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E27 - The Old Watchdog and the Silent Presence

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Manage episode 333151415 series 3312435
Content provided by Jonathan Seyfried. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Jonathan Seyfried or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

This episode begins with Jonathan examining how people typically make decisions about who is deserving of empathy and who is not. This episode's close read starts with the scene between Dagny and the "old watchdog." Jonathan examines the social class evocations called up by the identification of the old watchdog having an "air of breeding" about him. Dagny doesn't want to discuss what she calls her personal torture -- what is she referring to? Jonathan offers an answer: the riddle of why some people seem to give up on life. This connects to the pervasiveness of fear, and fear-based shame, in our society. Jonathan then observes the similarity in tone and meaning between "who is John Galt?" and the phrase "it is what it is" in our time. Chapter 3 ends with Eddie Willers revealing a lot of information to the strange unnamed interlocutor, "the silent presence." Of the various things mentioned by Willers, Jonathan focuses on the admiration of workism and the setup for an act of sabotage against Dagny that comes in the next chapter.
My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:

  1. What is human nature?
  2. Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.
  3. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.
  4. How empathy can be de-legitimized.
  5. What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it?

Questions or comments? Email me at: [email protected]
Learn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.art
If you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)
The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.
The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bial.

Support the show

  continue reading

45 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 333151415 series 3312435
Content provided by Jonathan Seyfried. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Jonathan Seyfried or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

This episode begins with Jonathan examining how people typically make decisions about who is deserving of empathy and who is not. This episode's close read starts with the scene between Dagny and the "old watchdog." Jonathan examines the social class evocations called up by the identification of the old watchdog having an "air of breeding" about him. Dagny doesn't want to discuss what she calls her personal torture -- what is she referring to? Jonathan offers an answer: the riddle of why some people seem to give up on life. This connects to the pervasiveness of fear, and fear-based shame, in our society. Jonathan then observes the similarity in tone and meaning between "who is John Galt?" and the phrase "it is what it is" in our time. Chapter 3 ends with Eddie Willers revealing a lot of information to the strange unnamed interlocutor, "the silent presence." Of the various things mentioned by Willers, Jonathan focuses on the admiration of workism and the setup for an act of sabotage against Dagny that comes in the next chapter.
My five themes to explore in this podcast's close read of Atlas Shrugged are:

  1. What is human nature?
  2. Straw-man arguments and their impact on the world Ayn Rand creates.
  3. Dagny Taggart as a true hero.
  4. How empathy can be de-legitimized.
  5. What is Capitalism and what is wrong with it?

Questions or comments? Email me at: [email protected]
Learn more about Jonathan Seyfried at their website, https://jonathanseyfried.art
If you'd like to support my creative work, please visit my Patreon page. (http://patreon.com/jonathanseyfried)
The intro/outro music was composed by John Sib.
The podcast theme image was created by Karina Bial.

Support the show

  continue reading

45 episodes

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