Acton Line

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 constant government intervention and relentless spread of bailout culture has build an even bigger state, one that’s surely going to double down on what ruined capitalism in the first place. Subscribe to our podcasts What Went Wrong with Capitalism | Simon & Schuster

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 as free, responsible, and creative image-bearers who possess a value far greater than their need. On today’s episode, Caleb Whitmer, the Acton Center for Social Flourishing project manager, talks to Ismael about his new book, the current state of global charity, and the value of every person. Subscribe to our podcasts Rethinking Charity: Restoring Dignity to Poverty Relief

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. Dr. Waheeda discusses the challenges she faced after her husband's death, her innovative approach to self-sustainability, and her vision of creating entrepreneurs who are job creators rather than job seekers. Her story is a powerful testament to the impact of combining principled entrepreneurship with a commitment to the social good. Acton University is the Acton Institute’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, visit ondemand.acton.org. Subscribe to our podcasts Acton University Acton On-Demand Heterodox Academy

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? Subscribe to our podcasts One Lost Soul | Daniel Silliman He Told Richard Nixon to Confess | Daniel Silliman, Christianity Today How Christian fiction shaped a culture and a faith | Acton Line

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

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

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

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 student programs manager, talks to three Emerging Leaders about how they found Acton, how they’ve spent their summer, and how they’ll take what they’ve learned into their future vocations. Emerging Leaders Program

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 Again. In today’s episode, Acton director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn talks to Yuval about his new book, the constitution, and how a proper understanding of our system of government can heal our broken politics. Subscribe to our podcasts American Covenant | Basic Books Yuval Levin | American Enterprise Institute

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

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 the opportunity to express his enthusiasm for the U.S. Constitution, private property, the Second Amendment—and then gave a shout-out to Ludwig Von Mises and the Austrian school of economics. After this viral clip caught our attention, we welcomed Renato to Acton University 2024 for a conversation with Acton’s co-founder and president emeritus, Fr. Robert Sirico. In this episode, we bring you that conversation. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch the video here Acton University Acton On-Demand Renato Moicano

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 become CEO of Procter & Gamble India. Then, at the peak of his professional life, he walked away from his corporate identity to become a celebrated writer and public intellectual. He’s written on the classical Indian goals of the ideal life, political reforms around the world, and most recently a memoir entitled Another Sort of Freedom. In this episode, Acton librarian and research fellow Dan Hugger speaks with Gurcharan from Acton University 2024 about his writing, politics in India, and pursuing a life of action. Subscribe to our podcasts Gurcharan Das Another Sort of Freedom | Penguin

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 intellectual and practical foundations of a free society. As you can imagine, a lot goes into putting on a conference of this scale. Most of this work is done by Acton’s programs team under the leadership of Dan Churchwell, director of programs and education. In this episode of Acton Line, Acton’s director of marketing and communications, Eric Kohn, talks to Dan about Acton University—what makes it unique and why you should attend. Subscribe to our podcasts Acton Institute Acton University Contact the Acton Programs Team Acton On-Demand

Resources on Catholic and Protestant social thought abound, but where are the resources for answers to the social question to be found in Eastern Orthodoxy? Dylan Pahman, executive editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality and research fellow at the Acton Institute, has spent his career tracking them down. In this interview, he and Acton’s librarian and research associate, Dan Hugger, explore the nature and unique approach of Orthodox Christian social thought. Then they drill down into the history of Orthodox communities in the Middle East and their creative responses to invasion, conquest, and flux that allowed them to flourish until the 20th century. The example of these communities demonstrates that the universal call to holiness can be embraced even in the most trying circumstances. Subscribe to our podcasts Notes on Arab Orthodoxy Samuel Noble and Alexander Treiger, The Orthodox Church in the Arab World, 700–1700 Constantin Alexandrovich Panchenko, Arab Orthodox Christians Under the Ottomans 1516–1831 Thomas Wright, Early Travels in Palestine Isaac of Nineveh, Mystic Treatises John of Damascus, Writings

