Below The Beltway

Barbara Branden is one of the few people who was part of Ayn Rand’s inner circle during the years that she was writing Atlas Shrugged who is both still alive and willing to speak outside of “official” Objectivist circles. Back in October she spoke at a conference sponsored by The Atlas Society marking the 50th [...]

Reason Magazine’s Brian Doherty talks about the woman who coined the phrase Radical for Capitalism:

Previous Posts:
Milton Friedman: Radical For Capitalism

I’ve got my review of Brian Doherty’s Radicals For Capitalism up over at The Liberty Papers.
It’s a massive read, but worth it if you’re at all interested in the history of ideas and the personalities who turned libertarianism into a real movement.

I don’t generally read autobiographies of contemporary figures, but after watching his interview on 60 Minutes last month, I was compelled to read Justice Clarence Thomas’ autobiography, My Grandfather’s Son.
And I’m glad that I did, because it’s one of the best books I’ve read in quite awhile.
Clarence Thomas’s story is one that should be an [...]

The central premise of Brink Lindsay’s The Age Of Abundance is that the unparalleled prosperity that became a central part of American life in the years after World War II has fundamentally transformed American culture and politics and moved us in what he contends is a more libertarian direction.
While the book serves well as a [...]

Robert Bidnotto, editor of The New Individualist, has a post up chock full of details about the still-possible project to bring Atlas Shrugged to the big screen.
First, Bidnotto describes how the latest incarnation of the project came into being after the idea of doing a Lord Of The Rings style trilogy was dismissed as both [...]

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Atlas Shrugged and, over at RealClearPolitics, Robert Tracinski has an excellent essay on the historical significance of the novel, and the ideas that it embodies:
The most radical aspect of Atlas Shrugged is that Ayn Rand found suspense, heroism, and profound philosophical meaning in the achievements of [...]

As the 50th anniversary of the publication of Atlas Shrugged, Robert Stacey McCain of the Washington Times notes that the book itself has had far more influence on modern libertarians and conservatives than many wish to admit at this point:
The novel is almost universally cited as an influence among leading free-market advocates, said Brian Doherty, [...]

The YouTube Version

The New York Times has a surprisingly positive piece today marking the upcoming 50th anniversary of the publication of Ayn Rand’s magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged:
One of the most influential business books ever written is a 1,200-page novel published 50 years ago, on Oct. 12, 1957. It is still drawing readers; it ranks 388th on Amazon.com’s [...]