Freedom's Furies
Plus: a call for writers, book club prep, and more...
Isabel Paterson, Rose Wilder Lane, and Ayn Rand are sometimes called the mothers of the modern libertarian movement. Yet with the exception of Rand, their work is not widely known in classical liberal circles, despite all three being prolific writers and anticipating many of the arguments for economic liberty that later (and more famous) writers and thinkers like F.A. Hayek would make. Through both novels and non-fiction writing, Paterson, Lane, and Rand made a case for not just free markets but free thought, too, championing the individual—and the radical notion that women are individuals deserving of liberty and sovereignty, too.
In Freedom’s Furies: How Isabel Paterson, Rose Wilder Lane, and Ayn Rand Found Liberty in an Age of Darkness, Timothy Sandefur explores the political, literary, and intellectual developments that influenced these women’s work and the relationships Paterson, Lane, and Rand had with one another and with other contemporary political and artistic figures.
In November, the Cato Institute hosted a panel about the book, featuring Sandefur, Feminists for Liberty’s Kat Murti and Elizabeth Nolan Brown, libertarian activist Carla Howell, and Libertarianism.org editor Paul Meany. You can watch the panel discussion here.
Psssst
Call for Writers
We’re looking for folks for a new libertarian feminist publishing project. (Mysterious!, we know.) Drop us a line at feministsforliberty@gmail.com if you’re interested and we’ll send you more information.
What We’re Reading, Watching, and Listening To This Month
The feds can’t protect people in prison from sexual assault… and aren’t even trying to. That’s the gist of a new report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI). More here from Reason’s C.J. Ciaramella.
How do you solve a problem like the Libertarian Party? Jane Coaston & Justin Amash discuss.
Government never learns, baby formula edition.
“Directly and indirectly, modern shopping enlarged women’s public role,” writes Virginia Postrel.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of We Should All Be Feminists (among other books), is giving a series of lectures about freedom. You can listen to the first one, on freedom of speech, here.
Jayne Swift on how to end violence against sex workers.
LOLA is reclaiming liberal feminism.
Study: “When household labor is unequal, women’s sexual desire declines.”
Economist Emily Oster talks to author Jessica Grose about American motherhood.
“The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022), which eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, has raised the possibility of a future Republican-controlled Congress seeking to ban abortion nationwide. If that happens, the resulting courtroom battles will likely center on a New Deal–era precedent that vastly expanded the scope of congressional power,” points out Damon Root.
What the data tells us about abortion post-Dobbs.
It’s time to free the pill.
How college students are helping each other obtain emergency contraception.
Alabama jailed a woman for smoking pot while pregnant. She wasn’t pregnant.
A woman jailed for leaving her teen daughter home alone is suing.
Kaytlin Bailey talks to Nick Gillespie about how decriminalizing and destigmatizing sex work.
The Final Word
