Girls Gotta Read: Recent Episodes
FreedomWorks Foundation
This is the Girls Gotta Read Podcast—a podcast that’s not just for girls, but for book nerds, liberty-lovers, and liberty-curious individuals from all walks of life. We’re the girls—Melanie, Isabelle, and Katrina—and each Monday, we’ll delve into a book, discuss its author, and dabble in philosophy. You can treat this as a book club and read along each week—or just as a gateway to the Liberty movement and some of its most influential thinkers. Follow @freedomworks on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to comment your thoughts and questions—and always keep reading, nerds!
In 1944, with the end of World War II in sight and the Great Depression finally in the past, America’s rulers were thinking about the next step. Should they adopt the planned, collectivist economies that had spread across Europe in the 1930s or should they embrace free market capitalism? Hayek, understanding just how enticing a move to a planned economy sounded to many at that time, wrote his famous Road to Serfdom, which explains how planned economies always lead to totalitarianism.
What did F.A. Hayek and John Maynard Keynes discuss on the roof of King's College in the midst of The Blitz? Are we all playing the fool to the Fatal Conceit? And how do you pronounce "von Mises" anyway? Join the girls this week as they explore these questions while discussing F.A. Hayek's life, philosophy, and economics.
How often do you think about where your food comes from? With all the drama that our food system has endured in the past two years–due to COVID-19 lockdowns, supply chain issues, and inflation–it’s likely that you find yourself thinking about the inner workings of our food system more often than you used to. The girls (and Matt) have definitely been thinking hard about our food system recently and, as a result, decided to watch and dig into the classic food documentary Food Inc.
Girls Gotta Read is a Liberty focused book club for people from all walks of life! Tune in each Monday for a new podcast episod
As far as 20th-century literature goes, there’s no writer more prescient and in touch with the impulses and desires that drive human action (for better and for worse) than George Orwell. Once a “moth-eaten, “morose” young student with a bone to pick regarding the circumstances of his upbringing, Orwell went on to shake his hangups and soon enough developed into one of the finest, most influential writers of his age. His clear, matter of fact prose has allowed his work to endure and come to life in our modern-day—when, alarmingly, both his warning to be skeptical of revolutionaries, as expressed in Animal Farm and his concern that language would be co-opted for nefarious purposes by a “Democratic” ruling class, as detailed in 1984, seem to have become more relevant than ever.
If Tom Wolfe were alive, what would you want him to write about? Though he isn’t with us today to navigate this clown world and the news stories that seem to only get crazier with the passing of time, the man has thankfully left behind a treasure trove of material that unmasks the hypocrisy of so many cultural movements and class clashes throughout the second half of the 20th century with unparalleled style and acuity.
On this episode, the girls discuss Wolfe’s unsparing, irrevent, and highly entertaining deep dive into how the “statusphere” of New York’s jet set was upended by a single party in 1970. Also, who is the flak catcher and why is he being mau-maued? Find out this and more on this episode of GGR!
The great American novelist and essayist Tom Wolfe is remembered today for his unapologetically honest, oftentimes hilarious, and frequently scathing writing on class and status in American society. An essayist turned novelist, Wolfe possessed an unparalleled ability to cut through the hypocrisy of his day and hold a mirror up to the people, events, and cultures he wrote about.
Whether you love or hate him, there is no denying Tom Wolfe’s genius.
Just in time for Tax Day, the girls discuss Frederic Bastiat’s premier work, The Law. Bastiat wrote this book as an emergency plea against statism, which he recognized as the most pressing threat to the “life, liberty, and property” of the individual. What is the purpose of the law, what happens when law becomes perverted, and how should those in power prevent this perversion? These are key questions that Bastiat answers with the eloquence, urgency, and intensity necessary to properly address the problems that were afflicting the French Second Republic at the time of publication.
The Law Fast Facts:
- Published in 1850, just a few months before Bastiat’s death and two years into the establishment of the French Republic
- Influenced heavily by Locke’s Second Treatise
Influenced Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson
If ever there was a man perfectly blessed with the power of persuasion, Frédéric Bastiat would be a top contender. Though his life’s works focused on the economic problems facing his homeland in the first half of the nineteenth century, his legacy and unshakable belief in the protection of life, liberty, and property is felt today in countries far beyond France’s borders. As an American, one need only take one look at the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution to see Bastiat’s fingerprints all over it.
In a time of war, can you ever really be neutral? Especially when that war is literally happening in your own backyard? Shenandoah, starring beloved American patriot Jimmy Stewart in his grizzled prime, is a film from the mid-1960s that explores this theme and challenges the popular wartime idea that sacrifice for a greater cause is always an inherent good.
Shenandoah Fast Facts:
- Shenandoah, directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, was released in 1965. It was inspired by Westerns.
- It is set during the Civil War but is not considered to be a war film.
