Podcast appearances and mentions of luke burgis

Atlas Shrugged seems to be everywhere today. Randian villains are in the news. Rand remains influential on the right, from the Reagan era to the modern libertarian movement. Perhaps most significantly, entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen who are moving into government with DOGE, have been influenced by Rand, and, fascinatingly, Andreessen only read the novel four years ago. Hollis Robbins (@Anecdotal) and I talked about how Atlas Shrugged is in conversation with the great novels of the past, Rand's greats skills of plotting, drama, and character, and what makes Atlas Shrugged a serious novel, not just a vehicle for ideology. Love it or loathe it, Atlas Shrugged is having a moment. Everyone brings a preconception of Ayn Rand, but she has been opposed by the right and the left ever since she first published. Other than Jennifer Burns' biography, academic study has largely declined to notice Rand. But Rand deserves our serious attention, both as a novelist, and as an influence on the modern world. Here are a couple of excerpts.We talk a lot these days about, “how can I be my best self?” That's what Rand is saying. She's saying, actually, it's not about earning money, it's not about being rich. It is about the perfection of the moral life. It's about the pursuit of excellence. It's about the cultivation of virtue. These are the important things. This is what Dagny is doing. When all the entrepreneurs at the end, they're in the happy valley, actually, between them, they have not that much money, right?Also this.What would Ayn Rand think about the influencer economy? Oh, she'd despise it. She would despise it… all these little girls wanting to grow up to be influencers, they're caught in some algorithm, which is awful. Why would you want to spend your life influencing others? Go create something. It's a hard medicine.And.Her aesthetic is very classical, draped. She doesn't wear flowery patterns. She wears draped, clearly close-fitting gowns and gray tailored suits and a minimum of jewelry, though she does have this bracelet chain made of Rearden metal. You don't know when she possibly has time to go shopping, but she's perfectly dressed all the time in the fashion that we would understand as feminist. She wears trousers, she wears suits, but when she goes out, this black velvet cape. I think it's important to see her as that, even though nobody talks about that in terms of this novel, what a heroine she is. I know that when I was reading her as a teenage girl, that's it.TranscriptHenry: Today, I am talking with Hollis Robbins, former dean of the humanities at Utah University and special advisor on the humanities and AI. We are talking about Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Hollis, hello.Hollis Robbins: Hello. I'm really glad to have this conversation with you. We've known each other for some years and follow each other's work. I was trained as a scholar of 19th-century American, Victorian, and African-American literature, mostly novels, and love having conversations with you about big, deep novels. When I suggested that we read this book, I was hoping you would be enthusiastic about it, so I'm really happy to be having this conversation. It's hard to know who's interviewing you or what conversation this is, but for you coming at this middle-aged. Not quite middle-aged, what are you?Henry: I'm middle enough. No. This is not going to be an interview as such. We are going to have a conversation about Atlas Shrugged, and we're going to, as you say, talk about it as a novel. It always gets talked about as an ideology. We are very interested in it as a novel and as two people who love the great novels of the 19th century. I've been excited to do this as well. I think that's why it's going to be good. Why don't we start with, why are we doing this?Hollis: I wanted to gesture to that. You are one of the leading public voices on the importance of reading literature and the importance of reading novels particularly, though I saw today, Matt Yglesias had a blog post about Middlemarch, which I think he just recently read. I can credit you with that, or us, or those of us who are telling people read the big novels.My life trajectory was that I read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead before I read Dickens, before I read Jane Austen, before I read Harriet Beecher Stowe or Melville or the Brontës. For me, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead were foundational novels as novels. I wondered what it would be like to talk to somebody whose experience was flipped.Henry: Right, I'm 38 and I'd never read this book. I was coming at it partly having read all those other books, but partly for my whole life, people have said, "Oh, that's really a bad book. That's so badly written. That book is no good." The number one thing I can say to people is this book is fun.Hollis: It's really fun. I was going to say usually what I forget to do in talking about books is give the summary. I'm going to hold up my copy, which is my dog-eared copy from high school, which is hilarious. It's got the tiniest print, which I couldn't possibly read now. No underlining, which is interesting. I read this book before I understood that you were supposed to underline when you liked passages in the book.It was interesting to me. I'd probably read it five or six times in my youth and didn't underline anything. The story is--- You can help me fill in the blanks. For readers who haven't read it, there's this young woman, Dagny Taggart, who's the heiress of the Taggart Transcontinental Railroad fortune. She's a woman. This takes place in about, I think, the '40s, '50s. Her older brother, Jim Taggart, is CEO. She's COO, so she's the operations person. It is in some ways the story of her-- It's not quite a bildungsroman. This is the way I tell the story. It's the story of her coming to the realization of how the world works. There's many ways to come at this story. She has multiple boyfriends, which is excellent. Her first boyfriend, his name is Francisco d'Anconia. He's the head of d'Anconia Copper. He too is an heir of this longstanding copper fortune. Her second is a metals magnate, Hank Rearden, who invents this great metal, Rearden metal.Really, it's also the story of the decline of America, and the ways that, in this Randian universe, these villainous group of people who run the country are always taking and extracting from producers. As she's creating and building this great railroad and doing wonderful things and using Rearden metal to do it, something is pulling all the producers out of society, and she's like, "What is going on?"It turns out there's this person, John Galt, who is saying, "I don't like the way the country is run. I don't like this extractive philosophy. I am going to take all the producers and lure them voluntarily to a--" It's a hero's lair. It's not like a James Bond villain lair. It's a hero lair in Colorado called Galt's Gulch. He is John Galt. It ends up being a battle between who is right in a wrong world. Is it the ethical person, Dagny Taggart, who continues to strive and try to be a producer and hold on to her ethics in this corrupt world, or is it somebody saying, "To hell with this. I am going on strike. You guys come with me and let the world collapse." How's that for summary?Henry: No, I think that's great. I couldn't have done a better job. One thing that we can say is that the role of reason, of being a rational person, of making reason the sole arbiter of how you make choices, be they practical, ethical, financial, whatever, that's at the heart of the book, right?Hollis: That's the philosophy. We could go there in a second. I think the plot of the book is that she demonstrates this.Henry: What she has to learn, like what is the big lesson for Dagny, is at the beginning, she hasn't fully understood that the good guys use reason and the bad guys do not, as it were.Hollis: Right. I think that's right. I like thinking about this as a bildungsroman. You said that the book is fun. Her part of the book is fun, but not really fun. The fun part of the book, and you can tell me because every time you kept texting me, "Oh my God, Jim Taggart. Oh my God, Jim Taggart. Oh my God, Jim Taggart."--Henry: These guys are so awful. [laughs]Hollis: They're so awful. The fun parts of the book, the Rand villains are the government entities and the cabals of business leaders who she calls looters and second-handers who run the country and all they do is extract value. Marc Andreessen was on a podcast recently and was all about these Rand villains and these looters. I think, again, to get back to why are we doing this and why are we doing this now, Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged is in the air with the second Trump administration.Henry: Yes. In a way, we're doing this because the question is, is this the novel of the future? Right? What we're seeing is it's very influential on the right. Rand's ideas have long been a libertarian inspiration. Elon Musk's read her. You mentioned Andreessen, Peter Thiel, all these people. It goes back to the Reagan days. People in the Republican Party have been quoting Ayn Rand. Then more broadly, we see all these worries about social collapse today. What happens in the plot of Atlas Shrugged is that society does slowly collapse.Dagny has to realize it's because of these people who are not using their reason and they're nationalizing things and taking resource away from proficient entrepreneurs and stuff. It's all about infrastructure, energy, people doing exploitation in the name of the common good, ineffective political leaders, people covering up lies and misdemeanors, people being accepting of what is obviously criminal behavior because it's in the cause of the greater good. We have free speech, all these topics, energy production. We're seeing this in the headlines. When I was reading this book, I was like, "Oh my God, how did she know?"Hollis: How did she know?Henry: How did she know.Hollis: I think the bildungsroman aspect of this as a novel. It's hard to read it as a novel. I think it's hard. By the way, I have to really I applaud you for not, until you got almost to the end of the book, texting me about this person or that person, or how it's political. I admire you for looking at the book and coming to the book as an expert in novels.What she comes to terms with, and it's a real slowly-- It's not even scales falling from her eyes. She doesn't sit and say, "Oh my God, the world is corrupt." She just is like, "That person's corrupt. I'm not going to deal with them. That person's corrupt. I'm not going to deal with them." She just keeps going, but she doesn't ever accept with a fatalism that she's living in this world where every single person who's in charge is going to let her down.Henry: It's also interesting to me that she doesn't complain.Hollis: No.Henry: Now, that reminded me of I wrote about Margaret Thatcher in my book. She was another big one for however hard it was, however difficult it was, why would you complain? Let's just go to work. A lot of people found her difficult for that reason. When I was reading this, I was like, "Ayn Rand clearly has the same idea. You can nationalize every last inch of the economy. I'm going to get up and go to work and try and beat you. I'm not going to sit around and complain." It's a very stern attitude in a way. She's very strict with herself. I found the book to be-- I know Rand is very atheist, but a very Protestant book.Hollis: Yes, it really is.Henry: Intensely Protestant, yes.Hollis: That's a nice way to think about it. A certain kind of Protestant, a Weberian Protestant.Henry: Sure.Hollis: Not a Southern Baptist Protestant who believes in the absence of reason. I was thinking I was teaching in Mississippi years ago. I was teaching a course on Wordsworth and had to do a unit on Voltaire because you can't really understand Wordsworth unless you understand Voltaire. There was a woman in my class. She was a version of Presbyterian who doesn't believe in reason, believes that in the fall, man lost their reason.Therefore, she asked if she could be excused from class because I was talking about Voltaire and the importance of reason. She said, "This is against my religion. If you believe that man has reason, you are actually going about it wrong, so may I be excused?" Which in all the years I've had people ask for excuses to miss class, that was a memorable one.Henry: That's unique. [laughs]Hollis: It's interesting because, again, I should get back to the novel, the opposition from Rand is as strong on the religious right as it is on the left. In fact, very strong. When Atlas Shrugged came out, William F. Buckley famously had Whittaker Chambers write the review. He hated her. He despised her. He despised the fact that she put reason first.Henry: Yes. I think that's worth emphasizing that some people listening will think, "I'm Rand. These nasty ideas, she's on the right." She's been ideologically described in that way so many times. Deirdre McCloskey in the Literary Review has just in the most recent edition written an absolutely scathing article about Rand. That's libertarian opposition to Rand.McCloskey is saying Hayek is the real thing here and Rand would have hated everything that Hayek did. She got everything wrong. I think the opposition to her, as you say, it's on both sides. One thing that's interesting about this novel is that because she created her own philosophy, which people will have different views on how well that went, but there isn't anyone else like this. All the other people like this are her followers.Hollis: Exactly.Henry: She's outside of the other systems of thought in a way.Hollis: We should talk about Rand. I'm going to quote a little bit from this book on feminist interpretation of Ayn Rand. Let's talk a little bit, if we can, about Dagny as the heroine of a novel, or a hero, because one of the really interesting things about reading Rand at this moment is that she's got one pronoun, he, him, man. She is in this era where man means man and women. That there isn't men and women, he and she, and now it's he, she, and them. She is like, "There's one pronoun." Even she talks about the rights of man or man believes. She means everybody, but she only means man too. It's interesting.I was very much part of the first pronoun wars in the 1980s when women scholars were like, "He and she." Now we're thrown out the window with that binary. Again, we don't need to talk about pronouns, but it's really important to understanding Rand and reading this novel, how much she embraces men and the male pronoun, even while she is using it both ways, and even while her story is led by this woman. She's beautiful. She's beautiful in a very specific way. She's tall, she's slender, she's got great cheekbones, she's got great shoulders, she's got long legs.Her aesthetic is very classical, draped. She doesn't wear flowery patterns. She wears draped, clearly close-fitting gowns and gray tailored suits and a minimum of jewelry, though she does have this bracelet chain made of Rearden metal. You don't know when she possibly has time to go shopping, but she's perfectly dressed all the time in the fashion that we would understand as feminist. She wears trousers, she wears suits, but when she goes out, this black velvet cape. I think it's important to see her as that, even though nobody talks about that in terms of this novel, what a heroine she is. I know that when I was reading her as a teenage girl, that's it.Henry: I want to be Dagny.Hollis: I want to be Dagny. I want to have capes, right?Henry: There's a very important scene, it's not too much of a plot spoiler, where Hank Rearden has invented this new metal. It's very exciting because it's much more efficient and it's much stronger and you can build new bridges for the trains and everything. He makes a bracelet of his new metal. It's a new steel alloy, I think, and gives it to his wife. His wife basically doesn't care.She's not really interested in what it takes to earn the money, she just wants to have the money. You get the strong impression throughout the book that some of the people that Rand is most scathingly disapproving of are wives who don't work. None of those people come out well. When Dagny goes to a party at the Rearden house and she is romantically involved with Hank Rearden, she sees the bracelet.Hollis: She isn't then, right? Isn't she not then?Henry: No, but they have feelings for each otherHollis: Right. Reasonable feelings for each other.Henry: That's right, reasonable feelings, but they're not currently acting on those feelings. She sees the bracelet and she exchanges her, I think, diamonds-Hollis: Diamond bracelet.Henry: -for the Rearden metal bracelet with the wife. It's this wonderful moment where these two opposite ideals of womanhood that Rand is presenting. It's a great moment of heroism for Dagny because she is saying, "Who cares about glittering diamonds when you have a new steel alloy that can make this incredible bridge?" It sounds crazy, but this is 1957. Dagny is very much what you might call one of the new women.Hollis: Right.Henry: I think in some ways, Rand-- I don't like the phrase she's ahead of her time. I've read a lot of 1950s fiction. This is not the typical woman.Hollis: No, this is not Cheever. This is not a bored suburban housewife at a time when the way the '50s are taught, certainly in America, it's like women could work during the war, then they were suburban housewives, there was bored, there were key parties and all sorts of Cheever sorts of things. This is not that. I read this first. I was only 15 years after it was published, I think, in the '60s, early '70s reading it.This, to me, seemed perfectly normal and everything else seemed regressive and strange and whiny. There's a lot to be said for reading this novel first. I think if we can talk a little bit about these set pieces because I think for me reading it as a novel and hearing you talk about it as a novel, that novels, whether we're thinking about-- I want to see if you want to compare her to Dorothea or just to any other Victorian women novel that you can think of. That's the closest, right? Is there anybody that's closest to Dorothea from Middlemarch? Is that there are these set pieces. People think that Rand-- the idea is that she's not a great writer. She is a great writer. She started in Hollywood. Her first book, The Fountainhead, was made into a movie. She understands plotting and keeping the reader's attention. We go forward, we go backwards. There's her relationship with Francisco d'Anconia that we see her now, years after, then we have flashbacks to growing up and how they became lovers.There are big meeting set pieces where everybody's in the room, and we have all the backstories of the people in the room, what is going to happen. There are these big party scenes, as you say. For example, this big, glorious, glamorous party at the Rearden house, Francisco is there. Francisco and Hank Rearden get in a conversation, and she's like, "I want to go see what my old boyfriend is talking to the guy I like about."There are these moments where you're not supposed to come at the book that way in this serious philosophical way. Then later on when there's this wonderful scene where Francisco comes to see Dagny. This is much later. Hank and Dagny are lovers, so he has a key to her apartment. He walks in and everybody sees immediately what's going on. It's as good as any other farce moment of somebody hiding behind a curtain, right?Henry: Yes.Hollis: Everything is revealed all at once. She's very good at scenes like that.Henry: Yes, very good. She's very good at high drama. One of the phrases that kept coming back to me was that this book is a melodrama of ideas.Hollis: Yes.Henry: Right? It's not a novel of ideas as such, it's a melodrama of ideas. I think one thing that people who think she's a bad writer will say is it's melodrama, the characters are flat, the prose is not lyrical, all these different things. Whereas when I read it, I was like, "She's so good at melodrama." I feel like, in some ways, it does not feel like a 1950s novel because there's so much excitement about technology, so much feminism, just so many things that I do not associate--Maybe I'm being too English, but I don't read John Cheever, for example, and think, "Oh, he loves the train." Whereas this book is very, very exciting as a story about inventing a new kind of train that goes really fast," which sounds silly, but that's a really Dickensian theme, that's in Middlemarch. Actually, that's what Matt Yglesias was talking about in his excellent piece today. What does feel very 1950s is you've got the Hollywood influence. The dialogue, I think, is not always great, but it is often great.I often would read pages and think, "This would actually be really good in, not an A++ movie, but in a decent crime movie or something. This would be quite good dialogue." There's a comic book aesthetic to it in the way that the scenes play out. Just a lot of these '50s aesthetics actually are present in the book. I'm going to read one paragraph. It's from part one. I think we should read out loud a few bits to give people a sense.Hollis: Yes.Henry: This is when Dagny has built a new train line using grid and metal to make the bridge so that it can go over a valley. I think that's right. The train can do 100 miles an hour. It's this very, very exciting new development. It means that energy can be supplied to factories, and so it's a huge, big deal. This is when she's on the train going at 100 miles an hour and she just can't believe it's happening."Things streaked past a water tank, a