another step in the downward spiral of US politics
In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Nikos Sotirakopoulos and Onkar Ghate discuss the implications of Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York. As the country takes another step towards authoritarianism and tribalism, is there any hope to put a stop to the downward cultural and political spiral?
Covered in this episode:
[00:00] Introduction
[01:34] Mamdani’s evil
[07:40] Mamdani and populism
[17:44] The downward spiral of tribalism
[26:42] The education system gave us Mamdani
[31:58] Is there a hope for the future?
Resources:
Ayn Rand Institute Podcast on How NOT to Explain Mamdani’s Socialist Revival [https://youtu.be/F6vA9ensrzw?si=a8Ctzybwi3SpstkU]
This episode was recorded on November 17, 2025.
Subscribe to ARI’s YouTube channel to make sure you never miss a video:
https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=AynRandInstitute
Download or stream free courses on Ayn Rand’s works and ideas with the Ayn Rand Institute app:
– App Store https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ayn-rand-university/id1452535178?mt=8
– Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aynrandu
ARI is funded by donor contributions. You can support our work by becoming an ARI Member or making a one-time contribution: https://ari.aynrand.org/donate
Explore these ideas further! ARIs online publication, New Ideal, explores pressing cultural issues from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism: https://newideal.aynrand.org/
******
Keep in Touch! Sign up to receive email updates from ARI: https://aynrand.org/signup
Follow ARI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AynRandInst
Follow ARI on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AynRandInstitute
Follow ARI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aynrandorg
Subscribe to the ARI Live! podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ayn-rand-institute-live/id1440399458
******
Join an upcoming virtual or in-person event: https://ari.aynrand.org/events/
Visit ARI’s website for more about our content and programs: https://ari.aynrand.org/ Mamdani’s Victory: How Bad Is It for America?](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6uCwg6ADk4s/mqdefault.jpg)

![The Wrong Way to Fight Mamdanis Socialism
In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Robertas Bakula and Onkar Ghate discuss Ken Griffin’s reaction to Zohran Mamdamis attack on his wealth and life, and the appropriate stance that individuals in Griffins position should take against such attacks.
Timestamps:
• [0:00] Introduction
• [1:48] Mamdani’s Attack
• [5:39] Real Threat to Griffin’s Life
• [9:10] Griffin’s Courageous Response
• [13:14] Griffin’s Concession
• [20:36] Sanction of the Victim
• [23:38] Animal Farm is Pro-Socialism
• [30:48] Anthem as Better Alternative
• [33:21] A Principled Stance vs. Martyrdom
Resources:
• Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand [https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451191145]
• Anthem by Ayn Rand [https://www.amazon.com/Anthem-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451191137]
• The Sanction of the Victim by Ayn Rand [https://courses.aynrand.org/works/the-sanction-of-the-victims/]
This episode was recorded on May 11, 2026.
Image Credits: Griffin: Fabrice Coffrini / AFP / via Getty Images; Mamdani: Spencer Platt / via Getty Images
Subscribe to ARI’s YouTube channel to make sure you never miss a video:
https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=AynRandInstitute
Download or stream free courses on Ayn Rand’s works and ideas with the Ayn Rand Institute app:
– App Store https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ayn-rand-university/id1452535178?mt=8
– Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aynrandu
ARI is funded by donor contributions. You can support our work by becoming an ARI Member or making a one-time contribution: https://ari.aynrand.org/donate
Explore these ideas further! ARIs online publication, New Ideal, explores pressing cultural issues from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism: https://newideal.aynrand.org/
******
Keep in Touch! Sign up to receive email updates from ARI: https://aynrand.org/signup
Follow ARI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AynRandInst
Follow ARI on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AynRandInstitute
Follow ARI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aynrandorg
Subscribe to the ARI Live! podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ayn-rand-institute-live/id1440399458
******
Join an upcoming virtual or in-person event: https://ari.aynrand.org/events/
Visit ARI’s website for more about our content and programs: https://ari.aynrand.org/ The Wrong Way to Fight Mamdanis Socialism](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7JW_xItSGlM/mqdefault.jpg)

![The Unconstitutional, Immoral Military Draft
In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Ben Bayer and Tristan de Liège discuss the military draft in light of recent changes to the Selective Service System.
