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Integral Naked is pleased to announce an in-depth, six-part
discussion with Nathaniel Branden, pioneer in the psychology
of self-esteem; sociological and political analyst; and cofounder,
with founder Ayn Rand, of the enormously influential Objectivist
movement. Parts 1 and 2 focus on "My Years with Ayn Rand:
Objectivism." Parts 3 and 4 focus on "The Middle Years: The
Psychology of Self Esteem." Parts 5 and 6 focus on "Today and
Tomorrow: A Reasonable Spirituality."
In a joint survey conducted by the Library of Congress and the
Book-of-the-Month-Club, the #1 book that has made a difference in
people’s lives is, no surprise, the Bible. But the #2
book is Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. And #5? Ayn
Rand's The Fountainhead. In other words, two of
the five most influential books written are from the hand of Ayn
Rand.
Meet the man who Ayn Rand considered to be the living embodiment of
the principles of her Objectivist philosophy; in other words, meet
Nathaniel Branden.
Nathaniel begins his story at the beginning: a boy of fourteen who
stumbled across a copy of The Fountainhead lying on
the coffee table. "I disappeared from this earth for the next two
days, until the book was finished. It was an electrifying
experience." Little did he know then that as a young man, a shade
under twenty, he would actually meet Ayn and soon begin one of the
most passionate and turbulent romantic relationships of his life, the
effects of which would touch the lives of thousands.
As Nathaniel recalls: "I could hardly believe that this person who I
had regarded as a goddess since age fourteen, saw me for all practical
purposes as the apotheosis of everything she was writing about." Ayn
and Nathaniel began an intense, romantic (and largely secret)
relationship—she in her forties, Nathaniel in his twenties—that has
become the stuff of legend and at least one movie. It is rare that any
influential movement begins in such a way; rarer still to have an
eyewitness report of one of the two involved parties.
Of course, when the relationship did end, it ended in an enormously
difficult way. So difficult that in certain circles of Rand’s
followers, Nathaniel’s contributions to the movement have been denied
or ignored.
But Nathaniel played an instrumental role in helping form and
popularize Objectivist philosophy as a world-wide
movement. Having founded the Nathaniel Branden Institute to
help educate interested students in Objectivism, he was responsible
for teaching distance learning courses in over 80 cities
world-wide. To this day, Rand’s books sell over 400,000 copies per year.
We are fortunate to have this opportunity to listen to
Nathaniel’s account of the life and times of one of the twentieth
century’s literary giants. He was on the ground floor of a
philosophical revolution still being felt today. (Example: it has
been said that the most powerful man in the world is the chairman of
the Federal Reserve Board. Today, that position is held by Alan
Greenspan, who was one of a dozen members of the early circle with Ayn
and Nathaniel.)
But there is a reason that Ayn invested so much in
Nathan, as she called him, and it is that, in a peculiar way and from
the beginning, Branden was his own man. He brought as much to the
movement as he got out of it, as his long and distinguished career
demonstrates.
The Nathaniel Branden Integral Naked presentation is the story
of that astonishing career that has now
lasted five decades, from age 23 to 73.
The first two parts of this wide-ranging conversation deal with the
Ayn Rand years—utterly important, formative, movement-creating, and
earth-shaking, certainly for a young man. But, as they say, go ahead
and listen to the Ayn Rand years, but keep in mind, you ain't heard
nuttin yet.... |
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transmission time: 41 minutes |
Ayn Rand, Objectivism, Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, Frank O’Connor, Barbara
Branden, "What Is Integral?," the Nathaniel Branden
Institute, work as a sacred calling, independence and autonomy,
importance of admiration in romantic love, the ultimate cognitive
therapist, rationality, A Theory of Everything, the New York Times.
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most memorable moment: "Ayn invited me to come to her
home, and I arrived at eight o’clock in the evening and I stayed talking
philosophy until five thirty in the morning. For the first time in my
life, I felt I’m home." |
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