tree, a shanty, a grain silo. They had a windshield wiper motion. They were rising, describing a curve, and dropping back. The telegraph wires ran a race with the train, rising and falling from pole to pole, in an even rhythm like the cardiograph record of a steady heartbeat written across the sky. She looked ahead at the haze that melted rail and distance, a haze that could rip apart at any moment to some shape of disaster.""She wondered why she felt safer than she had ever felt in a car behind the engine. Safer here where it seemed as if should an obstacle rise, her breast and the glass shield would be the first to smash against it. She smiled, grasping the answer. It was the security of being first with full sight and full knowledge of one's own course, not the blind sense of being pulled into the unknown by some unknown power ahead."That's not MFA prose or whatever, but it turns the pages. I think she's very good at relating we're on the train and it's going very fast to how Dagny is thinking through the philosophical conundrum that is basically going to drive the whole plot forwards. I was reminded again and again of what Virginia Woolf said about Walter Scott, where she compared Scott to Robert Louis Stevenson. She said that Stevenson had beautiful sentences and dapper little adjectives. It was all jeweled and carefully done. You could marvel over each sentence.She said, "Whereas Scott, it's just page after page and no sentence is beautiful," but she says, "He writes at the level of the page. He's not like Stevenson. He's not writing at the level of the sentence. You have to step into the world." You can say, 'Oh, that wasn't a very good sentence,' but my goodness, the pages keep turning and you're there in the world, right?Hollis: Exactly.Henry: I think she made a really important point there and we just undervalue that so much when we say, oh, so-and-so is not a good writer. What we mean is they're not a Robert Louis Stevenson, they're a Walter Scott. It's like, sure, but Walter Scott was great at what he did. Ayn Rand is in the Walter Scott inheritance in the sense that it's a romance, it's not strictly realistic novel. You have to step into the world. You can't spend your whole time going, "Was that a great sentence? Do I really agree with what she just--" It's like, no, you have to go into this utopian sci-fi universe and you have to keep turning the pages. You get caught up and you go, "Wow, this is this is working for me."Hollis: Let me push back on that-Henry: Yes, good.Hollis: -because I think that was a beautiful passage, one of my favorite passages in this book, which is hard to say because it's a really, really big book. It's a memorable passage because here she is in a place at this moment. She is questioning herself. Isn't she questioning why? Why do I feel safe? Then it strikes her. In this moment, all interior while all this stuff is happening. This whole Rearden metal train bridge set piece is one of the highlights of at least the first half of the book. You come away, even if we've had our entire life up to her, understanding her as a philosophical this woman. How is that different from Dorothea or from Elizabeth Bennet? Yes, Elizabeth Bennet, right?Henry: Oh, no, I agree. My point was purely about prose style, which was to say if you say, "Oh, she writes like a Walter Scott, not like a Robert Louis Stevenson," you're going to deny yourself seeing what you've just said, which is that actually, yes, she has the ability to write philosophical characters.Hollis: When I first read Pride and Prejudice, I read it through the lens of Rand. Now, clearly, these heroines had fewer choices. Dorothea marries Casaubon, I don't know how you pronounce it, because she thinks he's a Randian expert, somebody who's got this grand idea. She's like, "Whoa, I want to be part of this endeavor, the key to all mythologies." Then she's so let down. In the Randian sense, you can see why she would have wanted him.Henry: That's right. I think George Eliot would have strongly disagreed with Rand philosophically. The heroines, as you say, what they're doing in the novel is having to realize that there are social conventions I have to understand and there are things I have to learn how to do, but actually, the key to working all that out is more at the moral philosophical level. This is what happens to Dagny. I think it's on the next page from what I just read. There's another passage where it says that she's in the train and she's enjoying. It's working and she's thrilled that her train is working. She was trying not to think, but she couldn't help herself.She said, "Who made the train. Is it the brute force of muscle? Who can make all the dials and the levers? How is it possible that this thing has even been put together?" Then she starts thinking to herself, "We've got a government who's saying it's wrong to do this, you're taking resources, you're not doing it for the common good." She says, "How can they regard this as evil? How can they believe that this is ignoble to have created this incredible thing?"She says she wants to be able to toss the subject out of the window and let it get shattered somewhere along the track. She wants the thoughts to go past like the telegraph poles, but obviously, she can't. She has this moment of realization that this can't be wrong. This type of human accomplishment can't be against the common good. It can't be considered to be ignoble. I think that is like the Victorian heroines.To me, it was more like Fanny Price, which is that someone turns up into a relatively closed system of ideas and keeps their own counsel for a long time, and has to admit sometimes when they haven't got it right or whatever. Basically, in the end, they are vindicated on fairly straightforward grounds. Dagny comes to realize that, "I was right. I was using my reason. I was working hard. I was being productive. Yes, I was right about that." Fanny, it's more like a Christian insight into good behavior, but I felt the pattern was the same.Hollis: Sure. I'll also bring up Jane Eyre here, right?Henry: Yes.Hollis: Jane Eyre, her relationship, there's a lot to be said of both Mr. Darcy and Mr. Rochester with Hank Rearden because Hank Rearden has to come to his sense. He's married. He doesn't like his wife. He doesn't like this whole system that he's in. He wants to be with a woman that's a meeting of the mind, but he's got all this social convention he has to deal with. Rochester has to struggle, and of course, Bertha Mason has to die in that book. He ends up leaving his wife, but too late. If we're going to look at this novel as a novel, we can see that there are these moments that I think have some resonance. I know you don't seem to want to go to the Mr. Darcy part of it.Henry: No. I had also thought about Jane Eyre. My thought was that, obviously, other than being secular because Jane Eyre is very Christian, the difference is that Hank Rearden and Dagny basically agree that we can't conduct our relationship in a way that would be morally compromising to her. They go through this very difficult process of reasoning like, "How can we do this in a good way?"They're a little bit self-sacrificing about it because they don't want to upset the moral balance. Whereas Mr. Rochester, at least for the first part of the book, has an attitude that's more like, "Yes, but she's in the attic. Why does it matter if we get married?" He doesn't really see the problem of morally compromising Jane, and so Jane has to run away.Hollis: Right.Henry: One of the interesting things about Rand, what is different from like Austen and the Brontës and whatever, is that Dagny and Hank are not in opposition before they get together. They have actually this unusual thing in romance and literature, which is that they have a meeting of minds. What gets in the way is that the way their minds agree is contra mundum and the world has made this problem for them.Hollis: I think in a way, that's the central relationship in--Henry: Yes. That was how I read it, yes.Hollis: Yes. The fact as we think about what the complications are in reading this novel as a novel is that here is this great central romance and they've got obstacles. She's got an old boyfriend, he's married. They've got all these things that are classic obstacles to a love story. Rand understands that enough to build it, that that will keep a lot of readers' interest, but then it's like, "That's actually not the point of my book," which is how the second half or the last third of the novel just gets really wiggy." Again, spoiler alert, but Hank is blackmailed to be, as the society is collapsing, as things are collapsing--Henry: We should say that the government has taken over in a nationalizing program by this point.Hollis: Right, because as John Galt is pulling all the thought leaders and the industrialists and all the movers of the world into his lair, things are getting harder and harder and harder, things are getting nationalized. Some of these big meetings in Washington where these horrible people are deciding how to redistribute wealth, again, which is part of the reason somebody like Congressman Paul Ryan would give out copies of Atlas Shrugged to all of his staffers. He's like, "You've got to read this book because we can't go to Washington and be like this. The Trumpian idea is we've got to get rid of people who are covering up and not doing the right thing."They've blackmailed Hank Rearden into giving up Rearden Metal by saying, "We know you've been sleeping with Dagny Taggart." It's a very dramatic point. How is this going to go down?Henry: Right. I think that's interesting. What I loved about the way she handled that romance was that romance is clearly part of what she sees as important to a flourishing life. She has to constantly yoke it to this idea that reason is everything, so human passion has to be conducted on the basis that it's logically reasonable, but that it therefore becomes self-sacrificing. There is something really sad and a little bit tragic about Hank being blackmailed like that, right?Hollis: Yes. I have to say their first road trip together, it's like, "Let's just get out of here and go have a road trip and stay in hotels and have sex and it'll be awesome." That their road trip is like, "Let's go also see some abandoned factories and see what treasures we might find there." To turn this love road trip into also the plot twist that gets them closer to John Galt is a magnificent piece of plot.Henry: Yes. I loved that. I know you want to talk about the big John Galt speech later, but I'm going to quote one line because this all relates to what I think is one of the most central lines of the book. "The damned and the guiltiest among you are the men who had the capacity to know yet chose to blank out reality." A lot of the time, like in Brontë or whatever, there are characters like Rochester's like that. The center of their romance is that they will never do that to each other because that's what they believe philosophically, ethically. It's how they conduct themselves at business. It's how they expect other people to conduct themselves. They will never sacrifice that for each other.That for them is a really high form of love and it's what enables huge mutual respect. Again, it's one of those things I'm amazed-- I used to work in Westminster. I knew I was a bit of a libertarian. I knew lots of Rand adjacent or just very, very Randian people. I thought they were all insane, but that's because no one would ever say this. No one would ever say she took an idea like that and turned it into a huge romance across hundreds of pages. Who else has done that in the novel? I think that's great.Hollis: It really is hard. It really is a hard book. The thing that people say about the book, as you say, and the reason you hadn't read it up until now, is it's like, "Oh, yes, I toyed with Rand as a teenager and then I put that aside." I put away my childish things, right? That's what everybody says on the left, on the right. You have to think about it's actually really hard. My theory would be that people put it away because it's really, really hard, what she tried is hard. Whether she succeeded or not is also hard. As we were just, before we jumped on, talking about Rand's appearance on Johnny Carson, a full half hour segment of him taking her very seriously, this is a woman who clearly succeeded. I recently read Jennifer Burn's biography of her, which is great. Shout out to Jennifer.What I came away with is this is a woman who made her living as a writer, which is hard to do. That is a hard thing to do, is to make your living as a writer, as a woman in the time difference between 1942, The Fountainhead, which was huge, and 57, Atlas Shrugged. She was blogging, she had newsletters, she had a media operation that's really, really impressive. This whole package doesn't really get looked at, she as a novelist. Again, let me also say it was later on when I came to Harriet Beecher Stowe, who is another extraordinary woman novelist in America who wrote this groundbreaking book, which is filled--I particularly want to shout out to George Harris, the slave inventor who carried himself like a Rand hero as a minor character and escapes. His wife is Eliza, who famously runs across the ice flows in a brave Randian heroine escape to freedom where nobody's going to tell them what to do. These women who changed literature in many ways who have a really vexed relationship or a vexed place in academia. Certainly Stowe is studied.Some 20 years ago, I was at an event with the great Elaine Showalter, who was coming out with an anthology of American women writers. I was in the audience and I raised my hand, I said, "Where's Ayn Rand?" She was like, "Ha, ha, ha." Of course, what a question is that? There is no good reason that Ayn Rand should not be studied in academia. There is no good reason. These are influential novels that actually, as we've talked about here, can be talked about in the context of other novels.Henry: I think one relevant comparison is let's say you study English 19th-century literature on a course, a state-of-the-nation novel or the novel of ideas would be included as routine, I think very few people would say, "Oh, those novels are aesthetically excellent. We read them because they're beautifully written, and they're as fun as Dickens." No one's saying that. Some of them are good, some of them are not good. They're important because of what they are and the barrier to saying why Rand is important for what she is because, I think, people believe her ideas are evil, basically.One central idea is she thinks selfishness is good, but I think we've slightly dealt with the fact that Dagny and Hank actually aren't selfish some of the time, and that they are forced by their ethical system into not being selfish. The other thing that people say is that it's all free-market billionaire stuff, basically. I'm going to read out a passage from-- It's a speech by Francisco in the second part. It's a long speech, so I'm not going to read all eight pages. I'm going to read this speech because I think this theme that I'm about to read out, it's a motif, it's again and again and again.Hollis: Is this where he's speaking to Hank or to Dagny?Henry: I think when he's speaking to Dagny and he says this."Money will not purchase happiness for the man who has no concept of what he want. Money will not give him a code of values if he has evaded the knowledge of what to value, and it will not provide him with a purpose if he has evaded the choice of what to seek. Money will not buy intelligence for the fool, or admiration for the coward, or respect for the incompetent."The man who attempts to purchase the brains of his superiors to serve him with his money replacing his judgment ends up by becoming the victim of his inferiors. The men of intelligence desert him, but the cheats and the frauds come flocking to him, drawn by a law which he has not discovered, that no man may be smaller than his money."Hollis: That's a good--Henry: Right? It's a great paragraph. I feel like she says that in dozens of ways throughout the book, and she wants you to be very clear when you leave that this book is not a creed in the name of just make money and have free market capitalism so you can be rich. That paragraph and so many others, it's almost biblical in the way she writes it. She's really hammering the rhythms, and the tones, and the parallels. She's also, I think, trying to appropriate some of the way the Bible talks about money and turn it into her own secular pseudo-Aristotelian idea, right?Hollis: Yes.Henry: We talk a lot these days about, how can I be my best self? That's what Rand is saying. She's saying, actually, it's not about earning money, it's not about being rich. It is about the perfection of the moral life. It's about the pursuit of excellence. It's about the cultivation of virtue. These are the important things. This is what Dagny is doing. When all the entrepreneurs at the end, they're in the happy valley, actually, between them, they have not that much money, right?Hollis: Right.Henry: The book does not end in a rich utopia, it's important to say.Hollis: It's interesting. A couple of things. I want to get this back since we're still in the novel. Let me say when we get to Galt's great speech, which is bizarre. He says a similar thing that I'll bring in now. He says, "The mother who buys milk for her baby instead of a hat is not sacrificing because her values are feeding the baby. The woman who sacrifices the hat to feed her baby, but really wants the hat and is only feeding the baby out of duty is sacrificing." That's bad. She's saying get your values in order. Understand what it is you want and do that thing, but don't do it because somebody says you have to. She says this over and over in many ways, or the book says this.Henry: We should say, that example of the mother is incidental. The point she's always making is you must think this through for yourself, you must not do it because you've been told to do it.Hollis: Right, exactly. To get back to the love story aspects of the book because they don't sit and say they love each other, even all the great romances. It's not like, "I love you. I love you." It's straight to sex or looks and meetings of the minds. It's interesting. We should deal with the fact that from The Fountainhead and a little bit in this book, the sex is a little rapey. It's a difficult thing to talk about. It's certainly one of the reasons that feminists, women writers don't approve of her. In the book, it's consensual. Whatever one wants to think about the ways that people have sex, it is consensual in the book. Also in The Fountainhead.I'm sure I'll get hate mail for even saying that, but in her universe, that's where it is. What's interesting, Francisco as a character is so interesting. He's conflicted, he's charming, he's her first lover. He's utterly good in every way. He ends up without her. Hank is good. Hank goes through his struggles and learning curve about women prioritizing. If you don't like your wife, don't be married to your wife. It's like he goes through his own what are my values and how do I live them.I know you think that this is bizarre, but there's a lot of writing about the relationship of Hank and Francisco because they find themselves in the same room a lot. They happen to have both been Dagny's lovers or ex-lovers, and they really, really like each other. There's a way that that bonding-- Homosexuality does not exist in her novels, whatever, but that's a relationship of two people that really are hot for one another. There is a lot of writing. There are queer readings of Rand that make a lot of that relationship.Again, this isn't my particular lens of criticism, but I do see that the energy, which is why I asked you which speech you were reading because some of Francisco's best speeches are for Hank because he's trying to woo Hank to happy valley. Toward the end when they're all hanging out together in Galt's Gulch, there's clearly a relationship there.Henry: Oh, yes. No, once you pointed out to me, I was like, "That makes sense of so many passages." That's clearly there. What I don't understand is why she did that. I feel like, and this is quite an accomplishment because it's a big novel with a lot of moving parts, everything else is resolved both in terms of the plot, but also in terms of how it fits her philosophical idea. That, I think, is pretty much the only thing where you're left wondering, "Why was that in there? She hasn't made a point about it. They haven't done anything about it." This I don't understand. That's my query.Hollis: Getting ready to have this conversation, I spent a lot of time on some Reddit threads. I ran Atlas Shrugged Reddit threads where there's some fantastic conversations.Henry: Yes, there is.Hollis: One of them is about, how come Francisco didn't end up with anybody? That's just too bad. He's such a great character and he ends up alone. I would say he doesn't end up alone, he ends up with his boyfriend Hank, whatever that looks like. Two guys that believe in the same things, they can have whatever life they want. Go on.Henry: Are you saying that now that they're in the valley, they will be more free to pursue that relationship?Hollis: There's a lot of things that she has said about men's and women's bodies. She said in other places, "I don't think there'll ever be a woman president because why would a woman want to be president? What a woman really wants is a great man, and we can't have a president who's looking for a great man. She has to be a president." She's got a lot of lunacy about women. Whatever. I don't understand. Someplace I've read that she understands male homosexuality, but not