Do Americans Have an Irrational, Religious Obsession With Work?

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In this episode of New Ideal, Sam Weaver and Tristan de Liège discuss Atlantic writer Derek Thompson’s idea that Americans are afflicted by a religious obsession with work that he calls “workism” and their view of the role of work in human life.

Among the topics covered:

• Thompson’s view on work and why it’s worth talking about;
• Why making work central to one’s life doesn’t entail adopting a religious perspective;
• Understanding what causes burnout and lack of fulfillment in work;
• The Objectivist perspective on work.

Mentioned in this podcast are Ayn Rand’s novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, her essay “Causality Versus Duty”, Gregory Salmieri’s essay “The Act of Valuing (and the Objectivity of Values)” in A Companion to Ayn Rand edited by Allan Gotthelf and Salmieri, and de Liège’s Ayn Rand University course Philosophical Perspectives on Work.

This podcast was recorded on November 7, 2024, and released on November 20, 2024. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Watch archived podcasts here.