In part one of our (first ever!) two-episode investigation, we tackle the surprisingly irrational life of Ayn Rand, the polarizing capitalist whose legal name was Alice O'Connor, and who was born Alissa Zionvievna Rosenbaum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

What. A. Ride.

Resources:

• Anne C. Heller, Ayn Rand and the World She Made (2009)
• Jennifer Burns, Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right (2009)
• Thomas Mallon, "Possessed," New Yorker