• [0:00] Introduction
• [1:02] Debating Selective Service System changes
• [5:46] Unconstitutionality of the draft
• [12:23] The immorality of the draft
• [16:43] The impracticality of the draft
• [32:31] Palantir’s endorsement of the draft
Resources:
Against The Un-American Call for National Service, ARI Podcast [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNhDEBmJYf4]
A Central Planners Trojan Horse: The Technological Republic, ARI Podcast [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A28R9JnfNro]
Ayn Rand, entry on the Draft, Ayn Rand Lexicon [https://courses.aynrand.org/lexicon/draft/]
Ayn Rand, “Wreckage of the Consensus” in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal [https://courses.aynrand.org/works/the-wreckage-of-the-consensus/]
This episode was recorded on April 22, 2026.
Image Credit: Andrew Harnik / staff / via Getty Images
Subscribe to ARI’s YouTube channel to make sure you never miss a video:
https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=AynRandInstitute
Download or stream free courses on Ayn Rand’s works and ideas with the Ayn Rand Institute app:
– App Store https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ayn-rand-university/id1452535178?mt=8
– Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aynrandu
ARI is funded by donor contributions. You can support our work by becoming an ARI Member or making a one-time contribution: https://ari.aynrand.org/donate
Explore these ideas further! ARIs online publication, New Ideal, explores pressing cultural issues from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism: https://newideal.aynrand.org/
******
Keep in Touch! Sign up to receive email updates from ARI: https://aynrand.org/signup
Follow ARI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AynRandInst
Follow ARI on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AynRandInstitute
Follow ARI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aynrandorg
Subscribe to the ARI Live! podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ayn-rand-institute-live/id1440399458
******
Join an upcoming virtual or in-person event: https://ari.aynrand.org/events/
Visit ARI’s website for more about our content and programs: https://ari.aynrand.org/ The Unconstitutional, Immoral Military Draft](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7nZD3IdL4PY/mqdefault.jpg)
![Facebook’s Reversal on Content-Moderation and “Free Speech”
In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Onkar Ghate and Ben Bayer analyze Mark Zuckerbergs recent comments on Facebook’s policy changes and whether they truly represent a victory for free speech.
Among the topics covered:
● How Facebook’s content moderation is not a violation of free speech;
● How the government’s intimidation of Facebook is a violation of free speech;
● How both the Biden and Trump administrations intimidate Facebook;
● How CEOs, like Zuckerberg, morally sanction the attacks against them;
● Why CEOs, like Zuckerberg, need a principled defense from intellectuals.
Mentioned in this podcast are Ayn Rand’s article “Have Gun, Will Nudge” [https://newideal.aynrand.org/an-excerpt-from-have-gun-will-nudge-from-ayn-rands-bound-periodicals-now-in-paperback/] in The Objectivist Newsletter [https://www.amazon.com/Objectivist-Newsletter-1962-1965-Rand-Periodicals/dp/099601019X] and Ben Bayer’s article “Facebook: Censor or Victim?” [https://newideal.aynrand.org/facebook-censor-or-victim/]
The podcast was recorded on January 15, 2025 and released on January 16, 2025.
0:00:00 Introduction
0:02:35 Content moderation isn’t a violation of free speech
0:10:35 The government’s intimidation of Facebook and the issue of free speech
0:20:30 The Biden and Trump administrations intimidating Facebook
0:29:28 CEOs morally sanctioning attacks against them
0:39:06 A need for principled defense from intellectuals
Subscribe to ARI’s YouTube channel to make sure you never miss a video:
https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=AynRandInstitute
Download or stream free courses on Ayn Rand’s works and ideas with the Ayn Rand University app:
– App Store https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ayn-rand-university/id1452535178?mt=8
– Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aynrandu
ARI is funded by donor contributions. You can support our work by becoming an ARI Member or making a one-time contribution: https://ari.aynrand.org/donate
Explore these ideas further! ARIs online publication, New Ideal, explores pressing cultural issues from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism: https://newideal.aynrand.org/
******
Keep in Touch! Sign up to receive email updates from ARI: https://aynrand.org/signup
Follow ARI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AynRandInst
Follow ARI on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AynRandInstitute
Follow ARI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aynrandorg
Subscribe to the ARI Live! podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ayn-rand-institute-live/id1440399458
******
Join an upcoming virtual or in-person event: https://ari.aynrand.org/events/
Visit ARI’s website for more about our content and programs: https://ari.aynrand.org/ Facebook’s Reversal on Content-Moderation and “Free Speech”](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/87jSEwTQLgk/mqdefault.jpg)
![Is Trump Distinctively Responsible for the Rise of Political Violence?
