A Socialist Reads Atlas Shrugged

In this final episode, Jonathan discusses recent life changes that led to the break in episodes. Alas, this will be the last episode for a long while. Thank you to all the listeners who have corresponded and shared their experiences with the podcast. That has been a true joy. Jonathan is starting a History graduate program and won't have time to continue the podcast. Before signing off, Jonathan reflects on Ayn Rand's ideas in American culture in June 2023, as reflected in the funeral episode of HBO's series, Succession. Have Ayn Rand's theories finally been cast into the dustbin of history? Over the coming years, we'll see...Jonathan will keep the email address for the show active and will have time to correspond with listeners of these episodes, even though the project remains incomplete. The email address is: socialistreads@gmail.comSupport the Show.

In this episode, Jonathan explores Hank Reardon's perception that business enterprise is a "shameful cult." This involves a larger discussion of the value of work and the psychological toll of living with people who have different values. Jonathan mentions the book Callings as an example of how work can hold larger value.My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bia Support the Show.

In this episode, Jonathan finishes up their discussion of Chapter 5. We see Dagny and Francisco interact in the novel's present time. The dialog reinforces the pattern for Francisco: keeping secrets and acting paternalistic toward Dagny. However, we also see suspenseful developments of Dagny's character on the Hero's Journey. Ayn Rand takes some more pot shots at socialism, which Jonathan addresses. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bia Support the Show.

In this episode, Jonathan discusses the end of the backstory of Francisco and Dagny's relationship. In reference to the "exhilaration" of Francisco's manic overworking, Jonathan draws out the distinction between workaholism and flow state. Flow state is a concept explained by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (click here for his book on the flow state). This episode contains a lot of commentary about trust in relationships and how Francisco d'Anconia violates Dagny's trust. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bia Support the Show.

[For October-November 2022, episodes will not be released with the usual weekly frequency due to some family commitments. Hopefully the podcast will get back to regular weekly episodes soon. Thanks, everyone, for your patience and thoughtful engagement with the podcast!]In this episode, Jonathan analyzes the next few scenes of Chapter 5 (Part 1). Dagny and Francisco, now young adults, take their relationship to new levels of intimacy. Ayn Rand's description of that intimacy features the language of capitalism (ownership) but also there are surprising moments of feminism and sex positivity. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bia Support the Show.

In this episode, we "Fast Forward" to the Story of the 20th Century Motor Company (located in Chapter 10 of Part 2; p.616-627 in the Signet paperback edition). There are not many places on the internet to find the excerpt except for this link.Jonathan begins the Fast Forward episodes on the 20th Century Motor Company by doing a case study of the post-Soviet economy of Estonia, responding to a speech given by Mart Laar at the Universidad Francisco Marroquín in 2006 (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lasy0pfn1is). Much of Ayn Rand's purpose in this section of Atlas Shrugged is to argue that socialist policies will fail to produce prosperity and instead produce misery. Laar argues that free market ideology caused the prosperity of Estonia. Jonathan complicates both these portrayals by 1) looking deeper at the historical context of post-Soviet Estonia, and 2) examining the cultural resonance of the Communist dictum, "from each according to their ability, to each according to their need." Regarding Estonia, some sources that Jonathan drew from to prepare for this episode are:Kukk, K. (1997). The Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In P. Desai (Ed.), Going global: transition in the world economy (pp. 243–272). Cambridge, MA: MIT PressKukk, Merike, and Karsten Staehr. 2014. “Income Underreporting by Households with Business Income: Evidence from Estonia.” Post-Communist Economies 26 (2): 257–76. Feldmann, Magnus. 2018. “Extraordinary Politics and Durable Reform: Lessons from Trade Liberalisation in Estonia and Poland.” Post-Communist Economies 30 (3): 365–81. Tamm, Marek. 2016. “The Republic of Historians: Historians as Nation-Builders in Estonia (Late 1980s–early 1990s).” Rethinking History 20 (2): 154–71. doi:10.1080/13642529.2016.1153272.This episode contains references to the work of Brene Brown (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bren%C3%A9_Brown).My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bia Support the Show.