female homosexuality. Again, I am not a Rand scholar. Having read and seen some of that in the ether, I see it in the book, and I can see how her novel would invite that analysis.I do want to say, let's spend a few seconds on some of the minor characters. There are some really wonderful minor characters. One of them is Cherryl Taggart, this shop girl that evil Jim Taggart meets one night in a rainstorm, and she's like, "Oh, you're so awesome," and they get married. It's like he's got all this praise for marrying the shop girl. It's a funny Eliza Doolittle situation because she is brought into this very wealthy society, which we have been told and we have been shown is corrupt, is evil, everybody's lying all the time, it's pretentious, Dagny hates it.Here's the Cherryl Taggart who's brought into this. In the beginning, she hates Dagny because she's told by everybody, "Hate Dagny, she's horrible." Then she comes to her own mini understanding of the corruption that we understand because Dagny's shown it in the novel, has shown it to us this entire time. She comes to it and she's like, "Oh my God," and she goes to Dagny. Dagny's so wonderful to her like, "Yes. You had to come to this on your own, I wasn't going to tell you, but you were 100% right." That's the end of her.Henry: Right. When she meets Taggart, there's this really interesting speech she has where she says, "I want to make something of myself and get somewhere." He's like, "What? What do you want to do?" Red flag. "What? Where?" She says, "I don't know, but people do things in this world. I've seen pictures of New York," and she's pointing at like the skyscrapers, right? Whatever. "I know that someone's built that. They didn't sit around and whine, but like the kitchen was filthy and the roof was leaking." She gets very emotional at this point. She says to him, "We were stinking poor and we didn't give a damn. I've dragged myself here, and I'm going to do something."Her story is very sad because she then gets mired in the corruption of Taggart's. He's basically bit lazy and a bit of a thief, and he will throw anyone under the bus for his own self-advancement. He is revealed to be a really sinister guy. I was absolutely hissing about him most of the time. Then, let's just do the plot spoiler and say what happens to Cherryl, right? Because it's important. When she has this realization and Taggart turns on her and reveals himself as this snake, and he's like, "Well, what did you expect, you idiot? This is the way the world is."Hollis: Oh, it's a horrible fight. It's the worst fight.Henry: Right? This is where the melodrama is so good. She goes running out into the streets, and it's the night and there are shadows. She's in the alleyway. Rand, I don't have the page marked, but it's like a noir film. She's so good at that atmosphere. Then it gets a little bit gothic as well. She's running through the street, and she's like, "I've got to go somewhere, anywhere. I'll work. I'll pick up trash. I'll work in a shop. I'll do anything. I've just got to get out of this."Hollis: Go work at the Panda Express. Henry: Yes. She's like, "I've got to get out of this system," because she's realized how morally corrupting it is. By this time, this is very late. Society is in a-- it's like Great Depression style economic collapse by this point. There really isn't a lot that she could do. She literally runs into a social worker and the social-- Rand makes this leering dramatic moment where the social worker reaches out to grab her and Cherryl thinks, "Oh, my God, I'm going to be taken prisoner in. I'm going back into the system," so she jumps off the bridge.This was the moment when I was like, I've had this lurking feeling about how Russian this novel is. At this point, I was like, "That could be a short story by Gogol," right? The way she set that up. That is very often the trap that a Gogol character or maybe a Dostoevsky character finds themselves in, right? That you suddenly see that the world is against you. Maybe you're crazy and paranoid. Maybe you're not. Depends which story we're reading. You run around trying to get out and you realize, "Oh, my God, I'm more trapped than I thought. Actually, maybe there is no way out." Cherryl does not get a lot of pages. She is, as you say, quite a minor character, but she illustrates the whole story so, so well, so dramatically.Hollis: Oh, wow.Henry: When it happens, you just, "Oh, Cherryl, oh, my goodness."Hollis: Thank you for reading that. Yes, you could tell from the very beginning that the seeds of what could have been a really good person were there. Thank you for reading that.Henry: When she died, I went back and I was like, "Oh, my God, I knew it."Hollis: How can you say Rand is a bad writer, right? That is careful, careful plotting, because she's just a shop girl in the rain. You've got this, the gun on the wall in that act. You know she's going to end up being good. Is she going to be rewarded for it? Let me just say, as an aside, I know we don't have time to talk about it here. My field, as I said, is 19th century African American novels, primarily now.This, usually, a woman, enslaved woman, the character who's like, "I can't deal with this," and jumps off a bridge and drowns herself is a fairly common and character. That is the only thing to do. One also sees Rand heroes. Stowe's Dred, for example, is very much, "I would rather live in the woods with a knife and then, be on the plantation and be a slave." When you think about, even the sort of into the 20th century, the Malcolm X figure, that, "I'm going to throw out all of this and be on my own," is very Randian, which I will also say very Byronic, too, Rand didn't invent this figure, but she put it front and center in these novels, and so when you think about how Atlas Shrugged could be brought into a curriculum in a network of other novels, how many of we've discussed so far, she's there, she's influenced by and continues to influence. Let's talk about your favorite minor character, the Wet Nurse.Henry: This is another great death scene.Hollis: Let's say who he is, so the government sends this young man to work at the Rearden Mills to keep an eye on Hank Rearden.Henry: Once they nationalize him, he's the bureaucrat reporting back, and Rearden calls him the Wet Nurse as an insult.Hollis: Right, and his job, he's the Communist Party person that's in every factory to make sure that everything is--Henry: That's right, he's the petty bureaucrat reporting back and making sure everyone's complying.Hollis: He's a young recent college graduate that, Hank, I think, early on, if it's possible even to find the Wet Nurse early scene, you could tell in the beginning, too, he's bright and sparkly right out of college, and this is, it seems like a good job for him. He's like, "Woohoo, I get to be here, and I get to be--" Yes, go ahead.Henry: What happens to him is, similarly to Cherryl, he has a conversion, but his conversion is not away from the corruption of the system he's been in, he is converted by what he sees in the Rearden plant, the hard work, the dedication, the idealism, the deep focus on making the metal, and he starts to see that if we don't make stuff, then all the other arguments downstream of that about how to appropriate, how to redistribute, whatever, are secondary, and so he becomes, he goes native, as it were. He becomes a Reardenite, and then at the end, when there's a crowd storming the place, and this crowd has been sent by the government, it's a fake thing to sort of--Hollis: Also, a very good scene, very dramatic.Henry: She's very good at mobs, very good at mobs, and they kill, they kill the Wet Nurse, they throw him over. He has a couple of speeches in dialogue with Rearden while he's dying, and he says--Hollis: You have to say, they throw him, they leave him on this pile of slag. He crawls up to the street where Rearden happens to be driving by, and car stops, and so that finding the Wet Nurse there and carrying him in his arms, yes.Henry: That's right, it's very dramatic, and then they have this dialogue, and he says, "I'd like to live, Mr. Rearden, God, how I'd like to, not because I'm dying, but because I've just discovered tonight what it means to be alive, and it's funny, do when I discovered it? In the office, when I stuck my neck out, when I told the bastards to go to hell, there's so many things I wish I'd known sooner, but it's no use crying over spilt milk," and then Rearden, he goes, "Listen, kid, said Rearden sternly, I want you to do me a favor." "Now, Mr. Rearden?" "Yes, now." "Of course, Mr. Rearden, if I can," and Rearden says, "You were willing to die to save my mills, will you try and live for me?"I think this is one of those great moments where, okay, maybe this isn't like George Eliot style dialogue, but you could put that straight in a movie, that would work really well, that would be great, right? I can hear Humphrey Bogart saying these things. It would work, wouldn't it?She knows that, and that's why she's doing that, she's got that technique. He's another minor character, and Rand is saying, the system is eating people up. We are setting people up for a spiritual destruction that then leads to physical destruction. This point, again, about it's not just about the material world. It's about your inner life and your own mind.I find it very moving.Hollis: These minor characters are fantastic. Then let's talk a little bit about Eddie Willers, because I think a lot about Eddie Willers. Eddie Willers, the childhood three, there were three young people, we keep going back to this childhood. We have Dagny, Francisco, because their parents were friends, and then Eddie Willers, who's like a neighborhood kid, right?Henry: He's down the street.Hollis: He lives down the street. He's like the neighborhood kid. I don't know about you. We had a neighborhood kid. There's always neighborhood kids, right? You end up spending time with this-- Eddie's just sort of always there. Then when they turn 15, 16, 17, and when there's clearly something going on between Dagny and Francisco, Eddie does take a step back, and he doesn't want to see.There's the class issues, the status issues aren't really-- they're present but not discussed by Rand. Here we have these two children heirs, and they don't say like, "You're not one of us, Eddie, because you're not an heir or an heiress." He's there, and he's got a pretty good position as Dagny's right-hand man in Taggart Transcontinental. We don't know where he went to college. We don't know what he does, but we know that he's super loyal, right?Then when she goes and takes a break for a bit, he steps in to be COO. James is like, "Eddie Willers, how can Eddie Willers be a COO?" She's like, "It's really going to be me, but he's going to be fine." We're not really supposed to identify with Eddie, but Eddie's there. Eddie has, all through the novel, all through the big old novel, Eddie eats lunch in the cafeteria. There's always this one guy he's having lunch with. This is, I don't know, like a Greek chorus thing, I don't quite know, but there's Eddie's conversations with this unknown person in the cafeteria give us a sense, maybe it's a narrator voice, like, "Meanwhile, this is going on in the world." We have these conversations. This guy he's having lunch with asks a lot of questions and starts asking a lot of personal questions about Dagny. Then we have to talk to-- I know we've gone for over an hour and 15 minutes, we've got to talk about Galt's Speech, right? When John Galt, toward the end, takes over the airwaves and gives this big three-hour speech, the big three-hour podcast as I tweeted the other day, Eddie is with Dagny.Henry: He's in the radio studio.Hollis: He's in the studio along with one of John Galt's former professors. We hear this voice. Rand says, or the narrator says, three people in the room recognize that voice. I don't know about you, did you guess that it was Galt before that moment that Eddie was having lunch with in the cafeteria?Henry: No, no, no, I didn't.Hollis: Okay, so you knew at that moment.Henry: That was when I was like, "Oh, Eddie was talking, right?" It took me a minute.Hollis: Okay, were you excited? Was that like a moment? Was that a big reveal?Henry: It was a reveal, but it made me-- Eddie's whole character puzzles me because, to me, he feels like a Watson.Hollis: Yes, that's nice, that's good.Henry: He's met Galt, who's been under their noses the whole time. He's been going through an almost Socratic method with Galt, right? If only he could have paid a little bit more attention, he would have realized what was going on. He doesn't, why is this guy so interested in Dagny, like all these things. Even after Galt's big speech, I don't think Eddie quite takes the lesson. He also comes to a more ambiguous but a bad end.Hollis: Eddie's been right there, the most loyal person. The Reddit threads on Eddie Willers, if anybody's interested, are really interesting.Henry: Yes, they are, they're so good.Hollis: Clearly, Eddie recognizes greatness, and he recognizes production, and he recognizes that Dagny is better than Jim. He recognizes Galt. They've been having these conversations for 12 years in the cafeteria. Every time he goes to the cafeteria, he's like, "Where's my friend, where's my friend?" When his friend disappears, but he also tells Galt a few things about Dagny that are personal and private. When everybody in the world, all the great people in the world, this is a big spoiler, go to Galt's Gulch at the end.Henry: He's not there.Hollis: He doesn't get to go. Is it because of the compromises he made along the way? Rand had the power to reward everybody. Hank's secretary gets to go, right?Henry: Yes.Hollis: She's gone throughout the whole thing.Henry: Eddie never thinks for himself. I think that's the-- He's a very, I think, maybe one of the more tragic victims of the whole thing because-- sorry. In a way, because, Cherryl and the Wet Nurse, they try and do the right thing and they end up dying. That's like a more normal tragedy in the sense that they made a mistake. At the moment of realization, they got toppled.Eddie, in a way, is more upsetting because he never makes a mistake and he never has a moment of realization. Rand is, I think this is maybe one of the cruelest parts of the book where she's almost saying, "This guy's never going to think for himself, and he hasn't got a hope." In a novel, if this was like a realistic novel, and she was saying, "Such is the cruelty of the world, what can we do for this person?" That would be one thing. In a novel that's like ending in a utopia or in a sort of utopia, it's one of the points where she's really harsh.Hollis: She's really harsh. I'd love to go and look at her notes at some point in time when I have an idle hour, which I won't, to say like, did she sit around? It's like, "What should I do with Eddie?" To have him die, probably, in the desert with a broken down Taggart transcontinental engine, screaming in terror and crying.Henry: Even at that stage, he can't think for himself and see that the system isn't worth supporting.Hollis: Right. He's just going to be a company man to the end.Henry: It's as cruel as those fables we tell children, like the grasshopper and the ants. He will freeze to death in the winter. There's nothing you can do about it. There are times when she gets really, really tough. I think is why people hate her.Hollis: We were talking about this, about Dickens and minor characters and coming to redemption and Dickens, except Jo. Jo and Jo All Alones, there are people who have redemption and die. Again, I don't know.Henry: There's Cherryl and the Wet Nurse are like Jo. They're tragic victims of the system. She's doing it to say, "Look how bad this is. Look how bad things are." To me, Eddie is more like Mr. Micawber. He's hopeless. It's a little bit comic. It's not a bad thing. Whereas Dickens, at the end, will just say, "Oh, screw the integrity of the plot and the morals. Let's just let Mr. Micawber-- let's find a way out for him." Everyone wants this guy to do well. Rand is like, "No, I'm sticking to my principles. He's dead in the desert, man. He's going to he's going to burn to death." He's like, "Wow, that's okay."Hollis: The funny thing is poor John Galt doesn't even care about him. John Galt has been a bad guy. John Galt is a complicated figure. Let's spend a bit on him.Henry: Before we do that, I actually want to do a very short segment contextualizing her in the 50s because then what you say about Galt will be against this background of what are some of the other ideas in the 50s, right?Hollis: Got it.Henry: I think sometimes the Galt stuff is held up as what's wrong with this novel. When you abstract it and just say it, maybe that's an easier case to make. I think once you understand that this is 1957, she's been writing the book for what, 12 years, I think, or 15 years, the Galt speech takes her 3 years to write, I think. This is, I think the most important label we can give the novel is it's a Cold War novel. She's Russian. What she's doing, in some ways, is saying to America, "This is what will happen to us if we adopt the system of our Cold War enemies." It's like, "This is animal farm, but in America with real people with trains and energy plants and industry, no pigs. This is real life." We've had books like that in our own time. The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver said, that book said, "If the 2008 crash had actually gone really badly wrong and society collapsed, how would it go?" I think that's what she's reacting to. The year before it was published, there was a sociology book called The Organization Man.Hollis: Oh, yes. William Whyte.Henry: A great book. Everyone should read that book. He is worrying, the whole book is basically him saying, "I've surveyed all these people in corporate America. They're losing the Protestant work ethic. They're losing the entrepreneurial spirit. They're losing their individual drive. Instead of wanting to make a name for themselves and invent something and do great things," he says, "they've all got this managerial spirit. All the young men coming from college, they're like, 'Everything's been done. We just need to manage it now.'" He's like, "America is collapsing." Yes, he thinks it's this awful. Obviously, that problem got solved.That, I think, that gives some sense of why, at that moment, is Ayn Rand writing the Galt speech? Because this is the background. We're in the Cold War, and there's this looming sense of the cold, dead hand of bureaucracy and managerialism is. Other people are saying, "Actually, this might be a serious problem."Hollis: I think that's right. Thank you for bringing up Whyte. I think there's so much in the background. There's so much that she's in conversation with. There's so much about this speech, so that when you ask somebody on the street-- Again, let me say this, make the comparison again to Uncle Tom's Cabin, people go through life feeling like they know Uncle Tom's Cabin, Simon Legree, Eliza Crossing the Ice, without having ever read it.Not to name drop a bit, but when I did my annotated Uncle Tom's Cabin, this big, huge book, and it got reviewed by John Updike in The New Yorker, and I was like, "This is freaking John Updike." He's like, "I never read it. I never read it." Henry Louis Gates and then whoever this young grad student was, Hollis Robbins, are writing this book, I guess I'll read it. It was interesting to me, when I talk about Uncle Tom's Cabin, "I've never read it," because it's a book you know about without reading. A lot of people know about Atlas Shrugged without having read it. I think Marc Andreessen said-- didn't he say on this podcast that he only recently read it?Henry: I was fascinated by this. He read it four years ago.Hollis: Right, during COVID.Henry: In the bibliography for the Techno-Optimist Manifesto, and I assumed he was one of those people, he was like you, he'd read it as a teenager, it had been informative. No, he came to it very recently. Something's happening with this book, right?Hollis: Huge things are happening, but the people who know about it, there's certain things that you know, you know it's long, you know that the sex is perhaps not what you would have wanted. You know that there's this big, really long thing called John Galt's Speech, and that it's like the whaling chapters in Moby-Dick. People read Moby-Dick, you're like, "Oh, yes, but I skipped all the chapters on cetology." That's the thing that you say, right? The thing that you say is like, "Yes, but I skipped all the John Galt's Speech." I was very interested when we were texting over the last month or so, what you would say when you got to John Galt's Speech. As on cue, one day, I get this text and it's like, "Oh, my God, this speech is really long." I'm like, "Yes, you are the perfect reader."Henry: I was like, "Hollis, this might be where I drop out of the book."Hollis: I'm like, "Yes, you and the world, okay?" This is why you're an excellent reader of this book, because it is a frigging slog. Just because I'm having eye issues these days, I had decided instead of rereading my copy, and I do have a newer copy than this tiny print thing, I decided to listen on audiobook. It was 62 hours or whatever, it was 45 hours, because I listen at 1.4. The speech is awesome listening to it. It, at 1.4, it's not quite 3 hours. It's really good. In the last few days, I was listening to it again, okay? I really wanted to understand somebody who's such a good plotter, and somebody who really understands how to keep people's interest, why are you doing this, Rand? Why are you doing this, Ms. Rand? I love the fact that she's always called Miss. Rand, because Miss., that is a term that we

