Claim OwnershipA Socialist Reads Atlas Shrugged
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Description
In this podcast, a self-identified Socialist examines the arguments in Ayn Rand's book, Atlas Shrugged. Far from simply shooting down the ideas in the book, Jonathan Seyfried does their best to argue on fair ground. Through a close read, listeners will come away with a genuine appreciation for Rand's strongest arguments as well as an understanding of the flaws. NOTE: this is not a read aloud of Atlas Shrugged, but instead a critical close reading.
45 Episodes
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In this final episode, Jonathan discusses recent life changes that led to the break in episodes. Alas, this will be the last episode for a long while. Thank you to all the listeners who have corresponded and shared their experiences with the podcast. That has been a true joy. Jonathan is starting a History graduate program and won't have time to continue the podcast. Before signing off, Jonathan reflects on Ayn Rand's ideas in American culture in June 2023, as reflected in the funeral episo...
In this episode, Jonathan explores Hank Reardon's perception that business enterprise is a "shameful cult." This involves a larger discussion of the value of work and the psychological toll of living with people who have different values. Jonathan mentions the book Callings as an example of how work can hold larger value. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are: What is human nature?Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.Dagny ...
In this episode, Jonathan finishes up a discussion of Chapter 5. We see Dagny and Francisco interact in the novel's present time. The dialog reinforces the pattern for Francisco: keeping secrets and acting paternalistic toward Dagny. However, we also see suspenseful developments of Dagny's character on the Hero's Journey. Ayn Rand takes some more pot shots at socialism, which Jonathan addresses. My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are: What is human natu...
In this episode, Jonathan discusses the end of the backstory of Francisco and Dagny's relationship. In reference to the "exhilaration" of Francisco's manic overworking, Jonathan draws out the distinction between workaholism and flow state. Flow state is a concept explained by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (click here for his book on the flow state). This episode contains a lot of commentary about trust in relationships and how Francisco d'Anconia violates Dagny's trust. My five theme...
[For October-November 2022, episodes will not be released with the usual weekly frequency due to some family commitments. Hopefully the podcast will get back to regular weekly episodes soon. Thanks, everyone, for your patience and thoughtful engagement with the podcast!] In this episode, Jonathan analyzes the next few scenes of Chapter 5 (Part 1). Dagny and Francisco, now young adults, take their relationship to new levels of intimacy. Ayn Rand's description of that intimacy features the lan...
In this episode, we "Fast Forward" to the Story of the 20th Century Motor Company (located in Chapter 10 of Part 2; p.616-627 in the Signet paperback edition). There are not many places on the internet to find the excerpt except for this link. Jonathan begins the Fast Forward episodes on the 20th Century Motor Company by doing a case study of the post-Soviet economy of Estonia, responding to a speech given by Mart Laar at the Universidad Francisco Marroquín in 2006 (link: https://www.youtube...
This episode starts by checking in with Jim Taggart's growing apprehension of the power of shame-based morality -- something that Dagny thinks is potentially dangerous but Francisco considers merely disdainful. Next, the conversation turns to the dynamic between Francisco and Dagny, which continues to play according to Francisco's terms, mostly. Jonathan responds to the moral formula that someone who doesn't work has no value. The most important thing to understand about this is that the word...
In this episode, Jonathan delves into the next stages of the friendship between Dagny and Francisco. Also, this episode further analyzes the antipathy between James and Francisco. Next, Jonathan spends a lot of time reflecting on the optimistic paragraph that describes how the three friends (Dagny, Francisco, and Eddie) sit around the bonfire imagining the greatness of the future. The next section of this episode addresses the kind of vulnerability that is briefly introduced regarding Francis...
This episode focuses on the first scenes presented about Francisco d'Anconia's childhood interactions with the Taggart family, especially Dagny. Jonathan analyzes the friendship dynamics between Francisco, Dagny, and Eddie. Then, when Francisco attempts to test their mettle as an anonymous call boy for the train, we see the temptation that we all have to get an evaluation of our skills apart from our inherited or social background. Jonathan asserts that this is an illusion because of the soci...
In this episode, Jonathan analyzes the back story of Francisco D'Anconia's ancestry. The main topic of this episode is how Ayn Rand infuses an aristocratic family with bourgeois values. This involves thinking about social class in the terms conceptualized by Friedrich Nietzsche in the Genealogy of Morals. Jonathan recommends the podcast Philosophize This for a great explanation of the philosophy of Nietzsche. Adam Reed's essay about Francisco D'Anconia's connections to Judaism can be found ...