- It takes place in 1864 Virginia and follows the story of patriarch Charlie Anderson and his seven children as they try to navigate farm life with the war happening in their backyard.
- Anderson doesn’t own slaves and is vehemently opposed to the war effort. When his youngest son is captured by the Union Army, however, he is forced to act. He packs up his family to travel North and rescue his son.
- The anti-war themes of this movie particularly resonated with audience members at a time when the U.S. was entering into the Vietnam War.
Girls Gotta Read is a Liberty focused book club for people from all walks of life! Tune in each Monday for a new podcast.
In this episode, the girls discuss Vonnegut’s beloved short story and ponder how ‘‘equality’ often gets in the way of art, beauty, and true human flourishing.
“Harrison Bergeron” Fast Facts:
• Published in October 1961, eight years before Vonnegut came to real literary fame for Slaughterhouse-Five
• The first publication of “Harrison Bergeron” was in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and the genre of the work is categorized as dystopian science fiction
• Vonnegut confesses that this short story might have sprung from his envy and self-pity as a high school misfit
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In a world that seems to be constantly stricken by war, poverty, and suffering, we might find ourselves asking: Is life a series of accidents or is there a meaning to it all? Kurt Vonnegut Jr., as absurd, hilarious, and eccentric as his writing could be, offered a refreshingly humanistic perspective on some of life’s deepest agonies and most joyous mysteries, setting himself apart from the nihilistic worldviews embraced by so many of his postmodernist contemporaries. In this episode, the girls discuss Vonnegut’s life, his philosophy and writing (as well as his infamous doodles), and the legacy he has left behind.
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Fast Facts:
- "Sharp-eyed satirist" Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published 14 novels, three short story collections, five plays, and five nonfiction works, with more collections having been published after his death.
- He fought in WWII and was a prisoner of war in Dresden. He survived a firebombing there by hiding three stories underground in a slaughterhouse, an experience which served as the inspiration for his breakthrough novel Slaughterhouse-Five.
- Vonnegut grew up in Indianapolis in a well-to-do family, although his father, an architect, was unemployed during much of the Great Depression.
- As a teenager, Vonnegut wrote for his high-school newspaper, and he continued the activity at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he majored in biochemistry before leaving in 1943 to enlist in the U.S. Army.
- After serving in WWII, Vonnegut took graduate courses in anthropology at the University of Chicago while working as a reporter.
He was later employed as a public relations writer in upstate New York, but he soon left to pursue fiction writing full-time.
- In 1952, Vonnegut's first novel, Player Piano, was published.
Slaughterhouse-Five in 1969 cemented his reputation as a fiction writer.
- He struggled with depression and in 1984 attempted suicide.
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Girls Gotta Read is a Liberty focused book club for people from all walks of life! Tune in each Monday for a new podcast episode and comment below.
Are you a superfan? Join the exclusive Girls Gotta Read Facebook Group at https://www.Facebook.com/groups/Girls...
Hungry for more liberty-focused content?
Like FreedomWorks on Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/FreedomWorks
Follow FreedomWorks on Twitter: https://Twitter.com/FreedomWorks
Join the Meme Army on Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/FreedomWorks/
Get more content on our website: https://www.FreedomWorks.org/
On this episode of Girls Gotta Read, the girls discuss David Bahnsen’s There’s No Free Lunch, a collection of 250 economic pearls of wisdom.
The girls pick up where they left off from last week’s episode and discuss Isabel Paterson’s seminal essay “The Humanitarian with the Guillotine,” a brilliant critique of and warning against humanitarianism and the welfare state. Paterson argues that most people are good and charitable, not evil; so why is it that when humans try to fulfill this desire to take care of their fellow men on the government level, they end up causing so much suffering? Can there ever really be an agreed-upon ‘common good,’ or has this phrase become nothing more than an empty excuse used to seize upon political power and endlessly expand the size and scope of government? The girls break down these difficult questions and more in today’s episode.
Fast Facts:
“Humanitarian with the Guillotine” is excerpted from Paterson’s masterwork, God of the Machine–which is really hard to find in print today! Sadly, a good amount of Patterson’s work has gone out of print.
The God of the Machine was published in 1943, the same year as Rand's novel The Fountainhead and Rose Wilder Lane's The Discovery of Freedom. These works were written against the groundswell in favor of collectivism and New Deal Liberalism that dominated the national and political landscape at the time.
God of the Machine is a collection of essays using the metaphor of a machine to describe the harmonious relations between people, the market, and other pockets of society when they are left to operate without government oversight and regulation.
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On this episode of the Girls Gotta Read Podcast, the girls kick off Women’s History Month by delving into the fascinating life of the third liberty mother: the droll, unapologetic, and incredibly prolific writer Isabel Paterson. A mentor to Ayn Rand and correspondent of Rose Wilder Lane, Paterson was the eldest, and according to some scholars, had the biggest impact on the libertarian movement out of the three.
