Ricardo PintoAs 2025 draws to a close, the New Ideal team would like to reflect on a year of philosophical commentary spanning essays, podcasts, and a book release. With a consistent commitment to reason and individualism, our contributors tackled some of the most contentious issues of the moment — from religion and immigration to war and innovation — challenging entrenched orthodoxies across the political spectrum. The result is New Ideal at its best: clear, principled, and intellectually ambitious.
Articles
Open Letter to Google’s Sundar Pichai and Team
(February 3, 2025)
The first project of ARI’s Atlas Circle initiative, this open letter responds to the unjust antitrust persecution of Google, urging its leaders to speak up in defense of the moral rightness of their business success and to stop appeasing and apologizing for their work and success.
How Christianity Polluted the Moral Atmosphere of the West by Ben Bayer
(February 5, 2025)
In this essay, Ben Bayer traces how Christianity reshaped Western ethics by elevating humility, self-denial, and duty to strangers — values largely foreign to pre-Christian accounts of human flourishing. He argues that today’s secular moral mainstream often assumes this Christian framework without noticing it, mistaking a cultural inheritance for an innate moral instinct. Consequently, secular thinkers must examine their moral premises, not just the existence of God.
Soviet Terror: Sponsored by American Humanitarians by Nikos Sotirakopoulos
(February 12, 2025)
How could a regime built on mass terror win the sympathy of Western humanitarians? Nikos Sotirakopoulos examines how altruism and political affinity among American intellectuals provided moral cover for the Soviet Union by rationalizing its crimes.
Ending TPS for Venezuelans Whitewashes the Maduro Regime by Agustina Vergara Cid
(March 12, 2025)
In recent months, the Trump administration has increased pressure on Venezuela’s dictatorship. Yet earlier in the year, it moved to end the protected status for some Venezuelan immigrants, implying that conditions under Maduro’s regime had improved. Agustina Vergara Cid argues that the decision misrepresents the reality of life under Maduro and whitewashes the regime.
Trump vs. Harvard: Intellectual Freedom in the Crosshairs by Sam Weaver and Onkar Ghate
(June 4, 2025)
Sam Weaver and Onkar Ghate argue that both the Trump administration’s punitive pressure on elite universities and the federal funding system alike undermine intellectual freedom. The authors contend that rather than settling for restoring a flawed status quo, private universities should reject government subsidies altogether to protect true freedom of thought and inquiry.
Freedom to Launch: How Deregulation Created a Space Renaissance by Mike Mazza
(June 18, 2025)
How did space exploration shift from a stagnant, government-controlled sector to a flourishing arena of private innovation? Mike Mazza examines how deregulation and the rollback of bureaucratic controls made possible today’s commercial space renaissance, highlighting the crucial role of economic freedom in unleashing entrepreneurial ambition beyond Earth.
“Profit Without Apology: The Need to Stand Up for Business” by Don Watkins
(July 30, 2025)
In the titular essay of the Atlas Circle’s first book release, Don Watkins makes the moral case for business, defending it against a culture that views profit and productive success with suspicion. He traces this hostility to the ethics of altruism, which treats self-interest as morally suspect, and urges entrepreneurs to reject moral appeasement and openly defend the nobility of their profession.
“The Most Miserable Experience” Ayn Rand Ever Had: The Battle Over Night of January 16th by Brandon Lisi
(October 8, 2025)
Drawing on material from the Ayn Rand Archives, Brandon Lisi revisits Ayn Rand’s behind-the-scenes struggle over her play Night of January 16th, an episode she described as “the most miserable experience” of her life. The essay shows how the conflict tested — and ultimately affirmed — Rand’s commitment to the principle of integrity and the practice of her convictions.
Don’t Elevate Suffering by Tristan de Liège
(December 17, 2025)
Tristan de Liège challenges the popular idea that suffering is a prerequisite for greatness, showing how this view distorts the inspiration we draw from remarkable lives. Drawing from figures like Oprah Winfrey, Steph Curry, and Miles Davis, he argues that dedication to values, rather than suffering itself, is the true driver of achievement.
Podcasts
Trump’s Display of Arbitrary Immigration Power
(May 14, 2025)
In this podcast episode, Onkar Ghate and Agustina Vergara Cid argue that President Trump’s immigration agenda is an expression of arbitrary executive power. They show that policies ranging from mass deportations to restrictions on legal immigration are not driven by any coherent principle, but by a show of power that threatens to override the rule of law.
Patrick Deneen and the Right’s War On Freedom
(October 2, 2025)
Elan Journo, Nikos Sotirakopoulos, and Tristan de Liège argue that Patrick Deneen’s attack on “liberalism” and individual rights reflects a growing authoritarian turn in the New Right, rejecting America’s founding ideals in the name of tradition and conformity.
Is Israel Committing Genocide in Gaza?
(October 7, 2025)
In this podcast episode, Ben Bayer and Tristan de Liège challenge the claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. They clarify what a valid, rational concept of genocide means and argue that the accusation misrepresents both the nature of the conflict and Israel’s actions.
Understanding “Woke” Ideology: Books by Yascha Mounk and Chris Rufo
(October 10, 2025)
In this ARI Bookshelf episode, Ben Bayer, Sam Weaver, Nikos Sotirakopoulos, and Ibis Slade analyze two recent critiques of “woke” ideology: Yascha Mounk’s The Identity Trap and Christopher Rufo’s America’s Cultural Revolution. They assess the strengths and weaknesses of each book, raising concerns about Mounk’s egalitarian framework and Rufo’s tribalistic approach.
ARI/ARU Press
Ayn Rand Periodicals (Paperback Editions)
From 1962 to 1976, Ayn Rand published three periodicals — The Objectivist Newsletter, The Objectivist, and The Ayn Rand Letter — in which she applied her philosophy to analyze the major events and ideas shaping the culture. Long available only in hardcover and difficult to obtain, these periodicals are now in print in paperback for the first time, allowing readers to appreciate the continuing relevance of Rand’s thought.
Profit Without Apology: The Need to Stand Up for Business
Profit Without Apology brings together a wide range of essays defending the moral case for business against today’s culture of suspicion toward profit and productive success. The first book of the Atlas Circle, it challenges readers to rethink conventional assumptions about capitalism and to recognize the moral virtue of wealth creation.
Image Credit: Oleksandra Yagello / Moment / via Getty Images
Tristan de Liege
