Ayn Rand: The Radical Egoist Behind "Atlas Shrugged"

In this episode of pplpod, we dive into the polarizing life and legacy of Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum, better known to the world as Ayn Rand. Born in St. Petersburg, Rand witnessed the Bolshevik Revolution seize her father’s pharmacy before fleeing to the United States in 1926 with dreams of becoming a screenwriter. We explore her transformation from a struggling immigrant extra in Cecil B. DeMille films to a literary powerhouse who authored The Fountainhead and her 1957 magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged.

Join us as we unpack "Objectivism," the philosophical system she built around reason, laissez-faire capitalism, and "rational egoism"—the idea that selfishness is a virtue and altruism is incompatible with happiness. We also examine the complexities of her private life, including her thirty-year use of amphetamines to fuel her writing, her tumultuous affair with disciple Nathaniel Branden, and the accusations that her inner circle functioned like a cult. Finally, we discuss how a thinker largely ignored by academia became a foundational influence for the modern libertarian movement, selling over 37 million books worldwide.