That America has a weight problem is no surprise. According to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 70% of Americans are overweight or obese. A wide variety of so-called solutions are on offer from diet gurus, traditional healthcare practitioners, and social media fitness influencers. One need only browse the shelves of bookstores or an Instagram feed to find details of all different kinds of diets promising how “this one weird trick” will help you lose weight quickly, keep it off, and live a healthier life. And yet Americans’ obesity problem persists. How can those in the church find the narrow gate of healthy living and avoid the wide road of bodily destruction without judgment and shame? On this episode, Acton director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn talks to Acton distinguished research fellow Anthony Bradley and Dr. Michael Jones about their coauthored essay in the Spring 2024 issue of Religion & Liberty entitled “A C.L.E.A.N. Diet for the Overweight Christian,” which explores the relationship between diet, health, and the Christian faith. Subscribe to our podcasts Subscribe to Religion & Liberty A C.L.E.A.N. Diet for the Overweight Christian | Religion & Liberty Online Resources from Dr. Michael Jones

In 2022, the Acton Institute launched The Collins Center for Abrahamic Heritage. The mission is to advance research and education on economics, liberty, and human flourishing from Jewish, Christian, and Islamic perspectives. As part of this mission, earlier this year the Collins Center launched a debate series on the relationship between government and religion, featuring robust dialogue between scholars and leaders of different faiths. On today’s episode, we present to you the second of these debates. Moderated by Acton’s director of research, John Pinheiro, senior editor of The European Conservative Sebastian Morello and professor of philosophy at Bowling Green State University Kevin Vallier discuss whether government and religion really should be separate. Subscribe to our podcasts The Collins Center for Abrahamic Heritage DEBATE: Sebastian Morello vs. Kevin Vallier | Christianity and the State

During times of extreme divisiveness, civility can help us transcend important differences and flourish amid them. It is through true civility, the recognition of the innate dignity of others, that we can bridge social, cultural, and political disagreements. In this episode, Alexandra Hudson discusses her new book, “The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves,” with Acton’s director of programs and education, Dan Churchwell. How can we empower people to live tolerantly with others? How should our shared humanity inform the respect that we have for others with different lives and opinions? We can’t change others, but if enough of us choose civility, we might be able to change the world. Subscribe to our podcasts The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves | Alexandra Hudson Acton Lecture Series

On today’s episode, Acton librarian and research associate Dan Hugger sits down with Acton research director John Pinheiro to talk about the state of higher education in America and contrast it with the philosophy of liberal learning advanced by the late Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. Has philosophy fled the academy? How does the crisis in higher education compromise the teaching and learning of the liberal arts? What are the perils and promises of liberal learning outside the university? Are the “Great Books” the solution to the crisis? What role should the Christian faith play in higher education? What practical steps can students and teachers take to advance liberal learning in institutions uncongenial to the cultivation of wisdom and virtue? Subscribe to our podcasts Education for a Free Society | Acton Line Podcast Rumble in the Christian College Jungle | Acton Unwind Podcast On Christians and Prosperity | James V. Schall The Great Books: Enemies of Wisdom? | Frederick Wilhelmsen A Student's Guide to Liberal Learning | James V. Schall, S.J. Another Sort of Learning | James V. Schall, S.J. The Life of the Mind: On the Joys and Travails of Thinking | James V. Schall On the Unseriousness of Human Affairs: Teaching, Writing, Playing, Believing, Lecturing, Philosophizing, Singing, Dancing | James V. Schall Education of a Wandering Man: A Memoir | Louis L'Amour Philosophy as a Way of Life | Pierre Hadot The Book of Chuang Tzu | Martin Palmer, Elizabeth Breuilly (translators)

In 2022, the Acton Institute launched The Collins Center for Abrahamic Heritage to advance research and education from Jewish, Christian, and Islamic perspectives on economics, liberty, and human flourishing. As part of its mission, the Collins Center earlier this year launched a debate series on the relationship between government and religion, featuring robust dialogue between scholars and leaders of different faiths. On today’s episode, we present the first of these debates: dean of the Islamic Seminary of America Yasir Qadhi and Cato senior fellow Mustafa Akyol exchange a wide range of ideas on Islam and the state. The dialogue is moderated by Collins Center manager Nathan Mech. Subscribe to our podcasts The Collins Center for Abrahamic Heritage DEBATE: Yasir Qadhi vs. Mustafa Akyol | Islam and the State

