Acton Line

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Stephen Barrows, chief operations officer of the Acton Institute, about the recent conviction of entrepreneur and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, who was found guilty by a Hong Kong court on Monday in a landmark national security trial. Who is Jimmy Lai, and what is his long-standing relationship with Acton? What were the charges brought against him, and why are there reasons to doubt their fairness? How does Jimmy’s arrest, trial, and conviction show the erosion of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the rule of law in Hong Kong? What has been the reaction of the international community to the conviction? How can freedom-loving people show solidarity with Jimmy Lai? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Hong Kong Court Finds Jimmy Lai Guilty in National Security Trial Governments and groups condemn conviction of Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai Rev. Robert A. Sirico Responds to Jimmy Lai's Guilty Verdict #freejimmylai The Hong Konger (documentary) The Call of the Entrepreneur (documentary) If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Peter J. Boettke, Distinguished University Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as the director of the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, about the importance of the history of economic thought and the Austrian School of economics. Why read the classics in economics? What is the place of the Austrian School in economics today? How is the humanistic and scientific nature of the Austrian School related to political ideology and commitments? What is the prehistory of the Austrian School in the theologians and jurists of early modern Europe? How do figures in the Austrian tradition relate economics to religion? Why have GMU and Mercatus been so successful in fostering research and educating the next generation of scholars in the Austrian tradition? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Why Read the Classics in Economics? | Peter J. Boettke After Samuelson, Who Needs Adam Smith? | Kenneth E. Boulding Competition and Entrepreneurship | Israel M. Kirzner Human Action: A Treatise on Economics | Ludwig von Mises Mercatus Center F. A. Hayek Program Sources in Early Modern Economics, Ethics, and Law (First Series) Sources in Early Modern Economics, Ethics, and Law (Second Series) The Peaceableness Project If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Stephanie Slade, senior editor at Reason magazine and a fellow in liberal studies at the Acton Institute, about the “New Right.” Who comprises the New Right, and what is their approach to politics? Has the old conservative movement failed? How does the New Right’s rhetoric relate to their larger political project? Who were the forerunners of the New Right? What are the religious currents of the New Right? Why should conservatives appeal to ideas rather than passions? Is there a moral dimension to conflicts within the American conservative movement? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Against Game of Thrones Christianity | Stephanie Slade The New Right Isn't So New | Stephanie Slade Liberalism Isn't Rule by Elites | Stephanie Slade The Devil Went Down to Wall Street | Dan Hugger National Conservatism and the Great Controversy Reborn | Dan Hugger Frank S. Meyer's Fusionism Melded Classical Liberalism with Traditional Religion | Stephanie Slade If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

This month on the Acton Rundown Dan & Mark chat about upcoming Acton events and new video content. Essays: Fall 2025 Religion & Liberty American Religion by the Numbers by Miles Smith A Pope for the 21st Century Video content: Anne Bradley Interrogates Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s Abundance Yasir Qadhi on LEAVING Salafism and Rejecting Sectarianism Peter Lipsett Is Podcasting to Answer the Question, "What Is the Right?" How to Rebel John Wilsey Is Priming Conservatives for Religious Freedom Andrew Abela Is Popularizing the Virtues with “Superhabits” Upcoming events: Artificial Intelligence, Human Dignity, and the Free Society | Acton Institute Acton University 2026 | Acton Institute