This episode starts by checking in with Jim Taggart's growing apprehension of the power of shame-based morality -- something that Dagny thinks is potentially dangerous but Francisco considers merely disdainful. Next, the conversation turns to the dynamic between Francisco and Dagny, which continues to play according to Francisco's terms, mostly. Jonathan responds to the moral formula that someone who doesn't work has no value. The most important thing to understand about this is that the word "work" has an entire network of associations and meanings in our culture.  When Francisco slaps Dagny, Rand wants to produce shock in the reader regarding how awful it is that girls are pressured to play dumb in school, but ends up legitimizing violence against women and connecting violence to intimacy. This episode ends with the scene of Dagny's debut dance. Her mother thinks Dagny needs to experience sadness but in her experience of the debut, Dagny proves that is wrong. But there is fallout: the social world has disappointed Dagny. She realizes that it is indeed rare to approach life in the way that she and Fransisco do.For the next episode, we "Fast Forward" to the Story of the 20th Century Motor Company (located in Chapter 10 of Part 2; p.616-627 in the Signet paperback edition). There are not many places on the internet to find the excerpt except for this link.My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bia Support the Show.

In this episode, Jonathan delves into the next stages of the friendship between Dagny and Francisco. Also, this episode further analyzes the antipathy between James and Francisco. Next, Jonathan spends a lot of time reflecting on the optimistic paragraph that describes how the three friends (Dagny, Francisco, and Eddie) sit around the bonfire imagining the greatness of the future. The next section of this episode addresses the kind of vulnerability that is briefly introduced regarding Francisco's capacity for joy. Lastly, Jonathan interprets the "new reticence" mentioned between Francisco and Dagny.My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bia Support the Show.

This episode focuses on the first scenes presented about Francisco d'Anconia's childhood interactions with the Taggart family, especially Dagny. Jonathan analyzes the friendship dynamics between Francisco, Dagny, and Eddie. Then, when Francisco attempts to test their mettle as an anonymous call boy for the train, we see the temptation that we all have to get an evaluation of our skills apart from our inherited or social background. Jonathan asserts that this is an illusion because of the socially embedded nature of identity, skills, and culture. There are interesting parallels between this episode in Francisco's story and Ayn Rand's biography. Beyond that illusion, though, Francisco does display admirable grit and perseverance. But does Jim deserve the humiliation that Francisco often instigates? In this context, Jonathan mentions Jean Jacques Rousseau's book on education, Emile. At the end of the episode, Jonathan delves into the psychological and cultural implications of Francisco's decision to keep his railroad work secret from Dagny. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bia Support the Show.

In this episode, Jonathan analyzes the back story of Francisco D'Anconia's ancestry. The main topic of this episode is how Ayn Rand infuses an aristocratic family with bourgeois values. This involves thinking about social class in the terms conceptualized by Friedrich Nietzsche in the Genealogy of Morals. Jonathan recommends the podcast Philosophize This for a great explanation of the philosophy of Nietzsche. Adam Reed's essay about Francisco D'Anconia's connections to Judaism can be found by clicking here.My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bia Support the Show.

In this episode, Jonathan reaches the end of Chapter 4. In these last two scenes, Dagny interacts with two characters who share her "sense of life" and value system.  The scene with Ellis Wyatt highlights the struggle of someone who has pride in their work but works in a broken system. Ellis Wyatt expresses particular disdain for those who feed off the carcasses of producers and Jonathan draws an analogy to the leeching behavior depicted in the TV show Silicon Valley. In the next scene, Hank Rearden  tells Dagny that he likes that she "plays it open." Jonathan explores the question of boundaries when establishing trust in business interactions. On the one hand, you don't want to be deceptive, but on the other hand, you don't want to overshare. How do you strike a balance? Lastly, the chapter ends with Hank expressing concern about the immorality of materialism. Dagny asserts that it's not immoral to be proud of a hard-won accomplishment. Jonathan suggests that there is a spiritual dimension to accomplishment and that it's not entirely reducible to materialism.My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bia Support the Show.