The modern world is a busy and complicated place for Christians. Obligations to jobs, friends, and family, along with personal interests, frequently overshadow our relationship with Christ. In spite of all this, John Michael Talbot shows there are many ways to deepen a connection to Christ with a busy life. He's written 28 books, produced 59 music albums, and still maintains an active ministry from Little Portion Hermitage in Arkansas, where he teaches the importance of community living and finding inspiration in the Scriptures. In this episode, Acton's director of research, John Pinheiro, speaks to John Michael about converting to Christianity, the choice to live the monastic life, and the challenges of following Christ in today’s world. Subscribe to our podcasts John Michael Talbot Late Have I Loved You | Troubadour

When celebrated American novelist and short story writer Flannery O’Connor died at the age of 39 in 1964, she left behind an unfinished third novel titled, “Why Do the Heathen Rage?” Scholarly experts uncovered and studied the material, deeming it unpublishable. It stayed that way for 40 years. Until now. For the past 10-plus years, award-winning author Jessica Hooten Wilson has explored the 378 pages of typed and handwritten material of the novel—transcribing pages, organizing them into scenes, and collating everything to provide a glimpse into what O’Connor might have planned to publish. “Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress” is the result. In this episode, Acton alumni and student programs manager Noah Gould speaks to Jessica Hooten Wilson about introducing O’Connor’s unfinished novel to the public for the first time. Subscribe to our podcasts Why Do the Heathen Rage | Jessica Hooten Wilson How Racist Was Flannery O'Connor? | The New Yorker There the Story Stops: Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage? | Sally Thomas, RLO

There is no question today that new technology is changing the way we think about and experience work. Speculation abounds about how the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies will affect the workplace. Worries about machines replacing humans on the job are common. Others, however, are optimistic about the way AI is changing how we work—they see AI as an important tool to promote better efficiency and productivity in the workplace. How will AI change the way work is done? How will it affect the workforce? How will it affect the economy? To answer some of these questions and more, we bring you a panel discussion from our February Business Matters Conference. Acton’s director of programs and education, Dan Churchwell, leads Brent Orrell, Mark Johnson, and Máté Csak in a conversation looking to the future of work and the role disruptive technology will play in it. Subscribe to our podcasts Business Matters 2024: Hope for Work and Enterprise | Acton On-Demand

Gertrude Himmelfarb was one of the foremost historians of Victorian life. She produced page-turning biographies of some of the age’s most intriguing and influential figures, including Lord Acton, Charles Darwin, John Stuart Mill, and George Eliot. She also produced social histories of the period and brought a Victorian sensibility to American politics as a leading conservative public intellectual. In this episode, Acton librarian and research associate Dan Hugger speaks with Nicole Penn, author of an essay just published in National Affairs entitled “The Historian’s Craft,” which deftly explores the life and legacy of one of the conservative movement’s most accomplished women. Subscribe to our podcasts The Historian's Craft | National Affairs Middlemarch | George Eliot The Roads to Modernity: The British, French, and American Enlightenments | Gertrude Himmelfarb The Moral Imagination: From Adam Smith to Lionel Trilling: Gertrude Himmelfarb Write like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals: Ronnie Grinberg Lord Acton: A Study in Conscience and Politics | Gertrude Himmelfarb The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age | Gertrude Himmelfarb The New History and the Old: Critical Essays and Reappraisals, Rev. Ed. | Gertrude Himmelfarb Glad to the Brink of Fear | Nicole Penn A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870 | Laurel Thatcher Ulrich The Forgotten Greatness of PV Narasimha Rao | The Seen and the Unseen Historian of the Liberal Paradox | Gertrude Himmelfarb Remembering Gertrude Himmelfarb with Yuval Levin | Acton Line Learning from Victorian Virtues | Interview with Gertrude Himmelfarb

Many Christian congregations now offer hybrid worship services: you can worship in person or online. While these options have become increasingly popular, our understanding of them has not kept pace. Furthermore, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence will only complicate matters further. The contemporary church needs a way to make sense of the dizzying influx of emerging technologies, practices, and possibilities. In this episode, Acton director of programs and education Dan Churchwell talks to Rev. A Trevor Sutton, senior pastor of St. Luke Lutheran Church in Lansing, Michigan, and coauthor of “Redeeming Technology,” about hybrid worship, the effect AI will have on the church, and how to respond to concerns from laity and clergy alike. AI and the Discipline of Human Flourishing | Religion & Liberty Online Church in a Digital Age: Must We Worship Bodily to Worship at All? ‘Redeeming Technology’ | Concordia Publishing House Acton Lecture Series