What role does mindfulness play in creative growth? In this November 25th episode of Monday Meeting, host Jen Van Horn talks with Austin Saylor about reframing creative struggles, building intentional habits, and finding joy in the artistic process.  This episode includes: How intentional consumption of art and media can spark creative renewal Strategies for recognizing and breaking negative thought patterns The importance of community support in overcoming creative blocks Finding balance between commercial success and artistic fulfillment Visit MondayMeeting.org for this episode and other insightful conversations from our motion design community! Join us next month when EJ and Kons co-host episodes about creating motion projects for experiences in the real world, starting with a chat with Brian and Laura from Thrownlight Studio. SHOW NOTES: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Monday Meeting Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Monday Meeting Discord⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Monday Meeting LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Monday Meeting Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Holiday Deals Sheet Jonny Elwyn's Black Friday Deals Post Austin Saylor Full Harbor Newsletter DIY 8 Page Zine Magsafe iPad Stand "Wanting" by Luke Burgis

There are two kinds of desire, thin and thick. Thick desires are like layers of rock that have been built up throughout the course of our lives. These are desires that can be shaped and cultivated through models like our parents and people that we admire as children. But at some level, they're related to the core of who we are. They can be related to perennial human truths: beauty, goodness, human dignity. Thin desires are highly mimetic (imitative) and ephemeral desires. They're the things that can be here today, gone tomorrow. Thin desires are subject to the winds of mimetic change, because they're not rooted in a layer of ourselves that's been built up over time. They are like a layer of leaves that's sitting on top of layers of rock. Those thin desires are blown away with a light gust of wind. A new model comes into our life; the old desires are gone. All of a sudden we want something else. In the stream of daily life, we're pushed and pulled in a million different directions. And if we don't extract ourselves and find time for recollection, we won't be able to listen to our lives, to listen to others, and to understand the way that our relationships and our desires are growing and emerging. We'll be surprised if five or ten years from now, we've pursued desires that have led us to a place that we really may not have wanted to go. Listening is critical to the transformation. Read the video transcript: https://bigthink.com/videos/mimetic-d... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Luke Burgis: Luke Burgis has co-created and led four companies in wellness, consumer products, and technology. He's currently Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Director of Programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship where he also teaches business at The Catholic University of America. Luke has helped form and serves on the board of several new K-12 education initiatives and writes and speaks regularly about the education of desire. He studied business at NYU Stern and philosophy and theology at a pontifical university in Rome. He's Managing Partner of Fourth Wall Ventures, an incubator that he started to build, train, and invest in people and companies that contribute to a healthy human ecology. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Claire, and her crazy New Orleans cat Clotille. ------------------------------------------------------------- About Big Think | Smarter Faster™ ► Big Think The leading source of expert-driven, educational content. With thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think helps you get smarter, faster by exploring the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century. Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Member Get exclusive access to full interviews, early access to new releases, Big Think merch and more ►Get Big Think+ for Business Guide, inspire and accelerate leaders at all levels of your company with the biggest minds in business ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know that our desires are not entirely our own? Desires are imitated from the first moment we are born. Our desires form from what our parents, friends, and significant others want in life. Now placed in a group, large or small, these imitative desires are even more powerful. These transferred desires within a group do create cohesion, but they're also the heart of where scapegoats are born. A scapegoat is someone outside of your group who also stands out from the social norm. The group then uses these scapegoats to transfer blame and negative emotions because they do not share the desires of the group. This blame, negative emotion, or fundamental truth is something the group does not want to acknowledge internally, so the blame is transferred to the scapegoat. In an instant, the problems of the group are gone because of the transfer of blame onto the scapegoat. Since scapegoats are identified as the root cause of the problem, they create a sense of relief, healing, and even protection for the group. ------------------------------------- About Luke Burgis: Luke Burgis has co-created and led four companies in wellness, consumer products, and technology. He's currently Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Director of Programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship where he also teaches business at The Catholic University of America. Luke has helped form and serves on the board of several new K-12 education initiatives and writes and speaks regularly about the education of desire. He studied business at NYU Stern and philosophy and theology at a pontifical university in Rome. He's Managing Partner of Fourth Wall Ventures, an incubator that he started to build, train, and invest in people and companies that contribute to a healthy human ecology. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Claire, and her crazy New Orleans cat Clotille. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ About Big Think | Smarter Faster™ ► Big Think The leading source of expert-driven, educational content. With thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think helps you get smarter, faster by exploring the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century. Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Member Get exclusive access to full interviews, early access to new releases, Big Think merch and more ►Get Big Think+ for Business Guide, inspire and accelerate leaders at all levels of your company with the biggest minds in business ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Humans are more rivalrous than we like to believe. Nearly every religion has ancient stories of sibling rivalries. Unfortunately, we humans seem to delight in seeing others fail. But according to Luke Burgis, envy often leads to misery. The strange mystery of desire is that we look to others to figure out what it is that we want, and then we adopt another's desires as our own. Occasionally, though, rivalries can produce good outcomes, like the rivalry between Enzo Ferrari and Ferruccio Lamborghini. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- About Luke Burgis: Luke Burgis has co-created and led four companies in wellness, consumer products, and technology. He's currently Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Director of Programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship where he also teaches business at The Catholic University of America. Luke has helped form and serves on the board of several new K-12 education initiatives and writes and speaks regularly about the education of desire. He studied business at NYU Stern and philosophy and theology at a pontifical university in Rome. He's Managing Partner of Fourth Wall Ventures, an incubator that he started to build, train, and invest in people and companies that contribute to a healthy human ecology. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Claire, and her crazy New Orleans cat Clotille. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Big Think | Smarter Faster™ ► Big Think The leading source of expert-driven, educational content. With thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think helps you get smarter, faster by exploring the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century. Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Member Get exclusive access to full interviews, early access to new releases, Big Think merch and more ►Get Big Think+ for Business Guide, inspire and accelerate leaders at all levels of your company with the biggest minds in business Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Luke Burgis, author and professor of business at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship, grants Jonah a well-deserved break from punditry with a crash course in mimetic theory. René Girard takes center stage as Luke and Jonah discuss the roots of human desire; how such desires lead to tribalism, conflict, and violence; and the relationship between mimetic processes and social discord. Scapegoats and gossip abound as Luke schools both high-minded Remnant listeners and theoretical normies on the psychology of nepotism, institutional debacles, and mob mentalities. Show Notes: —Luke's website —Rob Henderson on luxury beliefs: Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch's offerings—including Jonah's G-File newsletter, weekly livestreams, and other members-only content—click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A lot of my current listeners may have missed this previous episode with guest, Luke Burgis (and even if you did hear the original, it's a great one to re-listen to as you understand how mimetic desire may appear in your life!) Once you learn about mimetic desire, you realize how much it has impacted your life, how much it is all around us and how to begin to set yourself apart... Mimetic desire — the act of desiring simply what others desire – imitating what others want instead of developing our own intentional, conscious wanting – is powerful in our development, our world and in our everyday lives. Today's guest, author Luke Burgis, shares his expertise about this concept, how society influences mimetic desire, how we can determine what we truly desire, the impact we can have on the desires of those around us and more! ------------------------------- Links Discussed in This Episode Order a Copy of Minimalist Moms: Living and Parenting with Simplicity Resource: Motivational Code Connect with Luke: Website Instagram Substack Book: Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire Episode Sponsors | The Minimalist Moms Podcast would not be possible without the support of weekly sponsors. Choosing brands that I believe in is important to me. I only want to recommend brands that I believe may help you in your daily life. As always, never feel pressured into buying anything. Remember: if you don't need it, it's not a good deal! Betterhelp | This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/ MINIMALIST and get on your way to being your best self. Puori | Don't miss out! Use promo code MINIMALIST at Puori.com/MINIMALIST OSEA | Get 10% off your first order sitewide with code MINIMALIST at OSEAMalibu.com Enjoy this Podcast? Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning into this podcast, then do not hesitate to write a review. You can also share this with your fellow mothers so that they can be inspired to think more and do with less.  Order (or review) my book, Minimalist Moms: Living & Parenting With Simplicity. Questions? You can contact me through my website, find me on Instagram, or like The Minimalist Moms Page on Facebook. Checkout the Minimalist Moms Podcast storefront for recommendations from Diane. Need help decluttering? I'm here to help! If you've been struggling with motivation to declutter, I'd love to help you achieve your goals in your home. We'll work together (locally or virtually) to discover what areas in your home are high priority to get you feeling less overwhelmed right away. For more info on my processes, fees, and availability please contact! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do we want what we want? Philosopher, theologian, and literary critic René Girard posits that we draw our desires largely from the people around us, a fact which has implications for everything from how we should plan our careers to the direction of foreign policy. Following a career spanning business, religious discernment, and academia, […]

