Randsday Weekend Conference Speakers

HARRY BINSWANGER is a leading Objectivist philosopher who was a close friend of Ayn Rand in her final years. He has taught philosophy at Hunter College, The University of Texas/Austin, and Ayn Rand University. Author of How We Know and creator of The Ayn Rand Lexicon, Dr. Binswanger is currently working on the philosophy of mathematics.

YARON BROOK is the host of the podcast and YouTube program The Yaron Brook Show. He is Chairman of the Board of the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI) and was the Executive Director of ARI for 17 years (2000-2017). Dr. Brook, an internationally sought speaker, travels extensively promoting Ayn Rand and her philosophy Objectivism, capitalism, political and economic freedom. Brook has co-authored many books focused on capitalism and the benefits of real free markets.

ELLEN KENNER is a clinical psychologist and was host of the radio talk show The Rational Basis of Happiness®. She and Dr. Edwin Locke co-authored The Selfish Path to Romance: How to Love with Passion and Reason, a guide for finding and nurturing romance, inspired by the ideas of Ayn Rand. Dr. Kenner currently coaches and runs Jean Moroney's Thinking Lab Scholarship Program.

JEAN MORONEY teaches ambitious people with challenging goals how to manage their minds so they make better decisions, set goals that motivate, and focus their thoughts for action. In addition to giving talks and all-day workshops, she runs an online membership program called The Thinking Lab that includes 20 self-study courses, a library of dozens of thinking tools, and new classes every month.

POUYA NIKMAND was born and raised in Iran. He escaped by himself and has fought for his most basic freedoms for 16 years. His life's story highlights grave social and political injustices today. Now he is a writer based in Austin, Texas, who has created the substack Outliving Iran where he advocates for freedom through his lived experiences.

STEPHEN PLAFKER is a retired Los Angeles County deputy district attorney. He taught a course on the United States Constitution at OCON 2006. He now volunteers at the Edison Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, Florida.

PETER SCHWARTZ is a former chairman of the board, and currently a Distinguished Fellow, of the Ayn Rand Institute. He is the author of The Tyranny of Need (first issued under the title of In Defense of Selfishness). He is the founding editor of The Intellectual Activist, a periodical that covered political-social developments from a pro-individual-rights orientation. He is also the author of Libertarianism: The Perversion of Liberty.

DUSIA VORONKINA is a student at Wellesley College and a representative of a new generation of Objectivists. She is an intellectual and political activist from Russia who's worked her way up to come to America on her own at the age of 19.