The death of Marilyn Monroe, space exploration, the Vietnam War, the confrontation between the USA and the Soviet Union, the position of women in politics, harsh criticism of the Catholic Church in its attempts to regulate the intimate side of social life. Ayn Rand comprehends these and other significant events and processes of the second half of the 20th century through the prism of an objectivist worldview, remaining a fierce defender of individual freedoms and private capital. The book contains lectures and articles from 1961–1981 - the “golden fund” of the writer’s intellectual heritage to this day which does not leave indifferent all thinking readers. They are complemented by five essays by the philosopher Leonard Peikoff, who remained Rand's close friend and collaborator until the last days of her life.