Why do we want what we want? Philosopher, theologian, and literary critic René Girard posits that we draw our desires largely from the people around us, a fact which has implications for everything from how we should plan our careers to the direction of foreign policy. Following a career spanning business, religious discernment, and academia, Luke Burgis joins Madison's Notes to explore Girard's philosophy of desire. Along the way, he delves into the concept of 'political atheism,' America's struggle with China, the future of social media, and why artificial intelligence will render the humanities more relevant than ever. Luke Burgis is Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Director of Programs & Projects at the Ciocca Center at Catholic University of America, as well as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Business in the Busch School. He has founded and led multiple companies and is the founder and director of Fourth Wall Ventures, an incubator for people and companies that contribute to the formation of a healthy human ecology. He is a graduate of NYU's Stern School of Business and of a pontifical university in Rome, where he studied theology. He is the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life (St. Martin's Press, 2021), and his next book, The One and the Ninety-Nine will be released in 2026. If you can't wait that long, he also has a popular Substack. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any event does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Why do we want what we want? Philosopher, theologian, and literary critic René Girard posits that we draw our desires largely from the people around us, a fact which has implications for everything from how we should plan our careers to the direction of foreign policy. Following a career spanning business, religious discernment, and academia, Luke Burgis joins Madison's Notes to explore Girard's philosophy of desire. Along the way, he delves into the concept of 'political atheism,' America's struggle with China, the future of social media, and why artificial intelligence will render the humanities more relevant than ever. Luke Burgis is Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Director of Programs & Projects at the Ciocca Center at Catholic University of America, as well as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Business in the Busch School. He has founded and led multiple companies and is the founder and director of Fourth Wall Ventures, an incubator for people and companies that contribute to the formation of a healthy human ecology. He is a graduate of NYU's Stern School of Business and of a pontifical university in Rome, where he studied theology. He is the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life (St. Martin's Press, 2021), and his next book, The One and the Ninety-Nine will be released in 2026. If you can't wait that long, he also has a popular Substack. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any event does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Why do we want what we want? Philosopher, theologian, and literary critic René Girard posits that we draw our desires largely from the people around us, a fact which has implications for everything from how we should plan our careers to the direction of foreign policy. Following a career spanning business, religious discernment, and academia, Luke Burgis joins Madison's Notes to explore Girard's philosophy of desire. Along the way, he delves into the concept of 'political atheism,' America's struggle with China, the future of social media, and why artificial intelligence will render the humanities more relevant than ever. Luke Burgis is Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Director of Programs & Projects at the Ciocca Center at Catholic University of America, as well as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Business in the Busch School. He has founded and led multiple companies and is the founder and director of Fourth Wall Ventures, an incubator for people and companies that contribute to the formation of a healthy human ecology. He is a graduate of NYU's Stern School of Business and of a pontifical university in Rome, where he studied theology. He is the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life (St. Martin's Press, 2021), and his next book, The One and the Ninety-Nine will be released in 2026. If you can't wait that long, he also has a popular Substack. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any event does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/psychology

Why do we want what we want? Philosopher, theologian, and literary critic René Girard posits that we draw our desires largely from the people around us, a fact which has implications for everything from how we should plan our careers to the direction of foreign policy. Following a career spanning business, religious discernment, and academia, Luke Burgis joins Madison's Notes to explore Girard's philosophy of desire. Along the way, he delves into the concept of 'political atheism,' America's struggle with China, the future of social media, and why artificial intelligence will render the humanities more relevant than ever. Luke Burgis is Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Director of Programs & Projects at the Ciocca Center at Catholic University of America, as well as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Business in the Busch School. He has founded and led multiple companies and is the founder and director of Fourth Wall Ventures, an incubator for people and companies that contribute to the formation of a healthy human ecology. He is a graduate of NYU's Stern School of Business and of a pontifical university in Rome, where he studied theology. He is the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life (St. Martin's Press, 2021), and his next book, The One and the Ninety-Nine will be released in 2026. If you can't wait that long, he also has a popular Substack. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any event does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here is a problem about spaghetti that has stumped some of the brightest minds in science, including Nobel prize winning physicist Richard Feynman: Hold one strand of spaghetti at each end and try to break it into two pieces. You will find that it is impossible. There now appears to be an explanation thanks to some very high-speed cameras. Listen and I will tell you what it is. https://www.thenakedscientists.com/get-naked/experiments/snapping-spaghetti You want things. I want things. We all want things. That is what human desire is all about. Have you ever stopped to wonder why you desire those particular things? For an explanation of human desire, we turn to Luke Burgis. He is an entrepreneur and a philosopher and he has written a book about desire titled, Wanting (https://amzn.to/3fPJyR9). Listen as he offers insight into what triggers all of our desires – big and small. If we evolved from apes, why are there still apes? That's one of many questions people ponder about evolution. Perhaps you've also wondered if humans are still evolving, or have we stopped? Can we predict how evolution will change the world? These are just some of the questions I tackle with Marlene Zuk. She is an evolutionary biologist and author of the book Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells Us about Sex, Diet, and How We Live (https://amzn.to/3uUyd6H). Listen and you will have a better understanding of how we evolved to be who we are. When a child gets hurt, what you do and say in response is critical. And it isn't only because the correct response can soothe the child and alleviate their stress, it can also affect the way the child recovers from an injury. Listen to hear the science of this important phenomenon. Source: Judith Acosta author of Verbal First Aid (https://amzn.to/3fScUhV) PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Indeed is offering SYSK listeners a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to get your jobs more visibility at https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING NerdWallet lets you compare top travel credit cards side-by-side to maximize your spending! Compare & find smarter credit cards, savings accounts, & more https://NerdWallet.com TurboTax Experts make all your moves count — filing with 100% accuracy and getting your max refund, guaranteed! See guarantee details at https://TurboTax.com/Guarantees Luckily for those of us who live with the symptoms of allergies, we can Live Claritin Clear with Claritin-D! eBay Motors has 122 million parts for your #1 ride-or-die, to make sure it stays running smoothly. Keep your ride alive at https://eBayMotors.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Las marcas son una cuestión de fe. Hay un promesa detrás de todas ellas. Dudaba entre dos títulos para este episodio de Kapital con el publicista Toni Segarra. El primero era un pragmático Cómo se construye una marca. Así daba valor al producto prometiendo al oyente una ganancia. El segundo era un ambicioso Propagandum fidei, conectando la expansión de la fe católica con la publicidad moderna. El primero daría visitas a YouTube, pero el segundo podía separarme. En un mercado en competencia perfecta, inundado de podcasters que siguen las mismas fórmulas para viralizarse, elegí el título confuso porque me tienen harto las métricas optimizadas. La estética por encima de la eficiencia. Solo habrá diferenciación para el valiente que persiga una intuición que no se explica con palabras. La exclusividad pasa por restringir la entrada y quiero pensar que estoy definiendo una marca en estas charlas desordenadas. Con el riesgo de equivocarme, invito a perfiles singulares para lanzarles preguntas extrañas. Prefiero ser minoritario con una voz propia, antes que masivo con un producto genérico. El estilo es una ventaja que puedo defender. De lo viral te olvidas mañana. Kapital es posible gracias a sus colaboradores: ¿Quieres invertir como Amancio? ¿Replicar la cartera de Florentino? Hasta hace poco la inversión en private equity estaba reservada para los altos patrimonios, pero con Crescenta, la primera gestora digital de capital privado, por fin podrás acceder también tú a todos esos fondos. A golpe de clic y con una inversión a partir de 10.000 euros, te daremos acceso a los fondos en los que llevan invirtiendo los grandes inversores durante décadas: EQT, Cinven, Vitruvian y más. Invierte como y con los mejores en Crescenta.com y accede a fondos con rentabilidades esperadas superiores al 15% anualizado. Rentabilidades pasadas no implican rentabilidades futuras. ⁠Consulta riesgos y condiciones⁠. Crescenta, la inversión relevante para tu futuro. Deja de darle vueltas a la cabeza y comparte tus problemas con más de 300 founders como tú. Inspírate y aprende de la mano de Lanzadera y sus startups sobre los retos que más te preocupan: ganar clientes, aumentar recurrencia, gestionar talento, conseguir inversión, etc. El programa de aceleración de Lanzadera te diseñará un plan personalizado que te pondrá al límite para que consigas hacer crecer tu empresa. Tú pones las ganas y ellos se encargan del resto. Presenta tu proyecto en la web hasta el 10 de junio. Crece tanto como te propongas con Lanzadera. ¿Imaginas tener en tus manos el poder de impulsar tu carrera? Evoluciona al profesional que quieres ser con Nuclio Learning, la plataforma para profesionales y empresas que te permitirá seguir aumentando tu conocimiento con cursos de formación continua online impartidos por expertos en activo. Aprovecha un descuento del 25% con el cupón KAPITAL24. Mantente siempre actualizado con los cursos Nuclio Learning. Índice: 3:00 «La vida tiene que pillarte leído». 7:50 Lo que mira Ferran Adrià antes de contratar. 13:32 Agradecimiento a los buenos clientes. 21:25 Las empresas familiares piensan a largo plazo. 25:56 Inteligencia artificial en el diseño de una marca. 32:26 Test de atención. 35:21 Encuentra lo que te gusta y deja que te mate. 40:37 El salto de fe es la única ventaja que puedes defender. 44:04 ¿Qué poder real tienen los publicistas? 48:01 Buffett invirtió en la marca Apple. 54:33 Todos reconocemos el símbolo de la cruz. 59:12 Repensando la marca España. 1:05:22 Psicología del lujo. 1:09:13 Expertos del pricing en el bazar de Estanbul. 1:12:11 Yo no soy tonto. 1:17:14 ¿Te gusta conducir? 1:23:54 Las nubecitas políglotas de Vueling. 1:27:11 Redecora tu vida. 1:30:14 El deseo mimético de René Girard. Apuntes: La marca de Dios. Toni Segarra & Leopoldo Abadia. La interrupción. Toni Segarra & Edu Pou. La utilidad de lo inútil. Nuccio Ordine. La carta robada. Edgar Allan Poe. Sapiens. Yuval Noah Harari. ¡Lo quiero! Luke Burgis.

