What does Goldberg’s rejection show about conservatism? How does it relate to Whittaker Chambers’s infamous smear of Atlas Shrugged?

Among the topics covered:

• Why Goldberg’s comments matter;
• How Goldberg’s adamant rejection of Ayn Rand betrays his ambivalence about the value of freedom;
• Why Goldberg says Rand doesn’t belong in the conservative movement;
• Whittaker Chambers’s dishonest, anti-American article about Atlas Shrugged;
• Why Ayn Rand’s opposition to religion threatens conservatives;
• The irrationality of Goldberg’s conservative view that everyone must respect religion;
• The anti-intellectuality of Goldberg’s reaction to Ayn Rand;
• How conservative critics of Trump fail to see him as essentially religious;
• Ayn Rand’s response to a question about similarities with William Buckley.

Mentioned in the discussion are the book Essays on Atlas Shrugged and Ayn Rand’s talk A Nation’s Unity.
0:00:00 Introduction
0:00:54 Why Goldberg's comments matter
0:04:01 Goldberg's ambivalence about freedom
0:15:11 Why Rand doesn't belong in conservatism
0:17:33 Whittaker Chambers and Atlas Shrugged
0:34:23 Rand's opposition to religion
0:40:38 Does religion deserve respect?
0:53:45 Anti-intellectual response to Rand
0:59:37 Trump is essentially religious
1:04:39 Ayn Rand versus William Buckley

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