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Andrew Abela, founding dean of the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America and affiliate faculty member at Harvard University’s Human Flourishing Program, about his book Superhabits: The Universal System for a Successful Life. How do we best popularize virtues? How does the positive psychology account of the virtues differ from St. Thomas Aquinas’s theological account? What are “superhabits,” and how do they differ from mere “habits”? How do constituent virtues relate to the four cardinal virtues? What resources has the Busch school developed to help students, faculty, and business leaders cultivate the virtues? How do you decide which virtues to cultivate? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Superhabits: The Universal System for a Successful Life | Andrew Abela Superhabits Substack The Anatomy of Virtue | Andrew Abela Virtues, Jordan Peterson, and Thomas Aquinas | Andrew Abela Busch School Virtues Diagnostic GrowVirtue: The New Superhabits App Treatise on the Virtues | St. Thomas Aquinas The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change | Stephen R. Covey The Divine Center | Stephen R. Covey He Once Ran the Most Powerful Conservative Think Tank in D.C. Now He's a Self-Help Guru Writing Books with Oprah. | Ian Ward on Arthur Brooks If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with John Wilsey, professor of church history and chair of the Department of Church History and Historical Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, about his new book, Religious Freedom: A Conservative Primer. How have the spirit of religion and the spirit of liberty existed harmoniously in the American tradition? What contrasts between French and American society did Alexis de Tocqueville observe in his own day? Has the American experiment failed? How does Peter Viereck’s conservative nostalgia for the permanent beneath the flux chart a course distinct from both progressive and reactionary utopian politics? Is religious traditionalism antithetical to dispositional conservativism? Why does the human imagination loom so large in conservative thought? What should secular dispositional conservatives make of religion? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Religious Freedom: A Conservative Primer | John Wilsey The Man vs. the Myth: Who Was John Foster Dulles? | Acton Line Democracy in America | Alexis de Tocqueville The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856) | Alexis de Tocqueville Conservatism: From John Adams to Churchill | Peter Viereck Conservatism Revisited: The Revolt Against Ideology | Peter Viereck The Leopard | Giuseppe Di Lampedusa The Great Conversation: The Substance of a Liberal Education | Robert Maynard Hutchins If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Peter Lipsett, vice president at DonorsTrust, about the recently concluded 11-part series “What Is the Right?” for the Giving Ventures podcast. What is “the Right”? What are its largest and most influential factions? Does it share a common intellectual culture or merely political interests? How does the bottom-up nature of populism complicate the story we tell about intellectuals’ influence on political movements? What are the prospects for conservatives after the Trump administration? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here DonorsTrust Giving Ventures Podcast Giving Ventures Podcast: Episode 85 — Freedom Conservatism Giving Ventures Podcast: Episode 86 — The Libertarians Giving Ventures Podcast: Episode 87 — The New Right Giving Ventures Podcast: Episode 88 — The Traditionalist Conservatives Giving Ventures Podcast: Episode 89 — The Fusionists Giving Ventures Podcast: Episode 90 — Catholics on the Right Giving Ventures Podcast: Episode 91 — Jewish Conservatism Giving Ventures Podcast: Episode 92 — Christian Conservatism Giving Ventures Podcast: Episode 93 — The Defectors Giving Ventures Podcast: Episode 94 — The MAGA Right Giving Ventures Podcast: Episode 95 — Reflecting on the Right with Yuval Levin and Chris DeMuth My Simplistic Theory of Left and Right | Bryan Caplan National Economic Planning: What Is Left? | Don Lavoie If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Anne Bradley, vice president of academic affairs at The Fund for American Studies and professor of economics at The Institute of World Politics, about Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s book Abundance, which she reviewed for Religion & Liberty Online. What is the concept of “abundance,” and who comprises the book’s audience? How do Klein and Thompson think through regulatory obstacles to material abundance? For Thompson and Klein, what drives innovation and growth? How much of the book’s rhetorical criticism of markets might be misdirection to potential critics from the left? Do Klein and Thompson really understand the economic way of thinking? Are there better programs for material abundance? How do you respond to conservatives who believe we had greater “abundance” in the past? Why are utopian visions of the future or the past dangerous? Do Klein and Thompson have a conception of civil society beyond the state? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here The Curious Task of ‘Abundance’ | Anne Bradley Abundance | Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson Eat Today, Feed Tomorrow (Yogurt Commercial) History | Thompson-Markward Hall Building the Future the Past Promised | The Daily Economy The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised | James Pethokoukis Bootleggers and Baptists in Retrospect | Bruce Yandle Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet | Marian L. Tupy, Gale L. Pooley The Devil Went Down to Wall Street | Dan Hugger Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community | Robert D. Putnam If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

This month on the Acton Rundown, Dan & Dylan chat about upcoming Acton events and new video content. Essays and Books:The Kingdom of God and the Common Good: Orthodox Christian Social Thought God at Work: Loving God and Neighbor Through the Book of Exodus Super Habits: The Universal System for a Successful Life | Andrew Abela Can Nigeria’s Church Survive the Storm | Kelechi L. Nwannunu Are Americans Too Political? | Thomas Dias Video Content: What We Gained from 8 Weeks in the Emerging Leader Program | Alums Share Their Story Upcoming Events: Poverty, Inc. in Detroit Acton Institute Fifth Annual Academic Conference: Character, Commerce, and Human Flourishing Virtues, Not Values: Reclaiming the Human Core of Business | Acton Institute Rethinking Charity: Local Agency, Commercial Society, and the Human Person | Acton Institute Annual Calihan Lecture and Novak Award Presentation | Acton Institute Artificial Intelligence, Human Dignity, and the Free Society | Acton Institute Acton University 2026