In this episode, Noah Gould, Acton’s alumni and student programs manager, speaks to Jane Clark Scharl about her verse play, Sonnez Les Matines, which asks, What if John Calvin, Ignatius of Loyola, and Francois Rabelais had their convictions put to the test while navigating their involvement in a brutal crime? Subscribe to our podcasts Sonnez Les Matines | Wiseblood Books Calvin, Loyola, Rabelais: A Murder Mystery | Religion & Liberty The Violent Faith of Cormac McCarthy | Acton Unwind

Our culture tells parents there’s one best way to raise kids: enroll them in a dozen activities, protect them from trauma, and get them into the most expensive college possible. If you can’t do all that, don’t even bother. How’s that strategy going? Record rates of anxiety, depression, medication, debts, loneliness, and more. In his new book, Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be, bestselling author and father of six Timothy P. Carney says it’s time to end this failed experiment. In this episode, Acton director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn speaks to Carney about why he wrote his new book, why we should have more kids, and how to give kids deeper meaning for their lives than material success. Subscribe to our podcasts Family Unfriendly | HarperCollins

In this episode, we bring you a conversation from our recent Business Matters virtual conference between Acton’s director of marketing and communications, Eric Kohn, and David Bahnsen, founder, managing partner, and chief investment officer of the Bahnsen Group. They discuss Bahnsen’s new book, Full Time: Work and the Meaning of Life, in which he makes the case that our understanding of work and its role in our lives is deeply flawed—we are unmoored from what he calls “created purpose.” He argues that the time has come to stop tiptoeing around the issues that matter, that separating our identity from what we do is deeply damaging, and that this era of alienation is for many a direct result of a low view of work. It is in work of every kind—effort, service, striving—that we discover our meaning and purpose, and a significant and successful life is one rooted in full-time productivity and the cultivation of God’s created world. Subscribe to our podcasts Acton On-Demand Business Matters 2024 “Full-Time: Working and the Meaning of Life” | David Bahnsen

In 1980, Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman released a 10-part documentary series on PBS called “Free to Choose,” with each hour-long episode giving his perspective on important public policy debates and social issues. The series was a hit and possessed a staying power far beyond the 1980s. Through this and much of his other work, Friedman became one of the leading public intellectuals of his time, and his ideas have influenced economics and public policy deeply. In this episode, Acton director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn speaks to Jennifer Burns, author of a new biography, Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative. In this important contribution to understanding Friedman’s legacy, Burns explores the great economist’s life, ideas, and the important women with whom he worked. Subscribe to our podcasts Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative | Jennifer Burns Milton Friedman: The Conservative Institution Builder | James M. Patterson

Managing a business is a challenge no matter the context. Talent comes and goes, supplies change, and you can’t always achieve everything you want. Every day, new constraints create roadblocks to the next goal. There may not be one solution to these problems, but co-founder and managing partner of Michigan Software Labs Mark Johnson says strong company culture is the foundation of any successful company. In this episode, Acton director of programs and education Dan Churchwell speaks to Mark about becoming an entrepreneur, managing the ever-changing challenges of managing a business, and why it’s important to be a good steward to both clients and colleagues. Subscribe to our podcasts Mark Johnson | Michigan Software Labs Serving Trough Technology | Cornerstone University

Anyone of a certain age will remember the massive hit that was “We Are The World,” the Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, and Quincy Jones produced charity single by USA for Africa. The considerable profits from the that hit song went to the USA for Africa Foundation, which used them for the relief of famine and disease in Africa and specifically to 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. Even though Africa is an enormous and diverse continent with 54 sovereign countries, many people in the United States, and the west more generally, were left with the impression of Africa as destitute and poverty-stricken. What they may not realize is the enormous amount of growth and development Africa has been seeing. To help us better understand this growth and development, particularly in the country of Nigeria, today Eric Kohn talks with Wiebe Boer and Danladi Verheijen. Wiebe Boer is the president of Calvin University, here in Grand Rapids, MI, and Danladi Verheijen is the co-founder and managing partner of Verod Capital Management, a leading West-African private equity investor. Eric talks to them about their experiences growing up in Nigeria, and what they are seeing with the booming growth that country is experiencing.

