https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JW_xItSGlM

Podcast audio:

In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Robertas Bakula and Onkar Ghate discuss Ken Griffin’s reaction to Zohran Mamdami's attack on his wealth and life, and the appropriate stance that individuals in Griffin's position should take against such attacks.

Topics include:

Mamdani’s Attack on Ken Griffin

Real Threat to Griffin’s Life and Safety

Griffin’s Courageous Defense of the American Dream

Griffin’s Concession

Sanction of the Victim

Animal Farm is Pro-Socialism

Anthem and Atlas Shrugged as Better Alternatives

A Principled Stance vs. Martyrdom

Resources:

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Anthem by Ayn Rand

The Sanction of the Victim by Ayn Rand

This episode was recorded on May 11, 2026.

Image credits: Griffin: Fabrice Coffrini / AFP / via Getty Images; Mamdani: Spencer Platt / via Getty Images

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62w3EFQML58

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Ben Bayer interviews Professor Bart Ehrman about his new book on the Christian roots of altruist ethics.

Christian vs. pagan ethics

The true meaning of Christian “love”

Apocalyptic roots of Christian ethics

Are Christian ethics rational?

Ehrman’s work

Resources: 

Bart Ehrman, Love Thy Stranger: How Christianity Transformed the Moral Conscience of the West

Ben Bayer, “How Christianity Polluted the Moral Atmosphere of the West,” New Ideal, February 5, 2025.

This episode was recorded on April 22, 2026.

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

Podcast audio:

In this episode of The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast, Robertas Bakula and Ben Bayer discuss the viral Red vs. Blue Button dilemma.

Topics include:

The Viral Dilemma

The Case for Red

The Case for Blue

The False Choice

Comparison to the Trolley Problem

Ayn Rand’s Alternative Approach to Morality

Resources:

“Ethics of Emergencies,” Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness 

“Why Today’s Ethics Offers No Real Guidance,” Ben Bayer, New Ideal, November 18, 2020

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

This episode was recorded on April 24, 2026.

Image Credit: traffic_analyzer / DigitalVision Vectors / via Getty Images

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nZD3IdL4PY

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Ben Bayer and Tristan de Liège discuss the military draft in light of recent changes to the Selective Service System.

Debating Selective Service System changes

Unconstitutionality of the draft

The immorality of the draft

The impracticality of the draft

Palantir’s endorsement of the draft

Resources: 

Against The Un-American Call for National Service, ARI Podcast

A Central Planner's Trojan Horse: The Technological Republic, ARI Podcast

Ayn Rand, entry on the Draft, Ayn Rand Lexicon 

Ayn Rand, “Wreckage of the Consensus” in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal

This episode was recorded on April 22, 2026.

Image credit: Andrew Harnik / staff / via Getty Images

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK2AwyUtJtI

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Ben Bayer and Robertas Bakula discuss the recent New York Times podcast justifying the “microlooting” of big corporations.

“Microlooting” and Macrolooting

Marxist rationalizations

Signs of nihilism

Anti-intellectual tribal signaling

Hypocrisy and altruism

Justifying murder

Resources: 

Profit without Apology: The Need to Stand Up for Business, Onkar Ghate and Don Watkins 

The Marxists’ Exploitation Myth, ARI Podcast, Feb 26, 2025

Charlie Kirk’s Murder: Who Normalized Political Violence?, ARI Podcast, Sept 12, 2025

This episode was recorded on April 27, 2026.  

Image credit: AndreyPopov / iStock / via Getty Images

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRML1GMxiUg

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Ben Bayer, Mike Mazza, and Tristan de Liège discuss major publicity campaigns launched by AI companies to combat uncertainty and fear about the disruptive power of AI.

The AI PR problem

Valid marketing problems

Valid marketing solutions

Special problems re: misuse

The invalid inequality concern

Invalid regulatory concerns

Altruism as appeasement

Resources: 

Ayn Rand, “What is Capitalism?” in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal,  “The Age of Envy” in Return of the Primitive, and “Altruism as Appeasement” in The Voice of Reason. 

Threats to Regulate Artificial Intelligence, ARI Podcast, May 12, 2023

Anthropic vs. Trump: The Moral Responsibility of Tech Companies, ARI Podcast, 3/12/26

Don Watkins and Yaron Brook, Equal is Unfair

This episode was recorded on April 17, 2026

Image credits: Altman: Anna Moneymaker / via Getty Images; Amodei: Chance Yeh / Stringer / via Getty Images

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdy_8p75jzM

Podcast audio:

This talk by Mike Mazza was recorded live on July 3rd in Boston, MA as part of the 2025 Objectivist Summer Conference and is available on the Ayn Rand Institute Podcast stream.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjHQq-bGX5w

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Elan Journo and Onkar Ghate discuss Ayn Rand’s view of evil as fundamentally impotent, and what it reveals about Soviet Russia, Iran, and the failures of American foreign policy.

The standard view of evil

Evil as impotent

Paradox of Soviet danger

Illusion of Soviet technology

Overstating Iran’s power

Altruism empowering evil

Resources: 

Ayn Rand, Lexicon entry on Evil and Sanction of the Victim

Ayn Rand, “Galt’s Speech” in For the New Intellectual

Ayn Rand, “Altruism as Appeasement” in The Voice of Reason

Ayn Rand, “The Anatomy of Compromise” in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal

Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo’s, Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism: What Went Wrong After 9/11

Elan Journo, Winning the Unwinnable War: America’s Self-Crippled Response to Islamic Totalitarianism

This episode was recorded on 04/10/2026.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU5EJxVtork

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Ben Bayer and Elan Journo discuss recent conspiracism about Israel’s role in the Iran war.Topics include:

Facts conspiracists distort

Facts conspiracists evade

The conspiracist mentality     

An anti-conceptual culture

Decades of unprincipled foreign policy

Tribalism and conspiracism

Evading America’s deadly morality

Resources: 

Ayn Rand Lexicon entries on the anti-conceptual mentality, the arbitrary, and tribalism

Ayn Rand, “For the New Intellectual” in For the New Intellectual

This episode was recorded on April 8, 2026.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opUGimR5nr0

Podcast audio:

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Ben Bayer and Elan Journo discuss recent conspiracism about Israel’s role in the Iran war.

Facts conspiracists distort

Facts conspiracists evade

The conspiracist mentality     

An anti-conceptual culture

Decades of unprincipled foreign policy

Tribalism and conspiracism

Evading America’s deadly morality

Resources: 

Ayn Rand Lexicon entries on the anti-conceptual mentality, the arbitrary, and tribalism

Ayn Rand, “For the New Intellectual” in For the New Intellectual

This episode was recorded on April 8, 2026

Image credit: STR / AFP / via Getty Images