This episode concludes Jonathan's close reading of Chapter 2: The Chain. Jonathan interprets the chapter as a series of scenes that feature different species of the category "moocher." In this last scene, Hank tries to make his brother, Philip, feel a moment of happiness but that backfires terribly. Jonathan analyzes Ayn Rand's caricatures of the "failure to launch" phenomenon and of charitable organizations. Jonathan mentions anti-malaria nets as an example of the kind of charitable work that never gets mentioned in Atlas Shrugged. Check out GiveWell's review of the Against Malaria Foundation. Also mentioned (again) in this episode is the conceptualization of shame by Brené Brown. At the end of the episode, Jonathan delves into the dynamics of dysfunctional relationships.

My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:

1. What is human nature?
2. Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.
3.  Dagny Taggart as a true hero.
4. How empathy can be de-legitimized.
5. What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? 

Questions or comments? Email me at: [email protected]

Learn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.art

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The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.

The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.

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