Radicals for Capitalism by Brian Doherty

Mark Skousen’s FreedomFest’s are always big heaping servings of libertarian fun, and I’ve been a proud participant in two past years, speaking once on Robert Nozick and then on Burning Man.

This year I will of course be speaking of Radicals for Capitalism (in a solo talk Friday at 11 a.m.) and then about Reason magazine (with editor-in-chief Nick Gillespie and a surprise guest, at 2 pm Saturday).

It occurs at the Bally’s/Paris Resort in Las Vegas, starting Thursday July 5 and running through Saturday July 7. Here’s all the info.  Dozens of speakers, tons of fun, hope to see you there.

Lots of promo news today, covering the waterfront of media; an op-ed spun off of Rads is in today’s NY Sun, about the links between New York City and libertarian luminaries.

Also, I’m scheduled to appear on CNBC today at 11:45 am est/8:45 am pacific talking about immigration and they just might flash the cover of the book, so they say. [UPDATE: Nope, that won't be happening. As often in the fast-paced world of cable news, they had to cancel/postpone it....I'll let you know if it's rescheduled.]

Also, I’m on the radio in the Monterey/Salinas California area, KION-AM, 1460 on your a.m. dial, at 7:10 am pacific today talking about one of my book’s characters who is now running for president, Ron Paul.

A nifty excerpt from my Berkeley Bookstore lecture online in glorious video, talking about one of my book’s more amusing parts: about Kerry Thornley, Tom Marshall, the Innovator zine, and the glorious libertarian philosophy of “retreatism” or “vonu” as Marshall liked to call it. Watch the clip (or read Rads!) and all shall be revealed.

Neither can I, but here is a review of Rads in that language that the author, Per Bylund, assures me is positive.

The touching and feeling will have to wait for later, sorry.

Here’s a podcast I did last week for the show “Invisible Hand,” (a business and management program). And here’s a short video clip from my appearance last month in Berkeley, California.

Jonah Goldberg’s review of Rads in National Review is now online in full as well. And a very wise reader tells Jonah what he failed to explain in that review:

The only problem I have with your review is that it doesn’t adequately convey just how much of an enjoyable read Radicals for Capitalism is. It’s rare to find such a mix of interesting personal stories seamlessly mixed in with heavy analytical and philosophical observations. (I should add, for what it’s worth, that I’m neither a libertarian or a right-wing anarchist, though I’m friendly to such arguments on some economic matters).

Amen.

I can’t believe it took me so long to blog this, but an excerpt from Rads, derived from chapter one, was a cover piece in the Cato Institute’s magazine Cato Policy Report, in its March-April issue; here it is.

I’ll be talking Rads on the radio tomorrow, Friday May 4, on Boston FM talk station WTKK, the Michael Graham Show. I’m on from 11:40 to noon eastern time. Here’s the station’s site for live-listening options.

Been away from the computer for awhile, but back with plenty new news:

Tomorrow, May 1, I ignore communism and talk about Radicals for Capitalism to the Clark County Libertarian Party. The details:

Time: Tuesday, May 1, 7:30 p.m.

Place: Boomerang’s, 6650 Vegas Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada (corner of Lake Mead Blvd. and Vegas Drive)

Free and open to the public.

Also, TechCentralStation ran an article by me about Milton Friedman, Robert Welch, and Leonard Read last week, largely derived from Radicals. Here it is.

And finally, Jonah Goldberg previews his full review of the book in the new National Review.

Great review from the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal:

Doherty, a senior editor of Reason, has written what should be the standard intellectual history of libertarianism for many years to come. Most laymen can probably offer a reasonably accurate definition of libertarianism’s core premises: maximum personal and economic liberty, so long as it’s not harming others, with government power restricted to such functions as defense or the administration of justice (though not all libertarians concede even those). But Doherty’s history makes clear that libertarianism is a political philosophy anchored in a robust intellectual tradition.

His examination of that tradition is both comprehensive and insightful….

Doherty’s clear, wry prose lightens the sometimes leaden subject matter, especially when he delves into the personalities behind libertarianism. And what a crew!

Los Angeles area radio finally comes around—I will be appearing from 11 am-11:30 am pacific time, Monday April 23 on KPCC-FM, 89.3 on your FM dial out of Pasadena, on the “Air Talk with Larry Mantle” show, discussing Rads. Listen live at KPCC’s web site here.