On today’s episode, Acton librarian and research associate Dan Hugger sits down with Acton research fellow and Journal of Markets & Morality executive editor Dylan Pahman to talk about education. They begin with the 18th-century vision of education advanced by America’s Founders. Why did they believe education was necessary for a free society, and what kind of education did they have in mind? The discussion then turns to attempts by St. John Henry Newman, F.D. Maurice, and Abraham Kuyper to build institutions of liberal learning in 19th-century Europe. What innovations did these men introduce to education? How did their approaches differ from what came before (and each other), and where were there continuities? What can we learn from these attempts in addressing the crisis in education today? Subscribe to our podcasts Benjamin Rush Proposes a system of public schools for Pennsylvania | Monticello Discourse 5: “Knowledge Its Own End” | John Henry Newman Learning and Working | F. D. Maurice Like Bright Stars: Abraham Kuyper on the Nature and Vocation of the Scholarly Sphere | Dylan Pahman Pano Kanelos on the University of Austin | Acton Line The Next Generation of Church Leaders | Acton Line

We are living in the age of deconstruction. We are constantly bombarded online, in schools, and sometimes even in our homes by attitudes and arguments aimed at deconstructing our faith. Through this, do we know what it means to question well? Faith is not the sort of thing that endures so long as our eyes are closed. The opposite is the case: Faith helps us see, and that means not shrinking from the ambiguities and the difficulties that provoke our most profound questions. Professor Matthew Lee Anderson says we need not fear questions. By the grace of God, we have the safety and security to rush headlong into them and find ourselves better for it on the other side. In this episode, Professor Anderson joins Acton director of programs and education Dan Churchwell to discuss his latest book “Called into Questions: Cultivating the Love of Learning Within the Life of Faith”. Subscribe to our podcasts Matthew Lee Anderson Called into Questions: Cultivating the Love of Learning Within the Life of Faith Reality: A Post-Mortem | Jon Askonas

In this episode, we bring you a recent Acton Lecture Series event with Kevin Vallier. The 20th century featured an unusual phenomenon: global secularizing movements. In the 19th century, these movements were confined mostly to Western Europe, but in the 20th century they exploded, suppressing the influence of religion around the world. In some milder cases, as in Turkey and India, the political expression of only the great religions was throttled. In others, such as in the USSR and Mao’s China, ferocious religious persecution was an ideological necessity. In light of new political realities, however, older religious traditions are beginning to take back their influence in the public square. And they’re doing so by rejecting the “liberalism” they see as their oppressor. Dr. Vallier discusses these different anti-liberal movements, critiques them, and explains how Christian liberals can understand and engage them. Subscribe to our podcasts Acton Lecture Series

On today’s episode, Acton librarian and research associate Dan Hugger speaks with lawyer and chair of Common Good Philip K. Howard about his new book: Everyday Freedom: Designing the Framework for a Flourishing Society. Why do so many people feel powerless today? How can people experience “everyday freedom” at work, in school, and in all of life? What forces in American life today stifle our sense of freedom and responsibility, and how can they be counteracted to ensure flourishing for all? What special role do people of faith have in empowering others in their community to realize freedom and responsibility? Subscribe to our podcasts Everyday Freedom: Designing the Framework for a Flourishing Society | Philip K. Howard Common Good Philip K. Howard | Common Good

After decades of trade and investment with advanced democracies, China is far richer and stronger than it otherwise would have been. Simply put, the West’s strategy of engagement with China has failed. Democracies have underestimated the resilience, resourcefulness, and ruthlessness of the Chinese Communist Party. Growth and development have not caused China’s rulers to relax their grip on political power, nor have they accepted the rules and norms of the existing international system. In this episode, Acton director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn speaks with Aaron L. Friedberg, professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University, about the biggest misconceptions the West has about China and the current Chinese regime—and what the West should be focused on in years to come. Subscribe to our podcasts Getting China Wrong | Polity

