The Atlas Society Presents - Objectively Speaking

Join Atlas Society founder and Senior Scholar David Kelley, Ph.D., along with Senior Fellow Robert Tracinski, for the 268th episode of Objectively Speaking and a special webinar exploring what it means for a nation to be defined by ideas rather than ancestry or geography. From the Constitution to immigration, from debates with national conservatives to challenges from the anti-American left, the duo will examine the enduring principles that shaped America—and why defending them is more important than ever.

Join Atlas CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 267th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she interviews founder and board chair of Education Design Lab, Kathleen deLaski, about her new book “Who Needs College Anymore? Imagining a Future Where Degrees Won’t Matter,” which draws on a decade of design-thinking research and interviews to reimagine what higher education might offer and whom it should serve.  DeLaski is the founder and board chair of the Education Design Lab, which works with colleges, states, and employers to design shorter, more targeted forms of higher education. Over the course of her career, she has worked as an executive at Fortune 500 company Sallie Mae, worked as a correspondent for ABC News, covering the White House and foreign affairs, served in the Clinton administration, the first woman to serve as chief Pentagon spokesperson, and named the Washingtonian Magazine's list of top policy influencers each year since 2022.

Join Atlas CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 266th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she interviews returning guest Eric Kaufmann about his latest book, “The Third Awokening: A 12-Point Plan for Rolling Back Progressive Extremism,” which explores the rise of “woke” ideology and proposes a concrete strategy to counter its influence. Eric Kaufmann is a Canadian Professor of Politics at the University of Buckingham, adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and a previous guest on Objectively Speaking, where he spoke on his book “Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration and the Future of White Majorities.” A specialist on cultural politics, religious and national identity, and demography, Kaufmann has authored, co-authored, and edited multiple books, including “The Rise and Fall of Anglo-America” and “Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth.”

What if the cultural quirks of the late ’90s weren’t just nostalgia, but the blueprint for today’s America? Join Atlas CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 265th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she interviews author Ross Benes about his new book “1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times,” which demonstrates how many of the strangest cultural features of 1999 have signaled and paved the way for the coarsening of American life today. Ross Benes is an author, journalist, and research analyst who has written for outlets, including Huffpost, The Nation, Rolling Stone, Smithsonian Magazine, and has also written several books, including The Sex Effect and Rural Rebellion: How Nebraska Became a Republican Stronghold.

Join Atlas CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 264th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she interviews returning guest Peter Worrell about his latest book “INTENTION: Unlocking The Lifeforce Inside High-Performing Entrepreneurs” which explores what truly drives entrepreneurial success—not just strategy and execution, but the deep, inner forces of intention, resilience, and alignment. Being a successful entrepreneur takes more than strategy and execution, but draws on the deep, inner forces of intention, resilience, grit, and creativity. How to unleash these qualities is a question Peter Worrell explores in his latest book, "INTENTION: Unlocking The Lifeforce Inside High-Performing Entrepreneurs." And it’s a topic that Worrell has had decades studying, having helped countless Entrepreneur Owner-Managers to build and ultimately capture the Enterprise Value they’ve tirelessly built, in his capacity as Managing Director of Bigelow LLC. Worrell is also the author of "Enterprise Value: How the Best Owner-Managers Build Their Fortune, Capture Their Company’s Gains, and Create Their Legacy," and host of the Enterprise Value Podcast.

Join Atlas CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 263rd episode of Objectively Speaking, where she interviews journalist David Zweig about his book "An Abundance of Caution: American Schools, the Virus, and a Story of Bad Decisions,” which offers a devastating account of the decision-making process behind one of the worst American policy failures in a century—the extended closures of public schools during the pandemic. David Zweig is a writer, musician, and freelance journalist whose articles have appeared in a variety of publications, including The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Free Press, and, most often, his newsletter, Silent Lunch. Zweig has testified twice before Congress as an expert witness on school policies during the pandemic, and his investigative reporting on pandemic policies has been cited in numerous Congressional letters and a brief to the Supreme Court.

