https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8snaqpmo24

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Agustina Vergara Cid and Mike Mazza discuss the launch of Artemis II and the future of space exploration.

Topics covered:

The cultural reaction the launch of Artemis II

Why it took 50 years to go back to lunar space

The reactions to the achievements of private space companies

How NASA is slowing down progress in space

Mentioned in the discussion were Mike Mazza’s articles “Freedom to Launch: How Deregulation Created a Space Renaissance,” “Space Renaissance: How Freedom Created Progress in the Space Industry,” and “NASA’s Plan to Impede Space Commercialization.”

This episode was recorded on April 2, 2026.

Image credit: Chip Somodevilla / via Getty Images

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T3Zekd7xfE

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Robertas Bakula and Onkar Ghate discuss California’s Billionaire Wealth Tax proposal.

California’s budget and welfare crisis

Challenging the "fair share" narrative

Injustice of retroactive taxation

Productive ability vs. the welfare state

The role of business visionaries

This episode was recorded on March 19, 2026.

Image credit: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP / via Getty Images

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKAe7rMPwjE

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Elan Journo and Onkar Ghate discuss recent developments in the Iran war.

Topics covered:

Intro

Moral vs. stated reasons for the war

The Trump administration’s arbitrariness

The government’s attacks on freedom at home

The risks in leaving the war early

The reaction of Trump’s base to the war

Our un-American foreign policy

This episode was recorded on March 20, 2026.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUha6pLRumY

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Don Watkins and Sam Weaver discuss Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent speech at the Munich Security Conference and the tribal conception of Western civilization that he advocates.

Civilization as a project

Rubio’s superficial view

Christianity vs. civilization

Racist undertones

Nationalist false alternative

Resources: 

Ayn Rand, “Man’s Rights”

Ayn Rand, “Racism”

Elan Journo, “The Virulent Pull of Tribalism”

Onkar Ghate, “Finding Morality and Happiness Without God”

This episode was recorded on March 12, 2026.

Image credit: Alex Brandon / POOL / AFP via Getty Images

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh7hO-q_gb4

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Ben Bayer and Mike Mazza discuss the recent standoff between Anthropic and the Defense Department over military use of AI technology, and the moral questions faced by those creating weapons of war.  

Anthropic’s reasoning

Authoritarian threats

Ayn Rand’s “To Young Scientists”

Moral sanction

Resources: 

Ayn Rand, “To Young Scientists”

Ayn Rand Lexicon entry on the sanction of the Victim

Ben Bayer, “Effective Altruism’s Faith-Based Sacrifice for the Future”

This episode was recorded on March 6, 2026.

Image credit: Pavlo Gonchar / SOPA Images / LightRocket / via Getty Images

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZV5I8YRYvI

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Ben Bayer interviews Elan Journo about the American and Israeli attack on Iran.  

Topics include:

The Institute’s Position on Iran;

Answering critics;

Congressional approval;

Evaluating Trump;

Prospects for Success or Failure.

Resources: 

ARI Resources on the American Conflict with Iran

This episode was recorded on March 3, 2026.  

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mzUUDz14Ac

Podcast audio:

In this special podcast episode, Yaron Brook and Elan Journo interview Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a Hamas founding leader who became one of Israel’s most valuable intelligence assets. Raised within the movement, Yousef recounts how his experiences led him to break decisively with Hamas and oppose it at great personal risk.

The conversation centers on the ideological nature of Hamas, an aspect often evaded by its apologists. Drawing on firsthand experience, Yousef describes a movement rooted in a culture of sexual repression and the subordination of women. He argues that these are foundational aspects of the religious Islamic ideology that suppresses dissent, encourages mass murder, and brutalizes its own people.

One of the most striking aspects of the interview is Yousef’s account of the conscious moral choice that guided his transformation: the choice to protect human life. In contrasting Hamas with Israel, he identifies a fundamental difference in values between a movement that glorifies death and a society that values human life.

Topics include:

Yousef’s defection from Hamas;

The ideology of Palestinian brutality;

Indoctrination in Palestinian society;

Palestinians’ repeated rejections of peace;

Risks of working with Israeli intelligence;

October 7;

Q&A.

This podcast was recorded live on February 18, 2025, and is available on The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast stream. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.

Image credit: Noam Galai / via Getty Images.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmnux6MriXE

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Onkar Ghate and Ben Bayer discuss the recent decision in Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump, striking down the President’s expansive “Liberation Day” tariffs.  

The majority’s reasoning

The major questions doctrine

Statutory interpretation and legislative intent

The dissent’s plausibility

The separation of powers

A stopgap against eroding separation of powers

Scrutinizing deprivation of economic liberty, property

Emergency powers

Resources: 

Ben Bayer, “Ayn Rand on Free Trade, the 'Essence of Capitalism’s Foreign Policy'”

Ben Bayer, “The Constitutionally Dubious Law Empowering Trump’s ‘Emergency’ Tariff Authority”

Ben Bayer, “The Lawyers Defending Trump’s Tariffs Know They’re Un-American. Here’s How We Can Tell”

This episode was recorded on February 25, 2026.

Image credit: Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP / via Getty Images

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDKszEjACFA

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Ben Bayer interviews Agustina Vergara Cid and Brandon Lisi about their new article: “’I Chose to Be an American:’ Ayn Rand’s Immigration Story.”

Topics include:

Motivation for the article;

Why Rand chose America;

Obstacles Rand faced;

How Rand pushed America to live up to its values;

Archival resources consulted;

Most surprising facts about Rand’s story;

Impact of the article.

Read the article here: “’I Chose to be an American:’ Ayn Rand’s Immigration Story.”

This episode was recorded on February 23, 2026, and posted on February 24, 2026. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89gUQLWQGG0

Podcast audio:

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:

How Trump’s campaign demonized fellow Americans

Connection between tribalism and violence

Trump’s whitewashing of violence

Trump’s targeted political attacks

Trump’s comfort with political force and strongmen

How “crisis narratives” legitimize the use of force

This episode was recorded on February 13, 2026. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.

Image credits: Zach D Roberts / NurPhoto via Getty Images; Brent Stirton / News / via Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch / Staff / via Getty Images