Though often used, the term “financialization” is largely misunderstood. In order to address this issue, the American Institute for Economic Research commissioned Acton board member and chief investment officer of the Bahnsen Group, David Bahnsen, to write a white paper on this topic. His approach to financialization is simple: that we defend and not demonize capital markets, and clarify and not obfuscate how financial markets enhance our attempts at achieving human flourishing. On today’s episo...
Jan 08, 2025•43 min•Ep. 472
On today’s episode, Acton librarian Dan Hugger sits down Kris Mauren, co-founder and president of the Acton Institute. They discuss why the Acton Institute was founded, what it’s done, and where it’s hoping to go in the new year. Subscribe to our podcasts
Jan 01, 2025•34 min•Ep. 471
On today’s episode, we’re bringing you a rebroadcast from December 1, 2021. Eric Kohn, Acton’s former director of marketing and communications, sits down with Dallas Jenkins, director of “The Chosen,” an online multi-season TV series depicting the life of Jesus. Later in the episode Kohn interviews Jonathan Roumie, the actor who portrays Jesus. The Chosen is the largest crowdfunded media project of all time. At the time of this interview, they had raised 90% of the money for season 3. Now, seaso...
Dec 25, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 470
In recent years, America’s status as a “Christian nation” has become an incredibly vexed question. This is not simply a debate about America’s present, or even its future—it has become a debate about its past. Some want to rewrite America’s history as having always been highly secular in order to ensure a similar future; others seek to reframe the American founding as a continuation of medieval Christendom in the hopes of reviving America’s religious identity today. In his book “Religion & R...
Dec 18, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 469
On today’s episode, Acton’s director of research, John Pinheiro, speaks with Joe Creech, executive director of the Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities. They discuss what’s changed in higher education (for better and worse) and what role the Lilly Network plays. Subscribe to our podcasts The Lilly Network
Dec 11, 2024•47 min•Ep. 468
In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Mark Clifford, award-winning journalist and historian of Hong Kong, about his new book Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared Critic. Hong Kong has scores of billionaires, but only one of them dared stand up to China while the city’s freedoms were whittled away. What in Jimmy Lai’s extraordinary life explains such courage? Subscribe to our podcasts Mark Clifford The Committee for Freedom in...
Dec 04, 2024•57 min•Ep. 467
Join Acton Institute’s president emeritus Rev. Robert Sirico as he hosts a live panel featuring Mark Simon, Mary Kissel, and William McGurn as they discuss the resumption of Jimmy’s trial in Hong Kong. Featured in Acton’s award winning documentary The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai’s Extraordinary Fight for Freedom you will hear the insights of these close friends and associates of Jimmy as they examine his prospects for release and the future of freedom in Hong Kong. The panel was streamed live on Mond...
Nov 27, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 466
With decades of hindsight, the peaceful end of the Cold War seems to have been inevitable. But in the early 1980s, most experts believed the Soviet Union was strong and stable, and would last into the next century. Ronald Reagan entered the White House with no certainty of what would happen next, only an overriding faith in democracy and an abiding belief that Soviet communism—and the threat of nuclear war—must end. Based on his interviews with senior Reagan officials and thousands of pages of n...
Nov 20, 2024•35 min•Ep. 465
This week, host Dan Hugger is joined by John Pinheiro, Anthony Bradley, and Dylan Pahman to discuss the results of the 2024 U.S. elections. What do the results say about American society, its politics, its parties, and its future? A wide-ranging conversation from pre-election polls to possible party futures. This episode is a crossover with our other podcast, Acton Unwind. An occasional roundtable roundtable discussion of news and current events through the Acton Institute's lens on the world: p...
Nov 13, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 464
While the challenge of poverty has always been a part of the human condition, the rise of modernity and the Industrial Revolution have made the problem more acute, particularly for Christians who know that the poor will always be with us and that we’ve been commanded to look out for the least of these. While we cannot rightly characterize C.S. Lewis primarily as an economic or political thinker, he did address social and political matters in his major and minor works. Perhaps more importantly, h...
