E35 - Play It Open

A Socialist Reads Atlas Shrugged

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, Hank Rearden tells Dagny that he likes that she "plays it open." Jonathan explores the question of boundaries when establishing trust in business interactions. On the one hand, you don't want to be deceptive, but on the other hand, you don't want to overshare. How do you strike a balance?
Lastly, the chapter ends with Hank expressing concern about the immorality of materialism. Dagny asserts that it's not immoral to be proud of a hard-won accomplishment. Jonathan suggests that there is a spiritual dimension to accomplishment and that it's not entirely reducible to materialism.
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 Bia

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