Acton Unwind

This week, Eric, Dylan, and Emily parse former vice president Mike Pence’s speech in New Hampshire, which was aimed at drawing distinctions between his definition of conservatism and the populism of the New Right and Donald Trump. Does Pence’s definition of the two in opposition to each other make sense? Or has populism always existed in American conservatism and on the left? Next, the panel looks at the implications for the Church of Scientology of the conviction and sentencing of former THAT ’70s SHOW co-star Danny Masterson to 30 years to life for rape. There are many people who would like to see Scientology lose its tax-exempt status and other constitutional protections, but what concerns should we have about the implications of those kinds of calls for other religions? And finally, the group reflects on the 22nd anniversary of September 11 and the passing of Jimmy Buffett. Pence Calls Trump’s Populism a ‘Road to Ruin’ for the G.O.P. | New York Times Conservatism vs. Populism Speech | Mike Pence for President The Dream of Scalable Democracy | Dylan Pahman, Law & Liberty Danny Masterson Sentenced to 30 Years to Life in Prison in Rape Retrial | TMZ Leah Remini Rips “Criminal” Scientology in Aftermath of Danny Masterson Prison Sentencing | Deadline A New York firefighter tells his story of 9/11 | Acton Line Bombs, guns, and drones cannot win a spiritual war (UPDATED) | Dylan Pahman, Religion & Liberty Online Jimmy Buffett, Roguish Bard of Island Escapism, Is Dead at 76 | New York Times

This week, guest host Dan Hugger is joined by Dylan Pahman and Emily Zanotti to discuss the Georgia election racketeering prosecution of former President Donald Trump. What is this case actually about, and how does it differ from the other Trump indictments? Are mug shots exploitative? Why did President Trump choose this moment to break his long Twitter silence? Then the panel examines last week’s Republican presidential debate. Have we leaned anything new about the candidates? How do we best think about the place of debates in our national life? Is Twitter/X the future of presidential politics? Subscribe to our podcasts Donald Trump says Georgia arrest and mugshot are a ‘travesty of justice’ | Telegraph.co.uk Georgia election racketeering prosecution | Wikipedia First Republican Presidential Debate Draws 12.8 Million Viewers | New York Times Trump’s Interview with Tucker Carlson Has More Than 150 Million ‘Views’ on X—Here’s Why That’s Misleading | Forbes.com Trump support grows among college-educated as primary foes fail to lock up group | Washington Examiner Nikki Haley turned Republican rumble into campaign momentum: Polls | Washington Examiner Image by Freepik photo credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office via AP

This week, Eric and Dan are joined by Sarah Isgur, senior editor of The Dispatch, to examine whether there’s a crisis in masculinity. With the successes of feminism and the shift in gender roles and expectations, how do men grapple with society’s needing less of what they traditionally have provided? How is the internet and social media influencing this supposed crisis? Is it helping in any way, making things worse, or is it a mixed bag? Then the gang closes on two quickly minted internet celebrities: Oliver Anthony of “Rich Men North of Richmond” fame, and the “crazy plane lady” who appears to be rebranding herself after her “not real” meltdown. How to Bury a Billionaire | The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg Rethinking Sex: A Provocation | Christine Emba The Man in Me: Versions of the Male Experience | Ross Firestone The Internet of Beefs | Venkatesh Rao The Legal Academy, Episode 5: Eric Posner The Changing Face of Social Breakdown | Acton Line

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan are joined by James M. Patterson, associate professor of politics and chair of the politics department at Ave Maria University, to discuss his essay from the Summer 2023 issue of RELIGION & LIBERTY, “Is the New Right Fascist?” What is fascism, beyond the most common Orwellian definition “that which is not desirable”? How much of the radicalism of the New Right is driven by a lot of young members who are “very online”? How seriously should we take the arguments of these people, and how much should we engage with them? Subscribe to our podcasts Is the New Right Fascist? | James M. Patterson, Religion & Liberty Patrick Deneen’s Otherworldly Regime | Jonah Goldberg, Religion & Liberty The man vs. the myth: who was John Foster Dulles? | Acton Line Ron DeSantis fires staffer who shared video with fascist imagery | David Weigel & Shelby Talcott, Semafor Why Integralism Is an Ideology of Despair | James M. Patterson, Law & Liberty After Republican Virtue | James M. Patterson, Law & Liberty Fascist Economics | Wilhelm Röpke Ur-Fascism | Umberto Eco, The New York Review of Books What if We’re the Bad Guys Here? | David Brooks, New York Times

