Matthew Sitman and Sam Adler-Bell ▪ February 10, 2025

Matt and Sam talk to historian Jennifer Burns about the fascinating life, and brutal philosophy, of Ayn Rand.

An atheist, a radical for capitalism, a caricature of a greedy libertarian, a best-selling novelist, a difficult partner and passionate lover, and the self-proclaimed greatest philosopher since Aristotle: Ayn Rand was many things, and we talk about almost all of them in this epic episode.

To do so, we called upon historian Jennifer Burns, whose intellectual biography, Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right, is enormously helpful in trying to understand an idiosyncratic writer who, both then and now, fits ambiguously into the “fusionist” postwar conservative movement. Rand remains a controversial figure whose ideas permeate our culture and continue to inspire some of the most consequential (and least appealing) political figures in the United States.

To understand Rand and her influence, we examine her family’s experiences during and after the Russian Revolution; her journey to the United States and early success in Hollywood; the arduous path she trod to become a writer; Rand’s involvement in anti-New Deal politics in the 1930s and ’40s; her ideas, philosophy, and scandalous personal life; and much more.

First Aired on Dissent Magazine’s Know Your Enemy.

Shared via Creative Commons.