A Course on Atlas Shrugged
By Philosopher Dr. Diana Brickell
Do you want to better understand and appreciate Ayn Rand's epic novel Atlas Shrugged?
Explore Atlas Shrugged is an in-depth course consisting of a podcast series, study questions, and other resources by philosopher Dr. Diana Brickell. The course breaks Atlas Shrugged into 20 manageable sessions, each covering about 65 pages of the novel.
- The study questions will help you better understand the novel on your own, as well as enable you to lead a successful reading group or class on Atlas Shrugged. The course contains over 1400 questions, organized into "core" and "extra" categories. You can preview the study questions for each session below.
- Each podcast is an in-depth look at the events, characters, and ideas from that portion of the novel. The course contains over 22 hours of lively and engaging podcasting. You can preview the podcast for each session below.
- Explore Atlas Shrugged also includes a Plot Outline, a Character Inventory, Questions for a Book Club, and a FAQ on Atlas Shrugged Reading Groups.
Explore Atlas Shrugged will inspire fresh insights into the complex events, characters, and ideas of Ayn Rand's epic novel, whether you've read it just once or a dozen times before.
Check out the previews, then purchase access to the whole of Explore Atlas Shrugged for just $20. The written materials of Explore Atlas Shrugged are also available from Amazon in paperback and kindle formats, and purchasers of those editions pay just $10 for access to the podcasts.
Purchase Explore Atlas Shrugged
Access to the online version of Explore Atlas Shrugged costs just $20. It's half off – just $10 – for purchasers of the paperback and kindle editions of the book version. Also, if you contribute to Philosophy in Action's Tip Jar via recurring weekly or monthly contributions (or the equivalent), please email me for free access.
Terms of Sale: (1) You may share the podcasts with members of your household, but not beyond that. (2) You may share the study questions with members of your household, as well as with participants in your online or in-person Atlas Shrugged Reading Group. (3) Do not ever post the podcasts or study questions in any public forum.
Preview Explore Atlas Shrugged
Note: The pagination of the hardcover, softcover, and kindle editions of Atlas Shrugged differs from that of the small mass market paperback. The study questions and other resources cite only the pagination from the larger editions. I don't recommend using the mass market paperback. Also, if you've not read the novel before, beware of spoilers!
Whole-Book Resources
- Plot Outline
- Character Inventory
- Questions for a Three-Session Book Club
- FAQ on Atlas Shrugged Reading Groups
20 Sessions
- Part 1: Chapter 1: The Theme
- Part 1: Chapter 2: The Chain
- Part 1: Chapter 3: The Top and the Bottom
- Part 1: Chapter 4: The Immovable Movers
- Part 1: Chapter 5: The Climax of the d'Anconias
- Part 1: Chapter 6: The Non-Commercial
- Part 1: Chapter 7: The Exploiters and the Exploited (Sections 1-4)
- Part 1: Chapter 7: The Exploiters and the Exploited (Sections 5-9)
- Part 1: Chapter 8: The John Galt Line
- Part 1: Chapter 9: The Sacred and the Profane
- Part 1: Chapter 10: Wyatt's Torch (Sections 1-4)
- Part 1: Chapter 10: Wyatt's Torch (Sections 5-9)
- Part 2: Chapter 1: The Man Who Belonged on Earth
- Part 2: Chapter 2: The Aristocracy of Pull
- Part 2: Chapter 3: White Blackmail (Sections 1-3)
- Part 2: Chapter 3: White Blackmail (Sections 4-5)
- Part 2: Chapter 4: The Sanction of the Victim
- Part 2: Chapter 5: Account Overdrawn
- Part 2: Chapter 6: Miracle Metal
- Part 2: Chapter 7: The Moratorium on Brains
- Part 2: Chapter 8: By Our Love
- Part 2: Chapter 9: The Face Without Pain or Fear or Guilt
- Part 2: Chapter 10: The Sign of the Dollar
- Part 3: Chapter 1: Atlantis
- Part 3: Chapter 2: The Utopia of Greed
- Part 3: Chapter 3: Anti-Greed
- Part 3: Chapter 4: Anti-Life
- Part 3: Chapter 5: Their Brothers' Keepers (Sections 1-2)
- Part 3: Chapter 5: Their Brothers' Keepers (Sections 3-4)
- Part 3: Chapter 6: The Concerto of Deliverance
- Part 3: Chapter 7: "This is John Galt Speaking"
- Part 3: Chapter 8: The Egoist
- Part 3: Chapter 9: The Generator
- Part 3: Chapter 10: In the Name of the Best Within Us
Praise for Explore Atlas Shrugged
The response to Explore Atlas Shrugged has been overwhelmingly positive, including the following remarks:
I require students to read Atlas Shrugged in my introductory economics class. Dr. Hsieh's Explore Atlas Shrugged podcasts were an essential tool to help communicate the novel's lesson and hold effective class discussion. Do not attempt to teach the book without consulting the podcasts first!
— Bailey Norwood, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University
And:
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Diana – our GLO Atlas Reading Group is going so very well. We have about 12-13 people attending, and it is truly the most fun we've had in a long time. So much rewarding fun comes out of your ideas and organization. Can't thank you enough for your efforts!!!
And:
I just wanted to send you a quick note and thank you for your efforts on Explore Atlas Shrugged. As part of the Charm City Objectivists Society we used your questions and podcast to help kick off our reading group yesterday for session one. We had epiphanies all around the table from someone who is a firm student of Objectivism to a person who had read Atlas Shrugged but is new to Objectivism. I know that neither Ray (our moderator) or myself could have undertaken this kind of thing without the wonderful resource you have created. You have helped me make a difference in my community and I thank you for it.
And:
The other day, I began listening to your Explore Atlas Shrugged podcasts. I have read and listened to the book several times, but it has been admittedly too long since the last time. Although I can not adequately express how much experiencing your podcasts has meant to me and the extent to which they have reinvigorated me, I did want to thank you...Thank you.
About the Author
I'm Dr. Diana Brickell (formerly Diana Hsieh). I'm a philosopher, and I've long specialized in the application of rational principles to the challenges of real life. I completed my Ph.D in philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2009. I retired from work as a public intellectual in 2015.
From September 2009 to September 2015, I produced a radio show and podcast, Philosophy in Action Radio. In the primary show, my co-host Greg Perkins and I answered questions applying rational principles to the challenges of real life. We broadcast live over the internet on Sunday mornings.
You can listen to these 362 podcasts by subscribing to the Podcast RSS Feed. You can also peruse the podcast archive, where episodes and questions are sorted by date and by topic.
My first book, Responsibility & Luck: A Defense of Praise and Blame, can be purchased in paperback and Kindle. The book defends the justice of moral praise and blame of persons using an Aristotelian theory of moral responsibility, thereby refuting Thomas Nagel's "problem of moral luck." My second book (and online course), Explore Atlas Shrugged, is a fantastic resource for anyone wishing to study Ayn Rand's epic novel in depth.
You can also read my blog NoodleFood and subscribe to its Blog RSS Feed.
I can be reached via e-mail to [email protected].
