New Ideal, from the Ayn Rand Institute

New Ideal, from the Ayn Rand Institute


Latest Episodes

How to Think about Coronavirus Conspiracism
May 20, 2020

The recently released documentary Plandemic is a perfect example of the type of conspiratorial thinking that has emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic. The claim: that the virus was not "naturally occurring" and thus "manipulated" — and that it was rele...

Should Government Just “Follow the Science”?
May 18, 2020

Several governors have announced that they will lift lockdown orders using the advice they receive from scientists and doctors. But even though scientific knowledge is obviously relevant to a government’s response to a pandemic,

Should Government Confiscate the Coronavirus Vaccine?
May 13, 2020

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer interviews special guest Adam Mossoff, intellectual property expert and professor of law at Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, to discuss an alarming plan by lawmakers to bar research comp...

Defending Against the Assault on Homeschooling
May 11, 2020

As millions of parents are now learning how to homeschool their children in the midst of the pandemic, a recent article in the Arizona Law Review by Harvard law professor Elizabeth Bartholet advocates for a “presumptive ban” on the practice.

In the Covid-19 Pandemic, “Are We All in This Together?”
May 06, 2020

“We are all in this together.” In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Keith Lockitch look at the different ways in which this catchphrase is being used in the context of the pandemic. Focusing on two recently published articles: “We’re Not...

Diagnosing America’s Failure to Unify against the Pandemic
May 04, 2020

Why was the United States, one of the richest and most technologically advanced countries in history, so ill-prepared to deal with the Covid-19 health crisis? A recent article by George Packer in The Atlantic argues that America has “underlying cond...

Philosophers Discuss: Should We Accept Suffering as Part of Life?
April 29, 2020

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and special guest Gregory Salmieri discuss recently published articles, secular and religious, that address the question of whether we can find meaning in the facts of suffering and death — facts the coronav...

Is It Moral to Accept Government Money During Covid-19?
April 27, 2020

Is it morally permissible to accept government money? Does the answer change in the midst of a pandemic like Covid-19? In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo and Onkar Ghate discuss how to think through these questions in a principled way,

Discussing Marc Andreessen’s Rallying Cry to “Build”
April 22, 2020

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo is joined by Tal Tsfany, CEO of the Ayn Rand Institute and former tech entrepreneur, and Jason Crawford, writer and co-founder of several tech startups. Journo,

Is Billionaire Philanthropy a Problem During Covid-19?
April 20, 2020

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo and Keith Lockitch analyze a recent Vox article, “These are the trade-offs we make when we depend on billionaires to save us.” The article warns that by involving themselves in charity work during the pand...