Interview with Jennifer Burns

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Interview with Jennifer Burns

I just listened to a delightful interview (about 16 minutes) with Jeniffer Burns on the show Here & Now with Robin Young (in Boston): Ayn Rand & Economic Collapse.

(Hat tip to Neil Parille.)

I looked up Jennifer Burns because I have seen her name pop up now and then, but I knew nothing about her:

Ms. Burns teaches history at the University of Virginia. Here is her website, where you can get podcasts and information on her and her publications: Professor Jennifer Burns

She is the author of the upcoming Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right, which will be out later this year.

I read somewhere that Prof. Burns was one of the few scholars allowed access to the Ayn Rand Archives.

I find her no-nonsense approach to Rand very similar to my own. She takes the good in Rand, but also notices the problem of scope I sometimes write about, except she calls it "what she left out." This means that what Rand got right she got right, but sometimes applicable only to a part of living, not applicable to the whole picture of living.

This interview is also one of the first times I ever heard an independent voice say that Rand is a great starting place for intellectual development. I, for one, am going to read her book.

Michael

[Jennifer Burns]

Dear Michael,

Thanks for the appreciation! I'll look forward to hearing what you think about the book.

best regards,

Jennifer

Edited July 2, 2009 by Jennifer Burns

[anonrobt]

Yes, it is supposed to come out in October...