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 262nd episode of Objectively Speaking, where she interviews former CIA analyst Martin Gurri about his book "The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium." Why has trust in the “expert” class cratered? What explains the rise of populism around the world? Why do people view the once-vaunted Fourth Estate as little more than “Fake News”? Turns out author Martin Gurri anticipated these questions in his prophetic 2014 book, The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium, which tells the story of how insurgencies, enabled by digital devices and a vast information sphere, have mobilized millions of ordinary people around the world. He’s now updated his original to include an extensive analysis of Donald Trump’s improbable rise to the presidency and the electoral triumphs of Brexit. A former CIA analyst, Gurri writes extensively on geopolitical and media-related topics for multiple outlets, including The Free Press and his blog, The Fifth Wave.

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 261st episode of Objectively Speaking, where she interviews author Zoltan Cendes about his book "The Objectivist’s Guide to the Galaxy: Answers to the Ultimate Questions of Life, the Universe, and Everything." In a playful nod to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Cendes poses and answers life’s ultimate questions, informed by his deep knowledge of Objectivism—and other sciences, including physics and biology. Cendes is the founder of Ansoft Corporation, a trailblazer in engineering simulation software with major clients including Intel and Apple. Cendes’ masterpiece will thrill those with scientific curiosity, and inspire readers eager to gain knowledge of the universe from first principles on up.

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 259th episode of The Atlas Society Asks where she interviews author Robert Bidinotto about his new book "A Rebel In Eden: The War Between Individualism and Environmentalism," which takes a deep dive into the movement’s mythological roots and highlights its scientifically bogus environmental scare campaigns. A previous editor for The Atlas Society’s The New Individualist, Robert Bidinotto has written nonfiction books such as "Criminal Justice?" and "Freed to Kill," as well as fiction such as the bestselling Dylan Hunter thriller series.

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 258th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she interviews historian Jonathan W. White about his vast knowledge of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War era as written in his more than 20 books on the topic. Jonathan W. White is a historian and the author or editor of more than 20 books and over 100 articles, essays, and reviews on Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, slavery and emancipation, and the U.S. Constitution. Aside from teaching American studies at Christopher NewPort University, White wears many hats including Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians, serving on the Boards of Directors of the Abraham Lincoln Institute and the Abraham Lincoln Association, along with being the Vice Chair of The Lincoln Forum. He published his first children’s book My Day with Abe Lincoln in 2024 with a new book planned for release later this fall.

Join Atlas CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 258th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she interviews Laura Delano about her book "Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance," which tells the story of Delano’s 14-year relationship to the American mental health industry and questions the dominant, rarely critiqued role that the American mental health industry, and the pharmaceutical industry in particular, plays in shaping what it means to be human. Laura Delano is a writer, speaker, and consultant, and the founder of Inner Compass Initiative, a charitable organization that helps people make informed choices about psychiatric diagnoses, drugs, and drug withdrawal. She is a leading voice in the international movement to offer patients an alternative to the medicalized, professionalized mental health industry. Delano works with individuals and families around the world who are seeking guidance and support during their withdrawal journeys and in their post-psychiatric lives.

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 257th episode of Objectively Speaking where she interviews Brian Doherty about his new book "Modern Libertarianism: A Brief History of Classical Liberalism in the United States," which provides a concise, thorough account of the intellectual roots of the American libertarian movement, with helpful summaries of key figures, institutions, and events. As a senior editor at Reason magazine, Doherty is an award-winning journalist who has covered libertarian and conservative movement history, gun policy and legal history, tech innovation, environmental and trade policy, and cutting-edge American art movements. His previous books include "Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern Libertarian Movement," "Gun Control on Trial," and "Ron Paul’s rEVOLution."

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 256th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she interviews award-winning author Jimmy Soni about his 2022 book "The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley." Jimmy Soni is the author of "The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley," which explores PayPal’s turbulent early days and the stories of countless individuals who were left out of the front-page features and banner headlines but who were central to PayPal’s success. As an award-winning author, speechwriter, and former managing editor of The Huffington Post, his previous books include "A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age" and "Rome’s Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar."

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 255th episode of Objectively Speaking (formerly The Atlas Society Asks), where she interviews Extropic founder Guillaume Verdon. Guillaume Verdon, or Gill Verdon, is the founder of Extropic, a startup AI hardware company to meet the demanding power and computation requirements of generative AI. A physicist, applied mathematician, and researcher in quantum machine learning, Gill is also known under his online persona, @BasedBeffJezos, and for his creation of effective accelerationism (e/acc), which advocates for rapid technological progress as an ethically preferred path for human progress, emphasizing optimism and proactive efforts to shape a better future.

