This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman are joined by special guest Rabbi Jonathan Greenberg to discuss the recent New York Times article on New York City’s Orthodox yeshivas. Is the Times piece fair? What interest does the state have in the kind of education the children in Hasidic enclaves in New York City are receiving? And is America becoming increasingly inhospitable to Jews? Then the guys discuss the move by some state governors to send migrants who arrive at the southern border...
Sep 19, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 56
This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman discuss the legacies of two world leaders who have recently passed: Queen Elizabeth II of England and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. How should these two very different figures be remembered, and what will be their enduring legacies? How should we think about the legacy of the British Empire, which was dissolved under Queen Elizabeth’s reign with the end of British rule in Hong Kong? And how much credit should Gorbachev get for the diss...
Sep 12, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 55
This week, Eric Kohn, John Pinheiro, and Dylan Pahman discuss every angle of the executive order from President Joe Biden granting up to $20,000 of student-loan-debt forgiveness to qualifying individuals. Is there a solid legal case for doing this? Can one argue persuasively that transferring debts from those who incurred them to those who did not—namely, the American taxpayers—is in any way just? Does it make sense to take this action without addressing the deeper problems in the student loan a...
Aug 29, 2022•55 min•Ep. 54
This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman reflect on what has transpired in Afghanistan in the year since the withdrawal of American forces from the country. Could the inevitable withdrawal have been better planned to prevent the debacle that ensued? What is the current state of the country’s economy, and of the rights of women and children? Could things be worse? Then the guys turn their attention to a possible earthquake in the American public school system, as major cities see declin...
Aug 22, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 53
This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman explore some of the big picture questions raised in the wake of the FBI's executing a search warrant for Trump’s Florida digs, Mar-a-Lago. How should we balance practical political concerns with questions of the rule of law? Would more transparency help? Or would breaking the Department of Justice’s protocol, as former FBI director Jim Comey did about the Hillary Clinton private-server investigation, cause more harm than good? And are we capable...
Aug 15, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 52
This week, guest host Dan Hugger, Sarah Negri, and Dylan Pahman discuss the diplomatic crisis unfolding in the wake of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. How should the United States respond to an increasingly aggressive Communist China? From there the discussion turns to the recent defeat of the proposed Value Them Both Amendment to the Kansas Constitution. What can we learn about the future of the abortion debate in America from this result? Then we discuss the recent Republican pri...
Aug 08, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 51
David L. Bahnsen joins Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman on the show this week to discuss all things economics. Just what is a recession? How do we know? What should we do if we’re actually in one? What is the future of inflation? If inflation comes down, is it a good sign or would it be indicative of different problems in the economy? Are we at risk of investing too much in the power of government and politicians to both break and fix the economy? And are oil companies making record profi...
Aug 01, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 50
This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman discuss the rising concern about political violence in the wake of the attack in New York on Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin. How do we stem this tide, and what role do politicians and rhetoric play in inciting such violence? From there the discussion turns to the elimination of cash bail in New York. Then, given President Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia, how should we approach dealing with nations that violate human rights and, ...
Jul 25, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 49
In a very special bonus episode of Acton Unwind, Eric Kohn is joined by Dylan Pahman and Daniel Baas to discuss the fourth season of the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things.” They explore the show’s depiction of communism, the satanic panic of the 1980s, concepts of good and evil, and tease out some possible religious allegories. Supernatural thriller Stranger Things shows the all-too-human evil of communism | Dylan Pahman Cronyism vs. free markets in ‘Stranger Things’ | Dylan Pahman Stranger Th...
Jul 22, 2022•58 min•Ep. 48
This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman ponder the nexus of age, experience, and leadership. Is it possible to be too old to have a job with as many high-pressure responsibilities as come with being president of the United States? If so, what is the wisest way to implement an age limitation? Should we just leave it up to voters to decide based on the individual candidates available? Then the guys discuss whether changing our language has the ability to change what it is we’re talking ...
