In this episode, Dan Hugger sits with Daniel Silliman, journalist and news editor for Christianity Today , to discuss his new book, "Reading Evangelicals: How Christian Fiction Shaped a Culture and a Faith." Silliman argues that the formation of evangelical identity does not stem from institutions or political stances but from Christian fiction and Christian publishing in general. In light of this, he explores the questions, what is evangelicalism, and what is evangelical subculture? Subscribe t...
Feb 23, 2022•50 min•Ep. 321
In this episode, Sarah Negri, research project coordinator at the Acton Institute, sits down with David Michael Phelps, dean and director of program development at Harmel Academy of the Trades, to discuss the dignity of human work and how it is tied to our freedom to create value in the world and its connection to virtue. Why is formation in virtue important for skilled laborers? Who was Léon Harmel, and what was his impact on Catholic social teaching? Subscribe to our podcasts Business Matters ...
Feb 16, 2022•36 min•Ep. 320
Since its announcement in November, media buzz has surrounded the University of Austin in Texas (UATX), newly founded to push back against a growing illiberal tide of “wokeness” and “cancel culture” in higher education. According to its website, UATX is “dedicated to the fearless pursuit of truth” and seeks to promote freedom of inquiry and ideological independence. Today on Acton Line, Dylan Pahman interviews Dr. Pano Kanelos, president of UATX, to dig deeper than the social media hot takes to ...
Feb 09, 2022•30 min•Ep. 319
In a conversation with Acton’s librarian and research associate Dan Hugger, the Honorable Mark T. Boonstra, author of “In Their Own Words,” presents powerful insights into the minds of our Founding Fathers on the subject of religion. It’s clear now more than ever that our country is no longer the one inhabited by our Founding Fathers. Boonstra claims that we have essentially lost our relationship to God. According to our country’s sacred documents, we were established as one nation under God, ou...
Feb 02, 2022•39 min•Ep. 318
In a conversation with Dan Churchwell, Acton’s director of program outreach, Alan Noble, author of "You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World," presents powerful insights into the anxiety and unease many feel today. He describes how a single line from the Heidelberg Catechism reframes our identity and helps us better understand ourselves, our families, our society, and our God. Subscribe to Acton Line , Acton Unwind , & Acton Vault Use code aipod22 to get 30% off the book De...
Jan 26, 2022•58 min•Ep. 317
As we continue the conversation from our last episode, Dan Hugger and Dylan Pahman move the discussion forward on the Acton Institute’s vision for a free and virtuous society. We examine the Institute’s 10 core principles, which serve as the bedrock of who we are and what we do—namely, we seek to integrate religious truths (virtue) with free market principles (sound economics). Subscribe to our podcasts About Dan Hugger About Dylan Pahman Our Mission & Core Principles Lord Acton's philosophy...
Jan 19, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 316
As we enter into this new year, we reflect on the Acton Institute’s vision for a free and virtuous society. In this episode of Acton Line, Acton’s librarian and research associate, Dan Hugger, sits with Dylan Pahman, research fellow and executive editor of Acton’s Journal of Markets and Morality, to discuss the Institute’s mission and core principles. This is part one of a two-part series. Subscribe to our podcasts About Dan Hugger About Dylan Pahman Our Mission & Core Principles Lord Acton'...
Jan 12, 2022•52 min•Ep. 315
In November of 2021, Fr. Robert A. Sirico passed the torch of the presidency of the Acton Institute to Acton co-founder Kris Mauren. In this episode, Eric Kohn sits down with Mauren to discuss Acton’s vision for a free and virtuous society in 2022 and beyond. Subscribe to our podcasts About Kris Mauren Acton Institute Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jan 05, 2022•41 min•Ep. 314
If we face America’s racial history squarely, must we conclude that the American project is a failure? Conversely, if we think the American project is a worthy endeavor, do we have to lie or equivocate about its past? In this episode, Dan Churchwell, Acton’s director of program outreach, sits with Rachel Ferguson, economic philosopher at Concordia University Chicago, to discuss her new book, Black Liberation Through the Marketplace . Exhausted by extremism on both left and right, a majority of A...
Dec 29, 2021•39 min•Ep. 313
In this episode, Eric Kohn sits down with Neil Chilson, research fellow for technology and innovation at Stand Together, to discuss his new book, Getting Out of Control: Emergent Leadership in a Complex World. Instead of trying to control people, systems, and protocols, Chilson explains how leaders must pursue the art of influence to lead and win. Subscribe to our podcasts Getting Out Of Control: Emergent Leadership in a Complex World About Neil Chilson Stand Together Hosted on Acast. See acast....