Jonathan first discusses the short scene between Dagny and James. The "secret" that Dagny detects in James Taggart's smile is probably the short-term advantage possessed by those who are willing to use brute force or political maneuvering to achieve their goal. In the scene between Dagny and Dan Conway, we meet another "man's man" who built a successful enterprise in a rags-to-riches fashion. For the first time in the book, college education gets mentioned with disdain in a way that can be connected to the disdain of elite technocrats in the political culture of the USA in the early 21st century. To illustrate the tension between technocratic and grassroots viewpoints, Jonathan mentions the Indian farmers' protests of 2020-2021. Jonathan then compares Dan Conway's decision to the Crito Dialogue by Plato. Dan Conway expresses faith in democracy, but there are severe flaws with pure democracy. James Madison offers the most classic explanation of the problems with pure democracy in Federalist Paper 10.  My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina BialSupport the Show.

This episode focuses on the vexing problem of setting rules for competition in marketplaces and profit-making. The government's function is to set the rules of the game and enforce them.  In Atlas Shrugged, the National Railroad Association conducts illegal collusion, but Ayn Rand makes it seem like this behavior is something that firms could easily get away with in the real world. On the contrary, in the real world, it is not so easy to illegally collude. During this discussion, Jonathan mentions some trade associations that funded ad campaigns (for milk and for cotton). Jonathan explores the question: could there be a realistic scenario in which something like the Anti-Dog-Eat-Dog Rule could emerge within a society with a strong rule of law? (The video game Bioshock takes place in a world that has already wholly converted to the ideals presented in Atlas Shrugged.) Jonathan then connects the topic of blight to the economic question of meeting consumer demand. Instead of reducing each economic situation to the dichotomy of public versus private, think about what the best method is to meet the consumer demand for a particular good or service. For more information about "destructive competition" carried out by the Standard Oil Company, see the Supreme Court case Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States (1911).A point of agreement that Jonathan sees in this scene is the critique of the power of what Ayn Rand calls "pull" -- when decisions get made based on who your friends are, instead of evidence or merit. Next episode, Jonathan will refer to the Crito dialogue by Plato.Whoops! In the end, Jonathan accidentally refers to this episode as 32, but, really, this has been and will always be Episode 33.My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina BialSupport the Show.

File this one under the theme: what is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Jonathan provides a lengthy history-infused explanation of nationalization (when a government takes over an industry or a particular firm within an industry).  The historical journey features  Mexico's nationalization of its petroleum industry and the US Department of State's webpage. Jonathan mentions the Takings Clause in the 5th Amendment of the US Constitution and the Supreme Court case Kelo v. New London. Eminent Domain is covered in Article 27 of the Constitution of Los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. A very highly recommended book on public enterprise (including nationalization and privatization) is Our Common Wealth: The Return of Public Ownership in the United States by Thomas M. Hanna. Jonathan reads a passage about Amtrak on page 32 of Hanna's book. Also, the information about electricity municipalization in Boulder, Colorado, described at the start of the episode, was drawn from Hanna's book.My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bial Support the Show.

I thought that I could cover both the gender discussion and nationalization in about 45 minutes, but that did not happen. So, this week, we get into gender with the scene between James Taggart and Betty Pope. The next episode (#32) will discuss nationalization.Jonathan's understanding of contemporary gender theory and research is grounded in the text Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions by Lisa Wade and Myra Marx Ferree.In the discussion about gender and politics, Jonathan mentions Margaret Thatcher and Julia Gillard (see her famous speech). A fictional figure, Claire Underwood, demonstrates some of the "self-immolation" that Jonathan thinks Ayn Rand had in mind when she wrote her essay (in this book) about not wanting a woman to be president. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bial Support the Show.