Jul 18, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 47
This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman discuss both the shocking assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the political downfall of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. What is Abe’s legacy and the significance of his assassination in Japanese civic and political culture? And will Boris Johnson even leave a legacy beyond negotiating Brexit? Next, Twitter is looking to sue Elon Musk, who has announced he’s backing out of his deal to purchase the social media pla...
Jul 11, 2022•59 min•Ep. 46
This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman take stock of the current status of the American founding, 246 years after the colonies declared independence. How effective have the attacks coming from the left and the right on the founding been, if at all? Then they examine the horrific mass shooting at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois. If public policy can’t fix broken souls, how can we reach people like this shooter before they perpetrate these violent acts? Highland P...
Jul 05, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 45
This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss everything surrounding the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned previous precedents in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Why has most of the reaction been about the policy implications flowing from the decision and not what the Supreme Court actually wrote and held in Dobbs? What does that say about civics education in America right now? What should we take away from the concu...
Jun 27, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 44
On this episode, Eric Kohn, Dylan Pahman, and Dan Hugger discuss the newly launched LIV Golf International Series, a competitor to the PGA Tour that has drawn defections from some big golfing names—Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Bryson DeChambeau, to name a few—and controversy for being primarily funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. What is the ethical responsibility of the average sports consumer when a sporting event is being funded or supported by a monstrous regime? Then the guys turn...
Jun 20, 2022•55 min•Ep. 43
This week, special guest David Bahnsen joins Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger as they discuss inflation in America hitting a 40-year high. What’s driving the present persistent inflation? How is our present economic malaise different from our last bout of persistent inflation in the 1970s? How does political polarization hamper our ability to respond effectively to economic crises? The second half of the program is dedicated to a review and evaluation of the ongoing work of the January 6 com...
Jun 13, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 42
In this episode, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss the massacre of 19 children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas. How do we grapple with horrors like this? What can we do, as individuals and as a society, to reduce the likelihood that attacks like this will happen again? Are we lacking the moral language to effectively discuss such events? Then there’s the lack of response on the part of the Uvalde police. While these cops clearly failed the people they were charged with protecting, wha...
Jun 06, 2022•59 min•Ep. 41
In this episode of Acton Unwind, Dan Churchwell, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger focus on the crisis in evangelical Christianity, with factions within the broader evangelical community pitted one against the other. The discussion is framed by Tim Alberta’s recent piece in The Atlantic, “How Politics Poisoned Evangelicalism,” which examines the responses of several evangelical churches in Brighton, Michigan, to the presidency of Donald Trump and the COVID-19 pandemic. Just what is evangelicalism and it...
May 31, 2022•43 min•Ep. 40
In the episode of Acton Unwind, Dylan Pahman, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger focus on the war in Ukraine and its religious context. What battles over ecclesiastic authority are involved? What is the Russian Orthodox Church saying about the conflict? The discussion then turns to the economic effects of the war upon the rest of the world, with particular focus on food production and distribution. Why are some countries affected more severely than others? Also among the discussion is a focus on China an...
May 23, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 39
This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss the arrest of Cardinal Joseph Zen in Hong Kong on charges of violating the National Security Law and allegedly "colluding with foreign forces.” The arrest of Zen and three others comes in the wake of the arrest of other pro-democracy and human rights activists like Jimmy Lai, the subject of Acton’s most recent documentary feature film, THE HONG KONGER: JIMMY LAI’S EXTRAORDINARY STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM. What does this arrest tell us about the s...
May 16, 2022•55 min•Ep. 38
This week, Eric Kohn, Dylan Pahman, and Dan Hugger tackle the issue that’s on everyone’s mind: the leak of the Supreme Court draft option in the Dobbs case overturning both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. How monumental is the leak itself, and how does it threaten the institution of the Court? What does the draft opinion from Justice Samuel Alito actually do? What do the American people actually think about abortion? What happens now? And finally, assuming the Court overturns Roe an...
