The 2026 midterm elections resulted in a decisive victory for the Democrats over the Republicans. But does this signal support for the Democratic agenda, or merely a rejection of the party in power?

In a joint livestream of New Ideal and The Yaron Brook Show, Dr. Onkar Ghate and Dr. Yaron Brook examine the election’s significance for America’s political future. They discuss the failures of both parties, the growing influence of nationalist and socialist factions within them, the prospects for alternative political leadership, and the absence of serious proposals for addressing the country’s economic problems.

Among the topics covered are:

• Whether the Republican defeat could open the door to new leadership

• The growing influence of nationalist and socialist factions within both parties

• How the welfare state fuels conflict between generations

• Trump’s shifting immigration rhetoric and the lack of serious economic proposals

• The morality of voting for the lesser of two evils and the individual’s role in politics

• Ayn Rand’s influence on entrepreneurship and growing hostility toward business and AI

• The risk of increasing authoritarianism in America

• The role of education and intellectuals in political change

This discussion was livestreamed on November 9, 2026.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have become a major force to contend with in U.S. politics, as seen in Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York and in a series of congressional electoral successes. However, while many see the DSA as an idealistic alternative to the status quo, their ideals are deeply rooted in dogmas held on faith, such as their faith in “economic democracy,” in the future promise of socialism, in the evil of Israel, and in the view of capitalism as inherently exploitative.

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Tristan de Liège and Ben Bayer expose the DSA’s agenda as a series of articles of faith, one based especially on a religious approach to morality.

Topics include:

• How democratic socialists conceive of exploitation

• Socialists’ obsession with democracy

• Evading socialism’s failures in the 20th century

• Why democratic socialists defend dictatorships like Iran and Venezuela

• How altruism sustains the belief in socialism

This episode was recorded on October 28, 2026.

Ayn Rand famously held Aristotle in high regard, describing him as a “philosophical Atlas who carries the whole of Western civilization on his shoulders.” Given such a statement, it’s not surprising that there are rich connections to be found between Aristotle’s philosophical system and Rand’s, which she called Objectivism. Scholars of Aristotle and Rand have found deep connections between the two in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics.

In this episode of the Ayn Rand Institute podcast, Tristan de Liège, Jim Lennox, and Greg Salmieri explore some of these connections, discussing issues such as the nature of logic, how humans form universal knowledge, and what it is to live a good life.

Topics include:

• Axiomatic concepts and the laws of logic

• The problem of universals

• Scientific knowledge as fixed versus dynamic

• What biology can tell us about ethics

• Nobility and virtue

• Convincing academia to take Objectivism seriously

This episode was recorded on October 19, 2026.