Laudetur Jesus Christus - Ngợi khen Chúa Giêsu Kitô Radio Vatican hằng ngày của Vatican News Tiếng Việt. Nội dung chương trình hôm nay: 0:00 Bản tin 16:32 Sinh hoạt Giáo hội : Những ký ức về Năm Thánh đầu tiên do Đức Bônifaciô VIII công bố vào năm 1300 29:08 Gương chứng nhân : Doanh nhân Công giáo Luke Burgis và chương trình khởi nghiệp cho giới trẻ --- Liên lạc và hỗ trợ Vatican News Tiếng Việt qua email & Zelle: tiengviet@vaticannews.va --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vaticannews-vi/support

What is mimetic desire, and what does it have to do with status and success? Entrepreneur and author Luke Burgis talks about René Girard's theory of mimetic desire and how it illuminates our actions across various contexts, from Silicon Valley to academia, what mimetic desire has to do with beauty.For the full interview see: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2043099/11945506 For the broader project, visit: https://www.beautyatwork.net Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BeautyatWorkPodcastSupport the show

Stop data brokers from exposing your personal information. Go to our sponsor https://aura.com/bigthink to get a 14-day free trial and see how much of yours is being sold. In this Big Think video, Luke Burgis, Todd Rose , and Amishi Jha explore the intricacies of social media's influence on human desires, opinion, attention, and overall mental health. The discussion encompasses the enticing nature of rapid opinion formation, the concept of mimetic desire and its amplification through digital platforms, and the profound implications of the 'Attention Economy' where user focus is commodified. They address the creation and consequences of digital illusions, offering a nuanced examination of social media's dual role as both a democratizing force and a potential source of toxicity. Through their analysis, Burgis and Jha provide a comprehensive overview of the challenges posed by online interactions and suggest mindfulness as a tool for individuals to regain control over their attention and desires in an increasingly digital world. This presentation serves as a critical reflection on the modern digital landscape and its effects on society. Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Member Get exclusive access to full interviews, early access to new releases, Big Think merch and more ►Get Big Think+ for Business Guide, inspire and accelerate leaders at all levels of your company with the biggest minds in business -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Luke Burgis: Luke Burgis is a veteran entrepreneur and author. He's the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship in Washington, DC, and the founder of Fourth Wall Ventures, an incubator that invests in people, art, and technology that contribute to a healthy human ecology. Luke studied business at NYU Stern before doing graduate work in philosophy and earning an S.T.B. in Theology from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. He's the author of the book Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, which popularized the work of cultural anthropologist René Girard. He lives with his wife, Claire, in the DC area. About Todd Rose: Todd Rose is the co-founder and president of Populace, a think tank committed to ensuring that all people have the opportunity to pursue fulfilling lives in a thriving society. Prior to Populace, he was a faculty member at Harvard University where he founded the Laboratory for the Science of Individuality and directed the Mind, Brain, and Education program. Todd is the best selling author of Collective Illusions, Dark Horse, and The End of Average. He lives in Burlington, Massachusetts. About Amishi Jha: Dr. Amishi Jha is an internationally renowned neuroscience researcher, speaker, and author in the fields of attention, resilience, and mindfulness. She studies how to keep the brain's attention systems in peak shape over high-pressure intervals. Over the past two decades, she has conducted large-scale studies with the US Military, first responders, medical professionals, business leaders, elite sports teams, and more. Her research reveals that the science is clear: You can change your brain to become more attentive, present, and productive. About Big Think | Smarter Faster™ ► Big Think The leading source of expert-driven, educational content. With thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think helps you get smarter, faster by exploring the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century. Get Smarter, Faster. With Episodes From The Worlds Biggest Thinkers. Follow The Podcast And Turn On The Notifications!! Share This Episode If You Found It Valuable Leave A 5 Star Review... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Things today are waaayyyyy better than Things have ever been. Cavemen had sticks. In the Middle ages they had typhoid. We have iPhones and Hermann Miller chairs and shoes with air in the soles. Inside the soles! How do they get the air inside the soles??? We are living in the Golden Age of Things, in the Golden Empire of Things.” —Shalom Auslander's Fetal Position via Beckett Drove a Deux Chevaux I first encountered the Apple billboard a few days after Christmas. I was walking down Fourteenth Street in the Meatpacking district, and there it was—an Apple ad declaring “Newphoria!” in enormous print. We don't need newphoria. We need oldphoria, the joy in what already exists. We need simplephoria, the joy in streamlining. We need enoughphoria, the celebration that what we have and who we are is already enough. Newphoria, at least as it relates to running a small business, is not always all it's cracked up to be. Today's post is a crossover from Rolling in D

During the break between seasons, we go to Gold School. The Gold School sessions are episodes I find myself referring back to and refer to in my keynote speeches and those I work with personally. Each one has given me 'gold' that I've adopted into my world or shared to help others be the best they can be, unlock their great ideas and get their Mojo working.   Luke Burgis, author of 'Wanting', writes about the study of French Polymath Renee Girard, who coined the term mimetic desire. From the theory of memesis, mimetic desire is how we imitate each other. It's about how someone does something, and then within weeks, it's a thing, everyone is doing it, and it's imitated widely. It's why certain tribes dress the same, speak the same, and have the same desires, good or bad. Well, that's memetic desire. I found it a profound learning and one that I share as much as I can in keynotes.   LINKS   The Mojo Sessions website www.themojosessions.com   The Mojo Sessions on Patreon www.patreon.com/TheMojoSessions Full transcripts of the show (plus time codes) are available on Patreon.   The Mojo Sessions on Facebook www.facebook.com/TheMojoSessions   Gary on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/gary-bertwistle   Gary on Twitter www.twitter.com/GaryBertwistle   The Mojo Sessions on Instagram www.instagram.com/themojosessions   If you like what you hear, we'd be grateful for a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Happy listening!   © 2024 Gary Bertwistle.  All Rights Reserved.  

Denna jul är inget sig likt i Betlehem, om influencers i USA som uppmuntrar sina följare att läsa Koranen som ett stöd för palestinierna; och om hur samfund i Järva anordnar aktiviteter för unga. Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radio Play. Hör prästen Sally Azar i Betlehem om en annorlunda jul: ”I år är julgranen dekorerad med våra böner, ingen här har lust att fira jul när vårt folk dör bara någon timme härifrån.”Det har gått två månader sedan Hamas attack i Israel och i spåren av kriget som följde har Islam fått ett uppsving i sociala medier där unga amerikaner uppmuntrar varandra att läsa koranen och konvertera till Islam. Många av de som hakar på trenden tycker att koranens budskap är förenliga med progressiva värderingar. Hör bland andra Misha Euceph, podcast-producent som driver Quran Book Club på Instagram, Luke Burgis, författare som skrivit boken ”Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life” och Simon Sorgenfrei, professor i religionsvetenskap vid Södertörns högskola.Många talar om att gängkriminaliteten bäst motarbetas genom att nå unga tidigt. Vilken skillnad kan trossamfunden göra för att vara en trygg plats för unga? Vi besöker Järvaområdet och talar med Abdul Kader Habib, chaplan i församlingen Khadija center i Kista och Julia Adolfsson, verksamhetsansvarig Frälsningsarmén i Husby. Hör även Lars Trägårdh, professor i historia vid Uppsala universitet, forskat på civilsamhällets roll i samhället.programledare: Åsa Furuhagenreportrar: Nathalie Rothschild och Ebba Sörhagproducent: Anders Diamant

We know, we know, we know. ‘Who Do You Desire? is a very click-baity title. But we're pretty confident that if you DO take the bait (come onnnn), you'll be nicely rewarded. In this episode, our resident psychologist Dr Emily talks with Hugh, Ryan and Josh about the concept of Mimetic Desire - the idea that whether we like it or not, pure originality is impossible. All of us are being influenced by someone. The question is, are we proud of the someones currently influencing us, or does our influencer list need a shake up?Once again, Dr Emily has the answers.For book recommendation, 'Wanting, Mimetic Desire: How to Avoid Chasing the Things You Don't Want', by Luke Burgis, follow this link: https://bit.ly/3QIpFOmThe Imperfects is not a licensed mental health service and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice, treatment or assessment. The advice given in this episode is general in nature, but if you're struggling, please see a healthcare professional, or call lifeline on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joshua is devoted to building a culture in which each one can flourish in his/her personal vocation for building up the Body of Christ and sanctifying the world. He is the co-author with Luke Burgis of Unrepeatable: Cultivating the Unique Calling of Every Person (2018) and a contributing author to The Motivation Code (2020). Joshua is a leader in the field of narrative-based motivational assessment. For the last 20 years, he has applied his expertise in a variety of applications, including coaching, executive search, organizational development, and talent management. He is a certified coach with the International Coaching Federation. He is a co-developer of MCODE, the first on-line assessment that blends a person's own achievement stories with established psychometric constructs. In addition to serving as the Executive Director of the Inscape Center for Personal Vocation, Joshua serves as Director of Programming & Coaching at Franciscan University of Steubenville's Office of Personal Vocation. He co-founded The Center for Leadership at FUS, leads the freshmen seminar of CFL, Personal Vocation & Christ-Centered Leadership, and developed the Center's Vocation Coach Program. He has an MA & Ph.D. in Philosophy of the Human Person. He and his wife, Brooke, are joyfully Catholic, have six dear children and live in Steubenville, Ohio.

In this episode from September of 2014, David Sparks, fondly known as "MacSparky," joins the conversation to reminisce about the evolving landscape of task management since we last met at Macworld. Dive into the fascinating world of productivity apps, the significance of establishing efficient systems, and the therapeutic benefits of journaling – and take note of what's changed (and what hasn't in the 9 years since I first aired this productive conversation.Key Discussion Points The Changing Landscape of Productivity The "Gold Rush" for Email Apps Balancing Work-Life as a Lawyer (Note: David stopped practicing law in 2022.) The Internet's Repetitive Nature The Benefits of Systems and Tools The Therapeutic Power of Journaling Embracing Journaling in Daily Routines David's insights underline the pivotal role of systems, tools, and journaling in navigating today's bustling professional environment. Whether you're a productivity aficionado or someone looking for balance, this episode promises actionable wisdom.Links Worth Exploring Connect with David: Website | Mastodon | Instagram MacSparky Labs: Join here My Appearance on Focused: Listen here Our Conversation on Mac Power Users: Listen here Related Conversation: Episode 409: Luke Burgis talks about Wanting, Journaling, and Fulfillment Related Blog Post: Why You Need To Review (And How To Make It Easier To Do) Thanks to all of the sponsors of this episode. You can find all of the sponsors you heard me mention on this episode on our Podcast Sponsors page.Want to support the podcast? Beyond checking out our sponsors, you can subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Click on any of the links below to make that happen.Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | StitcherYou can also click on this link to paste the podcast feed into your podcast app of choice.Thanks again for listening to A Productive Conversation. See you later.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode from September of 2014, David Sparks, fondly known as "MacSparky," joins the conversation to reminisce about the evolving landscape of task management since we last met at Macworld. Dive into the fascinating world of productivity apps, the significance of establishing efficient systems, and the therapeutic benefits of journaling – and take note of what's changed (and what hasn't in the 9 years since I first aired this productive conversation. Key Discussion Points The Changing Landscape of Productivity The "Gold Rush" for Email Apps Balancing Work-Life as a Lawyer (Note: David stopped practicing law in 2022.) The Internet's Repetitive Nature The Benefits of Systems and Tools The Therapeutic Power of Journaling Embracing Journaling in Daily Routines David's insights underline the pivotal role of systems, tools, and journaling in navigating today's bustling professional environment. Whether you're a productivity aficionado or someone looking for balance, this episode promises actionable wisdom. Links Worth Exploring Connect with David: Website | Mastodon | Instagram MacSparky Labs: Join here My Appearance on Focused: Listen here Our Conversation on Mac Power Users: Listen here Related Conversation: Episode 409: Luke Burgis talks about Wanting, Journaling, and Fulfillment Related Blog Post: Why You Need To Review (And How To Make It Easier To Do) Thanks to all of the sponsors of this episode. You can find all of the sponsors you heard me mention on this episode on our Podcast Sponsors page. Want to support the podcast? Beyond checking out our sponsors, you can subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Click on any of the links below to make that happen. Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher You can also click on this link to paste the podcast feed into your podcast app of choice. Thanks again for listening to A Productive Conversation. See you later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our statues must eat ice cream, our cities must be designed by cardiovascular surgeons, and we must all go to the fifth temple. Krish Ashok and Naren Shenoy join Amit Varma in episode 343 of The Seen and the Unseen to banter away a few perfectly good hours. What a waste of time, eh? NO! (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Krish Ashok on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, his own website and Spotify/Apple Music/Soundcloud. 2. Naren Shenoy on Twitter, Instagram and Blogspot. 3. Narendra Shenoy and Mr Narendra Shenoy — Episode 250 of The Seen and the Unseen. 4. A Scientist in the Kitchen — Episode 204 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok). 5. Masala Lab: The Science of Indian Cooking -- Krish Ashok. 6. Simblified, co-hosted by Narendra Shenoy. 7. We want Narendra Shenoy to write a book. 8. Lohapurusha -- Krish Ashok's Sanskrit Heavy Metal album. 9. The Masala Lab Dal Recipe Generator -- Krish Ashok. 10. The Amaklamatic Salad Recipe Generator -- Krish Ashok. 11. The Amaklamatic Chutney Recipe Generator -- Krish Ashok. 12.  Newton the Alchemist. Gandhi the Black Swan -- Episode 7 of Everything is Everything. 13. Krish Ashok hates computers and this is proof. 14. Roshan Abbas and the Creator Economy — Episode 239 of The Seen and the Unseen. 15. The Adda at the End of the Universe — Episode 309 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Sathaye and Roshan Abbas). 16. The Prem Panicker Files — Episode 217 of The Seen and the Unseen. 17. Caste, Gender, Karnatik Music — Episode 162 of The Seen and the Unseen (w TM Krishna). 18. 4′33″ -- John Cage. 19. Is the Singularity Near? -- Episode 2 of Everything is Everything. 20. The Formula Behind Every Perfect Pop Song — Seeker. 21. I, Pencil -- Leonard Read. 22. The Cadbury Dairy Milk Mystery -- Krish Ashok. 23. A Poetry Handbook — Mary Oliver. 24. Tvam -- Krish Ashok's version of Rammstein's Du Hast. 25. Du Hast -- Rammstein. 26. Early Indians — Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph). 27. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen. 28. Alice Evans Studies the Great Gender Divergence — Episode 297 of The Seen and the Unseen. 29. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Mukulika Banerjee). 30. The Pathan Unarmed — Mukulika Banerjee. 31. The Country Foods channel. 32. Ulhas Kamathe -- The Chicken Leg Piece Guy. 33. Sell the Tiger to Save It — Barun Mitra. 34. The Poultry Map. 35. The Egg Map. 36. Team Pizza or Team Biryani? 37. Gordon tries to make Pad Thai -- The F Word. 38. The Panchatantra. 39. Varun Grover Is in the House — Episode 292 of The Seen and the Unseen. 40. Kimaham Abhavam -- Krish Ashok's version of Johnny Cash's version of Nine Inch Nails's Hurt. 41. Hurt -- Johnny Cash. 42. Hurt -- Nine Inch Nails. 43. Miss Excel on Instagram and TikTok. 44. How an Excel Tiktoker Manifested Her Way to Making Six Figures a Day — Nilay Patel. 45. The Menu -- Mark Mylod. 46. Cilappatikaram. 47. Dunbar's number. 48. Womaning in India With Mahima Vashisht — Episode 293 of The Seen and the Unseen. 49. Womaning in India — Mahima Vashisht's newsletter. 50. Superforecasting -- Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner. 51. Essays -- Paul Graham. 52. Nityananda making sense. 53. Uncle Roger. 54. Abby Philips Fights for Science and Medicine — Episode 310 of The Seen and the Unseen. 55. Never Talk About TURMERIC on Social Media — Abby Philips. 56. The Magic Pill -- Rob Tate. 57. Wanting — Luke Burgis. 58. Luke Burgis Sees the Deer at His Window -- Episode 337 of The Seen and the Unseen. 59. Brandolini's law. 60. Foodpharmer on Instagram. 61. 1000 True Fans — Kevin Kelly. 62. 1000 True Fans? Try 100 — Li Jin. 63. The Case Against Sugar — Gary Taubes. 64. The Big Fat Surprise — Nina Teicholz. 65. The Obesity Code — Jason Fung. 66. Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas — Natasha Dow Schüll. 67. Your Undivided Attention -- Podcast by Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin. 68. Sara Rai Inhales Literature — Episode 255 of The Seen and the Unseen. 69. 3Blue1Brown on YouTube. 70. The Life and Times of Abhinandan Sekhri — Episode 254 of The Seen and the Unseen. 71. Jaya Varma and the Chandigarh Choir perform Dhano Dhanne. 72. In a Silent Way — Episode 316 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gaurav Chintamani). 73. Sonnet 18 -- William Shakespeare. 74. Sonnet 18 -- Harriet Walter. 74. Sonnet 18 -- Akala. 75. Sonnet 18 -- David Gilmour. 76. Raga Ahir Bhairav -- Gangubai Hangal. 77. The Memoirs of Dr Haimabati Sen — Haimabati Sen (translated by Tapan Raychoudhuri). 78. Kavitha Rao and Our Lady Doctors — Episode 235 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kavitha Rao). 79. Dark Was the Night -- Blind Willie Johnson. 80. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road -- Lucinda Williams. 81. Sweet Old World -- Lucinda Williams. 82. All That She Wants -- Ace of Base. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! Episode art: ‘Amits' by Simahina.