Join Atlas Society founder and Senior Scholar David Kelley, Ph.D., along with Senior Scholar and Professor of Political Economy at Duke, Richard Salsman, Ph.D., for a special webinar exploring how influential ideas often fail to persuade when their terms are misunderstood, emotionally charged, or used unequivocally. "Intellectual influencers often fail to convince others of the truth of their concepts and principles when their targets don’t 'hear' what’s meant--or hear its opposite. Connotation (felt meaning) doesn’t always track denotation (literal meaning). Examples include atheism, selfishness, capitalism, power, equality, liberal, democracy, and progressive. Ideally, we define our terms and don’t equivocate, but each is likely amid today’s conceptual confusion, epistemological nominalism, and moral emotivism. People 'talk past each other' or dismiss debates as futile--'mere semantics.'"

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 253rd episode of Objectively Speaking (formerly The Atlas Society Asks), where she interviews the CEO of the American Culture Project, John Tillman, about his work with the American Culture Project and Illinois Policy Institute, along with the moral case for celebrating entrepreneurial heroes. John Tillman is the CEO of the American Culture Project, an organization that attracts, educates, and mobilizes independent voters around the ideas of freedom and opportunity. He is also the chairman of the Illinois Policy Institute, one of the most influential state-based think tanks in the country, and a leader in the free-market, public-policy arena. 

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 252nd episode of The Atlas Society Asks, where she speaks with Topher Field, one of Australia’s leading and most recognized Libertarian political commentators and human rights activists, about his book "Good People Break Bad Laws: Civil Disobedience in the Modern Age." Best known for his work on the front lines of the protests and pushback against draconian Covid lockdowns in Melbourne, Australia, Topher Field has been awarded 3 times by the Australian Libertarian Society, won 14 awards for his documentary Battleground Melbourne, is the host of The Aussie Wire, author of the book "Good People Break Bad Laws," and is a renowned public speaker and communicator of freedom.

Join CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 251st episode of The Atlas Society Asks where she interviews author, filmmaker, business executive, and retired National Champion gymnast, Jennifer Sey. Listen as the duo explore Sey's journey from elite gymnastics to corporate leadership and outspoken activism, exposing abuse in gymnastics (Chalked Up, Athlete A), fighting COVID lockdowns (Levi’s Unbuttoned), and her latest work on women’s sports. Jennifer Sey is an author, filmmaker, business executive, and retired National Champion gymnast. In her 2008 menor, Chalked Up, she exposed the abusive coaching practices in gymnastics, later producing the Emmy-award winning Netflix documentary Athlete A, which shed light on the crimes of Larry Nassar and the widespread abuse of athletes in the Olympic movement. As a fearless advocate for free speech, Sey also took a stand agains COVID-19 lockdowns, a battle she chronicles in Levi’s Unbottoned: The Woke Mob Took My Job but Gave Me My Voice. Today, she is the founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics, a brand dedicated to defending women’s sports, and the director of the upcoming documentary Generation Covid, which examines the devastating impacted of prolonged school closures on children.

Join Atlas Society Senior Scholar Stephen Hicks and Senior Fellow Robert Tracinski Wednesday for a special webinar exploring academic freedom and how the government uses federal/state funding to exert control over higher education.

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 249th episode of The Atlas Society Asks where she interviews former Anheuser-Busch executive Anson Frericks about his book Last Call for Bud Light: The Fall and Future of America's Favorite Beer, in which he tells the inside story of how Anheuser-Busch suddenly became enamored with stakeholder capitalism, DEI and ESG. Anson Frericks, a former president at Anheuser-Busch—formerly the home of America’s most popular brewery—watched as the company unraveled at the hands of globe-trotting financiers and progressive middle management. This culminated in the evaporation of $30 billion in market cap after releasing an advertising campaign starring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Drawing on his own experiences in corporate America, Frericks offers insight into how businesses should focus on shareholder capitalism and the people who buy their products and what may happen when they don’t.