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with John Pinheiro, director of research at the Acton Institute, about his feature essay in the latest issue of Religion & Liberty: “Thomas Jefferson ant the Virtue of Limited Government.” What is Jefferson’s status today relative to the other Founding Fathers? What was Jefferson’s agrarian republican vision for America? How did that vision clash with those of the other Founders? What is Jefferson’s fundamental anthropology, and what are its underlying assumptions? What does Jefferson make of the commercial society? Where does Jefferson root his case for limited government? What is his conception of subsidiarity? Why should we turn to Jefferson for inspiration to meet today’s challenges? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Thomas Jefferson and the Virtue of Limited Government | John C. Pinheiro The Roots of Jefferson's Union | John C. Pinheiro Lessons from Early America’s Tariff Wars | John C. Pinheiro If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Dylan Pahman, research fellow at the Acton Institute and founder and president of the St. Nicholas Cabasilas Institute for Orthodoxy & Liberty, about his new book, The Kingdom of God & the Common Good: Orthodox Christian Social Thought. What is the state of contemporary Orthodox Social Thought? What is the “social question,” and how have churches sought to answer it? Why turn to the Bible to answer modern social questions? How does the historical experience of Orthodox churches inform Orthodox Social Thought? Why should economics inform Orthodox Social Thought? What are some uniquely Orthodox Christian perspectives that have been brought to bear on social questions? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here The Kingdom of God & the Common Good: Orthodox Christian Social Thought | Dylan Pahman St. Nicholas Cabasilas Institute for Orthodoxy & Liberty Orthodox Communities in the Middle East | Acton Institute An Ascetic Way of Life in a World of Abundance | Dylan Pahman For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy | Alexander Schmemann Great Lent: Journey to Pascha | Alexander Schmemann If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Anthony Bradley, Distinguished Research Fellow at the Acton Institute and research professor of Interdisciplinary and Theological Studies at Kuyper College. They discuss Anthony’s new book, God at Work: Loving God and Neighbor Through the Book of Exodus. Why is Exodus such a great evangelistic conversation starter? What human emotions drive the narrative of Exodus? How do thinkers like Gerard Van Groningen, Reinhold Niebuhr, Karen Honey, and Abraham Kuyper help us understand the meaning of Exodus? What lessons for individuals, churches, and society are contained in Exodus? What is the role of women in the Exodus narrative? How does Exodus speak particularly to the anxiety of men and boys particularly? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here God at Work | Anthony B. Bradley From Creation to Consummation | Gerard Van Groningen The Nature and Destiny of Man: A Christian Interpretation | Reinhold Niebuhr The Neurotic Personality of Our Time | Karen Horney Common Grace: God’s Gifts for a Fallen World: Volume 1 | Abraham Kuyper Common Grace: God’s Gifts for a Fallen World: Volume 2 | Abraham Kuyper Common Grace: God's Gifts for a Fallen World, Volume 3 | Abraham Kuyper If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with John Pinheiro, director of research at the Acton Institute, and Caleb Whitmer, project manager at the Center for Social Flourishing, about Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te. This exhortation to all Christians encourages us to see Christ in the poor among us. How does Pope Leo use scripture to show us Christ in the poor? Which of the church fathers argue that charity is a matter of justice? Why is it so important to have a wholistic definition of poverty? Can economic data be trusted? Why is meaningful work the best solution to poverty? Do Christians have a duty to accompany migrants? How can we embrace almsgiving today? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi Te of the Holy Father Leo XIV on Love for the Poor (4 October 2025) Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991) Laborem Exercens (14 September 1981) Universal Basic Community Now! | Rachel Ferguson Pope Francis’ Plea for Migrants and Acton’s Core Principles | Stephen Barrows Center for Social Flourishing If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

On today’s episode, Acton’s director of research and programs, Dan Churchwell, talks to CEO and founder of Permanent Equity Brent Beshore. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Permanent Equity Brent Beshore | Permanent Equity If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

This month on the Acton Rundown, Dan and Dylan chat about upcoming Acton events and new video content. Essays and Books:Universal Basic Community Now! | Acton Institute The Evidence of Things Not Seen: Reflections on Faith, Science, and Economics | Vernon L. Smith Video Content: What Is the Collins Center for Abrahamic Heritage? Upcoming Events: 2025 Pittsburgh Dinner | Acton Institute Orthodox Christian Social Thought: The Kingdom of God and the Common Good | Acton Institute 2025 Portland Dinner | Acton Institute Acton’s 35th Annual Dinner | Acton Institute Acton Institute Fifth Annual Academic Conference: Character, Commerce, and Human Flourishing Virtues, Not Values: Reclaiming the Human Core of Business | Acton Institute Rethinking Charity: Local Agency, Commercial Society, and the Human Person | Acton Institute Annual Calihan Lecture and Novak Award Presentation | Dr. Kirstin Anderson Birkhaug | Acton Institute Artificial Intelligence, Human Dignity, and the Free Society | Acton Institute Acton University 2026 | Acton Institute