Luke Burgis (ethical entrepreneur, mimetic desire expert) reckons none of us knows what we want. We like to think we are incredibly original creators of our artfully curated lives. But, in fact, we only ever mimic others' desires. Luke's thesis draws on the work of philosopher Rene Girard who coined the term “mimetic desire” and who has become an obsession among Silicon Valley bros. I was keen to find out why Girard's idea has become so hot and asked Luke to join me to put things straight. Luke is a veteran entrepreneur, the entrepreneur-in-residence at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC and the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, named by the Financial Times as one of the most important business books of 2021. In this chat we cover how the social media pile-on is not so much about difference, why women are so often scapegoats and how Lamborghini cars came about due to a mimetic rivalry with Ferrari (and their bad clutches).Wanting is available to purchase hereYou can follow Luke's writing over on his Substack: Anti-MimeticFollow Luke on InstagramIf you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "about" pageFor more such conversations subscribe to my Substack newsletter, it's where I interact the most!Get your copy of my book, This One Wild and Precious LifeLet's connect on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Desire is social, contagious, and malleable. Why do we unconsciously imitate the desires of others—and how do our "mimetic desires" shape our values and affect the way we live? Luke Burgis, author of Wanting, suggests that interrogating the source of your desires can help you achieve more and lead instead of follow. Luke and Andrew talk about seeking out alternate models of desire outside your immediate bubble, the relationship between desire and entrepreneurship, and how to break free of mimetic desire. Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/caa530M5Lvw Wanting - https://amzn.to/3Qxc0Kl Follow Luke Burgis: https://twitter.com/lukeburgis | https://lukeburgis.com Follow Andrew Yang: https://twitter.com/andrewyang | https://forwardparty.com Get 20% off Helix: https://helixsleep.com/yang To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Where do our desires come from? Babies don't come into this world with an inherent drive to found tech companies. How much do our environment and the people around us shape those wants? Luke Burgis is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at The Catholic University of America and is the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, which expands on the mimetic theory of René Girard's. He also co-authored the book, Unrepeatable: Cultivating the Unique Calling of Every Person, which explores how to find one's true vocation in life. Luke and Greg discuss why so many of our desires come from imitating those around us, the difference between thick vs. thin desires, and how true vocations in life should transcend just a job. *unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*Episode Quotes:The importance of developing the habit of being present 47:41: We need to learn that skill of being present because we're always on all the time, social media phones. And when I say on, I mean we live in a world where everything is recorded. Everything is on stage; all the world's a stage, as Shakespeare said. So stepping off that stage from time to time doesn't necessarily mean going on a silent retreat, as I have. I've been very lucky to have had the opportunity to go on those. Sometimes it just means stepping off that stage and just being alone with ourselves and the people that are close to us.The moving goalpost is a real problem for mimesis33:23: The moving goalpost problem is a real problem when it comes to mimesis, especially when we're not clear about what the objectives are.Social media and how it made all of us into internal mediators for one another26:43: Social media, it's called the town square. But in a sense, it's made all of us into internal mediators for one another. We can all interact. It's narrowed the space—the existential space—between us and just made it a lot easier to assimilate ideas. It seems like we're all kind of living in each other's heads.What does it mean to have a personal vocation that is unrepeatable?53:22: ​​A vocation is something intensely personal. And that, you know, is mine because of my unique, created nature because of my time and unique circumstances that I've been born into. My unique family, the people that I encounter on a daily basis, and my personal vocation will be different than anybody else's who's ever lived.Show Links:Recommended Resources:René GirardIgnatius of LoyolaChef Sebastien BrasI See Satan Fall Like Lightning by René GirardGuest Profile:Faculty Profile at The Catholic University of AmericaLuke Burgis' WebsiteLuke Burgis on LinkedInLuke Burgis on TwitterHis Work:Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday LifeUnrepeatable: Cultivating the Unique Calling of Every Person

Looking to know yourself better? Luke Burgis provides the mirror. The author of the fascinating book, “Wanting,” he's spent years learning how technology, relationships, politics, economics, and education shape our desires, often for the worse. Let's see what Luke believes about how you can pursue a better life – a life of meaning. Subscribe to the podcast: Apple: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...⁠ Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/7eAkovs...⁠ Substack: ⁠https://believepodcast.substack.com/⁠ Follow Believe!:  Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/Believe_Pod⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/believe_pod/⁠ Follow Doug DeVos: Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/Doug_DeVos⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/doug.devos⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/dougdevosamway/⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-devos⁠ For show notes and more, visit ⁠https://thebelievepodcast.com/⁠.

The last time we had entrepreneur, professor, and author Luke Burgis on the show, he discussed the concept of mimetic desire, which says that we want the things we want because other people want them. Since that time, Luke has continued to explore the idea of mimesis, and how to resist its negative consequences, in his Substack: Anti-Mimetic. Today on the show, Luke and I dig into these ideas and discuss ways we can step outside the tempo, cadences, and priorities that the world would foist upon us and establish our own rhythms for our lives. Luke unpacks what it means to have “thick desires” and become a “political atheist” and how these concepts can help you live a more anti-mimetic life.Resources Related to the PodcastWanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life by Luke BurgisLuke's previous appearance on the AoM podcast: Episode #714 — Why Do We Want What We Want?Leisure: The Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper Deceit, Desire, and the Novel by René GirardThe Red and the Black by StendhalAoM Article: What Do You Want to Want?AoM Article: Freedom From…Freedom ToAoM Podcast #215: Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction With Matthew CrawfordAoM Podcast #796: The Life We're Looking ForAoM Podcast #847: Overdoing DemocracySunday Firesides: Not Everything Is PoliticalConnect With Luke BurgisLuke's WebsiteLuke's Substack: Anti-Mimetic

To live the examined life, we have to examine our own desires. Luke Burgis joins Amit Varma in episode 337 of The Seen and the Unseen to share his insights into human nature -- and to talk about his own evolution as a person and a thinker. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Luke Burgis on Twitter, Instagram and his own website. 2. Wanting -- Luke Burgis. 3. Anti-Mimetic -- Luke's newsletter. 4. Ride/Drive -- Another newsletter by Luke. 5. Speaking Out (Of Order) -- Luke Burgis. 6. Podcast Heroes -- Luke Burgis. 7. A Meditation on Form -- Amit Varma. 8. Why Are My Episodes so Long? -- Amit Varma. 9. If You Are a Creator, This Is Your Time -- Amit Varma. 10. On Exactitude in Science — Jorge Luis Borges. 11. Getting out from under the influencers -- Luke Burgis on Look Ma' No Hands, Laura Max Rose's podcast. 12. Marshall McLuhan on Britannica, Wikipedia and Amazon. 13. The Power of Mimetic Desire -- Luke Burgis on The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish. 14. Dietrich von Hildebrand on Wikipedia and Amazon. 15. Leisure: The Basis of Culture -- Josef Pieper. 16. Natasha Badhwar Lives the Examined Life — Episode 301 of The Seen and the Unseen. 17. Dunbar's Number. 18. Imaginary Number — Vijay Seshadri. 19. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 20. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 21. How the Language of Therapy Took Over Dating -- Dani Blum. 22. The Pathless Path -- Paul Millerd. 23. How To Find Your True Desires -- Luke Burgis on Paul Millerd's Pathless Path podcast. 24. Songs of Surrender -- U2. 25. Gurwinder Bhogal Examines Human Nature -- Episode 331 of The Seen and the Unseen. 26. Gurwinder Bhogal's recent megathread -- and his tweet about the learning pyramid. 27. René Girard on Amazon and Wikipedia. 28. Man's Search For Meaning -- Viktor Frankl. 29. The Gentle Wisdom of Pratap Bhanu Mehta — Episode 300 of The Seen and the Unseen. 30. Mystagogues Wanted -- Luke Burgis. 31. Cormac McCarthy on Amazon. 32. Suyash Rai Embraces India's Complexity -- Episode 307 of The Seen and the Unseen. 33. Religion and Ideology in Indian Society — Episode 124 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Suyash Rai). 34. What People Are Really Doing When They Play Hard to Get -- Luke Burgis. 35. The Two Gentlemen of Verona -- William Shakespeare. 36. Blood Meridian -- Cormac McCarthy. 37. Aesop's Fables. 38. The Crisis of Political Imagination -- Glenn Tinder. 39. A Hidden Life -- Terrence Malick. 40. Paterson -- Jim Jarmusch. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! Episode art: ‘Look' by Simahina.

Luke has a background on Wall Street and has founded 3 companies in Silicon Valley. He describes his adult life as a constant state of uncertainty. At some point, he took a classics course, which he completed in a 24-hour Starbucks in a couple of months while living in Las Vegas. This led to him to contemplate deeper questions, leaving "entrepreneur Luke" behind and spending 3 years in Rome. Luke is now a Professor at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship and has written a book — "WANTING: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life." The book is one of the best ones I've read in the past couple of years and we talk about some of the ideas in the book and how they intersect with Luke and my life.

Luke Burgis introduces us to the power of mimetic desire and how it influences our wants, fears, fulfillment and much more. Understanding why we want what we want helps us to desire differently, influence the desires of others and build a more fulfilling future.  Subscribe for ad-free interviews and bonus episodes https://plus.acast.com/s/the-unmistakable-creative-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Luke Burgis is an author , creative thinker and entrepreneur. He has founded and led multiple companies. He's currently Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Director of Programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at the Catholic University of America, where he also teaches business and develops new education initiatives. He's the founder and director of Fourth Wall Ventures, an incubator for people and companies that contribute to the formation of a healthy human ecology. He graduated from NYU Stern School of Business and later from a pontifical university in Rome, where he studied theology.In this episode, Luke talks with host Stephen Roach about the memetic nature of desire and how cultural influences shape the things we yearn for. Purchase Luke's BookJoin The Makers & Mystics Creative CollectiveSupport The Podcast

It's human nature to want what we can't have, but what if the influences around you actually make you think want things you don't actually want? This is a phenomenon called mimetic desire, and in his book "Wanting", Luke Burgis explores how mimetic desire can lead us down an unfulfilling path and also help us curate a life that genuinely brings us joy.

For this episode, we interviewed the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, Luke Burgis. Why do we want what we want? This topic is rarely presented in conversations, business meetings, or political agendas, but it has a comprehensive impact on our lives and shapes our societies. This episode explores the psychology behind human desires, role modeling, competition, and the awareness of intentional wanting. Luke Burgis has founded and led multiple companies. He's currently entrepreneur-in-residence and director of programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at the Catholic University of America, where he also teaches business and develops new education initiatives. He's also the founder and director of Fourth Wall Ventures, an incubator for people and companies that contribute to the formation of a healthy human ecology. He graduated from NYU Stern School of Business and later from a pontifical university in Rome, where he studied theology. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Claire. Get Luke's book here: Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, Luke Burgis. Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

Luke Burgis joins the NIA boys to discuss Mimetic Desire, Thick vs. Thin Desires & Power of Memes.Timestamps:(00:00:00) - Intro (00:02:33) - Meme of the Week(00:04:18) - Jack & Luke's Collab(00:06:07) - Visualizing Mimesis(00:08:48) - Wanting's Backstory(00:10:33) - Meme Culture is Everywhere(00:12:26) - TLDR of Mimetic Desire(00:14:42) - Examples of Mimetic Desire(00:18:46) - Mount Rushmore of Meme Masters(00:22:39) - Role Models vs Models of Desire(00:25:52) - The Power of Mimetics(00:27:38) - Thick vs Thin Desires(00:35:57) - Mimetic Rivalry Explained(00:37:32) - Mimetic Desire is Natural(00:40:45) - Optimize for Yourself(00:48:26) - A.I. and Mimetic Desire(00:52:51) - Chat GPT vs Bard(00:53:46) - Generative Art and Society(00:58:20) - The Stendhal Effect(01:02:07) - Reacting to Twitter's “For You” Algorithm(01:05:17) - How Twitter's Algorithm Works(01:13:30) - Reacting to Twitter's Verification Reception(01:23:50) - Peter Theil and Mimetic DesireWhat Is Not Investment Advice?Every week, Jack Butcher, Bilal Zaidi & Trung Phan discuss what they're finding on the edges of the internet + the latest in business, technology and memes.Watch + Subscribe on Youtube:https://youtu.be/vpA5k1c4Ey4Listen into our group chat on Telegram:https://t.me/notinvestmentadviceLet us know what you think on Twitter:@bzaidi@trungtphan@jackbutcher@niapodcastFollow NIA on social:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notadvicepod/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089813414522TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@niapodcast Links Mentioned:Wanting (Book): https://amzn.to/43a9aioAnti-Mimetic (Newsletter): http://read.lukeburgis.comRIDE/DRIVE (Creator Notes): http://ride.lukeburgis.comVisualizing Mimesis: https://vv.mirror.xyz/5O3L9nsYfmYyYAdnAtS-SbA7N6NDAUR7mzdAfmiRlrcThe Myth of Artificial Intelligence by Erik Larson: https://bit.ly/3zvJq2iFounders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley by Jimmy Soni: https://amzn.to/3K4idbO Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Want to become more Stoic? Join us and other Stoics this October: Stoicism Applied by Caleb Ontiveros and Michael Tremblay on MavenWhy do you want what you do? Are your desires even yours? In this conversation, Caleb Ontiveros speaks with Luke Burgis. Luke's most recent book, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, covers mimetic theory, as does this conversation.Mimetic theory is essential for Stoics to know because it explains why we end up wanting so many things that are outside of our control. Luke shares how mimetic theory does this and tactics for focusing on “thick” as opposed to “thin” desires.Anti-Mimetic newsletter***Stoa Conversations is Caleb Ontiveros and Michael Tremblay's podcast on Stoic theory and practice.Caleb and Michael work together on the Stoa app. Stoa is designed to help you build resilience and focus on what matters. It combines the practical philosophy of Stoicism with modern techniques and meditation.Download the Stoa app (it's a free download): stoameditation.com/podListen to more episodes and learn more here: https://stoameditation.com/blog/stoa-conversations/Subscribe to The Stoa Letter for weekly meditations, actions, and links to the best Stoic resources: www.stoaletter.com/subscribeCaleb Ontiveros has a background in academic philosophy (MA) and startups. His favorite Stoic is Marcus Aurelius. Follow him here: https://twitter.com/calebmontiverosMichael Tremblay also has a background in academic philosophy (PhD) where he focused on Epictetus. He is also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. His favorite Stoic is Epictetus. Follow him here: https://twitter.com/_MikeTremblayThank you to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations: https://ancientlyre.com/

One of my hero's is Zig Ziglar.  He had hundreds of quotes about money and life.  One of the most insightful is “money won't make you happy . . . but everybody wants to find out for themselves”.   This is so true and I have seen it show up in my life and the lives of so many clients over the years that it is almost a cliche.  The pursuit of the all mighty dollar is not a bad thing, as Zig says,  “Money isn't the most important thing in life, but it's reasonably close to oxygen on the ‘gotta have it' scale”.  The problem is that sometimes the primary criteria for deciding what work we do, is how much it pays and the potential opportunity.  If that is our primary focus we may end up doing work that pays well but is ultimately unfulfilling.  The key is to find that balance and remember that wealth building is a marathon, not a sprint.  And a key aspect of staying in the race is doing work that is deeply fulfilling and meaningful.  Join us today as we talk about the the book Wanting by Luke Burgis and the importance of fulfilling work when it comes to staying in the game of building a future.

