The Atlas Society News - Volume 2

NEWS THE ATLAS SOCIETY

Issue 1 | Volume 2

www.atlassociety.org | info@atlassociety.org

STEPHEN HICKS, PH.D. JOINS ATLAS SOCIETY

ANTHEM: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL THIS PAST JULY, The Atlas Society published ANTHEM: The Graphic Novel, a comic-style adaptation of Ayn Rand’s dystopian novella, published originally in 1938. Award-winning illustrator Dan Parsons executed the artwork, and collaborated with Jennifer Grossman on adaptation -- all accomplished in an intense 12 month turnaround. It was worth it! A sampling of fan reaction: “OBSESSED,” “Awesome job!

Fantastic artwork!” “I’ve been waiting for something like this. Nice work #AtlasSociety!” Now in its second printing, we’ve distributed 5,815 copies via student partner organizations. Rumor has it, The Atlas Society has started on its second graphic novel based on Ayn Rand’s writing….with a publication date of next fall! Stay tuned for more.

THIS PAST SPRING, philosophy professor Stephen Hicks joined The Atlas Society as Senior Scholar, representing us at student conferences across the country, in radio interviews and live Facebook webinars, and advising us on the strategy of our student programming. With the retirement of David Kelley, Ph.D., in December, Professor Hicks’ academic experience and renown have proved an invaluable asset for the organization. Among the collaborative projects is the audio adaptation of Explaining Postmodernism, Hicks’ definitive and comprehensive book on the subject. A full-time professor at Rockford University (Illinois), where he won an Excellence in Teaching Award, Hicks’s other books include The Art of Reasoning: Readings for Logical Analysis and Nietzsche and the Nazis.

Continued on page 2, Marilyn Moore, Ph.D.

THE ATLAS SOCIETY

PROGRAMS

ATLAS SOCIETY ANNUAL GALA ON OCTOBER 11TH, The Atlas Society hosted its second annual fundraising gala, highlighted with a keynote by Judge Andrew Napolitano. Thanks to major sponsors such as Peter Copses, Cliff Asness and Jay Lapeyre, and boosted by support from Ken Griffin, Jack Ryan and C. Boyden Gray — and our trustees — we doubled revenues raised last year. An even bigger crowd flocked to the festivities, at Manhattan’s Midtown Loft and Terrace, including luminaries such as Steve Forbes and John Stossel. Mark your calendar for next year’s gala on October 10th, in New York City!

Judge Andrew Napolitano

Jennifer A. Grossman

MARILYN MOORE, PH.D. ALSO ON BOARD: Marilyn Moore, Ph.D., as Contributing Editor. With an M.A. in French literature and a Ph.D. in English literature, Moore has brought a breadth and depth of knowledge to the essays she’s written for The Atlas Society, and our Virtual Reading Group on Ayn Rand’s We the Living. In addition to teaching rhetoric at Triton College (Illinois), she is the co-editor, along with George H. Smith, of Individualism: A Reader. In addition to writing and editing, Professor Moore will also help represent The Atlas Society at student conferences.

ANTHEM VIDEO SERIES

Stephen Hicks, Ph.D.

Lisa Bordelon (left) & Afsaneh Smith

Students Caroline Shea and Doug Braff

David Kelley (center) with trustees Franklin Brooks, AIA (left) & John Aglialoro

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IN AN ANIMATED, 18-part episode series based on ANTHEM: The Graphic Novel, The Atlas Society has collaborated with the creative duo Rob & Letitia Capili to bring the comic’s gripping storyline and spectacular artwork to life.

The series is also the anchor for our Atlas Advocates program, in which student partners show the videos to their campus chapters as a launching point for deeper philosophical discussion.

2018 NEWSLETTER

MEDIA

NEW DRAW MY LIFE VIDEOS EXTENDING OUR POPULAR CREATIVE FRANCHISE of “Draw My Life” videos, we released several new productions, including “My Name is Envy,” “My Name is Money,” and “My Name is Greed.” Using the same whiteboard, time-lapse format, these new videos went beyond narrating people and fictional characters, to bring vices and values to life with backstory, motivation and drama. The videos averaged a million views each, and garnered well over 100,000 shares, comments, and reactions. Next up: two polar subjects -- a Draw My Life of Frederick Douglass, and one of Victimhood.

My Name is Money

My Name is Envy

My Name is Greed

SOCIAL MEDIA THE ATLAS SOCIETY’S PRESENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA has continued to achieve strong gains, with our Facebook audience growing by 72%, Twitter by 109% and Instagram by 4,533%. But the real impact is not in the size of our footprints on these platforms, but in the ratio of engagement -- people commenting, liking and sharing our content.

The Atlas Society’s engagement rate is far greater -- by both aggregate and per-post metrics — than other liberty organizations many times our size, while exponentially outperforming much larger Objectivist outfits. How? With edgy, encapsulated content such as videos and memes, that strikes a chord and provides a launching point for more in-depth exploration of philosophical themes.

109%

72%

4,533% 3

THE ATLAS SOCIETY

PROGRAMS

EXPANDING ATLAS SOCIETY LIBRARY ON AUDIBLE.COM

ON CAMPUS AND AT STUDENT CONFERENCES THANKS TO THE ADDITION OF PROFESSOR HICKS, PROFESSOR MOORE, and a growing base of solid student volunteers, The Atlas Society has been expanding its presence on college campuses and at regional and national conferences of partner organizations. Indeed, these new resources have allowed us to deploy speakers and booths to multiple conferences simultaneously. One recent example was the weekend following the October fundraising Gala, when Professor Hicks spoke at University of Minneapolis, Jennifer Grossman spoke at Harvard, and student volunteers exhibited and distributed materials at a Reagan Library symposium. A partial list of some other events include: •

Turning Point USA Young Women’s Leadership Summit in June, 2018

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Turning Point USA High School Leadership Summit in July, 2018

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Young Americans for Liberty Conference in July, 2018

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Students for Liberty University of Florida Conference in September, 2018

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A Weekend for Liberty at University of Illinois in October, 2018

AS PART OF OUR CONTINUING COMMITMENT to make Objectivist thought more accessible via audio formats, this past year we made all 20 of Nathaniel Branden’s influential 1998 lecture series available on Audible while providing multiple options for listening/ downloading individual lectures on our website, YouTube and SoundCloud.

Also newly available on Audible is David Kelley’s Evidence of the Senses: A Realist Theory of Perception, as well as his landmark book The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand: Truth and Toleration in the Objectivist Movement. This fall we are proud to convert to audio and offer on Audible Professor Stephen Hicks’s Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault.

The Atlas Society will also be making an appearance at the Southern California Junior State of America conference in November and Turning Point USA Student Actions Summit in December.

Additionally, recruits to our pilot initiative, Atlas Advocates, have represented The Atlas Society at campus organizational fairs, and engaged their campus chapters of various liberty-oriented student activism organizations, by showing episodes of the ANTHEM animated video series, and guiding conversation around our ANTHEM: The Graphic Novel.

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