On this episode, Acton’s director of program and education, Dan Churchwell, interviews Dr. Jeffery Degner following his participation in an Acton Lecture Series panel discussion. They talk about themes such as the importance of family as an ideal for community health, the overlooked importance of fatherhood, and how economic factors such as inflation shape the incentive families face. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Acton University Acton On-Demand Is There a Future for the Family? A Panel Discussion | Acton Lecture Serie Dr. Jeffery Degner If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Noah Gould, Alumni and Student Programs manager at the Acton Institute. They discuss two recent pieces Noah has written on corporate social responsibility (CSR). First off, what is it? Why do some oppose CSR initiatives? Is there a relationship between CSR and fraud? How are religious people particularly attracted to CSR? What should be the role of business in society, and does that role change depending on whether a business is privately or publicly held? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here The ‘Religious’ Corporate Social Responsibility Trap | Noah Gould A Friedman Doctrine: The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits | Milton Friedman Corporate Politics: Fads Can’t Replace Meaning or Community | Noah Gould The Nature of the Firm | R.H. Coase If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Bradley J. Birzer, Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies and professor of history at Hillsdale College, about Russell Kirk and the American conservative movement. What role did Kirk play in the conservative intellectual ferment of the early 1950s? How does the biographical framing of the Conservative Mind point to its humanistic nature? Who entered and left The Conservative Mind during its revisions? How did Kirk’s relationships and conflicts shape the evolution of his thought? Why did Kirk get involved with the Goldwater campaign and how did it affect his reputation? What is the political legacy of the conservative intellectual movement? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Acton University Russell Kirk: American Conservative | Bradley J. Birzer Ten Conservative Principles | Russell Kirk Individualism True And False | F.A. Hayek Seven Conservative Minds| Bradley J. Birzer The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot | Russell Kirk The New Science of Politics: An Introduction | Eric Voegelin Witness | Whittaker Chambers The Genius of American Politics | Daniel J. Boorstin Natural Right and History | Leo Strauss The Quest for Community: A Study in the Ethics of Order and Freedom | Robert Nisbet Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury Plutarch's Lives, Vol. 1 (Modern Library Classics) From Dawn to Decadence: 1500 to the Present—500 Years of Western Cultural Life | Jacques Barzun Why I Am Not a Conservative | F.A. Hayek The Imaginative Conservative Lord Acton on Revolution | Russell Kirk If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Stephen Barrows, chief operating officer at the Acton Institute, about the relationship between Catholic Social Teaching and economics. In what sense is economics a science? How does Catholic Social Teaching relate to social science? How well has the Catholic Church integrated the insights of economics into its social teaching? What can economists learn from Catholic Social Teaching? How does the Acton Institute apply the best insights of economists vis-à-vis Catholic Social Teaching in service of the common good? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Acton On-Demand Rerum Novarum | Pope Leo XIII Pope Francis’ Plea for Migrants and Acton’s Core Principles | Stephen Barrows Labor Economics and the Development of Papal Social Encyclicals | Stephen Barrows CORE: Economic Way of Thinking | Anne Rathbone Bradley The Call of the Entrepreneur—Full Movie | Ed O’Brien | Peter Boettke | George Gilder The Humane Economist: A Wilhelm Röpke Reader | Dan Hugger, Editor A Value Judgment on Value Judgments (1941) | Wilhelm Röpke A Value Judgment on A Value Judgment on Value Judgments | Samuel Gregg Economics in One Lesson | Henry Hazlitt If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

This month on the Acton Rundown Dan, Mark, and Nathan chat about upcoming Acton events and new video content. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Acton On-Demand Nathan Mech on Interfaith Dialogue at the Collins Center for Abrahamic Heritage DEBATE: Carl Trueman & Vincent Phillip Muñoz | Christianity and Liberalism Is There a Future for the Family? | Acton Institute Acton Experience Brasil | Acton Institute 2025 Pittsburgh Dinner | Acton Institute 2025 Portland Dinner | Acton Institute Acton's 35th Annual Dinner | Acton Institute Acton Institute Fifth Annual Academic Conference: Character, Commerce, and Human Flourishing | Acton Institute Virtues, Not Values: Reclaiming the Human Core of Business | Acton Institute Rethinking Charity: Local Agency, Commercial Society, and the Human Person | Acton Institute If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Nathan Mech, Founding Director of the Collins Center for Abrahamic Heritage at the Acton Institute. They discuss the history and work of the Collins Center. What makes up the Abrahamic heritage? Why is dialogue between Christians, Jews, and Muslims important? How does interreligious dialogue enrich participants from different faith traditions? What contributions have different faiths made to the history of freedom? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Collins Center | Acton Institute Collins Center: Christianity and Liberalism DEBATE: Yasir Qadhi vs. Mustafa Akyol | Islam and the State DEBATE: Sebastian Morello vs. Kevin Vallier | Christianity and the State Early Islam and the Birth of Capitalism | Benedikt Koehler Nathan the Wise: A Dramatic Poem in Five Acts by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing | Project Gutenberg If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Clara Piano, visiting assistant professor of economics at the University of Mississippi and an affiliate scholar at the Acton Institute. Clara tells the story of how Fr. Robert Sirico, along with Pope St. John Paul II and Michael Novak, inspired her to start thinking through the moral case for the free economy as an undergraduate as well as her trajectory as a scholar. How is the idea that markets are opposed to morality historically naive? Who is doing great research today exploring the relationship between markets and morals? How do you bring your research and values into the classroom? How should religious leaders understand the relationship between morals and markets? What should young people consider when discerning their professional calling and forming relationships and families? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Clara E. Piano Economics as an Antidote to Envy | Clara E. Piano The Economics of the Parables | Fr. Robert Sirico Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy | Fr. Robert Sirico Business as a Calling: Work and the Examined Life | Michael Novak Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991) An Economic Theory of Economic Analysis: The Case of the School of Salamanca | Clara Jace Dylan Pahman | Acton Institute The Political Economy of Distributism | Alexander W. Salter Hannah's Children | Catherine Ruth Pakaluk Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church The Fertility Gap and Economic Freedom | Clara E. Piano If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Jenna Robinson, president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. They discuss current crises in American higher education and what can be done to resolve them. Is there too much or too little money in higher education? How should colleges and universities think about their role in preparing students for work and careers? What is the role of the university in forming citizens? Why is it important for universities to hand down cultural heritage and perennial wisdom? How might a reinvention and renewal of general education requirements help solve the crisis in higher ed? Can AI play a constructive role in academic renewal? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal The Case Against Education | Princeton University Press Decadence and renewal in the higher learning: An episodic history of American university and college since 1953 | Russell Kirk Core Knowledge Foundation Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know | E.D. Hirsch Jr. The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students | Allan Bloom God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of 'Academic Freedom' | William F. Buckley Jr. Consortium of Christian Study Centers The Martin Center Releases New Publication: "Blueprint for Reform: General Education" Utah Adopts Legislation Inspired by the General Education Act | The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Samuel Gregg, president of and Friedrich Hayek Chair in Economics and Economic History at the American Institute for Economic Research. He is also an affiliate scholar at the Acton Institute. They discuss his new essay “Michael Novak the Thoroughly Catholic Capitalist,” published in the Summer 2025 issue of Religion & Liberty. How was the American Catholic milieu of the first half of the 20th century different from today’s? Why were religious, ethnic, and political identities so intertwined? How did Michael Novak go from being a writer and journalist to a public intellectual? From liberal to conservative? What were Novak’s unique contributions to Catholic social thought? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Michael Novak: A Thoroughly Catholic Capitalist Samuel Gregg | AIER The Open Church | Michael Novak Spirit of Democratic Capitalism | Michael Novak Unmeltable Ethnics: Politics and Culture in American Life | Michael Novak Toward the future : Catholic Social Thought and the U.S. economy: A Lay Letter | Lay Commission on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy Will it Liberate?: Questions About Liberation Theology | Michael Novak Instruction on Certain Aspects of the "Theology of Liberation” | Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991) | Pope John Paul II A Conversation with Michael Novak If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Dave Hebert, a senior research fellow at AIER and an affiliate scholar here at the Acton Institute. They discuss the American economy from all angles. What do the latest GDP numbers mean in the real economy? Why are the new tariffs announced by the White House troubling? How does the Bureau of Labor Statistics do its job—and are the latest jobs numbers “rigged”? Will new tariff revenue put a dent in the national debt? What are the economic consequences of erratic policies, undermining of the legitimacy of economic data, and suspicion of the science of economics by policymakers? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here David Hebert | AIER No Jibbering | Dave Hebert | Substack Trump Administration Updates: White House Announces Sweeping New Tariffs for Much of the World | The New York Times Economy Updates: After a Weak Jobs Report, Trump Fires That Agency’s Commissioner | The New York Times U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics David Bahnsen on the State of the U.S. Economy Oren Cass Has Learned Just Enough Economics to Be a Nuisance | RealClearMarkets The Devil Went Down to Wall Street | Dan Hugger If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

