Acton Line

In this episode, Dan Hugger sits down with Acton’s director of research, Samuel Gregg, to discuss his new book, “The Essential Natural Law.” They explore the fundamental principles of natural law and their place in Western thought and tradition.    How does natural law deepen our understanding of economics, justice, human rights, private property, and the rule of law? Is our path to increased human flourishing contingent on the principles of natural law being applied?   Subscribe to our podcasts    About Sam Gregg    Fraser Institute    “The Essential Natural Law”  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Eric Kohn, Acton’s director of communications, sits down with Joseph Lehman, president of the Mackinac Center, to discuss the “Overton Window” and the influence it continues to play in politics. How can we use it to understand changing ideas in our culture and the marketplace?   Subscribe to our podcasts    Joseph G. Lehman, President of the Mackinac Center    Mackinac Center for Public Policy    The Overton Window | Mackinac Center    The Overton Window: The Most Misunderstood Concept in Politics | The Daily Wire  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 to our podcasts    Business Matters 2022 — 50% off registration with promo code PODCASTBM22   About Daniel Silliman    What's True About Christian Fiction | Christianity Today   Reading Evangelicals: How Christian Fiction Shaped a Culture and a Faith | Daniel Silliman  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 2022 — 50% off registration with promo code PODCASTBM22   Laborem Exercens, encyclical by John Paul II   Rerum Novarum, encyclical by Leo XIII   The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture by Fr. Jean Leclercq, O.S.B.   The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World by Iain McGilchrist   Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work by Matthew Crawford   The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction by

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 discover the truth of what UATX is really all about.   Subscribe to our podcasts  Business Matters 2022 — 50% off registration with promo code PODCASTBM22   The University of Austin  About Dr. Pano Kanelos The University of Austin is scaring all the right people Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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, our rights were given by God, we appealed to God for protection, and freedom to worship God was a primary concern. Things are a bit different now.    In his book, Boonstra brings to light what our Founding Fathers truly believed about America as a nation united under God.    Subscribe to our podcasts   Buy the Books — “In Their Own Words”    About Mark T. Boonstra Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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   Details about the book   Excerpt   About Alan Noble Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 should guide our next two centuries    Foundations of a Free & Virtuous Society — Acton Bookshop    A Legacy of Liberty — Acton Bookshop  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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's philosophy should guide our next two centuries    Foundations of a Free & Virtuous Society — Acton Bookshop    A Legacy of Liberty — Acton Bookshop  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

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 Americans—black and white—still love this country and want to do right by all its citizens. In Black Liberation Through the Marketplace, Rachel Ferguson leaves readers with a better understanding of black history and creative ideas for how to make this nation one that truly enjoys liberty and justice for all.   Subscribe to our podcasts   About Rachel Ferguson    Black Liberation Through the Marketplace: Hope, Heartbreak, and the Promise of America    Anthony Bradley on why black lives matter    Acton Lecture Series

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.com/privacy for more information.

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 one consequence of the bad. There are fewer divorces because there are fewer marriages. … There are fewer abortions because there are fewer pregnancies. …  There are fewer out-of-wedlock births because there are fewer births in general. … Fewer teenagers are dying in car accidents because fewer teenagers are getting driver’s licenses. There is less social disorder, we might say, because there is less social life. We are doing less of everything together, so that what we do is a little more tidy and controlled.” 

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 on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Season 1 also funded Season 2, with an average contribution of $299.99.” Season 3 is over 90% crowdfunded. This has been achieved completely outside the Hollywood system, with no plans of ever being sold to a major studio. Watch | The Chosen TV  How A Crowdfunded Christian TV Series Could Change Entertainment    Subscribe to Acton Line, Acton Unwind, & Acton Vault  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Call it socialism, progressivism, or leftism, more and more people each day are turning away from the time-tested free market that has been absolutely essential to the prosperity of nations around the world. The question is, Why? Subscribe to Acton Line, Acton Unwind, & Acton Vault  There's No Free Lunch: 250 Economic Truths David Bahnsen on GameStop, RobinHood and market populism About David Bahnsen ‎Capital Record Podcast Sirico & Bahnsen: Liberty & Morality in the Midst of Crisis  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pr

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 provocative issues with a rare combination of intellectual sophistication and bracing realism. Featuring the writings of John Sibley Butler, Ismael Hernandez, and Kevin Schmiesing, this collection is an original and necessary contribution to our national discourse. Race and Justice in America: The Civil Rights Movement, Black Lives Matter, and the Way Forward  Freedom & Virtue Institute  About Kevin Schmiesing  The Economy of Order: Justice Requires Love Acton Lecture Series - Black Liberation Through the Marketplace: Hop

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, sits down with Michael Matheson Miller, Acton senior research fellow, to discuss Michael's new book, Digital Contagion: 10 Steps to Protect Your Family & Business from Intrusion, Cancel Culture, and Surveillance Capitalism. Digital Contagion: 10 Steps to Protect your Family & Business from Intrusion, Cancel Culture, and Surveillance Capitalism  Bio | Michael Matheson Miller  Google and surveillance capitalism The panic over Big Tech Civil society in a time of pandemic  Subscribe to Acton Line, Acton Unwind, & Acton Vault

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 upon forgotten insights from the Christian tradition on fasting and feasting and combines them with the growing body of modern scientific literature on ketogenic diets and fasting for improved physical and mental health, arguing that re-thinking our modern diet with an eye toward these ancient insights and new discoveries will lead us to a far more healthy and wholesome lifestyle. Today, Dylan Pahman, research fellow at Acton and executive editor of the Journal of Markets and Morality, talks with Jay Richards about his

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 others before them at least a half-dozen times in recent years. The conventional wisdom is that Big Tech and social media platforms like Facebook are a threat: to our way of life, to our democracy, and even to our happiness and our well-being. But is this threat real or just moral panic?  Today, Acton senior research fellow Michael Matheson Miller talks with Robby Soave, a senior editor at Reason and author of the new book Tech Panic: Why We Shouldn’t Fear Facebook and the Future. In the book, and in this interview, Soav