For the 30th episode, Jonathan "fast forwards" to Part 2, Chapter 2 in order to discuss one of the most quoted sections of Atlas Shrugged, Francisco d'Anconia's Money Speech. The gist of the speech is that d'Anconia (and Rand) claims that money is not the root of evil, but the root of all good. In this longer episode, Jonathan delves into the logic Rand uses to support this claim and examines several underlying assumptions. This is the last of the three fast forward episodes on Francisco d'Anconia's Money Speech.For the video produced by the Bank of England about credit predating barter, click here. I first heard about this from David Graeber, in his book Debt: The First 5,000 Years.For an excellent discussion of the gold standard, see this debate produced by Marginal Revolution University, an initiative of George Mason University. You might also be curious to see this recent post by Stephanie Kelton, a chief proponent of Modern Monetary Theory, which criticizes conventional wisdom about inflation in 2022. Jonathan highly recommends Francis Fukuyama's books on the rule of law: The Origins of Political Order and Political Order and Political Decay.Some examples of sophisticated market economies, very much active in "making money," prior to 1500 C.E.: China and especially the Song Dynasty, the economic history of Japan, Italian city-states especially with the economic activity funded by the Medici Bank, and Kenn Hirth's book The Aztec economic world: merchants and markets in ancient Mesoamerica. To read more about Ricardo Semler's institution of workplace democracy at his large corporation in Brazil, read his book: Maverick.Jonathan mentions millenarianism and almost avoids pronouncing it as millionairism. Thanks for bearing with me on the LONG journey of this episode! The next fast forward episode will begin a discussion of the story of the 20th Century Motor Company in Chapter 10 of Part 2 (click here for the text of this passage).Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. Also, merch is available from my store on Big Cartel.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Support the Show.

This episode begins by delving into aesthetics with an exploration of the question: what makes great art great? Dagny returns to her apartment and listens to the music of Richard Halley. Jonathan analyzes the description of Halley's Fourth Concerto and explores the idea that the experience of pain is worse for those who see no purpose in it. Jonathan mentions the philosopher Viktor Frankl as a philosopher who writes on the purpose of suffering (especially in his book Man's Search for Meaning). The biography of Richard Halley engages with the trope of the tortured artist and Rand ends up harshly critiquing that trope. Jonathan makes an analogy between the Greek myth of Phaethon and the teenager who wrecks their dad's car. On the question of changing trends and shifting tastes in art, Jonathan compares the experience of Richard Halley to the way that Shakespeare varied in popularity over the centuries. The intrusion of the headline about Francisco d'Anconia is presented as a violation of the ethos of Halley's Fourth Concerto. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bial Support the Show.

Jonathan begins this episode with a review of a recent book on economic systems: Is Capitalism Obsolete?: a Journey Through Alternative Economic Systems by Giacomo Corneo. This episode kicks off the discussion of Chapter 4 of Part 1. The title of the chapter, The Immovable Movers, carries allusions to Ancient Greek philosophical traditions connected to the creation of the cosmos. Jonathan explains some of the connections to Aristotle, Parmenides, and Thomas Aquinas. Following that, Jonathan explores the question of achievement and symbiosis as they relate to human nature. The first paragraph of the chapter brings up questions about the definition of motivation. When we see Dagny's frustration with the New Jersey locomotive company, we have to wonder how much of the interpersonal problem is rooted in face-saving and how much of the problem is rooted in a lack of empathy. After discussing MacNamara's disappearance, Jonathan analyzes Dagny's moment of despair as it relates to the theme of motion. As Dagny walks along the city street, she sees a book advertisement that has a simplistic attack on "a businessman's greed." Jonathan presents some context for the word greed in American culture by referencing the movie Wall Street and the character Gordon Gecko. Dagny's last view on the street captures Rand's critique of a  leisure culture that thrives on personal sadness. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bial.Support the Show.

This episode begins with Jonathan examining how people typically make decisions about who is deserving of empathy and who is not. This episode's close read starts with the scene between Dagny and the "old watchdog." Jonathan examines the social class evocations called up by the identification of the old watchdog having an "air of breeding" about him. Dagny doesn't want to discuss what she calls her personal torture -- what is she referring to? Jonathan offers an answer: the riddle of why some people seem to give up on life. This connects to the pervasiveness of fear, and fear-based shame, in our society. Jonathan then observes the similarity in tone and meaning between "who is John Galt?" and the phrase "it is what it is" in our time. Chapter 3 ends with Eddie Willers revealing a lot of information to the strange unnamed interlocutor, "the silent presence." Of the various things mentioned by Willers, Jonathan focuses on the admiration of workism and the setup for an act of sabotage against Dagny that comes in the next chapter. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bial.Support the Show.

