Virtual Reading Groups
Would you like to join interesting people and have interesting conversations based on readings from the history of liberty?
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Our Virtual Reading Groups will each focus on a particular topic, and a common set of readings will form the basis for our discussions. Each group is facilitated by a professional moderator and is conducted online powered by Zoom.
Our Timeless Reading Groups are asynchronous and open to all in the Portal platform. Liberty Fund solicits a scholar to lead a discussion of a short story and/or essays that each participant will read and discuss. This format doesn’t require participants to use Zoom or “schedule” a specific time to participate.
Participation is offered at no-cost, and there is no need to be an expert on the topic for discussion! The only requirement is that participants be eager to read and engage in conversation.
Upcoming
Lincoln’s Protégé: Ulysses S. Grant and the New Birth of Freedom
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Next to Abraham Lincoln, no citizen at the end of the Civil War stood in higher regard among the loyal American public than Ulysses S. Grant. Lincoln’s sudden death in April 1865 opened an enormous cavity that beckoned someone—…
A Timeless Reading Group: Artificial Intelligence: Doom or Bloom?
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with Joy Buchanan
How will humans succeed (or survive) in the Age of AI?
Russ Roberts brought the world’s leading thinkers about artificial intelligence to the EconTalk audience and was early to the trend. He hosted Nick Bostrom…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: Much Ado About Nothing
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Pre-registration is required.
with Sarah Skwire
Charles I famously crossed the title Much Ado About Nothing off his copy of the play and replaced it with “Beatrice and Benedick.” But entertaining and moving as these two bantering lovers are, it is the…
Liberty and the American Statesman: Samuel Johnson...Taxation no Tyranny
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Pre-registration is required.
with Hans Eicholz
This VRG considers two documents which present opposing views of the foundations of the British colonies in North America. Samuel Johnson was commissioned by the government of Prime Minister North to defend…
Artificial Intelligence: Doom or Bloom?
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Pre-registration is required.
with Joy Buchanan
How will humans succeed (or survive) in the Age of AI?
Russ Roberts brought the world’s leading thinkers about artificial intelligence to the EconTalk audience and was early to the trend. He hosted Nick Bostrom…
Human Freedom and Responsibility in the Book of Genesis
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Pre-registration is required.
with Richard Gunderman
The Book of Genesis, which has as strong a claim as any to be the source text of Western civilization, devotes considerable attention to the themes of freedom and responsibility. For example, in the Garden…
God, Religion, and Hume's Skepticism
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Pre-registration is required.
with Edward Harpham
David Hume wrote extensively on religious and theological matters in his many philosophical, literary, and political essays. He was condemned in his time as an atheist and a deist by church authorities and…
Fathers and Sons: Generations in Conflict
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Pre-registration is required.
with Alice Temnick
Families and the Rhythm of Life. The Generational Divide. Conflict and the Ties that Bind Us. Could these also be titles for Turgenev’s 1862 family drama that shook the Russian literary world? Turgenev…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: Measure for Measure
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Pre-registration is required.
with Sarah Skwire
Measure for Measure considers questions of law, justice, and the nature of promises and vows. Like The Merchant of Venice it is one of Shakespeare’s legal plays, with a trial scene at the peak of the action. We…
A Timeless Reading Group: Harriet Martineau's Illustrations of Political Economy: Wine and Politics
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Pre-registration is required.
with Alice Temnick
This is the fourth in our series of Timeless reading groups about Harriet Martineau’s Illustrations of Political Economy. For this discussion, we will read and discuss the novella “French Wines and Politics.”…
Douglass North on Trade, Honesty, and Institutions
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Pre-registration is required.
with Tawni Ferrarini
Today, the role of institutions in facilitating trade worldwide remains as crucial as it was during the medieval period. In this article, North and Weingast (1990) explore how historical institutions like…
The Ostroms: Polycentricity and Metropolitan Services
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Pre-registration is required.
with Roberta Herzberg
In this discussion, we will explore some key readings in Elinor and Vincent Ostrom’s early work which formed the foundation for their theories of metropolitan governance and citizen self-governance. We will…
Liberty and the American Statesman: Publius
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Pre-registration is required.
with Todd Estes
This VRG will discuss seven of the 85 essays on the US Constitution known as the Federalist Papers or sometimes just The Federalist. They were composed by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison,…
Past Sessions
A Timeless Reading Group: Artificial Intelligence: Doom or Bloom?
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How will humans succeed (or survive) in the Age of AI?
Russ Roberts brought the world’s leading thinkers about artificial intelligence to the EconTalk audience and was early to the trend. He hosted Nick Bostrom on…
A Timeless Reading Group: A Conservative Revolution? Friedrich von Gentz on the American Revolution
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The Austrian Statesman Friedrich von Gentz (1764-1832) was one of the first Europeans to publish a comparison of the American and French Revolutions. In it, Gentz argued that the American Revolution was superior to the French…
The Power of "I": Exploring Ayn Rand's Anthem
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Does this bring back a high school reading assignment memory? Why not find a used copy, one that has surely been read by many, and sneak a couple-hour break from the world… and into a dystopian future?
Originally published in the…
One Fell Swoop: Reading All of Shakespeare Plays: Richard III
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Celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday with one of his great villains! Shakespeare’s Richard III is a compelling portrait of the lengths to which ambition can drive a man. But is the play–despite its popularity–merely Tudor propaganda?…
A Timeless Reading Group: Labor, Social Justice, and Political Reform in Harriet Martineau
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with Nicholas Snow
This is the third in our series of Timeless reading groups about Harriet Martineau’s Illustrations of Political Economy. This time, we will read and discuss the next two novellas in the series, from volumes 3…
Individual and Collective Responsibility in James Buchanan’s The Limits of Liberty
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At the heart of Buchanan’s work is a deep inquiry into fundamental questions of liberty and order in society. In this respect, Buchanan is a 20th century successor to 18th century Enlightenment thinkers. Yet he is a more modern…
Liberty and the American Statesman: George Washington
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This VRG is designed to introduce one of America’s most renowned yet least understood Founders, George Washington. We begin with “Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior,” which began as an exercise in penmanship when Washington…
A Timeless Reading Group: Shakespeare's Henry V
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with Garth Bond
While Shakespeare wrote many plays about tyrannical and ineffective monarchs, Henry V is a rare play focused on a successful, effective, and popular ruler—a fact which may account for its long-standing success in…
