OList > OList Webcasts

OList Webcasts

Pledgers can submit questions for discussion before the webcast, attend the live webcast, and participate in its text-based chat. They have access to the video stream (and usually an audio download) for two months thereafter. After the webcast happens, anyone can purchase access to it, usually for $50.

Purchase Past Webcasts

SnowCon 2011
Date: 12-13 March 2011
Length: 9 hours
Cost: $100 for the whole package of lectures ($40 for full-time students) or $30 for lectures individually ($10 each for full-time students)

• Diana Hsieh: "Cultivating Moral Character" (re-webcast, with slides)
• Paul Hsieh: "Is It Right to Bear Arms?" (re-recorded audio only, with slides)
• "Activism Panel" with Paul Hsieh and Ari Armstrong
• "Atlas Shrugged Reading Group Workshop" with Diana Hsieh and Jeremy Sheetz
• Jenn Casey and Kelly Elmore: "Effective Communication: How Objectivists Can Use Positive Discipline Tools in Their Adult Relationships" (audio only)
• Diana Hsieh: "Live Rationally Selfish Webcast" (video, with the audio freely available via NoodleCast)
• Santiago Valenzuela: "Conservative Follies on Immigration"
• Piano Recital and Lecture: Hannah Krening: Malevolence and Benevolence in Beethoven's Piano Music

For abstracts and information on these lectures, as well as ordering ordering instructions, see SnowCon 2011.

Luc Travers Webcast on Bringing an Artwork to Life
Date: 23 February 2011
Length: 1 hour 56 minutes
Cost: $50 via PayPal (or US Mail)

Most people find that literature and movies provide a more accessible and more emotionally satisfying esthetic experience than the visual arts. However, the visual arts do have the capacity to provide the same kind of experience as other genres.

Most people believe that the extent to which one can experience an artwork is a quick look and a mild emotional response. If there is an artwork which someone finds interesting, the common approach to further appreciating the piece is to turn to an art history source for information about the artist, the culture, the style. However, these "DVD extras" are not a substitute for experiencing the "story" and "characters" in a painting and deriving personal meaning.

In this webcast, Mr. Travers will describe a fundamentally different approach to engaging the visual arts--one that treats an artwork as art and not as an historical artifact. In taking you through three powerful pieces, including Michelangelo's David, he will demonstrate principles and techniques that will help you immerse yourself into the "story" and grasp the deeper, personal meaning that so often remains untapped in great art.

Luc Travers is the author of Touching The Art: A Guide to Enjoying Art at a Museum. He leads tours at museums across the country and teaches art appreciation and literature at the VanDamme Academy in Aliso Viejo, CA.

For preview audio and detailed ordering instructions, see Luc Travers Webcast on Bringing an Artwork to Life.

Eric Daniels Webcast on the Foundations of Free Speech

Date: 10 January 2011
Length: 1 hour, 44 minutes
Cost: $50 via PayPal (or US Mail)

Freedom of speech and expression forms a vital foundation of a free society. The Founding Fathers established a firm but not unassailable foundation for protecting this freedom in the First Amendment. Over the course of the twentieth century, freedom of speech experienced a patchwork of protection and rejection by the courts. In recent major cases, the US Supreme Court and lower courts have appeared to bolster the protection for speech in areas such as campaign finance, obscenity, and commercial speech. Despite these victories, the foundation of these decisions has relied upon the flawed theories of free speech that have been part of American jurisprudence. Without a proper foundation for freedom of speech, these cases will remain a paper barrier to further assaults on our freedoms.

In this webcast, Dr. Daniels investigated some interesting recent developments in First Amendment cases (including Citizens United v. FEC, United States v. Stevens, and others). In many of these cases, he illustrated how the flawed theories that support the correct decisions act to undermine the proper defense of freedom. He also discussed what a proper defense would look like in each case and suggested ways that we can act to protect freedom of speech into the future by improving its foundations.

Dr. Eric Daniels is a research assistant professor at the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism. He lectures internationally on American history. He recently coauthored U.S. Economic Freedom Index. He contributes to The Objective Standard and wrote a chapter for Abolition of Antitrust.

For preview audio and detailed ordering instructions, see Eric Daniels Webcast on the Foundations of Free Speech.

Adam Mossoff Webcast on Intellectual Property

Date: 15 November 2010
Length: 1 hour, 34 minutes
Cost: $50 via PayPal (or US Mail)

Ayn Rand was the first philosopher to recognize that all property is at root intellectual property (IP), because all property comprises material values that are born of the human mind. In this webcast, Professor Mossoff explains this uniquely Objectivist defense of IP rights and answers questions submitted by the participants. First, he provides a brief overview of IP, explaining what it is and why it is properly defined as a property right that should be secured under the law. He then responds to questions from participants, covering such issues as the nature and justification for time limits on patents and copyrights, whether computer software should be patented, and the alleged problem of "patent trolls," among other issues. Professor Mossoff's discussion presents a sweeping analysis of IP rights, touching upon contemporary legal disputes and historical developments--all of which supports Rand's view that all property rights, whether in land, factories, consumer goods, securities, or inventions and books, are made possible by innovators who first conceived of these new values.

Adam Mossoff is Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law, where he teaches and writes in the areas of property and intellectual property law. His papers are available on SSRN.

For a sample video and detailed ordering instructions, see Adam Mossoff Webcast on Intellectual Property.

Contact Diana Hsieh

If you have any questions or comments about these webcasts, please contact Diana Hsieh via e-mail to diana@dianahsieh.com.