Jennifer Burns

And I actually think it's followed the same path of objectivism, which is turning into its opposite. like distilled down and then turning into its opposite. So if objectivism was a group of people who considered themselves individualists who ended up deeply conforming to the dictates of a charismatic leader, you know, postmodernism started about disrupting binaries.

That was, we're going to be fluid. We're going to go beyond the border. We're going to disrupt the binary. And it's devolved in its popular forms to the re-inscribing of many different binaries. Oppressor and oppressed has become this paradigmatic set of glasses you put on to understand the world. So I think the dynamics are very, very similar.

That was, we're going to be fluid. We're going to go beyond the border. We're going to disrupt the binary. And it's devolved in its popular forms to the re-inscribing of many different binaries. Oppressor and oppressed has become this paradigmatic set of glasses you put on to understand the world. So I think the dynamics are very, very similar.

That was, we're going to be fluid. We're going to go beyond the border. We're going to disrupt the binary. And it's devolved in its popular forms to the re-inscribing of many different binaries. Oppressor and oppressed has become this paradigmatic set of glasses you put on to understand the world. So I think the dynamics are very, very similar.

So I think it's something in the traffic of the idea from... its pure form to its popular form, and then how it gets politicized or mobilized in different ways. And behind it all, I think, is this human longing for meaning and the inadequacy of the traditional ways that need was met at this point in time.

So I think it's something in the traffic of the idea from... its pure form to its popular form, and then how it gets politicized or mobilized in different ways. And behind it all, I think, is this human longing for meaning and the inadequacy of the traditional ways that need was met at this point in time.

So I think it's something in the traffic of the idea from... its pure form to its popular form, and then how it gets politicized or mobilized in different ways. And behind it all, I think, is this human longing for meaning and the inadequacy of the traditional ways that need was met at this point in time.

Yeah. So, I mean, I go to the archive. That's where I feel like I'm... I feel like I'm communing with the dead in some ways. I'm seeing what they saw in some ways, reading what they felt. And I tell my doctoral students, it's gotta be something that gets you out of bed in the morning because there comes a point in your doctoral career when nobody's, there's nowhere to go, there's nowhere to be.

Yeah. So, I mean, I go to the archive. That's where I feel like I'm... I feel like I'm communing with the dead in some ways. I'm seeing what they saw in some ways, reading what they felt. And I tell my doctoral students, it's gotta be something that gets you out of bed in the morning because there comes a point in your doctoral career when nobody's, there's nowhere to go, there's nowhere to be.

Yeah. So, I mean, I go to the archive. That's where I feel like I'm... I feel like I'm communing with the dead in some ways. I'm seeing what they saw in some ways, reading what they felt. And I tell my doctoral students, it's gotta be something that gets you out of bed in the morning because there comes a point in your doctoral career when nobody's, there's nowhere to go, there's nowhere to be.

You gotta be getting up because you're interested in what you wanna study. And so with Rand, it was this real sense of discovery. Like I am discovering, I wanna know about this woman. I wanna know where she fits. And the only way to find out is to do the research, you know? And so, yeah, I just, I like to go deep. It's really interesting to me.

You gotta be getting up because you're interested in what you wanna study. And so with Rand, it was this real sense of discovery. Like I am discovering, I wanna know about this woman. I wanna know where she fits. And the only way to find out is to do the research, you know? And so, yeah, I just, I like to go deep. It's really interesting to me.

You gotta be getting up because you're interested in what you wanna study. And so with Rand, it was this real sense of discovery. Like I am discovering, I wanna know about this woman. I wanna know where she fits. And the only way to find out is to do the research, you know? And so, yeah, I just, I like to go deep. It's really interesting to me.

And I should say in both of these cases, I've done it in an institutional structure. I don't know that I would do it independently. So the first was a graduate program in history. It was at UC Berkeley. And so I had... coursework and then I had structures and I did have people to check in with and read, but I had a great deal of latitude. I'm very grateful for it.

And I should say in both of these cases, I've done it in an institutional structure. I don't know that I would do it independently. So the first was a graduate program in history. It was at UC Berkeley. And so I had... coursework and then I had structures and I did have people to check in with and read, but I had a great deal of latitude. I'm very grateful for it.

And I should say in both of these cases, I've done it in an institutional structure. I don't know that I would do it independently. So the first was a graduate program in history. It was at UC Berkeley. And so I had... coursework and then I had structures and I did have people to check in with and read, but I had a great deal of latitude. I'm very grateful for it.

People are like, you wrote a dissertation on Ayn Rand at Berkeley. I'm like, yeah, hell I did. You know, Berkeley's like, it's a great place. And it, at the time I was there, there was absolute room for free inquiry.

People are like, you wrote a dissertation on Ayn Rand at Berkeley. I'm like, yeah, hell I did. You know, Berkeley's like, it's a great place. And it, at the time I was there, there was absolute room for free inquiry.

People are like, you wrote a dissertation on Ayn Rand at Berkeley. I'm like, yeah, hell I did. You know, Berkeley's like, it's a great place. And it, at the time I was there, there was absolute room for free inquiry.

No, I did have a friendly critic who took it upon himself to throw at me everything he thought the outside world would throw at me. I think maybe five or 10 years earlier, it wouldn't have been possible. But the most important thing I had to...