All political labels are abused—some more than others. When should a label be abandoned, and when not? In contemporary American political journalism, liberal is one such contested word.

In the 290th episode of Objectively Speaking, Stephen Hicks will discuss its value and prospects.

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 289th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she is joined by Professor Richard Vedder to talk about his book, "Let Colleges Fail: The Power of Creative Destruction in Higher Education," which makes the case that higher education must embrace market discipline—learning from the private sector, ending federal control of student loans, questioning accreditation, and allowing creative destruction to drive innovation, affordability, and genuine educational value.

Vedder is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Economics at Ohio University. His work has appeared in scholarly journals and in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and National Review. He is the author of several books, including "Restoring the Promise: Higher Education in America" and "Going Broke By Degree: Why College Costs Too Much."

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 288th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she sits down with the President and CEO of Laitram, LLC, as well as Board Chair for Atlas Society, Jay Lapeyre to discuss the moral foundations of a free society and the values needed to sustain it.

In an age of deep polarization and growing skepticism toward freedom itself, what core values can still unite Americans around a shared moral foundation for a free society? That’s what Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman and President and CEO of Laitram, LLC, Jay Lapeyre sit down to discuss in this special episode of Objectively Speaking. Along with serving as Board Chair for both the Cato Institute and The Atlas Society, Lapeyre is a founding leader of the Free Society Coalition, a new alliance of thinkers and institutions committed to clarifying and defending the ethical principles that make freedom possible. Drawing on the Coalition’s Philadelphia Declaration for Freedom and Responsibility, the duo will explore how individual dignity, moral agency, objective truth, and constitutional limits on power can provide a unifying alternative to collectivism, nihilism, and authoritarianism on both the left and the right.

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 287th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she is joined by professor Anna Krylov to discuss the dangers when institutions dedicated to truth-seeking come to prioritize ideology over scientific rigor, and what that means for the future of science.

How did institutions dedicated to truth-seeking come to prioritize ideology over scientific rigor, and what does that mean for the future of science? That’s what Anna Krylov examines in a recent article, “How Science Became Corrupted,” for the Heterodox STEM Substack. In a powerful critique of modern scientific publishing, Krylov argues that identity-based policies, “citation justice,” and editorial censorship have undermined peer review, distorted the production of knowledge, and replaced merit with social engineering. Krylov is a theoretical chemist and professor known for her outspoken defense of scientific rigor, open inquiry, and the pursuit of objective truth.

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 286th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she sits down with sociologist Musa al-Gharbi to discuss his book "We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite," which examines the history and political economy of the symbolic professions from the interwar period through the present, tracing how journalists, academics, activists, and knowledge-sector professionals came to wield outsized cultural influence.

A sociologist and associate professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University, Al-Ghabri brings a rigorous, data-driven approach to understanding today’s ideological battles. He is also a prolific writer of many articles, including those posted to his Substack, Symbolic Capital(ism).

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 285th episode of Objectively speaking where she sits down with three-time returning guest Timothy Sandefur to talk about his latest book "You Don’t Own Me: Individualism and the Culture of Liberty," which explores how the idea of individual freedom has shaped not only politics and economics but also the arts—from pop music to poetry, from “Star Trek” to the blues, and from Western novels to architecture.

Returning for a third time on Objectively Speaking, Sandefur is no stranger to The Atlas Society, having joined us previously to discuss his books Frederick Douglass: Self-Made Man and Freedom’s Furies: How Isabel Patterson, Rose Wilder Lane, and Ayn Rand Found Liberty in an Age of Darkness. Sandefur is the Vice President for Legal Affairs at the Goldwater Institute and holds the Duncan Chair in Constitutional Government. He is the author of nine books as well as more than 50 scholarly articles on a wide variety of legal subjects.

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 284th episode of Objectivley Speaking where she interviews historian Barry Strauss about his book "Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World's Mightiest Empire," which offers a gripping account of one of the most momentous eras in human history: the two hundred years of ancient Israel’s battles against Rome that reshaped Judaism and gave rise to Christianity.

Barry Strauss is Corliss Page Dean Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and Bryce & Edith M. Bowmar Professor of Humanistic Studies Emeritus at Cornell. As a historian, Strauss has spent years researching and studying the leaders of the ancient world and has written and spoken widely of their mistakes and successes. Some of his previous titles include "Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine," "The War That Made the Roman Empire," and "Masters of Command: Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, and the Genius of Leadership."

Join Atlas Society Senior Fellow Robert Tracinski for the 283rd episode of Objectively Speaking when she sits down with Roosevelt Montás to talk about his book "Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation," which describes how four authors―Plato, Augustine, Freud, and Gandhi―had a profound impact on Montás’s life, driving home why a liberal education can still remake lives.

Roosevelt Montás is a Senior Lecturer in American Studies and English at Columbia University and the director of the Center for American Studies’ Freedom and Citizenship Program, which brings low-income high school students to the Columbia campus to study political theory and then helps them prepare successful applications to college. He speaks and writes on the history, meaning, and future of liberal education and is the author of "Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation."