LevelUp 2023

Craig Biddle

Your goals—the aims for which you think, plan, and act—set the direction of your life. They determine whether your life will be filled with meaning and joy, or something less. But you face countless options. How can you choose goals that truly are best for you in the long run? In this talk, Craig Biddle will discuss key principles, methods, and tools for answering this vital question, living intentionally, and loving life.

James Clear

Do you procrastinate? Do you watch days, weeks, even years go by without achieving what you aim to do? Setting goals is one thing. Achieving them is another. The key to success is developing good habits and breaking bad ones. In this talk, James Clear will present essential strategies and techniques for forming habits that move you forward, breaking those that derail you, and reaping the compound interest of incremental gains.

Eric Daniels

When Twitter, Facebook, or other companies kick someone off their platform for expressing views they oppose, is that censorship? If government forces such companies to platform views they oppose, is that free speech? And what if government makes “suggestions” to corporations about whom to permit or remove? In this talk, Eric Daniels will address such questions, clarify what free speech and censorship are, and provide vital tools for defending free speech in modern times.

Several Panelists

Tribalism abounds today. We’re told that a person’s core identity is a function of his race, gender, sexual preference, economic class, or the like. A person’s group, or intersection of groups, we’re told, defines his values, including what and how he thinks or ought to think. But is any of this true? What about the individual? What about personally chosen values and independent thinking? OSI fellows Angelica Walker-Werth, Ely Lassman, Kiyah Willis, and OSI’s director of marketing Jackson Upmann will discuss their experiences and thoughts on these matters, and how young people can maintain intellectual independence in a world teeming with collectivism and groupthink.

Timothy Sandefur

If you’ve seen Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings, you can understand why people come from far and wide to experience them in person (and why they inspired aspects of Ayn Rand’s novel The Fountainhead). Wright was a pathbreaker, whose ideas, innovations, and creative genius transformed the field of architecture. He also loved Arizona, his adopted state and home to eleven of his buildings, including Taliesin West, his winter abode and studio in Scottsdale. In this talk, Timothy Sandefur will discuss Wright’s works, his rebellious philosophy of design, and why he loved building in Arizona.

Martin Hooss

What happens when you accept ideas about how you should act and those ideas are contrary to the actual requirements of your life? You either uphold them and suffer, or act against them and feel guilty, or adjust your ideas to comport with reality. Yet, many philosophies involve major dichotomies between theory and practice. In this talk, Martin Hooss will survey prominent philosophies that involve such dichotomies, compare and contrast them with the theory-practice harmony of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, and show the respective consequences of these worldviews in the souls of individuals and cultures.

Max Lugavere

Which foods support your physical fitness and enhance your cognitive abilities? Which foods cause problems in these areas? And how can you include the former in meals that suit your palate? In this talk, nutrition researcher and writer Max Lugavere will discuss the science of nutrition as it is understood today, and provide his best advice for choosing and enjoying foods that help you thrive.

Bari Weiss and Craig Biddle

In her 2022 talk “The New Founders America Needs,” Bari Weiss reminded listeners: “More than a dozen of the actual founders were 18th-century millennials—under the age of 35. So don’t tell me that small groups of young people cannot transform the world when they made ours.” In her 1961 essay “For the New Intellectual,” Ayn Rand presented what she saw as the basic principles that support the kind of society implied in the Declaration of Independence. In this conversation, Bari and Craig Biddle will discuss their respective views on the ideas and mindsets that young intellectuals need if they want to support and advance civilized society.

Several Panelists

Bari Weiss, Timothy Sandefur, Eric Daniels, and Craig Biddle will discuss what a flourishing society looks like and what they regard as the proper way to get there from here. Join us for an action-oriented discussion, ask hard questions, and get involved. This is how we make the world a better place to live.

Arianna Warsaw-Fan Rauch

For many people, classical music is unapproachable: a daunting maze of complex terms, restrictive concert settings, and snobby connoisseurs. It’s also overwhelmingly vast, featuring centuries’ worth of music ranging from symphonies to sacred masses to (less famously) songs Mozart wrote about poop. In this presentation, Arianna Warsaw-Fan Rauch, accompanied by musicians from the Phoenix Symphony, will amuse us with believe-it-or-not stories and cut through the literal and metaphorical crap, helping us to navigate and enjoy this rich and beautiful genre.