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:
• [0:00] Introduction
• [1:27] How Trump has demonized groups of Americans
• [8:48] The connection between tribalism and violence
• [14:16] Trump’s whitewashing of violence
• [23:47] Why the Jan. 6 riots were worse than the BLM riots
• [30:28] Trump’s targeted political attacks
• [39:46] Trump’s comfort with dictators and displays of goverment force.
• [52:52] The creation of a sense of crisis to try to legitimize the use of force
This episode was recorded on February 13, 2026.
Image credits: Zach D Roberts / NurPhoto via Getty Images; Brent Stirton / News / via Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch / Staff / via Getty Images
Subscribe to ARI’s YouTube channel to make sure you never miss a video:
https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=AynRandInstitute
Download or stream free courses on Ayn Rand’s works and ideas with the Ayn Rand Institute app:
– App Store https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ayn-rand-university/id1452535178?mt=8
– Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aynrandu
ARI is funded by donor contributions. You can support our work by becoming an ARI Member or making a one-time contribution: https://ari.aynrand.org/donate
Explore these ideas further! ARIs online publication, New Ideal, explores pressing cultural issues from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism: https://newideal.aynrand.org/
******
Keep in Touch! Sign up to receive email updates from ARI: https://aynrand.org/signup
Follow ARI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AynRandInst
Follow ARI on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AynRandInstitute
Follow ARI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aynrandorg
Subscribe to the ARI Live! podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ayn-rand-institute-live/id1440399458
******
Join an upcoming virtual or in-person event: https://ari.aynrand.org/events/
Visit ARI’s website for more about our content and programs: https://ari.aynrand.org/ Is Trump Distinctively Responsible for the Rise of Political Violence?](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/89gUQLWQGG0/mqdefault.jpg)


![Heritage vs. Creed: What Actually Makes You an American?
In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Ben Bayer and Onkar Ghate discuss whether heritage or creed is what defines American national identity.
• [0:00] Introduction
• [5:29] The American way and sense of life
• [14:45] Un-American “Heritage Americanism”
• [23:48] Irrelevant Anglo-Protestant “ethnicity”
• [38:03] Superior “Creedal Americanism”
• [44:49] History of “Creedal Americanism”
• [54:14] The eroding American sense of life
Resources:
Ayn Rand, Don’t Let It Go, in Philosophy: Who Needs It [https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Who-Needs-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451138937]
Ayn Rand, “A Nation’s Unity” [https://courses.aynrand.org/works/a-nations-unity/]
Onkar Ghate, “Atlas Shrugged: America’s Second Declaration of Independence” [https://newideal.aynrand.org/america-needs-a-second-revolution-to-save-its-first/]
Ben Bayer, “Our Iran Appeasement Reveals the Need to Declare Moral Independence,” New Ideal, July 1, 2026. [https://new-ideal.aynrand.org/p/our-iran-appeasement-reveals-the]
Ben Bayer, “The Revolutionary, Secular Concept of Individual Rights” OCON 2024 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79fT9VIDkVs]
This episode was recorded on July 10, 2026.
Image Credit: Chip Somodevilla / staff / via Getty Images
Subscribe to ARI’s YouTube channel to make sure you never miss a video:
https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=AynRandInstitute
Download or stream free courses on Ayn Rand’s works and ideas with the Ayn Rand Institute app:
– App Store https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ayn-rand-university/id1452535178?mt=8
– Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aynrandu
ARI is funded by donor contributions. You can support our work by becoming an ARI Member or making a one-time contribution: https://ari.aynrand.org/donate
Explore these ideas further! ARIs online publication, New Ideal, explores pressing cultural issues from the perspective of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism: https://newideal.aynrand.org/
******
Keep in Touch! Sign up to receive email updates from ARI: https://aynrand.org/signup
Follow ARI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AynRandInst
Follow ARI on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AynRandInstitute
Follow ARI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aynrandorg
Subscribe to the ARI Live! podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ayn-rand-institute-live/id1440399458
******
Join an upcoming virtual or in-person event: https://ari.aynrand.org/events/
Visit ARI’s website for more about our content and programs: https://ari.aynrand.org/ Heritage vs. Creed: What Actually Makes You an American?](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9e5PLKhXvF0/mqdefault.jpg)
