The Monster of We

Throughline

NPR

Society & Culture, History, Documentary

4.7 • 15K Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2021

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Are most modern problems caused by selfishness or a lack of it? Ayn Rand, a Russian American philosopher and writer, would say it's the latter — that selfishness is not a vice but a virtue — and that capitalism is the ideal system. Everyone from Donald Trump to Alan Greenspan to Brad Pitt have sung Ayn Rand's praises. The Library of Congress named her novel, Atlas Shrugged, the second most influential book in the U.S. after the Bible. Ayn Rand wasn't politically correct, she was belligerent and liked going against the grain. And although she lived by the doctrine of her own greatness, she was driven by the fear that she would never be good enough.

In this episode, historian Jennifer Burns will guide us through Rand's evolution and how she eventually reshaped American politics, becoming what Burns calls "a gateway drug to life on the right."

Transcript

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0:35.9	You do that and we'll get going with today's show.
0:38.9	Thank you.
0:45.2	A lot of people really despise her.
0:47.1	She was a piss-poor writer.
0:48.7	A lot of people really love her.
0:50.0	I think you'll find her most unusual and most controversial.
0:52.8	She may be our most debated philosopher.
0:55.5	Oh, God, what a horrible person.
0:58.0	I am pleased to present.
	...

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