John Little

The fitness industry is full of conflicting advice. Should you do cardio? CrossFit? Lift weights? Move fast? Move slow? Do isometrics? Go to the gym three times a week? Once a week? Not at all? In this talk, John Little, fitness expert and coauthor of Body by Science, will show how investing just 20 minutes a week in targeted, high-intensity workouts can get and keep you fit for flourishing.

Sahar Tartak

Sahar Tartak confronted and rejected the irrationality and illiberalism of her high school teachers when they berated her for refusing to support a presentation claiming that America is systemically racist. In this talk, Sahar will discuss the details of that conflict, why you should think for yourself and uphold your rational convictions, and how you can do so with civility and to great effect.

Craig Biddle

Philosophy is inescapable. You have one, whether you know it or not. It’s the set of ideas you hold about the nature of the world and the fundamental laws that govern it, how knowledge is acquired and validated, and how people should and shouldn’t act. The question is: Have you adopted your philosophy by conscious deliberation and independent thinking—or by default, through social osmosis, deferring to authority, or following the crowd? In this talk, Craig Biddle will discuss these alternatives, their consequences, and key questions to address in choosing a philosophy for flourishing.

• 2:00–6:00 pm Welcome and Check-In
• 6:30–9:00 pm Opening Reception and Banquet

• 8:45–10:00 am ntentionality: The Source and Power of Purpose Craig Biddle
• 10:00–10:15 am Break
• 10:15–11:30 am Atomic Strategy: Why and How to get 1% Better Every Day James Clear
• 11:30 am–1:15 pm Lunch
• 1:15–2:30 pm Free Speech, Censorship, and Life-or-Death Distinctions Eric Daniels
• 2:30–2:45 pm Break
• 2:45–4:15 pm Individualism in a Time of Tribalism Panel Discussion
• 4:15–4:45 pm Break
• 4:45–6:00 pm Rebel Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright Timothy Sandefur
• 6:00–8:00 pm Free Time and Dinner Atlas Dinner—Invitation Only
• 8:00–9:30 pm Dance Lesson
• 9:00–10:45 pm Karaoke

• 8:45–10:00 am Integrity: Who Needs It Martin Hooss
• 10:00–10:15 am Break
• 10:15 am–11:30 pm Foods for Flourishing: The Science as It Stands Max Lugavere
• 11:30 am–1:15 pm Lunch
• 1:15–2:15 pm The New Intellectuals America (and the World) Needs Bari Weiss and Craig Biddle
• 2:15–2:45 pm Break
• 2:45–4:15 pm A Future of Flourishing and How to Achieve It Panel Discussion
• 4:15–4:45 pm Break
• 4:45–6:00 pm Free Time
• 6:00–8:00 pm Dinner
• 8:00–9:15 pm Classical Music without the Pretense and Poop Arianna Warsaw-Fan Rauch
• 9:30–10:45 pm Free Time / Jam Session bring your own instrument

• 8:45–10:00 am The Education Cancer and Its Cure Andrew Bernstein
• 10:00–10:15 am Break
• 10:15–11:30 am Fitness for Flourishing—in 20 Minutes a Week John Little
• 11:30 am–1:15 pm Lunch
• 1:15–2:30 pm How I Stood Up for Reason against Illiberalism—and You Can Too Sahar Tartak
• 2:30–2:45 pm Break
• 2:45–4:15 pm Breakout Sessions
  Angelica Walker-Werth

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  Luc Travers

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  Dan Sanchez

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  Kiyah Willis
• 4:15–4:45 pm Break
• 4:45–6:00 pm On Choosing a Philosophy for Loving Life Craig Biddle
• 6:00–7:00 pm Break
• 7:00–10:45 pm Closing Banquet and Dance

We do not plan to livestream the conference.

Registration will remain open until the conference sells out. We encourage you to register and book your hotel room early, as space is limited.

If for any reason LevelUp 2023 is canceled—or if for any reason you personally cannot attend—LevelUp will refund your registration fees, including banquet tickets, in full through June 21, the day the conference begins.

In the event that the conference is cancelled, refunds will be issued automatically. In the event that you personally cannot attend, you need only email us at [email protected] with the subject line “Cancel LevelUp Registration,” and we will refund your registration fees in full. It’s that simple.

For Active-Mind Scholarship recipients, please understand that we will NOT reimburse you for unused travel tickets. We recommend you purchase refundable travel tickets and/or appropriate cancellation insurance.