Jon Hersey's Articles
Politics & Rights
Australia Double Faults in Djokovic Fiasco
Jon Hersey January 13, 2022
Love him or hate him, Djokovic served Aussies a valuable opportunity—to pause, reflect, and reconsider the implications of individual rights for pandemic policy. Unfortunately, they’ve double-faulted.
Good Living
Cal Newport on Mission, Mastery, and Flourishing at Work
Jon Hersey December 23, 2021
I recently spoke with Cal Newport about living the “deep life,” how our standard operating procedures are diminishing our ability to do meaningful work and what to do about it, and about what he’s learned from heroes such as Lincoln and Socrates about building a better world.
Arts & Culture, Ayn Rand & Objectivism, Philosophy
Which Ayn Rand Novel to Read First
Jon Hersey November 26, 2021
Where in Rand’s corpus should a curious reader begin? As someone who’s read it all, I would say that, for most people, there’s no better place to start than with one of Rand’s major works of fiction—Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, We the Living, or Anthem—and I suspect Rand would agree.
Education & Parenting, Politics & Rights
Public School Pandemonium Teaches a Valuable Lesson
Jon Hersey November 3, 2021
When parents are free to vote with their feet and their dollars, they will flock to the schools that best satisfy their standards. Schools that don’t will, instead of teaching, be taught a valuable lesson: Satisfy customers or close your doors.
Politics & Rights
The Case for Vaccine Mandates—Refuted
Jon Hersey October 25, 2021
The COVID vaccines currently available are marvels of human ingenuity. But the decision to get vaccinated or not is one every individual morally must be left free to make for himself.
Economics, Politics & Rights
Why California’s Move to Ban Gas-Powered Generators (and Lawn Equipment) Could Leave Californians in the Dark
Jon Hersey October 6, 2021
California legislators have not only cut ties with reality—failing to see that they’re heading for ever more blackouts—they also want to cut their citizens’ last lifeline to reliable power when blackouts inevitably occur.
Education & Parenting, Philosophy, Politics & Rights
Why I Left America’s Failing Universities: An Interview with Carrie-Ann Biondi
Jon Hersey October 1, 2021
Carrie-Ann Biondi, a philosophy PhD and Aristotle scholar, taught in universities for twenty-five years, becoming associate professor of philosophy at Marymount Manhattan College and chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. But in mid-2020, she jumped ship. Here, she shares why.
Ayn Rand & Objectivism, Politics & Rights
Why Universities Should Teach Ayn Rand Alongside Karl Marx
Jon Hersey September 6, 2021
If college professors want to prepare students for the real world, they should continue teaching The Communist Manifesto, but they should teach it alongside Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.
Announcements
From the Editor, Fall 2021
Jon Hersey August 25, 2021
Hola from Colombia! Your support of this journal is helping to stimulate exciting developments, and I’d like to tell you about a few of these.
Good Living, Philosophy
How to Think More Clearly—and Improve Your Life
Jon Hersey August 25, 2021
With this simple practice, you’ll achieve a new level of clarity, the positive effects of which will reverberate throughout your life.
Arts & Culture, Economics
How a McDonald’s Gig Helped Propel Olympian Quanesha Burks to Tokyo
Jon Hersey August 2, 2021
A $15 per hour minimum wage would have tripped Quanesha Burks up at the starting line of her career.
Politics & Rights
Justice Thomas Points Out the Fed’s Pot Policies Don’t Make Sense
Jon Hersey July 1, 2021
Doctors prescribe weed. Scientists study its effects on cancer. House moms use it to reduce anxiety. So why do the feds still treat it like a weapon of mass destruction?
Good Living, LevelUp News
A Note from Newton on Living Fully
Jon Hersey June 25, 2021
Wouldn’t you like to see people’s smiles again? To shake hands, hug, dance, and generally be social . . . without a mask? At TOS-Con 2021, not only will you engage with great mind-expanding speakers. You’ll also get to have all the fun that’s been considered taboo—or outlawed—for the last year and a half.
Ayn Rand & Objectivism, Good Living, Philosophy
Adam Grant on Clear Thinking, Persuasive Writing, and Rational Self-Interest
Jon Hersey June 25, 2021
I recently spoke with bestselling author Adam Grant about his approach to writing, applying principles of persuasion from his book Think Again, and how some of his ideas relate to Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism.
Announcements, Arts & Culture
Ready to Supercharge your Life?
Jon Hersey June 18, 2021
Who knows who you will meet at TOS-Con? It brings together people of shared values in a way no Zoom meeting can.