In this episode, Jonathan reaches the end of Chapter 4. In these last two scenes, Dagny interacts with two characters who share her "sense of life" and value system. The scene with Ellis Wyatt highlights the struggle of someone who has pride in their work but works in a broken system. Ellis Wyatt expresses particular disdain for those who feed off the carcasses of producers and Jonathan draws an analogy to the leeching behavior depicted in the TV show Silicon Valley. In the next scene...
Jonathan first discusses the short scene between Dagny and James. The "secret" that Dagny detects in James Taggart's smile is probably the short-term advantage possessed by those who are willing to use brute force or political maneuvering to achieve their goal. In the scene between Dagny and Dan Conway, we meet another "man's man" who built a successful enterprise in a rags-to-riches fashion. For the first time in the book, college education gets mentioned with disdain in a way that can be ...
This episode focuses on the vexing problem of setting rules for competition in marketplaces and profit-making. The government's function is to set the rules of the game and enforce them. In Atlas Shrugged, the National Railroad Association conducts illegal collusion, but Ayn Rand makes it seem like this behavior is something that firms could easily get away with in the real world. On the contrary, in the real world, it is not so easy to illegally collude. During this discussion, Jonat...
File this one under the theme: what is Capitalism and what is wrong with it? Jonathan provides a lengthy history-infused explanation of nationalization (when a government takes over an industry or a particular firm within an industry). The historical journey features Mexico's nationalization of its petroleum industry and the US Department of State's webpage. Jonathan mentions the Takings Clause in the 5th Amendment of the US Constitution and the Supreme Court case Kelo v. New Lo...
I thought that I could cover both the gender discussion and nationalization in about 45 minutes, but that did not happen. So, this week, we get into gender with the scene between James Taggart and Betty Pope. The next episode (#32) will discuss nationalization. Jonathan's understanding of contemporary gender theory and research is grounded in the text Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions by Lisa Wade and Myra Marx Ferree. In the discussion about gender and politics, Jonathan mentions M...
For the 30th episode, Jonathan "fast forwards" to Part 2, Chapter 2 in order to discuss one of the most quoted sections of Atlas Shrugged, Francisco d'Anconia's Money Speech. The gist of the speech is that d'Anconia (and Rand) claims that money is not the root of evil, but the root of all good. In this longer episode, Jonathan delves into the logic Rand uses to support this claim and examines several underlying assumptions. This is the last of the three fast forward episodes on Francisco d'An...
This episode begins by delving into aesthetics with an exploration of the question: what makes great art great? Dagny returns to her apartment and listens to the music of Richard Halley. Jonathan analyzes the description of Halley's Fourth Concerto and explores the idea that the experience of pain is worse for those who see no purpose in it. Jonathan mentions the philosopher Viktor Frankl as a philosopher who writes on the purpose of suffering (especially in his book Man's Search for Meaning)...
Jonathan begins this episode with a review of a recent book on economic systems: Is Capitalism Obsolete?: a Journey Through Alternative Economic Systems by Giacomo Corneo. This episode kicks off the discussion of Chapter 4 of Part 1. The title of the chapter, The Immovable Movers, carries allusions to Ancient Greek philosophical traditions connected to the creation of the cosmos. Jonathan explains some of the connections to Aristotle, Parmenides, and Thomas Aquinas. Following that, Jonathan e...
This episode begins with Jonathan examining how people typically make decisions about who is deserving of empathy and who is not. This episode's close read starts with the scene between Dagny and the "old watchdog." Jonathan examines the social class evocations called up by the identification of the old watchdog having an "air of breeding" about him. Dagny doesn't want to discuss what she calls her personal torture -- what is she referring to? Jonathan offers an answer: the riddle of why some...
This episode begins with an analysis of the scene between Dagny and Jim about the San Sebastian Line. This scene reprises a lot of the dynamics we saw before when Jim and Dagny interacted: Jim's sexism, ignorance, avoidance of responsibility, and disdain for facts. This scene also includes some fearmongering about nationalization, and the Mexican government as "looters." Jonathan explains the historical context for socialism in Mexico and for the nationalization of particular industries. Hist...
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this guy's a fucking idiot