Dec 22, 2021•45 min•Ep. 312
In this episode, Eric Kohn sits down with Yuval Levin, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and editor-in-chief of National Affairs, to discuss his new article featured in The Dispatch, "The Changing Face of Social Breakdown." Levin notices a strange cultural trend. Although things may look great from a mere statistical perspective, something more ominous is going on in the background. Levin writes: “This mix of seemingly good and bad news is no paradox. The good news is often just...
Dec 15, 2021•54 min•Ep. 311
Pope John Paul II was an artist, an author, an actor, a philosopher, and a theologian. But most important, he was a lover of freedom and liberty. In this episode, Reason magazine's managing editor, Stephanie Slade, sits down with Eric Kohn to discuss her new article on the pope who helped bring down communism. The Pope Who Helped Bring Down Communism Stephanie Slade on the future of fusionism Will-to-power conservatism with Stephanie Slade About Stephanie Slade Subscribe to our podcasts Hosted o...
Dec 08, 2021•40 min•Ep. 310
In this episode, Eric Kohn, Acton’s director of communications, sits down with Dallas Jenkins, director of The Chosen , an online multi season TV series depicting the life of Jesus. Later in this episode, Kohn interviews Jonathan Roumie, the actor who portrays Jesus. The Chosen is the largest crowdfunded media project of all time. According to The Chosen website: “Season 2 was fully funded in November 2020. This time 125,346 people contributed a total of $10,000,000. 86% of people who funded Sea...
Dec 01, 2021•59 min•Ep. 309
In this episode, Eric Kohn, Acton’s director of communications, sits down with David L. Bahnsen to discuss his new book, There’s No Free Lunch . In his book, Bahnsen explores how the free market has enabled hundreds of millions of people to rise from the depths of poverty and achieve a higher quality of life. In fact, there is no better economic system for human flourishing. However, a contagion has begun infecting public opinion with regard to capitalism in general and free markets specifically...
Nov 24, 2021•59 min•Ep. 308
In this episode, Dylan Pahman, executive editor and research fellow here at the Acton Institute, sits down with Kevin Schmiesing, director of research at the Freedom & Virtue Institute and coauthor and editor of the newly released Race and Justice in America . They discuss cultural tensions stemming from race and justice issues, the civil rights and Black Lives Matter movements, and how to move forward in a peaceful, unified manner. Race and Justice in America tackles the most enduring and p...
Nov 17, 2021•48 min•Ep. 307
Digital technology has undoubtedly brought many benefits, but it has also come with growing threats to our privacy, our families and businesses, our mental health, and our freedom. Call it digital contagion. From cancel culture to fake news, from data collection and surveillance to outright social manipulation, we are bombarded by content that insidiously influences our behavior and threatens our security and even our livelihood. In this episode, Eric Kohn, Acton's director of communications, si...
Nov 10, 2021•50 min•Ep. 306
Increasingly, people are turning to intermittent fasting to bolster their health. But we aren’t the first people to abstain from eating for a purpose. This routine was a common part of our spiritual ancestors’ lives for 1,500 years. In his new book, Eat, Fast, Feast: Heal Your Body While Feeding your Soul―A Christian Guide to Fasting, Jay Richards argues that Christians should recover the fasting lifestyle, not only to improve our bodies, but to bolster our spiritual health as well. He draws upo...
Nov 03, 2021•40 min•Ep. 305
On October 3, 2021, Frances Haugen—the so-called Facebook whistleblower—appeared on 60 Minutes to detail her time with the social media giant, as well as the content of the thousands of internal documents that reveal, according to her, the "conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook.” Two days later, she was testifying before Congress, who had hauled Big Tech CEOs like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, Google’s Sundar Pichai, and ot...
Oct 27, 2021•42 min•Ep. 304
All children deserve the love and affection that come from being in a family. Most importantly, children deserve to have their needs met in a permanent and loving home. The original ideal of the foster care system was to provide such fundamental necessities until a child is reunited with his or her biological parents, or adopted. However, the present reality shows us something entirely different. The child welfare system has declined to the point where it now caters to the needs of the adults ra...
Oct 20, 2021•43 min•Ep. 303
William Shakespeare is undoubtedly one of the greatest writers of Western civilization. As we watch or read his plays, we are still able to draw applicable lessons on politics, our fallen human nature, and how one should relate to God and neighbor. In this episode, I sit down with Nicolas McAfee to discuss the political wisdom of Shakespeare's late plays. Bio | Nicolas McAfee is a fourth-year doctoral student studying political philosophy at the University of Dallas. He is currently writing a di...