Nov 06, 2024•59 min•Ep. 427
In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Jordan Ballor, Director of Research at the Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy, about his Religion & Liberty cover story “The Faithful Christian and the Politics of the Tao”. They discuss the nineteenth and twentieth century Dutch political party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, it’s most famous member the theologian and politician Abraham Kuyper, and the prospects for a distinctly Christian politics today. Subscribe to our podcasts Religion &...
Oct 30, 2024•54 min•Ep. 462
On today’s episode, Noah Gould, Acton’s Alumni and Student Programs manager, talks to author Caleb Franz about his new book, “The Conductor: The Story of Rev. John Rankin, Abolitionism’s Essential Founding Father.” Subscribe to our podcasts The Conductor: The Story of Rev. John Rankin, Abolitionism’s Essential Founding Father
Oct 23, 2024•54 min•Ep. 461
Named after distinguished American theologian Michael Novak, the Acton Institute’s prestigious Novak Award rewards outstanding scholarly research concerning the relationship between religion, economic freedom, and the free and virtuous society. In recognition of her outstanding research in the fields of family economics, law and economics, and public choice, the recipient of the 2024 Novak Award is Dr. Clara Piano. In this episode, Acton’s executive editor of the Journal of Markets and Morality,...
Oct 16, 2024•40 min•Ep. 460
For this episode of Acton Line, we’re bringing you one of the plenary talks from Acton University 2024. Robert and Berni Neal explore the complementarity of business and philanthropy, sharing their personal journey and philosophy on integrating wealth creation and ethical stewardship. Robert, a managing partner at Hager Pacific Properties, and Berni, a dedicated Catholic evangelist, discuss how their faith and values guide their business decisions and philanthropic efforts. They emphasize the im...
Oct 09, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 459
On today’s episode, we bring you a wide-ranging conversation between Acton librarian Dan Hugger and Archbishop Felix Anthony Machado from Acton University 2024. They discuss the religious heritage of India, democracy, and the promises and challenges of interreligious dialogue today. Subscribe to our podcasts Acton University Acton On-Demand
Oct 02, 2024•56 min•Ep. 458
For this episode of Acton Line, we’re bringing you one of the plenary talks from Acton University 2024. Dr. Anthony Bradley, Acton Institute distinguished research fellow, delves into the complex relationship between childhood trauma and poverty. Drawing from extensive research, Dr. Bradley discusses how adverse childhood experiences such as abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction can have long-lasting effects on brain development and overall life outcomes. He emphasizes the importance of comp...
Sep 25, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 457
How should you allocate your personal wealth? How do the decisions you make regarding personal wealth impact your character? In his Acton Lecture Series talk, Kenneth Elzinga discussed Christian stewardship and proposed a new way to think about the relationship between “donor” and “receiver.” Before his lecture, Professor Elzinga sat down with Acton Alumni and Student Programs Manager Noah Gould for a preview. They discussed the professor’s journey to faith, his finding a calling in economics, t...
Sep 18, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 512
Capitalism didn’t fail—it was ruined, says Ruchir Sharma. In his new book, “What Went Wrong with Capitalism,” Sharma takes you back to the 19th century to illustrate how the reflexes of government have changed. From hands-off to hands-on, from doing too little to help in hard times to trying to prevent anyone from suffering economic pain ever. The result? Expensive state guarantees for everyone: bailouts for the rich, entitlements for the middle class, and welfare for the poor. Sharma says this ...
Sep 11, 2024•45 min•Ep. 455
Too much of the conversation about poverty, whether in government, among social service providers, or in churches, is animated by highly emotional conventions, trite melodramatic comparisons, and comfortable ideological clichés, says Ismael Hernandez. But how can we change this? How can we do better? In his new book, “Rethinking Charity: Restoring Dignity to Poverty Relief,” Ismael looks at the practical work of authentic poverty relief. The point is to see the poor not as nameless victims but a...
Sep 04, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 454
For this episode of Acton Line, we’re bringing you one of the plenary talks from Acton University 2024. In this talk, Dr. Umi Waheeda, co-founder of the Al Ashriyyah Nurul Iman Islamic boarding school in West Java, Indonesia, shares her journey of transforming lives through education and entrepreneurship. Founded in 1998 during the Indonesian riots, the school provides free education, meals, accommodation, and health services to over 15,000 children, supported by 65 student-run business units. D...