In this episode of Acton Line, Dylan Pahman, Acton research fellow and executive editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality, interviews Dr. Clara Piano, assistant professor of economics at Austin Peay State University, about her recent paper “Familial Liberty: Property and Family in Late Scholastic Thought,” presented at Acton’s Third Annual Academic Colloquium. Their wide-ranging discussion addresses such questions as: What is the connection between family and property? What insights do late Scholastic theologians have for us today? What does modern “pro-family” policy get wrong? Subscribe to our podcasts Alejandro Chafuen, “Faith and Liberty: The Economic Thought of the Late Scholastics” Juan de Mariana, “A Treatise on the Alteration of Money” Frank H. Knight, “Ethics and Economic Reform, I: The Ethics of Liberalism” Acton Line, “Free Enterprise and the Common Good” Pope Leo XIII, “Rerum Novarum” Victor V. Claar and Angela K. Dills, “Claudia Goldin Is the Ideal Academic Researcher”

On today’s episode, Acton, director of marketing and communications, Eric Kohn, speaks with AEI economic policy expert James Pethokoukis about his new book: The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised. With a popular culture fixated on catastrophe, are we at risk of pushing a pro-progress future into the realm of the impossible? Pethokoukis argues there’s still hope if we choose to do more than just dream—we must act, too. Why suddenly are we threatened by change? And where are our flying cars? Can we once again turn imagination into reality? The Conservative Futurist | Hachette Book Group

In the late 1960’s as the hippie movement was shredding norms of hygiene and cleanliness in order to live more ‘authentically’, diseases emerged not seen in so long they didn’t have a latin name. The hippies, and others, were relearning why we engaged in certain hygienic practices all over again. In an essay titled “The Great Unlearning” from the January 2024 issue of National Review, senior writer Noah Rothman observes similar patterns of people persuading themselves that inherited wisdom and common knowledge no longer apply. In this episode, Acton director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn speaks with Rothman about why certain people have persuaded themselves that the lessons of history, economics, and good governance don’t apply anymore. The Great Unlearning | National Review The Great Relearning | Tom Wolfe Don't Buy Stuff | Saturday Night Live What J.D. Vance Could Learn From Reading Hillbilly Elegy | Reason

On today’s episode, Acton director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn speaks with Mike Cosper, director of podcasting for Christianity Today, about his recent trip to Israel. How has the region changed since the October 7 terrorist attacks? What do Christians in the region think? What hopes do those caught in the middle of the conflict have? The stories Mike heard, the people he talked to, and the impression left on him by the experience are all part of Christianity Today’s newest roundtable podcast, The Bulletin. The Bulletin | Christianity Today

On today’s episode, Acton director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn speaks with Greg Lukianoff, president and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), about his new book, The Canceling of the American Mind. Cancel culture appears to be pervasive, and this book is the first to examine the effect it has had—and is having—on the United States. How are both left and right using the power to “cancel” someone? Is cancel culture a relatively new phenomenon or has it always been with us in some form? And more importantly, what can we do to reclaim a free-speech culture? The Canceling of the American Mind | Simon & Schuster

On today’s episode of Acton Line, we bring you a conversation about poverty recently held on our sister podcast, Acton Unwind. Acton’s Eric Kohn and Dan Hugger are joined by their colleague Michael Matheson Miller, who discusses his essay “The Poverty Pyramid Scheme,” and AIER’s Samuel Gregg on his book review “Mistaken About Poverty.” Both pieces appear in a special poverty-themed edition of RELIGION & LIBERTY magazine (Fall 2023) that contends that there isn’t one solution to poverty, but many. Subscribe to RELIGION & LIBERTY The Prosperity Pyramid Scheme | Michael Matheson Miller Mistaken About Poverty | Samuel Gregg Poverty, Inc. Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization | Samuel Gregg Afghanistan I fought for lacks foundation for freedom | Stephen Barrows

Your strengths, relationships, and self-awareness are all essential in determining how your business will operate—and whether it will succeed or fail. But how can you optimize each of these elements? How can you set realistic goals? How can your business overcome a plateau and continue to grow? SpringGR aims to answer these questions by connecting entrepreneurs with the intellectual, social, and financial capital needed to thrive.