This month on the Acton Rundown: Dan and Mark chat about upcoming Acton events and announce two new affiliate scholars. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Acton’s 2025 Emerging Leaders Marcel van Hattem on the Fight for Freedom in Brazil Why I Slept on the Streets for a Year – Religion & Liberty Online Why Brazil?: Pursuing Freedom in the Americas: Berlanza, Lucas, Catharino, Alex, Pinheiro, John C: 9798218700645: Amazon.com: Books 2025 Pittsburgh Dinner | Acton Institute Acton's 35th Annual Dinner | Acton Institute The Heart of a Machine: Technological Threats to Liberty in Adam Smith and Beyond The Meaning of Work: What Skilled Trades Can Teach About Forming Workers of Character Silicon Valley Revival? If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

On today’s episode, Noah Gould, Acton’s Alumni and Student Programs manager, speaks to three members of the Emerging Leaders Program. The Acton Emerging Leaders Program is an 8-week leadership-development internship in Grand Rapids, Mich. The program brings together a cohort of student leaders from across the nation and around the globe for a transformative experience. During the summer, Emerging Leaders will gain professional experience, grow their network, and go deeper into the ideas of a free and virtuous society. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Emerging Leaders Program | Acton Institute The Use of Knowledge in Society | F.A. Hayek Intellectuals and Socialism | F.A. Hayek The Disadvantages of Being Educated | Albert Jay Nock Dining with Judas: The Limits of Culinary Diplomacy | Abigail Ingram If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Kevin Vallier, professor of philosophy at the University of Toledo, where he is associate director at the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership and affiliate scholar at the Acton Institute. They discuss his new essay, “The Fusionist Manifesto,” published in the Summer 2025 issue of Religion & Liberty. Do critics of the fusionist tradition in American conservatism have a point? In what ways is American conservatism’s fusionist tradition undertheorized? What are the traditional arguments for the compatibility of freedom and virtue, and how might they be improved? How can new intellectual blood best be infused into the fusionist tradition? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here The Fusionist Manifesto American Fusionism | Acton Institute In Defense of Freedom and Related Essays | Frank S. Meyer Free Persons and the Common Good | Michael Novak The Liberty-Virtue Dance | Kevin Vallier, Religion & Liberty Online Fusionism and the Problem of Order | Kevin Vallier, Religion & Liberty Online Dignitatis humanae | Pope Paul VI The ‘man of public spirit’: Politics as art, not science | Dan Hugger, Religion & Liberty Online The Roman Question | The Rambler (1860) If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Eric Kohn, CEO of America’s Future. They discuss just that—and what the organization Eric leads is doing to make that future a bright one. What are the ideas that animated America at its founding, and how do we best transmit them to a new generation? What are the sociological dimensions of building up the liberty movement in America? How can young people build skills and community—and have a good time doing so?Home — America's Future Writing Fellows — America's Future Gell-Mann amnesia effect | Wikipedia A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream | Yuval Levin The Internet of Beefs