This episode begins with an analysis of the scene between Dagny and Jim about the San Sebastian Line. This scene reprises a lot of the dynamics we saw before when Jim and Dagny interacted: Jim's sexism, ignorance, avoidance of responsibility, and disdain for facts. This scene also includes some fearmongering about nationalization, and the Mexican government as "looters." Jonathan explains the historical context for socialism in Mexico and for the nationalization of particular industries. Historical context is also missing from the backstory of Nat Taggart, who founded Taggart Transcontinental in the 19th century. Nat Taggart's story also reveals a lot about the presence of patriarchy in history, both in the 19th century and in Ayn Rand's time. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bial.Support the Show.

SPOILER ALERT: This episode contains some information about Francisco d'Anconia that has not yet been revealed in the book, but it's not really that big of a spoiler.Jonathan begins this episode riffing on the phrase "spectacularly worthless" which is used to describe Francisco d'Anconia when he's introduced to the reader in Chapter 3 of Atlas Shrugged. While analyzing the purpose of Francisco d'Anconia's character in the book, Jonathan makes a connection to Ayn Rand's effort to address the Achilles heel of libertarian morality: inherited wealth. Next, Jonathan explains the cultural associations surrounding Saint Sebastian, which is what Francisco d'Anconia uses as the name of his fake copper mine in Mexico (San Sebastian). Jonathan compares d'Anconia's mine to the 21st-century American companies Theranos, WeWork, and Uber. In this chapter, Ayn Rand caricatures development economics and caricatures Mexico's socialist government. Jonathan ends the episode with a discussion of burnout in a dysfunctional system. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialy.Support the Show.

Jonathan begins the episode by pointing out the topsy-turvy nature of which characters in the novel are at the top in terms of power but at the bottom in terms of morality. Following that introduction, Jonathan discusses the backstory information we get about Dagny Taggart and the ways that Dagny's heroism can be appealing regardless of your political ideology. This includes an explanation of the vital importance of "humility with a touch of future pride" in the beginning stages of professional life and building a respectful ethic of work (as opposed to work ethic). The definition of "dull" and "selfish" in Atlas Shrugged is very context-bound to the social norms of the 1950s. Jonathan also contrasts that to definitions of selfishness following the cultural trend of "greed is good" in the 1980s (spurred by the ideas of Milton Friedman: supply-side economics and neoliberalism). Thomas Piketty, writing in the second decade of the 21st century, provides overwhelming data to demonstrate the failure of supply-side economics. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialy.Support the Show.

Jonathan begins this episode by discussing Schumpeter's concept of "creative destruction" and the thorny problem of those who, through no fault of their own, lose their jobs because of it. Next, we challenge Orren Boyle's notion of "progressive social policy" by clarifying and historicizing the legislation and reforms of the Progressive Era. Swill milk is the example Jonathan uses to emphasize the importance of Progressive Era legislation and regulation. This brings up the question of the government's role in the affairs of particular firms.  Should the government intervene when a new invention will lead to some companies going out of business? When is a company "too big to fail"? Jonathan next addresses the racism apparent in the discussion of Mexico in this scene. The episode ends with an explanation of Wesley Mouch's role and a reflection on the idea that "who you know" is more important than anything else in business and politics.My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina BialySupport the Show.

After a short statement touching base about the format of the podcast, Jonathan returns to Orren Boyle's ideas about the social responsibilities of companies. The Delano Grape Strike & Boycott is a  famous example of the "people not standing for it" when a company fails in its social responsibilities. The bulk of this episode is devoted to an economic discussion of the concept of private property. To distinguish between Orren Boyle's definition of private property and most socialists' definitions of private property, Jonathan emphasizes the difference between private property and the economic concept of personal property. Socialists do have an area of agreement with Boyle's conceptualization of private property regarding the topic of intellectual property regarding live-saving technologies such as pharmaceutical generics and the Green Revolution touched off by Norman Borlaug. Jonathan ends the episode by explaining the dangers of the extremes when it comes to economic competition: monopoly and "unbridled competition." For a great op-ed about third-party sellers flooding Amazon, see this piece by Moira Weigel. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

In this episode, Jonathan returns to the first scene of Chapter 3 and analyzes the political-economic ideas alluded to by James Taggart and Orren Boyle. In this scene, Ayn Rand associates socialism with fascism, which is a very similar argument to the ideas of Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. Jonathan summarizes the main argument of Hayek's book The Road to Serfdom. Jonathan explains how the problem with iron ore supply discussed in this scene makes for an interesting comparison to current-day supply chain problems in the wake of the Covid pandemic. What should a government do when the economy is stalled due to a shortage of particularly important materials for supply chains, such as oil? The episode concludes with an analysis of Orren Boyle's idea of a "free economy" and includes the economic terms collusion and oligopoly.  My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the showSupport the Show.

