E13 - Hank Reardon and the Meaning of Vocation

A Socialist Reads Atlas Shrugged

At the start of this episode, Jonathan recommends a recent podcast episode from the Ezra Klein Show that is an interview with historian Timothy Snyder. This episode then explores the first few pages of Chapter 2 and how Rand glorifies industry without taking externalities like environmental pollution into account. There's also a connection to the classic sociological tension between structure and agency. Then Jonathan refers to the philosophy of Martin Heidegger in the worship of technology on display in the descriptions of industry and work in these first few pages of Chapter 2. Jonathan ends the episode by reflecting on the line between a vocation and "workism." There's a brief mention of "flow state" which is a concept originated by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi.
My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:

1. What is human nature?
2. Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.
3. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.
4. How empathy can be de-legitimized.
5. What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it?

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Learn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.art
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The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.
The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bialys.

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