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with David Bahnsen, founder, managing partner, and CIO of The Bahnsen Group. With an ever-shifting policy environment and ever-expanding public debt, what is the state of the American economy? How have tariffs and interest rate policy affected economic growth? Why is the housing sector so crucial to the economy? What are the prospects for economic growth in the near future, and will AI revolutionize the American economy? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Acton University Crisis of Responsibility: Our Cultural Addiction to Blame and How You Can Cure It | David Bahnsen Capital Record | National Review Capital Matters Two dolls instead of 30? Toys become the latest symbol of Trump's trade war | AP News The Broken Window | Frédéric Bastiat Understanding the National Debt | U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data Powell Reiterates Fed’s Wait-and-See Approach Before Cutting Rates | The New York Times “The Counter-Revolution in Monetary Theory” | Milton Friedman Abundance | Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

This month on the Acton Rundown: Dan and Mark recap Acton University 2025 and discuss Acton’s upcoming events and publications. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Religion and Liberty Online Acton University Acton On-Demand Marcel van Hattem on the Fight for Freedom in Brazil Silicon Valley Revival?

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Marcel van Hattem, a Brazilian politician, journalist, and political scientist who is an elected federal representative of the State of Rio Grande do Sul in Brasilia. They begin by discussing Brazil’s history, people, and culture. The conversation then turns to the ongoing constitutional crises and how the Supreme Court’s increasingly authoritarian tendencies have threatened the rule of law, a free press, and freedom of speech in Brazil. What is the best course of action for freedom-loving Brazilians? How are liberty-minded legislators trying to fulfil their duties in the face of authoritarian pressure? Why are the upcoming Senate elections so important for the future of freedom in Brazil? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Acton University Marcel van Hattem – Deputado Federal Marcel van Hattem (@marcelvanhattem) | Instagram photos and videos Marcel van Hattem (@marcelvanhattem) | X Delton Dallagnol on the fight against corruption in Brazil | YouTube Why Brazil?: Pursuing Freedom in the Americas | Lucas Berlanza & Alex Catharino

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Dan Churchwell, director of programs and education at the Acton Institute, and A. Trevor Sutton, senior pastor of St. Luke Lutheran Church, about their essay “The Gospel According to Silicon Valley,” which is the cover story for the Summer 2025 issue of Religion & Liberty. Is there a Christian revival going on in Silicon Valley? How might technology shape and be shaped by a renewal of Christian faith? Is the renewed interest in Christianity genuine? Is “cultural Christianity” merely ideological? What would the fruits of a genuine revival mean for Silicon Valley and the technology produced there? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here The Gospel According To Silicon Valley | Religion and Liberty Online Christianity Was “Borderline Illegal” in Silicon Valley. Now It’s the New Religion | Vanity Fair The Silicon Valley Christians Who Want to Build ‘Heaven on Earth’ | WIRED Silicon Valley Is Embracing Christianity (With the Help of Peter Thiel) | The New York Times Come to Me, All You Networking Techies | Christianity Today ACTS 17 Collective Church in a Digital Age: Must We Worship Bodily to Worship at All? | Acton Lecture Series Darrell Bock and Jonathan Armstrong on virtual reality church | Acton Institute If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

On today’s episode, Dan Hugger speaks to Dan Churchwell, Acton’s director of programs and education, about what people can expect at Acton University 2025. They share some favorite memories from past years, look forward to some special guests this year, and dive in to what makes this conference unique. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Acton University Acton On-Demand If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at [email protected].

Today, Acton librarian Dan Hugger and podcast producer Mark Townsend announce that the podcast will be on video going forward. They reveal the new podcast studio, talk about how recent economic events forced them to move quickly, and discuss the joys of flailing-arm tube men. Subscribe to our podcasts Acton On-Demand If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review at Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can reach us at [email protected].

On today episode, Acton’s director of programs and education, Dan Churchwell, speaks to Philip Bunn, assistant professor of political science at Covenant College. They discuss his Acton Lecture Series presentation “The Heart of a Machine: Technological Threats to Liberty in Adam Smith and Beyond.” Subscribe to our podcasts Acton Lecture Series Philip D. Bunn

On today’s episode, Acton librarian Dan Hugger speaks with James Otteson from Acton University 2024. They discuss Adam Smith and what he tells us about the role of business in society. Subscribe to our podcasts Acton University Acton On-Demand James Otteson | Mendoza College of Business

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Isaac Willour, journalist and analyst at Bowyer Research. They discuss his Religion and Liberty Online essay “America Poured Billions into DEI Initiatives. Who Benefited?” What ideology underlies diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives? How did DEI take root in corporate America, and why is it now in retreat? What roles do journalism, shareholder activism, and employee initiative play in the ebb and flow of the fortunes of DEI? What alternatives to DEI exist to counter hostile work environments and build workplace cohesion for employees regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, or faith? America Poured Billions into DEI Initiatives. Who Benefited? | Isaac Willour The Strange Death of DEI | Isaac Willour A Friedman Doctrine: The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits | The New York Times The Social Responsibility of Business: Milton Friedman Reconsidered | John Elrick What Costco’s Doubling Down on DEI Means—and Doesn’t Mean | Isaac Willour Not Tragically Colored: Freedom, Personhood, and the Renewal of Black | Ismael Hernandez Commonality Training | Freedom & Virtue Institute