May 09, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 37
This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss the case that was argued before the Supreme Court last week about whether Joseph Kennedy, a former football coach in Washington State, could pray with others at the 50-yard line after public school football games. Kennedy looks likely to win his case, but should he? Why do we have such a hard time grappling with the role of religion in public life? Will this case do anything to help that problem? Next, we already have inflation. Now we have...
May 02, 2022•50 min•Ep. 36
This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger give quick takes on two developing stories previously discussed on this program: the French presidential election, in which the incumbent, Emmanuel Macron, has emerged victorious over Marine Le Pen; and Twitter’s reported acceptance of Elon Musk’s purchase offer. Then they turn their attention to Florida and the recently passed legislation to strip Disney of its Reedy Creek Improvement District carveout in retaliation for Disney’s objection to the ...
Apr 25, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 35
This week, Eric Kohn, Dylan Pahman, and Dan Hugger update the Elon Musk twitter drama. How serious should we take Musk’s attempt to purchase Twitter? And even if he did, how much would it impact people who aren’t just very, very online. How much has this episode revealed about the people who are either outraged or delighted by the story? Then the guys dive into the most recent Atlantic essay from social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, “Why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely stupi...
Apr 18, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 34
This week, Eric Kohn and Sam Gregg pilot this two-person ship through four topics. First, they tackle the first round of French presidential elections, where the incumbent Emmanuel Macron will face off in a rematch with Marine Le Pen. What does the rise of Le Pen’s right-wing populism mean for France, and why have the two major political parties lost support so dramatically? Next, Elon Musk is now the largest shareholder in Twitter, prompting a mini-freakout in the Big Tech world. Are Musk’s act...
Apr 11, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 33
This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger take on Florida’s HB 1557, christened by the media as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. While it doesn’t say, “Don’t say gay,” it does say several things worth discussing. And how much of a backlash could Disney be in for now that their internal conversations about adding “queerness” to its programming are public. Next, the guys consider President Joe Biden’s pledge to release 1 million barrels of oil per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Is this a...
Apr 04, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 32
It’s a two-man show this week as Eric Kohn and Dan Hugger begin by discussing the slap heard ’round the entertainment world. In the event you haven’t heard yet, actor Will Smith stormed the Oscars stage last night to slap Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Was it staged? Was it real? Can we know? Does it matter? Speaking of blurring the lines of reality and fantasy, next Eric and Dan examine the stolen Jan. 6 text messages from Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme...
Mar 28, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 31
Today, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss the controversy surrounding Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer on the women’s swim team at the University of Pennsylvania, who just recently took home the NCAA Division I national championship in the women's 500-yard freestyle. What questions does this raise about the nature of the human person, and to what extent has that anthropological question gone unexamined and ignored by the people and institutions surrounding this story? Then the gang ...
Mar 21, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 30
This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Stephen Barrows discuss the latest spike in inflation, hitting 7.9% over last year. That’s the worst it’s been since 1982. What action will the Federal Reserve take? Has the Federal Reserve simply failed? If so, what’s the lesson we should learn? Then the guys discuss the sanctions regime that’s been put on Russia. Are sanctions effective? Are they moral? Are they working? And finally, would you fight for your country if it was invaded? In a new poll, an alar...
Mar 14, 2022•59 min•Ep. 29
This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dylan Pahman discuss the latest on Ukraine and Russia. Should we be surprised by the unanimity of the European response? To what extent did Vladimir Putin underestimate the strength of Western institutions and alliances? Then they discuss how both the Orthodox Church and the Vatican have responded to the crisis. Finally, they close with brief reactions to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. Subscribe to our podcasts The Morning Dispatch: Putin C...
Mar 07, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 28
This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine. How will this change the rules-based, post–World War II world order? How did the West misread Vladimir Putin? How did Putin misread how the invasion would go? How surprising is the story of actor/comedian-turned-stateman Volodymyr Zelensky? And how much has this international crisis revealed about the corruption of the American political right? Then the guys turn their attention to the upcoming State of the ...
Feb 28, 2022•59 min•Ep. 27