In 2007, Thales Academy was born with a simple vision: provide an excellent and affordable education through the use of Direct Instruction and a Classical Curriculum that embodies traditional American values. In The Thales Way, Robert L. Luddy, the founder of Thales Academy and several other schools, explains the rationale for the school's educational approach and elaborates on his mission to better educate students. In this episode, Acton director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn speaks with Robert about the importance of a rigorous academic environment, virtuous leadership, lifelong learning, and truth seeking. Thales Academy The Thales Way | Robert L. Luddy

You’ve probably heard the phrase “America isn’t a democracy—it’s a republic.” This is typically trotted out to make a salient point about the type of government we have in fact, but is it a distinction the Founding Fathers would have recognized and made themselves? Yes and no, says Jay Cost, the Gerald R. Ford nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of the new book “Democracy or Republic: The People and the Constitution.” How is the system crafted by the Founders holding up in the 21st century? Is a government of the people still one for the people? Democracy or Republic? The People and the Constitution | AEI Press Jay Cost | AEI

In this episode, we present the most recent installment of the Acton Lecture Series, with Dr. Mary L. Hirschfeld. Economists investigate the workings of markets and tend to set ethical questions aside. Theologians often dismiss economics, losing insights into the influence of market incentives on individual behavior. Dr. Hirschfeld bridges this gap by showing how a humane economy can lead to the good life as outlined in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas.

In this episode, Acton director of programs and education Dan Churchwell speaks with Leah Kral, an expert facilitator and author who helps nonprofits doing the hard work of building civil society to innovate and be more effective. Good intentions alone don’t translate to impact, so why are nonprofits like the Mayo Clinic so successful when others fail? How can innovation, creativity, originality, and risk-taking be wedded to those good intentions? Innovation for Social Change: How Wildly Successful Nonprofits Inspire and Deliver Results | Wiley, 2022 To learn more, visit LeahKral.com.

Learn more about Acton UniversityOn today’s episode, we present a discussion from Acton University 2023 between director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn and North Korean defector and human rights activist Yeonmi Park. At age 13, Park and her family made a daring escape from North Korea in search of a life free of tyranny. In her viral talks, viewed online nearly 250 million times, Park urges audiences to recognize—and resist—the oppression that exists in North Korea and around the world.

In this episode, Acton’s director of marketing and communications, Eric Kohn, talks with Jonathan Greenberg, the Jack Miller Family Foundation’s director of freedom initiatives and the former Midwest director for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee about the long history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the significance of the October 7 massacre, especially what it will mean for Israel and the region going forward. While the Gaza-Israeli dispute has been going on since at least 2006, the broader Israeli-Palestinian battle dates back decades, the contours of which are often poorly misunderstood as some subset of geopolitics or primarily about human rights or the specifics of a two-state solution. To fully grasp what’s going on, you have to understand that the conflict didn’t start in 1973 or even 1948. In fact, in some ways, it goes back millennia. Why do some people hate the jews? | Acton Line

In this episode, Acton director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn speaks with Bill Courtney about coaching football, running a successful lumber business, and walking the red carpet with George Clooney and P. Diddy. In 2003, Bill began coaching the Manassas Tigers, an inner-city Memphis high school football team that had never once won a playoff game. By 2008, Courtney had helped build an award-winning football program that was chronicled in the Academy Award–winning documentary “Undefeated.” Today Bill coaches a different kind of team—an Army of Normal Folks. He’s the host of a podcast and leader of a movement that celebrates everyday people doing extraordinary things and that brings together Americans of all stripes committed to bridging our country’s divides and changing local communities for the better. Subscribe to our podcasts Coach Bill Courtney

Dr. Angela Dills is a labor economist who teaches at Western Carolina University and whose work focuses on the economics of education, crime, and health. In this episode of Acton Line, Angela and Dan Hugger discuss her research into the gender wage gap. Do women really earn only $0.83 for every $1.00 a men earn? Do the data represent a true “apples to apples” comparison? How much of the gender wage gap can be accounted for by discrimination? How do women participate in the labor market differently than men? What are promising new avenues of research that help economists understand the gender pay gap better? Angela Dills | Western Carolina University A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter | American Economic Review How to Achieve Gender Equality in Pay | Milken Institute Review Female Labor Force Intermittency and Current Earnings | SSRN The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations | Journal of Economic Literature Dame Stephanie Shirley: Why do ambitious women have flat heads? | YouTube India: Maternity leave increase | CNBC