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Dylan Pahman, research fellow and executive editor of the Journal of Markets and Morality at the Acton Institute. They discuss his recently published essay “An Ascetic Way of Life in a World of Abundance,” an adaptation of a chapter from Dylan’s forthcoming book, The Kingdom of God & the Common Good (Ancient Faith, 2025). How is Orthodox Social Thought shaped by liturgical theology? Why should Christians view life as fundamentally ascetic? What lessons does Orthodox Social Thought have to teach other Christian traditions? Subscribe to our podcasts ‘An Ascetic Way of Life in a World of Abundance’ | Acton Institute For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy | Alexander Schmemann A Voice for Our Time: Radio Liberty Talks, Volume 1 |: Alexander Schmemann A Voice for Our Time: Radio Liberty Talks, Volume 2 | Alexander Schmemann The Pillar and Ground of the Truth: An Essay in Orthodox Theodicy in Twelve Letters | Pavel Florensky, Boris Jakim, Richard F. Gustafson What Is Marriage?: Man and Woman—A Defense | Sherif Gergis, Ryan T. Anderson, Robert P. George Quadragesimo Anno (May 15, 1931) | PIUS XI CHURCH FATHERS: Epistle to the Smyrnaeans | St. Ignatius

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with John Pinheiro, director of research at the Acton Institute, and Daniel Wagner, chair of the philosophy department and director of Catholic Studies at Aquinas College, about the election of Pope Leo XIV. Why is the election of an American pope so surprising? How is his choice of name significant? How will the legacy of Pope Leo XIII in philosophy and Catholic Social Teaching inform Leo XIV’s papacy? What are the “new things” of the 21st century that the new pope will address? Subscribe to our podcasts Pope Leo XIV and a New Age of ‘New Things’ | The Dispatch Pope 267: The Guessing Game | Religion & Liberty Online All Things Conclave | Acton Institute Aeterni Patris (August 4, 1879) | LEO XIII Rerum Novarum (May 15, 1891) | LEO XIII Centesimus Annus (May 1, 1991) | John Paul II Pope Leo XIV on the counterculture of the new evangelization (Part 1 of 2) Pope Leo XIV on the counterculture of the new evangelization (Part 2 of 2) FULL TEXT AND VIDEO: Pope Leo XIV’s homily at Mass with the cardinal electors in the Sistine Chapel | Catholic News Agency Leisure the Basis of Culture | Josef Pieper The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion | Berger, Peter L. Berger

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with the Acton Institute’s John Pinheiro, director of research, and Michael Miller, director of the Center for Social Flourishing, about all things conclave. Why are conclaves important? What should people make of the horse race coverage in the media? What sort of qualities does the Church need most in her next pope? Subscribe to our podcasts What to Expect at the Conclave | Religion & Liberty Online Requiem Aeternam: Pope Francis (1936–2025) | Religion & Liberty Online The Pope of Progress? | Richard M. Reinsch II A Conclave Like No Other | The New York Times Business as usual is untenable | Catholic World Report Catechism of the Catholic Church | USCCB Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

On today’s episode, Dan Churchwell, Acton's director of programs and education, interviews Raymond Harris, author, architect, and a venture capitalist in God’s kingdom. They discuss his new book, “Enduring Wealth: Being Rich in This World and the Next,” where Raymond shares how he has seen God multiply human efforts when people faithfully steward all God has given them. Subscribe to our podcasts Raymond Harris Enduring Wealth: Being Rich in This World and the Next | BroadStreet Publishing

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with the Acton Institute’s Stephen Barrows, chief operating officer, and John Pinheiro, director of research, about the life and legacy of Pope Francis. This wide-ranging conversation covers Pope Francis’s perspective on the market, the environment, liturgy, synodality, business, ecumenicism, and the poor. Which parts of Pope Francis’s legacy will endure? What was his contribution to the life of the Catholic Church? Requiem Aeternam: Pope Francis (1936–2025) | John Pinheiro & Michael Matheson Miller Pope Francis’ Plea for Migrants and Acton’s Core Principles | Stephen Barrows Pope Francis and the Caring Society | Robert M. Whaples, ed. Can a Capitalist Society Also Be a Caring Society? | Robert Whaples Pope Francis changed the Catholic church, but not as much as he hoped | The Economist Laudato Si' (May 24, 2015) | Pope Francis Pope Francis's Authority in Laudato Si | National Review Message of the Holy Father to French Entrepreneurs (Paris, August 28–29, 2023) Declaration Fiducia Supplicans: On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings (December 18, 2023) Pope Francis’ Legacy of Question Marks | Francis X. Maier Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis on the Role of Literature in Formation (July 17, 2024) Full text: Pope Francis' in-flight press conference from Armenia | Catholic News Agency From Conflict to Communion: Lutheran–Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation in 2017 | The Lutheran World Federation theology matters: A New Doctor of the Church (St. Gregory of Narek) | Mark Del Cogliano Lumen Gentium | Pope Paul VI Ut Unum Sint (May 25, 1995) | John Paul II Dominus Iesus |Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

