E2 - The Bum

A Socialist Reads Atlas Shrugged

Thank you for continuing to listen to my close reading of Atlas Shrugged. In this episode, I discuss an example of Atlas Shrugged appearing in the public discourse by Aaron Rodgers. Then, I introduce a regular feature of the podcast, Today's Moment of Non-Contradiction (link to today's comment). In that segment, I choose a comment about Atlas Shrugged from the bowels of the Internet -- the comments and replies sections of various sites like Reddit, Quora, YouTube, Goodreads, and more. I use these two examples to underline my argument that Atlas Shrugged is not a long-forgotten vestige of past discourse. Instead, Atlas Shrugged continues, just as ever, to be associated with tremendous power and allure. I finish the episode by introducing the five main themes of my close reading and tying those themes to the first character introduced in the book: a nameless bum.
My five themes to explore in this 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 Bialystok.

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