Craig Biddle

What if you had a toolkit for building a beautiful life? Rational philosophy offers exactly that: practical ideas to help you think clearly, choose your goals and relationships wisely, and follow through on what’s best for you.

Craig Biddle will discuss several high-leverage thinking tools, showing how you can use them to thrive in every area of life—from education and career, to friendships and romance, to recreational and leisure activities, to the general care of your body and mind. You’ll be better equipped to navigate life’s complexities with confidence and purpose.

Thomas Walker-Werth

Does living independently mean cutting off all reliance on other people? Does thinking independently mean only accepting ideas you came up with on your own? Or is there a more sensible approach to the virtue at hand?

Thomas Walker-Werth will address common misconceptions about independence, zeroing in on what it means to rely on and live by the judgment of your mind, and offering practical advice for applying this virtue to great effect in the various areas of your life.

Carrie-Ann Biondi

Do you want friends who add joy and meaning to your life—friends who are supportive, encouraging, and good for you (rather than neutral, draining, or toxic)? If so, Aristotle and Ayn Rand offer advice you’ll want to hear.

What is friendship? What are its elements? Whom should you befriend? How should you treat friends? How should they treat you? When should you end a friendship—and how?

Carrie-Ann Biondi will discuss select passages from Aristotle and Rand that address such questions, providing practical ideas you can use to foster good friendships today and for the rest of your life.

Andrew Bernstein

Critics of the West claim that Western culture is responsible for slavery, imperialism, sexism, genocide, global warming, cruelty to animals, and just about every bad thing you can think of. Western culture, these critics conclude, is uniquely evil. But does an objective examination of history support such claims? What is the truth—the whole truth—about the West?

Andrew Bernstein will address these and related questions, surveying the West’s virtues and vices, its essential characteristics, and the principles by which to judge a culture—any culture—objectively, justly, fairly.

Tim Chermak

Ever so rarely, a businessman comes along who is so creative that he redefines entrepreneurship. Walt Disney was such a man. He not only reimagined and improved existing business models; he invented entire industries and created profitable enterprises in categories that previously didn’t exist. And he infused all of his projects and creations with a sense of wonder and imagination—which he preserved from his childhood and fostered throughout his life.

Tim Chermak will zero in on what made Disney Disney, and how he built an empire of dreams, innovation, and joy.

Carl Barney

Imagine a professor—nay, a whole university of them—dedicated exclusively to your personalized education. These professors have read every book on every subject ever written. They know every argument ever offered for every position ever taken. They have infinite interest and patience in discussing ideas with you. And they are fully dedicated to helping you sharpen your mind and succeed in life.

Would you like such an education? You’ll soon be able to have it. Carl Barney will discuss how AI is revolutionizing higher education and creating opportunities unimaginable just a few years ago.

Angelica Walker-Werth

Reading a novel is, for many people, more enjoyable than reading a history book. Likewise for watching a movie versus watching the news. And fictional characters, plots, and themes can be far more enjoyable and more motivating than their real-life equivalents.

Why? What is it about fiction that moves us so deeply?

Angel Walker-Werth will address these questions, focusing on the effects of both life-serving ideas and life-throttling ideas in fiction, and the ways in which reading stories or watching movies can foster deeper understanding of our world and ourselves, and greater enjoyment of life.

Craig Biddle, Angelica Walker-Werth, and Thomas Walker-Werth

Do people really have free will? Can morality truly be objective? Is certainty or absolute knowledge possible? Is there any role for faith in life? How about sacrifice? Might God exist? Are rights real or made up? Should immigration be restricted? How about abortion?

If you are active-minded, you ask these kinds of questions—and you want to know what’s true. The panelists in this Q&A, however, will not focus on what is true. Rather, they will focus on the method by which you can discover for yourself what is true.

Bring your hard or pressing questions, and get ready for a deep, illuminating discussion about philosophy and independent thinking.

Kiyah Willis

The United States of America was founded to protect individual rights: life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. These ideas made America the prosperous society it is today. Yet, many Americans are turning against these values in favor of Nationalism, an ideology that condones violating rights for the sake of the collective nation. Why? What are the principles of Nationalism? And why has it become so popular today?

Kiyah Willis will address these questions and make the case for liberalism as the philosophy that will truly make America great again. (Although this talk will focus on American culture and politics, the ideas apply universally.)

Timothy Sandefur

Sammy Davis, Jr., was not only “the greatest entertainer in the world,” as he was called during his lifetime; he was also a civil rights pioneer who shattered racial and cultural barriers in the entertainment industry. But his life was tragically mixed. In addition to overcoming immense challenges, he suffered a tragic weakness that nearly ruined his life. Timothy Sandefur will commemorate Davis’s 100th birthday by examining his extraordinary life—and the lessons we can learn from his virtues and flaws.

Jason Bateman and Thomas Walker-Werth

Over the centuries, and up to the present, men and women of the mind have discovered truths, developed technologies, and created the goods and services that, combined, make human life in our time seem miraculous in comparison to any other. Such thinkers and producers continue transforming our world and our lives today.

Who are these people? How do they do what they do? Why do they do it? And what, if anything, do we owe them? Jason Bateman and Thomas Walker-Werth will discuss these and related questions.

Lee Sandstead

Modern lifestyles involve a lot of sitting, using screens, and using our minds. But we are not merely minds. We are minds integrated with bodies. And taking good care of both aspects of this integrated whole is essential to thriving.

How can you get or stay physically fit so you can make the most of your life and enjoy it to the fullest? Lee Sandstead will address this and related questions, focusing on both the Athletic Component (AC) of fitness and the Dietary Component (DC), providing strategies and tactics for getting and staying fit for flourishing.

Eric Daniels

Flourishing requires life-long learning: the active use of your mind to understand the world and your needs throughout your years and decades. But there is so much to learn! And you can’t learn it all. How can you best select what to focus on? And how can you learn it most efficiently and effectively?

Eric Daniels will examine the principles involved in self-directed learning, difficulties inherent in the process, and strategies for constantly expanding your knowledge to improve your life.

Craig Biddle, Angelica Walker-Werth, and Justyna Piątek-Pawłowska

Would you like to improve your life year-round? You can. And OSI can help.

Join us for this final session of LevelUp 2025 to learn how you can take advantage of various opportunities to excel in life, defend liberty on solid ground, and engage regularly with others who do so, too. The panelists will discuss how you can continue sharpening your mind with OSI’s programs, courses, and conferences; how you can constantly expand and improve your social and professional network; and how you can love your life more and more and more.