The 2024 PovertyCure Summit “Dignity, Agency & Charity” was a virtual event put on by Acton’s Center for Social Flourishing. Over two days, participants learned from scholars and practitioners involved in the global struggle against poverty—and against the “toxic charity” that hinders people’s ability to rise. On today’s episode, we bring you the keynote presented by Dr. William Easterly entitled “Beyond Material Progress: Markets and Dignity in the Fight Against Global Poverty.” As material living standards improve in the developing world, are people better able to pursue their own aspirations and desires? Less able? Subscribe to our podcasts PovertyCure Summit

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Marvin Olasky, executive editor for News and Global at Christianity Today and the founder and chairman of Zenger House. They discuss many of the news stories that won the 2025 Zenger Prizes. What is the state of journalism today? How does honoring excellence in journalism encourage better journalism? What makes for a good story, ethically and technically? How can those who love reading great journalism become great journalists themselves? Zenger House | Biblically Objective Journalism 2025 Winners | Zenger House At Bible Study for the Homeless, a Search for Meaning | The New York Times What I Saw in the Darién Gap | The Atlantic The Border Crisis Won't Be Solved, No Matter Who Wins the Election Heroes and heartbreak: 36 hours of hell in Helene's historic floods A Retiree in California Is Teaching Afghan Women How to Drive | The New York Times ‘I lied about everything’: An NFL player hid his family trauma until he saved them — and himself | The Athletic The Indian Midwives Who Turned the Tide on Infanticide The Christians Trying to Restore Our Faith in Elections | Christianity Today The Heroic Race to Rescue 370 Orphans from a War Zone—Twice | WSJ Doctors Can Now Save Very Premature Babies. Most Hospitals Don’t Try. | WSJ The Most Revealing Moment of a Trump Rally | The Atlantic The Elements of Style | Wikipedia Writing with Style: The Economist Guide | Profile Books Globe Trot | Mindy Belz | Substack Bonnie Kristian | Substack

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Ryan Bourne, R. Evan Scharf Chair for the Public Understanding of Economics, and Alex Nowrasteh, VP for Economic and Social Policy Studies, both at the CATO Institute, about all things DOGE. What does efficiency mean in the context of government? What has DOGE been doing? Is its process as chaotic as it has been portrayed? What are some useful models for understanding DOGE? What will it do in the future? Subscribe to our podcasts Ryan Bourne | Cato Institute Alex Nowrasteh | Cato Institute Cato Institute Report to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) | Cato Institute Six Ways to Understand DOGE and Predict Its Future Behavior | Cato at Liberty Blog How Elon Musk Executed His Takeover of the Federal Bureaucracy | The New York Times

In his latest book, “Broken Altars: Secularist Violence in Modern History,” Thomas Albert Howard presents three principal forms of modern secularism that have arisen since the Enlightenment: passive, combative, and eliminationist. Howard argues that the latter two have been especially violence-prone and says Westerners do not fully grasp this because they often mistake passive secularism for secularism as a whole. But a disconcertingly more complicated picture emerges when you adopt a broader global vision. On today’s episode, John Pinheiro, Acton’s director of research, talks to Howard about secularism, what about it we often misunderstand, and his book. Subscribe to our podcasts Broken Altars: Secularist Violence in Modern History | Yale University Press Thomas Albert (Tal) Howard | Valparaiso University The Gulag Archipelago | Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression

On today’s episode, Dan Churchwell, Acton’s director of programs and education, talks to James Hartley, professor of economics at Mount Holyoke College, ahead of James’ Acton Lecture Series event. They survey the discipline of economics and how James came to study it for over 30 years. The lecture, entitled “Tariffs, Trade Wars, and the State of the Economy,” sifts through the noise of the often-bewildering claims and counterclaims of economic news. You can watch James’ lecture at ondemand.acton.org. Subscribe to our podcasts Acton University Acton On-Demand

The 2024 PovertyCure Summit, “Dignity, Agency & Charity,” was a virtual event put on by Acton’s Center for Social Flourishing. Over two days, participants learned from scholars and practitioners involved in the global struggle against poverty—and against “toxic charity” that hinders people’s ability to rise. On today’s episode, we bring you a presentation from Dr. Seth Kaplan, author of the book ‘Fragile Neighborhoods: Repairing American Society, One Zip Code at a Time.’ He talks about why American society is in trouble and what we can do about it. Subscribe to our podcasts Fragile Neighborhoods: Repairing American Society, One Zip Code at a Time PovertyCure Summit

On today’s episode, we bring you a conversation from Acton University between Acton’s director of programming, Dan Churchwell, and Scott Rae, professor of philosophy and Christian ethics at Biola University. They discuss medical and business ethics, death, and the Resurrection. Acton University is Acton’s flagship conference, focused on building the foundations of human freedom and exploring the intersection of faith and free markets. To learn more about Acton University, please visit university.acton.org. And to find additional content from previous Acton Universities, please visit ondemand.acton.org. Subscribe to our podcasts Acton University Acton On-Demand Scott Rae | Biola University