Aug 28, 2024•25 min•Ep. 453
In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Daniel Silliman, historian and news editor for Christianity Today , about his new book, One Lost Soul: Richard Nixon’s Search for Salvation . Silliman argues that Nixon’s life was framed by a fundamentally theological struggle: He wanted to be loved by God but couldn’t figure out how. From an idiosyncratic Quaker childhood, to an explicitly modernist youth and final embrace of a Cold War Christianity, did the president ever find the grace he craved? Subscr...
Aug 21, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 449
In this episode, Acton’s director of research, John Pinheiro, speaks to Jeremy Beer from Acton University 2024 about the definition of philanthropy, the importance of philanthropy today, and why finding a way to connect identities is the key to success. Subscribe to our podcasts Jeremy Beer | AmPhil Acton University Acton On-Demand...
Aug 14, 2024•51 min•Ep. 451
In this episode, Acton director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn talks to Kevin Vallier about his book “All the Kingdoms of the World,” the conversations he’s had with young college students interested in ideas like Catholic integralism and post-liberalism, and where he thinks movements rooted in those ideas are at today. Subscribe to our podcasts Acton University Kevin Vallier All the Kingdoms of the World The Rise and Fall of American Integralism | The Dispatch...
Aug 07, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 450
In today’s episode, we bring you one of the plenary talks from Acton University 2024. Here Dr. John Tomasi, a distinguished political philosopher and president of Heterodox Academy, delves into the critical role played by universities in supporting a free society. Subscribe to our podcasts Acton University Acton On-Demand Heterodox Academy...
Jul 31, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 449
Each summer, the Acton Institute welcomes a cohort of students to Grand Rapids, Michigan, as part of our Emerging Leaders Program. This leadership-development program is not your typical internship. Students from across the United States and around the globe get to participate in eight weeks of seminars, networking, and Acton events to develop professional experience, grow their network, and go deeper into the ideas of a free and virtuous society. In this episode, Noah Gould, Acton alumni and st...
Jul 24, 2024•36 min•Ep. 448
Common ground is hard to find in today’s politics. In a society teeming with irreconcilable political perspectives, many people have grown frustrated under a system of government that constantly demands compromise. More and more Americans on both the right and the left have come to blame the Constitution for the resulting discord. But the Constitution is not the problem; it’s the solution, says Yuval Levin in his new book, American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation—And Could Agai...
Jul 17, 2024•59 min•Ep. 447
In this episode, Eric Kohn, Acton’s director of marketing and communications, sits down with financial expert David Bahnsen to discuss the current state of the American and global economies, where inflation is at, and the role of the Federal Reserve. Subscribe to our podcasts Acton University Acton On-Demand Full-Time: Work and the Meaning of Life | David Bahnsen...
Jul 10, 2024•53 min•Ep. 446
In the 34-year history of the Acton Institute, never have we had an opportunity to combine Ludwig Von Mises and the Austrian school of economics with mixed martial arts. That is, until Renato Moicano presented us with just that opportunity at Acton University 2024. Hailing from Brazil, Renato has been a professional MMA fighter since 2010 and currently competes in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Rather than boasting about himself after a match in April, he took th...
Jul 03, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 445
Gurcharan Das was born in Lyallpur, Punjab, during World War II. His mother noted in her diary that he was a restless child, and by age 3 was a “troublemaker.” He discovered one day, however, that he could also run—and he’s been running ever since. Gurcharan set out to become an engineer but wound up with a philosophy degree from Harvard instead. From there he abandoned a promising academic career to become a salesman for Vicks VapoRub in India’s colorful bazaars, eventually leading him to becom...
Jun 26, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 444
For four days each summer, Acton University brings together from around the developing and the developed worlds leaders in business, academia, and the church, as well as students of all ages, for a four-day exploration of theology, philosophy, entrepreneurship, international development, and market-based economics. Hundreds of attendees from more than 75 different countries pack our venue in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to listen to dozens of experts bring thought-provoking presentations on the intel...
Jun 19, 2024•39 min•Ep. 443