Oct 13, 2021•39 min•Ep. 302
Forced labor camps have been embedded in Chinese politics since the birth of the People’s Republic of China. Mao Zedong created and instituted these camps to terrorize and indoctrinate anyone who didn’t “fall in line.” Today these camps are more prevalent than ever. Not only are they hothouses for indoctrination and torture, but the products they produce are sold globally, generating more profit for the communist regime. In this episode, Eric Kohn, Acton's director of communications, sits down w...
Oct 06, 2021•43 min•Ep. 301
On Friday, October 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Acton Institute will host its First Annual Academic Colloquium on Markets & Morality. This year’s theme is “Neo-Calvinism & Modern Economics.” In this episode, Dan Hugger, librarian and research associate, and Sarah Negri, research project coordinator, both at the Acton Institute, sit down with Dylan Pahman, an Acton research fellow and executive editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality , to discuss why Acton is hosting an academic...
Sep 30, 2021•34 min
COVID-19 has impacted us in ways that will continue to affect us for generations. In this episode, I explore a very particular consequence of COVID: Children born during the pandemic have scored significantly lower on IQ tests. I sit down with Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, president and founder of the Ruth Institute, to unpack this disturbing phenomenon. Subscribe to Acton Line , Acton Unwind , & Acton Vault The Ruth Institute Bio | Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D Love & Economics: It Takes a F...
Sep 29, 2021•43 min•Ep. 300
The Beatles will go down in history as one of the most prolific music acts of all time. Their music is still played in our homes and around the world and has influenced pop culture on a global scale. In this episode, Eric Kohn, Acton's Director of Communications, sits down with Samuel Staley to discuss his new book The Beatles and Economics: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Making of a Cultural Revolution. Book | Beatles & Economics Pope John Paul, George, and Ringo on the harms of high...
Sep 22, 2021•49 min•Ep. 299
“Crisis” is a catch-all phrase used in modern rhetoric typically attached to any movement or belief that aims to point out an issue. However, it is as important as ever to rationally conclude what constitutes a crisis, and to what extent eras of “crises” defend government intervention. In this episode, Acton Institute’s research associate and librarian Dan Hugger sits down with participants of Acton’s Emerging Leader program, Grace Hemmeke, Ben Luker, and Jeremy Ward to discuss their Capstone pr...
Sep 15, 2021•45 min•Ep. 298
The events of 9/11 are forever etched in the hearts of all Americans. Most of us still remember exactly where we were when it happened. In this episode, Acton’s Director of Communications Eric Kohn sits down with Niels Jorgensen, a retired New York firefighter, who shares his story of what happened at ground zero that day. As we approach the 20th anniversary of September 11th, let us reflect on the bravery and courage that took place those two decades ago and to be especially thankful for all th...
Sep 08, 2021•42 min•Ep. 297
In this episode, Nathan Mech, program outreach project manager here at the Acton Institute, sits down with Ali Salman, co-founder of Islam & Liberty Network, to discuss his new book, Islam & Economics . Islam offers three moral principles of economic organization: ownership, wealth creation, and wealth circulation. Based on these principles, Islam and Economics derives a framework of operational institutional tenets for the economic organization of a society. It addresses all important b...
Sep 01, 2021•49 min•Ep. 296
This week on Acton Unwind, Sam Gregg, and special guests Dan Hugger and Michael Miller discuss the ongoing developments in Afghanistan as we approach the 31st deadline. Then, they discuss the $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill and how we can look to C.S. Lewis for guidance on how to respond. What is human infrastructure? Is the United States a civilization-building nation? Is all truth subjective? Subscribe to the Acton Unwind Podcast Biden’s ‘stimulus’ for a growing economy is all about central ...
Aug 30, 2021•1 hr 2 min
For the first time in more than 6 decades Cuban citizens are protesting in the streets against their communist government regime. In this episode, Dan Hugger, Librarian and research associate here at the Acton Institute sits down with a Cuban priest Fr. Alberto Reyes to discuss the horrors of communism in Cuba, the revolution, and how Christians should respond to it. As a quick note, in this interview, Fr. Reyes speaks in his native tongue, Spanish and we have translated his answers to English. ...
Aug 25, 2021•42 min•Ep. 295
This week on Acton Unwind, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and special guest Mustafa Akyol discuss the latest developments in Afghanistan, as the United States works feverishly to get Americans out of the country. How many refugees should the United States accept? What will rule by the Taliban look like? Have they changed at all, as some people have suggested? Then, Eric and Sam discuss the FDA’s final approval of the COVID vaccines, the lockdowns in Australia and New Zealand and the resistance they have ...
Aug 23, 2021•55 min
