The Atlas Society Presents - Objectively Speaking

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 296th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she meets with acclaimed ghostwriter and author Joshua Lisec to talk about his book, "Unhumans: The Secret History of Communist Revolutions (and How to Crush Them)," which argues that communism, socialism, Marxism, and similar radical ideologies are not philosophies but recurring tactics of terror that strip people of life, liberty, and property—and then exposes their playbook to show how those tactics can be confronted and defeated. Lisec is a New York Times, USA, and #1 Publishers Weekly bestselling author, a New York Times bestselling co-author, and a Wall Street Journal bestselling ghostwriter. As of September 2025, Lisec has ghostwritten more than 100 nonfiction books, collectively translated into more than a dozen languages.

Join Atlas Society CEO for the 295th episode of Objectively Speaking, where she sits down with returning guest Michael Shermer to talk about his 2024 book "Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational," which presents an overarching review of conspiracy theories―who believes them and why, which ones are real, and what we should do about them. Returning to Objectively Speaking, Shermer is no stranger to The Atlas Society, having joined us previously to discuss his book "Giving the Devil His Due," a tour de force in defense of free speech from a scientific humanist perspective. Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine, host of the podcast The Michael Shermer Show, and the author of New York Times bestsellers "Why People Believe Weird Things," "The Believing Brain," and "The Science of Good and Evil," among many others.

What does it truly mean for a nation to act in its rational self-interest on the world stage? Join Atlas Society Senior Scholar Richard Salsman, Ph.D., for a discussion on why America is right to adopt self-interested foreign-military policies, as captured in the phrase “America First.” The U.S. national interest entails preserving liberty and capitalism. Salsman explains how this egoistic principle fueled the launch of the U.S. war with Iran and so far has guided its conduct. But U.S. victory must be swift, definitive, and devoid of the “nation building” which violates the America First principle. Salsman argues that a future Middle East without dominance by theocratic Islamism could prove as beneficial to U.S. interests as did the end of the U.S.S.R. and the Cold War in the 1990s.

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 293rd episode of Objectively Speaking, where she sits down with podcast host and Bitcoin advocate Natalie Brunell to discuss her new book "Bitcoin is for Everyone: Why Our Financial System is Broken and Bitcoin is the Solution." A journalist, podcaster, and longtime friend of The Atlas Society, Brunell joins Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman to make the case that Bitcoin’s decentralized, transparent, and rules-based design offers a powerful tool for financial freedom, individual sovereignty, and long-term economic stability. Her book examines how inflation, centralized control, and opaque monetary policy have eroded trust in traditional finance.

‍It was March 2016—only 10 short years ago—when Jennifer Grossman reported for her first day on the job as CEO of The Atlas Society. Usually the one asking questions on Objectively Speaking, Grossman will swap seats with longtime friend of The Atlas Society, Naomi Brockwell, President and Founder of the Ludlow Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting privacy in the digital age. Naomi will chat with JAG about her chief accomplishments, challenges, and impact over the first 10 years of growing the organization, and share her vision for the decade to come.

Join Atlas Society CEO Jennifer Grossman for the 291st episode of Objectively Speaking as she sits down with Uyghur rights advocate and political leader Salih Hudayar, Foreign Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile, to discuss China’s persecution of the Uyghur people, the fight for East Turkistan’s independence, and efforts in the international community to confront authoritarian repression and defend human rights. Born in a Uyghur village under Chinese rule, Hudayar was forced to flee with his family at just seven years old to escape persecution. Now serving as Foreign Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile, Hudayar has been at the forefront of international efforts to expose and oppose the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign of repression, mass detention, and cultural eradication against the Uyghur people.

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."