For the 20th episode, Jonathan "fast forwards" to Part 2, Chapter 2 in order to discuss one of the most quoted sections of Atlas Shrugged, Francisco d'Anconia's Money Speech. In Jonathan's edition, the speech appears on page 387. The gist of the speech is that d'Anconia (and Rand) claims that money is not the root of evil, but the root of all good. In this longer episode, Jonathan delves into the logic Rand uses to support this claim and examines several underlying assumptions. Jonathan will close read the next section of the speech in Episode 30.My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. Also, merch is available from my store on Big Cartel.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

This episode begins the close reading of Chapter 3. Jonathan sets up the discussion of the first scene with a reflection on conspiracy theories. They cite Ross Douthat's March 2, 2021, column "A Better Way to Think About Conspiracy Theories" published in The New York Times. Jonathan then explains Orren Boyle's motivations at the start of the conspiratorial meeting in this scene. Boyle's backstory activates tropes about wasteful government spending that plays favorites. On the topic of government criticism, Jonathan cites the book, The Fifth Risk, by Michael Lewis. Jonathan also mentions the Solyndra scandal and here is the Department of Energy's review of the context of the situation. This story by NPR in 2014 explains the profitability of the larger Department of Energy program. However, this story by Fox News in 2019 recaps the Solyndra episode and omits the contextual information about the program's profitability in order to increase skepticism about programs associated with the Green New Deal. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

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:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

Jonathan begins this episode by returning to a question explored in Episode 6: the difficulty of determining the moral and ethical responsibilities that a business owner has regarding social justice and responding to social change. This scene within Chapter 2 addresses the question with Hank Rearden's friend, Paul Larkin, voicing concern about Hank's poor public image. Jonathan discusses the role of public relations in holding corporations accountable for ethical violations as well as the trouble with public relations as a tool of deception (similar to advertising). The episode ends with a focus on the one sentence about the government that foreshadows Rand's interpretation of government as existing only as a predator of society's producers and innovators. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

Jonathan begins this episode by discussing gift-giving from an anthropological perspective. For the article on gift-giving from the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology, click here. Jonathan then analyzes the reactions of Hank Rearden's family to his gift to Lillian of the bracelet made from Rearden Metal. Next Jonathan discusses the absence of parental love in the novel. Lastly, the exploration widens to thinking about what the portrayal of family in Atlas Shrugged signals regarding Ayn Rand's larger worldview. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

Jonathan begins this episode by referring to the previous episode as a "paragraph" -- oops! But then they return to the topic of hegemonic masculinity as a way to frame their analysis of the way that Hank Rearden's family is portrayed in Chapter 2. Jonathan discusses the economics of the family in the modern era and what these economic arrangements mean for status, value, and respect between family members who adopt a breadwinner role and a care worker role. To get a more thorough explanation of why some people behave the way that Hank Rearden's family behaves, then check out some of the work by Brené Brown. Jonathan ends the episode by critiquing the portrayal of Hank Rearden as the innocent victim in this scene by explaining how all relationships between two people are two-way streets. Check out the pop psychology book, The Games People Play by Eric Berne.  My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

In this episode, Jonathan analyzes the celebration of Hank Rearden's accomplishment.  They then explain hegemonic masculinity and how it is visible in Hank Reardon's recollection of his own backstory. In Rearden's story of working his way up, there's something missing: the way that he was able to save up enough money for purchasing the abandoned industrial property. Jonathan ends the episode by recommending this great essay by Anna Sones about self-promotion for new artists. To explain the extreme unlikelihood of Hank Rearden's rise to wealth, several works are mentioned in this episode: John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, Emile Zola's Germinal, Kristin Hannah's Four Winds, Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickle and Dimed, Matthew Desmond's Evicted, and Beth Macy's Dopesick, adapted as a Hulu Series. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