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, Luke Burgis. Why do we want what we want? This topic is rarely presented in conversations, business meetings, or political agendas, but it has a comprehensive impact on our lives and shapes our societies. This episode explores the psychology behind human desires, role modeling, competition, and the awareness of intentional wanting. Luke Burgis has founded and led multiple companies. He's currently entrepreneur-in-residence and director of programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at the Catholic University of America, where he also teaches business and develops new education initiatives. He's also the founder and director of Fourth Wall Ventures, an incubator for people and companies that contribute to the formation of a healthy human ecology. He graduated from NYU Stern School of Business and later from a pontifical university in Rome, where he studied theology. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Claire. Get Luke's book here: Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, Luke Burgis. Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

This week, we were excited to have author Luke Burgis on the pod, to talk about a hot topic: desire. Specifically, mimetic desire-- the idea that desires are often generated through our human propensity to copy each other. He's written an excellent book, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, that affected both of us deeply. First theorized by the French philosopher Rene Girard, and present in everything from The White Lotus to the writings of Peter Thiel, mimetic desire is everywhere around us. We talked about how to identify the power of mimetic desire in our society: in ever more adversarial politics, in an economy increasingly focused on attention, and especially in social-media-mediated quests for collective scapegoats (Shadi shares how he became a scapegoat for Philadelphia sports fans last week). We discussed if it was possible to ever break the cycle of scapegoating, and how knowledge of this dynamic should change how we view politics. What does it mean to be a "political atheist," as Girard, a Catholic, called himself? And is Damir going to Hell? In Part 2 (available here for subscribers) we pondered what the more pessimistic conclusions of the theory of mimetic desire might be. What does it mean that societies are to some extent bound to engage in cycles of mimetic imitation, rivalry, and scapegoating? Do citizens in democracies really deliberate rationally, or are they just following the leader? Is Shadi's insistence that democracy is an end in itself in peril? We closed by asking what implications this could all have for our personal livees? How can we determine which of our desires are "thin"-- mimetically taken from others-- or "thick"-- coming from a deep sense of self? Do we have to consciously restrain our own choices? And what might our lives look like if we regain our sense of self-possession? Required Reading: Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, by Luke Burgis (Amazon). Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, by Rene Girard (Amazon). Shadi's bad sports tweet. This week, we were excited to have author Luke Burgis on the pod, to talk about a hot topic: desire. Specifically, mimetic desire—the idea that desires are often generated through our human propensity to copy each other. He's written an excellent book, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, that affected both of us deeply. This week, we were excited to have author Luke Burgis on the pod, to talk about a hot topic: desire. Specifically, mimetic desire—the idea that desires are often generated through our human propensity to copy each other. He's written an excellent book, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, that affected both of us deeply. First theorized by the French philosopher Rene Girard, and present in everything from The White Lotus to the writings of Peter Thiel, mimetic desire is everywhere around us. We talked about how to identify the power of mimetic desire in our society: in ever more adversarial politics, in an economy increasingly focused on attention, and especially in social-media-mediated quests for collective scapegoats (Shadi shares how he became a scapegoat for Philadelphia sports fans last week). We discussed if  it was possible ever break the cycle of scapegoating, and how knowledge of this dynamic should change how we view politics. What does it mean to be a "political atheist," as Girard, a Catholic, called himself? And is Damir going to Hell? In Part 2 (available here for subscribers), we pondered what the more pessimistic conclusions of the theory of mimetic desire might be. What does it mean that societies are to some extent bound to engage in cycles of mimetic imitation, rivalry, and scapegoating? Do citizens in democracies really deliberate rationally, or are they just following the leader? Is Shadi's insistence that democracy is as an end in itself in peril? We closed by asking what implications this could all have for our personal lives. How can we determine which of our desires are "thin"—mimetically taken from others—or "thick"—coming from a deep sense of self? Do we have to consciously restrain our own choices? And what might our lives look like if we regain our sense of self-possession? Required Reading: Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, by Luke Burgis (Amazon). Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, by Rene Girard (Amazon). Shadi's bad sports tweet.

The opening epigraph to Luke Burgis' brilliant book gave me such a chuckle that I can't resist sharing it here: “We want what other people want because other people want it, and it's penciled-in eyebrows all the way down, down to the depths of the nth circle of hell where we all die immediately of a Brazilian butt lift, over and over again.” —Dayna Tortorici via n+1 (as quoted in Wanting) In today's conversation, we're talking about mimetic desire and our relationship to wanting. It's a fundamental aspect of the fact that humans are social creatures: I see, therefore I want; I want, therefore I am. But if what you're wanting isn't serving you, this conversation will be just the medicine you need to turn your attention inward again. As Luke says, “Mimetic desire is like gravity—it just is. Gravity is always at work. What gravity is to physics, mimetic desire is to psychology.” We can better at escaping relational riptides and the rat race. Listen in to learn more about why Wanting is the key to unlocking our deepest desires and ridding ourselves of toxic comparison and competition. More About Luke: Luke Burgis has co-created and led four companies in wellness, consumer products, and technology. He's currently Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Director of Programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship where he also teaches business at The Catholic University of America. He writes and speaks regularly about the education of desire, and is the author of two books on these topics: Unrepeatable: Cultivating the Unique Calling of Every Person and Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life.

Most people don't follow through on the goals that they set for themselves. This is common knowledge. But the more important question is: Why are people struggling to achieve their goals? It turns out that some of it has to do with how we structure our goals and some of it has to do with our motivation for choosing those goals in the first place.In this episode, Megan and Michael talk about five mistakes that people make when setting goals and how to move forward. Then, Joel speaks to author Luke Burgis about the importance of how we're motivated.Make sure to check out Luke's book, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life.If you need help setting your goals, then you should check out Full Focus' Best Year Ever event on January 6, 2023. For more information, visit https://fullfocus.co/goalsetting.For more podcasts, visit www.businessaccelerator.com/podcast.The Business Accelerator podcast is a reflection of the values and processes inside the BusinessAccelerator coaching program. If you want a free Business Growth Coaching Call, visit www.businessaccelerator.com/coach.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Most people don't follow through on the goals that they set for themselves. This is common knowledge. But the more important question is: Why are people struggling to achieve their goals? It turns out that some of it has to do with how we structure our goals and some of it has to do with our motivation for choosing those goals in the first place.In this episode, Megan and Michael talk about five mistakes that people make when setting goals and how to move forward. Then, Joel speaks to author Luke Burgis about the importance of how we're motivated.Make sure to check out Luke's book, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life.If you need help setting your goals, then you should check out Full Focus' Best Year Ever event on January 6, 2023. For more information, visit https://fullfocus.co/goalsetting.For more podcasts, visit www.businessaccelerator.com/podcast.The Business Accelerator podcast is a reflection of the values and processes inside the BusinessAccelerator coaching program. If you want a free Business Growth Coaching Call, visit www.businessaccelerator.com/coach.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I talk with Luke Burgis, an author and expert of René Girard. He's written a book called 'Wanting: the Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life'. Today we discuss Girard, the problem and solution of sacrifice, Christianity, desire and rivalry, our modern concern for victims after the World Wars, the formation of Antichrist, cancel culture and more. Enjoy. Luke Burgis' book, 'Wanting: the Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life': https://www.amazon.com/Wanting-Power-Mimetic-Desire-Everyday/dp/1250262488/ Luke's Substack: https://read.lukeburgis.com/ Luke's website and newsletter: https://lukeburgis.com/ ========== - Original video: https://youtu.be/fItOlHFQHbw - The Symbolic World website and blog: www.thesymbolicworld.com - Merch: www.thesymbolicworld.store - Language of Creation, by Matthieu Pageau: www.amazon.com/Language-Creation…ook/dp/B07D738HD8 Support this podcast: - Website: https://thesymbolicworld.com/support/ - Patreon: www.patreon.com/pageauvideos - Subscribestar: www.subscribestar.com/jonathan-pageau - Paypal: www.paypal.me/JonathanPageau Join the conversation: - Unofficial Facebook discussion group: www.facebook.com/groups/1989208418065298/ - The Symbolic World Reddit: www.reddit.com/r/TheSymbolicWorld/ Social media links: - Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheSymbolicWorld - Twitter: www.twitter.com/pageaujonathan - Instagram: www.instagram.com/jonathan.pageau My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson. My website designers, Anomalist Design: www.anomalistdesign.com/

HoS Pod welcomes Luke Burgis, author of the fascinating book Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life. I read it before our interview and can't stop thinking about it. Not only is the book entertaining, but it gave me a different perspective on life. I can't say that happens all too often. Luke is also the proprietor of the Anti-Mimetic, which continues on his book's pertinent themes. A Substack devoted to one book's themes might sound constraining, but perhaps after you listen to the podcast, you'll see how Luke's focus happens to be endlessly generative. Our conversation included, but was not limited to…* What is “mimetic desire”? * Why is understanding mimetic desire a skeleton key for understanding life?* Why Luke was researching professional sports (football specifically) for his book* To understand an athlete, you need to know what they desire* How the 1990s San Diego Chargers rejected the Denver Broncos imitative trap* How Steve Kerr used football coaching as a model for his basketball team* “I guess I believe in you more than you do,” as motivation* How similarity breeds rivalry more than difference does* What's the most powerful mimesis engine: Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or Instagram?* The “training wheels truth” that Twitter is an echo chamber isn't totally true* The scapegoat as a deep human need* “Torches of Freedom,” a 1920s example of woke capitalism This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit houseofstrauss.substack.com/subscribe

Today we're joined by Luke Burgis, author of "Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life," to discuss where our desires come from and how we can better shape them. We discuss his article, "The Three City Problem of Modern Life," in which he expands on the idea, "What does Athens (reason) have to do with Jerusalem (faith)?" by adding a third city to the discussion: Silicon Valley (technology) and proposing that this Silicon Valley "city" has changed our relationships with reason and faith. Then, we talk about mimetic desire: what it is, why it's important, and how we can respond to our own desires based on where they come from. We define "disruptive empathy" and "trendy narcissism" and talk about how real love ties into all of this. WE'RE GIVING AWAY 5 SIGNED COPIES OF LUKE'S BOOK! To enter: Head to YouTube when this episode goes live there at 6pm ET Make sure you're subscribed Comment on this video that you want to enter the giveaway and your Instagram handle so we can DM you for your address --- Timecodes: [01:15] Intro [03:07] "The Three City Problem of Modern Life" [18:42] Mimetic desire [25:27] Does technology lead to mimetic desire? [29:47] Defining love [33:04] Disruptive empathy [39:44] Mimetic future & what we will want tomorrow [42:13] Advice from "Wanting" [45:03] Giveaway --- Today's Sponsors: Annie's Kit Clubs — all subscriptions are month-to-month, and you can cancel anytime! Go to AnniesKitClubs.com/ALLIE and get your first month 75% off! CrowdHealth — get your first 6 months for just $99/month. Use promo code 'ALLIE' when you sign up at JoinCrowdHealth.com. Good Ranchers — change the way you shop for meat today by visiting GoodRanchers.com/ALLIE and use promo code 'ALLIE' to save $30 off your order AND 2lbs of ground beef free (October-only special)! My Patriot Supply — prepare yourself for anything with long-term emergency food storage. Go to PrepareWithAllie.com to save 20% on your 3-Month Emergency Food Kit. --- Buy Allie's book, You're Not Enough (& That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love: https://alliebethstuckey.com/book Relatable merchandise – use promo code 'ALLIE10' for a discount: https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

n this new “Bishop Barron Presents” discussion, Bishop Barron sits down with bestselling author Luke Burgis to discuss his new book, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life. Why do we want what we want? And how do our desires shape us as people? How are desires related to freedom? In their conversation, Bishop Barron and Burgis discuss these topics and more, such as: René Girard Mimetic desire Social media The scapegoat mechanism Links Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life by Luke Burgis NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission, and join us today!

Livestreamed Tuesday June 14th @ 10am EST Ryan and David cover some of the current news in the market, and discuss bear market emotions.  If you need a shoulder to lean on, we gotchu fam.  ------

Is there really a straight line between you and the things you want in life? Entrepreneur and educator Luke Burgis goes deep on how understanding mimetic desire can help you better connect the dots between where you are now, and where you want to go. Burgis breaks down the theories behind mimetic desire and the teachings of René Girard, why all of our behaviors are imative, why we desire things we don't need, and why this all leads to missing out on aspects of life that are far more meaningful and valuable.   Burgis has co-created and led four companies in wellness, consumer products, and technology. He's currently Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Director of Programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship, where he also teaches business at The Catholic University of America. He is also the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life. -- Want even more? Members get early access, hand-edited transcripts, member-only episodes, and so much more. Learn more here: https://fs.blog/membership/ Every Sunday our Brain Food newsletter shares timeless insights and ideas that you can use at work and home. Add it to your inbox: https://fs.blog/newsletter/ Follow Shane on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish