Episodes

https://youtu.be/pKCfFCED9XA Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Agustina Vergara Cid and Ben Bayer analyze the anti-American immigration platforms of both the Trump and Harris campaigns. Among the topics covered: The tribal and arbitrary nature of Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric; Why Republicans rely on fear-mongering to push their anti-immigration agenda; Harris’s shameful evasion of the immigration topic and the racism of her opponents; How both Democrats and Republicans share...

https://youtu.be/emKgc2aO7x8 Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Agustina Vergara Cid interviews Gregory Salmieri about his essay “Free Speech as a Right and a Way of Life.” Among the topics covered: What free speech is and why a defense of it is needed; How to respond to acts of de-platforming and cancellation; Why the right to free speech is absolute; How public education violates free speech; Non-governmental violations of free speech; The difference between thought and action; When ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C-eEwx1jv0 Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Onkar Ghate and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss the question of whether Kamala Harris is a communist, and if not, what the real problem with her views is. Among the topics covered: The essence of the Marxist ideology; Why Harris is not a communist; How the “communist” label helps New Right tribalists hide their own anti-Americanism; The importance of using concepts precisely; How mislabeling someone as “communi...

https://youtu.be/FpjW9B8aE8Q Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo discuss how the failure of American post-9/11 policy led to the October 7 attacks. Among the topics covered: How the failed American response to 9/11 paved the way for October 7; How religion and altruism undermined the response to Islamic totalitarianism; How the West lies to itself about the nature of Hamas; Why there are no voices articulating a positive strategy for the Middle East; The need...

The new Right’s absurd positions cannot be explained by their adherence to any coherent ideology, but only by their tribal view of the world.

We must understand the philosophical foundations of the right to free speech to apply it to contemporary controversies.

https://youtu.be/sdNoDhkU_eA Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo and Harry Binswanger analyze Alexandra Popoff’s new biography, Ayn Rand: Writing a Gospel of Success, particularly its portrayal of Rand as a “Jewish thinker.” They address the false attempt to link Rand’s “ethnicity” to her philosophy. Among the topics covered: The determinism of labeling Rand as “influenced” by her ancestry vs. the central role of choice in her thought and life; The irrelevant evidence o...

The West is free today because it didn’t allow even the death of innocents to impede its right to self-defense.

Cartels thrive on the criminalization of immigration that allows them to prey on migrants at the border.

The U.S. the US withdrew from Afghanistan 3 years ago on August 26, 2021. Blame our political and intellectual leaders, across two decades, for evading the ideological nature of the enemy and, consequently, miring U.S. forces in a “no-win” war.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBhhQHNCAFI Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss the Democratic National Committee’s 2024 Platform. Among the topics covered: The ambiguity of “freedom” in the Democrats’ rhetoric; How the platform packages legitimate freedom with the “freedom” to take from others; How the platform packages equality of rights with metaphysical equality; How the platform’s egalitarianism is racist and infantilizing; How altrui...

In this episode, Ben Bayer reads aloud his article, “Debunking the Supernaturalism That Haunts Secular Ethics.” In that essay, he examines secular thinkers' approach towards ethics. As he argues, scientists like Richard Dawkins accept ethical claims that are fundamentally based on religious thinking. To combat this approach to ethics, we need a naturalistic alternative: and one has been offered by Ayn Rand. Bayer’s article was originally published in New Ideal, the Ayn Rand Institute’s journal, ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjAt5kXxxBs Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Agustina Vergara Cid criticize various pro-immigration arguments and discuss how they undermine a proper moral defense of immigration. Among the topics covered: How conventional pro-immigration arguments are based on altruism and collectivism; How altruism leads to the infantilization of refugees and failure to advocate for economic migrants; How diversity quotas perpetuate racism in the...

https://youtu.be/fC2PeuDuR5E Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer interviews Paul Taske, associate director of litigation at NetChoice, to discuss the Supreme Court’s recent NetChoice decision and what it means for the future of free speech in America. Among the topics covered: The Supreme Court’s decision to send the question about regulating social media platforms back to the federal district courts; Why content moderation is not censorship; How NetChoice responds to obj...

https://youtu.be/lOPRUlOyTMU Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Mike Mazza discuss why the trans movement is essentially religious and unscientific. Among the topics covered: The religious character of the trans movement; Why many of its scientific claims are dishonest; How religious conservatives reinforce the movement’s irrationality; Why debates about gender have become so contentious; How the movement relies on force and smears to advance its agenda; Evidence t...

https://youtu.be/WSCTJ5fxqq8 Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Sam Weaver discuss how the introduction of both the Ten Commandments and DEI into the public school system represents an assault on intellectual freedom. Among the topics covered: How recent public-school mandates in Louisiana and Oklahoma use force to promote religion; Why the mandates are an assault on the First Amendment and our founding ideals; How the left pushes its ideas in public schools; Why eff...

https://youtu.be/1UvPyAQ6s5E Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer examines a discussion between Richard Dawkins and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, explaining why so-called secular humanists have been unable to offer a rational moral alternative to religion. Among the topics covered: Ali's rationalizations for her religious conversion; Why Western civilization is not purely Christian; How religious belief relies on arbitrary claims; Dawkins’ failure to offer a rational moral alternative ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHXGamIEZ6g Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss how the Republican National Convention’s platform has turned away from its traditional appeal to small government and turned instead towards adopting many of the big government policies that socialists envy. Among the topics covered: The RNC platform on energy policy, regulations, and Israel; The RNC platform on entitlement programs, industrial policy, and tari...

https://youtu.be/4ivJl__LyWw Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate, Ben Bayer and Elan Journo discuss the Trump assassination attempt and the violent climate of tribalism in our culture. Among the topics covered: The evil of using physical force to settle political disagreements; Why it’s important to comment on this event; The increasing normalization of political violence in our culture; Why it is important to discuss Trump’s failure to discourage political violence; Th...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPEzaQP0SyU&t=1s Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss historian Niall Ferguson’s “We’re All Soviets Now,” a viral essay about American economic and cultural decline. Among the topics covered: Ferguson’s argument that America is following the path of the late USSR; The disanalogies between America and the Soviet Union; Ferguson’s blindness to the role of ideas in his comparative analysis; How Ferguson’s doom...

https://youtu.be/GdlePIECjGc Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Onkar Ghate and Adi Dynar discuss the Supreme Court's overturning of its 1984 Chevron doctrine, which held that courts should sometimes defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of a vague law. Among the topics covered: How Chevron gave the executive branch the power to make law, thereby incentivizing the passing of vague laws; How Chevron made it harder for individuals to challenge regulations; The majority opinion’...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEKVbWwlqhM Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal, Mike Mazza responds to an episode of Neil deGrasse Tyson's StarTalk, in which neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky argues against the existence of free will. Among the topics covered: The meaning and stakes of the free will debate; Why determinists are wrong to focus on atomistic choices about preferences: How free will is established philosophically and presupposed by science. The podcast premiered on June 27, 20...

https://youtu.be/hGoQ52C0PAg Podcast audio: In this special episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo interviews Robert Mayhew, Tara Smith, and Greg Salmieri at the Objectivist summer conference in Anaheim, California. They celebrate the release of Smith's new book on the First Amendment and the republication of the essays in Mayhew's series on Ayn Rand's novels, discussing the importance of written content in advancing an intellectual movement. Among the topics covered: The role of books in fuelin...

https://youtu.be/LaS-oLBiRbI Podcast audio: In this episode of New Ideal Live, Elan Journo interviews Tara Smith about her new book Egoism Without Permission: The Moral Psychology of Ayn Rand’s Ethics. Among the topics covered: What Rand means (and doesn't mean) by egoism and the virtues; Why having desires and owning your emotions are crucial to having a good life, even though emotionalism is bad; Why the independent person does not seek permission for pursuing his happiness; Why self-esteem mu...