At the start of this episode, Jonathan recommends a recent podcast episode from the Ezra Klein Show that is an interview with historian Timothy Snyder. This episode then explores the first few pages of Chapter 2 and how Rand glorifies industry without taking externalities like environmental pollution into account. There's also a connection to the classic sociological tension between structure and agency. Then Jonathan refers to the philosophy of Martin Heidegger in the worship of technology on display in the descriptions of industry and work in these first few pages of Chapter 2. Jonathan ends the episode by reflecting on the line between a vocation and "workism." There's a brief mention of "flow state" which is a concept originated by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

In this episode, we finally get to the end of Chapter 1! Jonathan focuses on how Chapter 1 has set obstacles in Dagny's path and projected the atmosphere of decay. The chapter ends with two characters "dropping out": Richard Halley who has remained out of public life and Owen Kellogg who decides to quit Taggart Transcontinental. In the last scene, Owen Kellogg quits without providing a reason, but with an amused smile.  Jonathan expands on their frustration with how the male characters keep Dagny out of the loop as to the real reasons for their going on strike. Today's Moment of Non-Contradiction comes from Reddit.My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

In this episode, Jonathan does a close read of the first scene between Dagny and James Taggart. James protests against Dagny's approach to business by citing some half-baked theories about capitalism and morality. Jonathan picks apart the argument and identifies some of the straw-man arguments that Ayn Rand deploys through the voice of James Taggart.  Jonathan also analyzes James's reaction to Dagny in the context of patriarchy. Today's Moment of Non-Contradiction comes from Quora.My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

For the 10th episode, Jonathan "fast forwards" to Part 2, Chapter 2 in order to discuss one of the most quoted sections of Atlas Shrugged, Francisco d'Anconia's Money Speech. In Jonathan's edition, the speech appears on page 387. The gist of the speech is that d'Anconia (and Rand) claims that money is not the root of evil, but the root of all good. In this longer episode, Jonathan delves into the logic Rand uses to support this claim and examines several underlying assumptions. Jonathan will close read the second half of the speech in Episode 20.Jonathan mentions the PBS documentary The Commanding Heights as one of the best explanations of 20th-century macroeconomic theory. They also mention Francis Fukuyama's two-volume study, The Origins of Political Order, Ursula K. LeGuin's book The Dispossessed, and a post on Medium about why there is no leftist equivalent to Atlas Shrugged (there's also a Slate article on that). Today's Moments of Non-Contradiction come from Reddit and YouTube.My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. Also, merch is available from my store on Big Cartel.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

In this episode, Jonathan discusses the scene with Dagny Taggart and the train workers who want to follow the broken signal. Dagny's frustration is based on her response to the indifference that has come up earlier in the book. This part of the scene demonstrates a lot of Dagny's heroic characteristics. Jonathan ties some of these heroic qualities to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, taking responsibility for his leadership role during the Russian invasion in February-March 2022. The mention of Jim Taggart's friend as the Division Head scene connects to the tension between loyalty/friendship and the enterprise of larger projects. The conclusion of this scene calls to mind the attraction that humans have to theory in order to have a more "clean" representation of reality.  Today's Moment of Non-Contradiction comes from Reddit. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

Today's episode begins with speculation about the "actual" Halley's Fifth Concerto in our Moment of Non-Contradiction. Jonathan then discusses the first scene with Dagny Taggart named, in which Dagny has a dramatic reaction to hearing a (new?) song by a favorite composer. The moments in which Dagny gets swept away by the music bring up some interesting elements of meditation and Buddhist philosophy. Jonathan then compares Dagny Taggart to the Count of Monte Cristo as a way of explaining some of the satisfaction a reader experiences with Dagny's journey in Atlas Shrugged. Some might wonder why Dagny let James Taggart mismanage the company and we explore a possible explanation for that connected to Dagny's character. This episode concludes with an exploration of the difference between fame and success. Today's Moment of Non-Contradiction comes from YouTube. The person who created this post on YouTube cites the book 100 Voices: An Oral History of Ayn Rand.  My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