As we reflect on the influence and life of Paterson and wrap up our episodes on the libertarian mother trio, we have to ask: Do you think there is a glass ceiling for women in America today? Do you think there ever was? Or is the glass ceiling in the United States nothing but a fallacy?
Also, if Melanie were to open up a dive bar called Mel’s Gutter, would you go? Listen to the episode to find out more!
To read along with the girls and prepare for the next episode, you can find Paterson’s celebrated essay “The Humanitarian with the Guillotine.”
Isabel Patterson Fast Facts:
January 22, 1886 – January 10, 1961
Born in rural Ontario and moved to a ranch in Alberta when she was very young
The family was poor, had eight siblings
Largely self-educated
Left the ranch as a teen and moved to the city of Calgary—took a clerical job on the Canadian Pacific Railway
Also worked as a waitress, stenographer, bookkeeper, and even as an assistant to the future Canadian PM R.B Bennett
Had a short-lived loveless marriage with Kenneth B. Paterson between 1910-1918
Landed a job with the Inland Herald in Spokane, Washington—starting her career in journalism
Moved to NYC and held a variety of jobs
Worked for sculptor Gutxon Borglum who would later carve Mount Rushmore
Wrote a column signed IMP for the New York Herald Tribune’s Books “Turns with a Bookworm” section, becoming one of the most influential, respected, and scathing literary critics of her time (reviewed Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, many writers of the Harlem Renaissance, as well as many first-generation Americans)
Best-known work: God of the Machine (1943) - political philosophy, economics, history
Philosophy:
Advocated for less government interference on both social and fiscal issues
Opposed FDR’s New Deal as well as his foreign policy
“Liberty or death, no foreign entanglements, and the least governed country is the best governed”
Unlike Ayn Rand, she thought individualism/capitalism could be compatible with religion
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Today on the Girls Gotta Read Podcast, we’re talking about George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in celebration of President’s Day. As a student, George Washington copied down these rules, which trace back to French Jesuits in the late 1500s, as part of a penmanship exercise.
Of course, we all know that George Washington was a gentleman–both the legends and historical accounts of him tell us just as much. But would civility, which had so long been attached to a King’s court, be able to survive in the new nation of the United States? And what does it mean to be civil in today’s society? Are Washington’s rules now outdated, or could we benefit from their revival? And would the presidents who came after George Washington be as decent and well-mannered as him? (Hint: Mostly, no–LBJ, we are looking at you.)
To read along with the girls, check out this easily printable online source:
https://managers.usc.edu/files/2015/0...
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George Washington Fast Facts:
Born: February 22, 1732 in Pope's Creek, Virginia to Augustine and Mary Ball Washington.
George Washington began inheriting enslaved people when he was eleven from his father’s will.
He started his first job as a surveyor at age 16, surveying the newly created county, Culpeper.
The only time he ever left the states was in 1751 to go to Barbados, where he contracted smallpox.
He led a surprise attack upon a small French force at Jumonville Glen at age 22, which spiraled into the Seven Years War.
The first time George Washington ran for public office, he lost. However, he won his second race and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1758 until 1776.
He married Martha in 1759 and inherited Mount Vernon in 1761
George Washington was appointed as commander of the Continental Army in 1775.
He actually lost more battles than he won, but employed a winning strategy that included victories at the Battle of Trenton in 1776 and Yorktown in 1781.
George Washington presided over the convention that drafted the Constitution in 1787.
George Washington was unanimously elected President of the United States. Twice.
He died in 1799 from a throat infection.
George Washington made provisions to free all of the enslaved people he directly owned in his will.
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SHOW LESS
Looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day read? Try Ayn Rand’s romantic and empowering novella, Anthem. In this week’s episode, explore the book’s themes of love, beauty, ego, and more. And don’t forget to prepare for next week’s President’s Day special by reading George Washington’s Rules of Civility!
Is Ayn Rand the “marijuana” to conservative politics? In this week’s episode, learn more about the history, philosophy, and spicy personal life of one of the most influential women in American politics: Ayn Rand. And don’t forget to prepare for next week’s episode by reading her epic novella, Anthem!
The FreedomWorks Book Club discusses author Rose Wilder Lane's book, "Discovery of Freedom" and man's struggle against authority.
This is the Girls Gotta Read Podcast—a podcast that’s not just for girls, but for book nerds, liberty-lovers, and liberty-curious individuals from all walks of life. We’re the girls—Melanie, Isabelle, and Katrina—and each Monday, we’ll delve into a book, discuss its author, and dabble in philosophy. You can treat this like a book club and read along each week—or just as a gateway to the Liberty movement and some of its most influential thinkers. Follow @freedomworks on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to comment your thoughts and questions—and always keep reading, nerds!