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Podcast: The Ayn Rand Institute Podcast
Episode: Enlightenment on Trial: The Real Lessons of the American and French Revolutions
Description: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTl2m5StrvQ
Podcast audio:
The crimes of the French Revolution have long been regarded as indicting Enlightenment ideals. Its Reign of Terror has been seen as the product of an overconfident belief in reason, liberty, and human perfectibility. The American Revolution, by contrast, is said to have succeeded only because it was more moderate and traditional.
In his 2025 OCON talk, “Enlightenment on Trial: The Real Lessons of the American and French Revolutions,” Don Watkins challenges this narrative.
What history shows, Watkins contends, is that Enlightenment ideals in France were largely confined to intellectual elit...