In today's episode, Jonathan discusses how to handle the world Ayn Rand creates in Atlas Shrugged as a fantasy world and how that limits the applicability of the ideas in the book to our shared reality. The main scene discussed today is the one between Pop Harper and Eddie Willers, in which Pop bemoans the shortage of woolen undershirts and then claims that they've reached the end of typewriting due to no good typewriters being made anymore. After discussing this scene, Jonathan explains the historical context of how the West, in the 1950s, compared their own economic strength to the apparent strength of the Soviet Union. In the last segment of the episode, Jonathan shares a little information about themself in order to explain the tendency that we all have to caricature those with whom we disagree. Today's Moment of Non-Contradiction comes from Quora. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

In this episode, Jonathan discusses the problem that Ellis Wyatt presents for Jim Taggart's vision of capitalism. Specifically, Jim Taggart hates change agents such as Wyatt and yearns for stasis. This connects to a discussion of the profit motive and its role in justifying capitalism. Jonathan explores alternatives to the profit motive and then concludes with a discussion of the phrase "feudal serf" in the context of this scene. Today's Moment of Non-Contradiction comes from Reddit.In this episode, Jonathan mentions the book Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy by Joseph Schumpeter.My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.Support the Show.

In this episode, Jonathan explores the nature of the problems Eddie Willers raises with Taggart Transcontinental Railroad President James Taggart. What responsibility does a business leader or a political leader have when it comes to "national conditions?" How do situations like these highlight the obsession over blamelessness in our society and culture? Jonathan concludes with musings on the relationship between reciprocity and loyalty.Today's Moment of Non-Contradiction comes from Quora.In this episode, I mention Chidi Anagonye, the character in the TV series The Good Place. Also, I mentioned Semco and Ricardo Semler. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina BialysSupport the Show.

In today's episode, Jonathan introduces listeners to ideas about how to interact with a text from the past using practices taught to history teachers. Following that explanation, Jonathan discusses just some of the historical context of Atlas Shrugged, published in 1957. Today's Moment of Non-Contradiction touches on the topic of fiction writing craft and Jonathan shares ideas about how to address the buckets of criticism directed at Ayn Rand for the craft problems of Atlas Shrugged. Jonathan then does a close reading of the flashback scene with Eddie and Dagny in which they discuss how to know one's purpose in life. Today's episode finishes with a close read of the physical description of James Taggart. (And, apologies for the mic noise that pops up about five times in the podcast. I'm still learning and hopefully next episode there will be none of that.) Today's Moment of Non-Contradiction comes from Quora.In this episode, I mention Sam Weinberg and the Stanford History Education Group (SHEG).My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialystok.Support the Show.

In this episode, I focus on the interior thoughts of Eddie Willers and the description of a city in decay. These pages take us into some interesting territory: what is Eddie's sense of apprehension? From the socialist point of view: how does capitalism betray us? From Rand's point of view: how has socialism betrayed what was great about capitalism? Today's Moment of Non-Contradiction comes from Reddit.In this episode, I mention Ayn Rand scholar Jennifer Burns and her book The Goddess of the Market.My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialystok.Support the Show.

Thank you for continuing to listen to my close reading of Atlas Shrugged. In this episode, I discuss an example of Atlas Shrugged appearing in the public discourse by Aaron Rodgers. Then, I introduce a regular feature of the podcast, Today's Moment of Non-Contradiction (link to today's comment). In that segment, I choose a comment about Atlas Shrugged from the bowels of the Internet -- the comments and replies sections of various sites like Reddit, Quora, YouTube, Goodreads, and more. I use these two examples to underline my argument that Atlas Shrugged is not a long-forgotten vestige of past discourse. Instead, Atlas Shrugged continues, just as ever, to be associated with tremendous power and allure. I finish the episode by introducing the five main themes of my close reading and tying those themes to the first character introduced in the book: a nameless bum.My five themes to explore in this close read of Atlas Shrugged are:What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.How empathy can be de-legitimized.What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialystok.Support the Show.

Welcome to this podcast! In this episode, Jonathan introduces themself and explains their rationale for the podcast. NOTE: this is not a read aloud of Atlas Shrugged, but instead a critical close reading. The Signet paperback is the edition Jonathan will be using.Questions or comments? Email me at: socialistreads@gmail.comLearn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.artIf you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page.The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib. The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialystok.Support the Show.