This week, Eric is joined by Daniel Baas and Titus Techera, Acton’s premier movie reviewer, to discuss all things cinema, including: the success of Oppenheimer (which Titus liked), the success of Barbie (which Titus did not like), and what it is that’s bringing people back to theaters. Also, is it really a big deal that Dune 2 will bump The Marvels out of IMAX theaters, since The Marvels wasn’t made for that format anyway? Is it all right that some movies hit you over the head with a message sledgehammer-like? And finally, what explains the surprise success of Sound of Freedom? Subscribe to our podcasts Barbie Is a Movie for Our Time. This Is a Bad Thing. | Titus Techera, Acton Institute Oppenheimer and the Last Great America | Titus Techera, Acton Institute Sound of Freedom Is a Clarion Call for More Christians in the Arts | Titus Techera, Acton Institute Overload: Will any shows from the Golden Age of TV endure? | Sonny Bunch, The Weekly Standard

This week, Eric, Noah, and Emily are joined by Christine Rosen, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of the cover story in the Summer 2023 issue of RELIGION & LIBERTY entitled “The Death of Conservatism Is Greatly Exaggerated.” Why have there been so many attempts to declare American conservatism dead? Why do so many of them, and in particular a recent piece from Jon Askonas in Compact magazine, ignore the fact that so many of the criticisms the current “New Right” levels at conservatism and American life are not all that new? How should we grapple with the effects of technology on American life? And what is our politics supposed to be for, as opposed to what we’re using it for now? Next, they discuss an open letter primarily written by Harvard Law School professor Mark Tushnet calling for President Joe Biden to ignore Supreme Court rulings he doesn’t like. Does the left have a comprehensible legal philosophy? How much was the rise of the New Right derailed by the success of the Federalist Society and the Dobbs decision? And is this just a mirror version of what Harvard Law professor Adrian Vermeule is calling for? And finally, three members of our four-person panel have seen Oppenheimer. Was dropping the bomb on Japan the right decision? Subscribe to our podcasts The Death of Conservatism Is Greatly Exaggerated | Christine Rosen, RELIGION & LIBERTY Subscribe to RELIGION & LIBERTY Harvard’s Mark Tushnet Wants Joe Biden to Become a Dictator | Charles C.W. Cooke, National Review Oppenheimer and the Last Great America | Titus Techera, Acton Institute

This week, Eric, Dan, and Emily discuss the recent decision in the 303 Creative from the Supreme Court. Is bad journalism the major culprit in people misunderstanding both the holding in the case, as well as the very facts of it? How much does it matter that it’s a First Amendment speech case and not a First Amendment religious case? Next, they tackle the newly announced plan from the Biden administration to cancel a load of student loan debt and ask the question, this again? Then, they examine the story of Hunter Biden’s daughter who has not been accepted or acknowledge by President Biden. Is it fair to hold this against him when making a political analysis of his fitness for the office? And finally, they look at two stories – the elevation of Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández, who authored a book 30 years ago titled “Heal Me with Your Mouth. The Art of Kissing,” to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the statements by Bishop Américo Aguiar about not seeking to convert people at World Youth Day – and ask the question: what’s up with the Catholic Church? 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis | SCOTUS Blog Biden Thumps Nose At Supreme Court, Still Plans to Forgive Student Debt— In a Big Way | The Root Hunter Biden’s Daughter and a Tale of Two Families | New York Times ‘Heal Me with Your Mouth. The Art of Kissing.’ An old book sparks a new controversy in the Vatican | Associated Press World Youth Day and Converting Everyone to Christ | Bishop Robert Barron, Word on Fire Bishop Robert Barron: The Philosophical Roots of Wokeism | Acton Line

This week, Eric, Dan, and Noah Gould, Acton’s Alumni and Student Programs manager, are joined by Jane Clark Scharl. Jane is the author of the essay “Blood of a Thousand Christs: The Violent Faith of Cormac McCarthy,” which appears in the Summer 2023 issue of RELIGION & LIBERTY. What are we to make of McCarthy’s style and the prevalence of violence in his works? Where is God in McCarthy’s work? How much is obscured by McCarthy’s unique and stripped down style? Then, Eric, Dan, and Noah discuss two of the recent big rulings by the Supreme Court: overturning affirmative action policies at elite universities and tossing out President Joe Biden’s student debt relief program. Subscribe to our podcasts About Jane Clark Scharl Blood of a Thousand Christs: The Violent Faith of Cormac McCarthy | J.C. Scharl, Religion & Liberty Student Debt Cancellation, Canceled | The Morning Dispatch Supreme Court Guts Affirmative Action | The Morning Dispatch photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan discuss the coup attempt in Russia over the weekend, as the Wagner Group paramilitary organization marched from its position in Ukraine toward Moscow before suddenly calling off the revolt. What does this mean for Russian president Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine? Do we have reason to believe this was an actual revolt or coup attempt—or something orchestrated by Putin for his own purposes? Then the guys recap the tragic story of the OceanGate Titan submarine, which imploded while on a trip taking people to view the wreck of the Titanic. Is this, like the story of the Titanic itself, the high cost of hubris? Why do so many people so quickly retreat into making jokes about an awful tragedy? Subscribe to our podcasts Taking Putin Down a Peg | The Morning Dispatch Does Britain Have High or Low State Capacity? | Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution Real estate is China's economic Achilles heel | Noah Smith, Noahpinion On Differences Between Urban & Rural China | Dan Wang The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai’s Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom Titan sub implosion: What we know about catastrophic event | BBC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Jonah Goldberg joins Eric, Dan, and Dylan to discuss his newly released review of Patrick Deneen’s book, "Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future.” Following on the success, or at least the popularity, of his last book, “Why Liberalism Failed,” does Deneen have solutions to the problems he sees in modern society? Does his scholarship hold up under scrutiny? And is that the odor of Marxism exuding from the book—or is it just the choice to name the final chapter after the famous speech by Lenin? Is there more to it than that? (Narrator: “There’s more to it than that.”) To close out, the guys comment on the passing of the novelist Cormac McCarthy and how his books understood and demonstrated the grotesque violence of man in a state of nature. Subscribe to our podcasts Patrick Deneen’s Otherworldly Regime | Jonah Goldberg, Acton Institute Liberalism Isn't Rule by Elites | Stephanie Slade, Reason Magazine ‘I Don’t Want to Violently Overthrow the Government. I Want Something Far More Revolutionary.’ | Politico Magazine Episode 150: Define Your Terms | The Editors Podcast, National Review Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics Is Destroying American Democracy | Jonah Goldberg Liberal Practice v. Liberal Theory | Daniel E. Burns, National Affairs From Peak Oil to Peak Liberalism | D.G. Hart, Journal of Markets & Morality What I Saw at the National Conservatism Conference | Dan Hugger, Acton Institute National Conservatism One Year Later | Dan Hugger, Acton Institute Cormac McCarthy, Novelist of a Darker America, Is Dead at 89 | New York Times Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric and Dan are joined by Emily Zanotti, a new contributing editor at the Acton Institute, as they tackle the latest indictment of former president Donald Trump. Again we ask: Does the act of indicting a former president and current candidate for president alone render America a banana republic? What’s the difference between this case and cases of other prominent politicians—such as Joe Biden, Mike Pence, and Hillary Clinton—mishandling classified information? If there is a double standard at play, how do we rectify that situation to make it a single standard going forward? Next, the group examines comments by Bishop Athanasius Schneider that Catholics can’t suffer from depression. How should we think about the power of faith in the context of mental illness? How much of this is an overreaction to the seeming obsession with mental health problems in the modern world? And finally, we take a look at the lives of two very different people who passed away this week: Christian TV broadcaster and founder of Regent University Pat Robertson and the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. Subscribe to our podcasts Indictment of former president Donald Trump Trump Indicted Over Documents | The Morning Dispatch Catholics cannot be depressed | Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Twitter Died: Pat Robertson, Broadcast Pioneer Who Brought Christian TV to the Mainstream | Kate Shellnutt, Christianity Today Ted Kaczynski, ‘Unabomber’ Who Attacked Modern Life, Dies at 81 | New York Times Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan talk conservative boycott culture: Bud Light, Target, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and more. If the social responsibility of business is to increase profits, as Milton Friedman said, is there a way we can return to that understanding? Or are we going to be stuck in a political tug-of-war where people on the left and the right want the oars of every institution pulling in the same direction—their direction? Next, they examine the newly passed debt ceiling deal. Will we ever find a way out of government-by-crisis so we can have a real conversation about the utterly irresponsible debt load the country is carrying? And finally, have you heard of the Marvin Heemeyer “Killdozer” story from 2004? If anyone tries to tell you he’s some kind of a hero, just a regular guy pushed to the limit by a capricious city government, don’t believe it. Eric lays out the real facts. Subscribe to our podcasts The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits | Milton Friedman, New York Times Magazine The social responsibility of Chick-fil-A is to make delicious sandwiches | Dylan Pahman, Acton Institute The Good That Business Does | Robert G. Kennedy To boycott or not to boycott Disney, that is the question | Dan Hugger, Acton Institute The Rise and Fall of the Spokestroll | Abe Greenwald, Commentary What’s in the US debt ceiling deal and who won? | BBC Marvin Heemeyer & The Killdozer | Wikipedia Tread (2019) Documentary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan rummage around a grab bag of topics for this potpourri episode of the podcast. First up: The expiration of Title 42, the pandemic-era border-security measure. Will its going away create new problems at the border? Almost certainly. But the policy can’t stay if the pandemic is, according to the federal government, over. If Congress could find a way to do its job, it could reinstitute a similar policy. Next, a communist coffee shop in Toronto closes. Might it have been a good idea to be open before 9 a.m., when most people want coffee? The laws of economics and the marketplace will get you every time. Then, is it appropriate for women to wear yoga pants in public? Is it even appropriate to wear yoga pants for yoga? Penultimately, the guys marvel at the tale of La Sombrita, a piece of metal that’s supposed to provide light and shade at bus stops in Los Angeles that does neither and came at the low, low cost of $200,000 and three years in development. And finally, Pastor Tim Keller is remembered a few days after he passed away at the age of 72. Subscribe to our podcasts What Is Title 42? What Its End Means for Immigration and U.S.-Mexico Border | Wall Street Journal What Part of Legal Immigration Don’t You Understand? | Reason The Anarchist: Toronto's anti-capitalist cafe is permanently closing | Daily Hive DieWorkwear Twitter Thread on Yoga Pats and Menswear La Sombrita, or, How to Fail at Infrastructure | Cato Institute Engaging the Culture for Christ | Stephen O. Presley, Acton Institute Died: Tim Keller, New York City Pastor Who Modeled Winsome Witness | Christianity Today Photo Credit: @LADOTofficial Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Acton Unwind, special guest panelist Farah Adeed along with Dan and Dylan discuss two major stories in the majority-Muslim world: the arrest and subsequent release of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan and Sunday’s election in Turkey. Farah is an incoming Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at Boston University and studies the role of religion in the nation-building process and democratization in Muslim-majority countries. He is also a former Emerging Leader at Acton. The panel begins with an examination of Imran Khan’s place in Pakistani public life, then move on to the larger political landscape of Pakistan, the place of the military establishment, and the role of Islam in public life. Next the panel turns to Sunday’s election in Turkey: What is the state of Turkish politics today in the wake of the election? Why was it both so close and so contentious? And what does the election suggest about the state of Turkey’s democratic institutions? Lastly, the panel examines how Islam can play a constructive role in the development of free and democratic institutions in the Muslim-majority world and what historical resources can inspire such reform and renewal. Arrest of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan was illegal, top court rules | CNN Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan released on bail | CNN Turkey’s Election Scenarios: The Good, the Bad, and the Scary | National Review Turkey’s Erdogan faces second round in fevered race for presidency | BBC Is Indonesia’s “Civil Islam” a model for the Muslim world? | Religion & Liberty Online Abolishing blasphemy laws in Pakistan will lead to more violence | Religion & Liberty Online Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan discuss the suspension of the Acton Institute’s TikTok account after it shared promotional content for our award-winning documentary feature film, The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai’s Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom. Is it just a weird coincidence that these kinds of suspensions keep happening to accounts that share content that the Chinese Communist Party would disapprove of? How should we think about attempts by Congress to address the risks presented by the TikTok app, which funnels a ton of personal information back to its parent company, ByteDance, in China? Would banning the app even be effective at reducing such a threat to privacy? Next, the guys turn their attention to CPAC Hungary, the Conservative Political Action Conference’s latest international summit. What are the lessons we’re supposed to learn from Hungary that could actually apply to the United States, which is a vastly different country in almost every conceivable way? Subscribe to our podcasts TikTok Suspends a Film on Jimmy Lai | Wall Street Journal Banned by TikTok: The CCP Doesn’t Want You to See The Hong Konger | Isaac Willour, Acton Institute TikTok Claims ‘Technical Error’ Led to Suspension of Think Tank that Posted about Hong Kong | National Review Acton Institute on TikTok Stream The Hong Konger On Demand CPAC Hungary Speakers List The GOP-Hungary connection shaping the ’24 campaign | Axios I Was Banned From Entering CPAC Hungary’s ‘Woke Free Zone’ | Politico The Words TikTok Parent ByteDance May Be Watching You Say | Forbes Photo Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Dan, Dylan, and Stephen discuss recent housing policy proposals in Texas. What market-based reforms could lower housing costs? What should policymakers keep in mind when seeking to lower housing costs? What are the biggest political obstacles they face and how might moral arguments help in overcoming them? The panel’s ears then turn to the AI song stylings of “Fake Drake.” Is the music industry poised to be disrupted by AI? What sort of property rights are likely to emerge in the wake of AI disruption? Is all music just copying already? Are music and Muzak that different? Finally, our panel turns to a discussion of “Everything-Bagel Liberalism.” Why do progressives feel the need to satisfy all constituencies in every policy all at once? How can economics help translate policies from mere good intentions into real-world change? Subscribe to our podcasts Apply Now for Acton University 2023 Texas Looks To The Free Market To Tackle Housing Costs | Forbes An A.I. Hit of Fake ‘Drake’ and ‘The Weeknd’ Rattles the Music World | NY Times I Cloned Myself With AI. She Fooled My Bank and My Family. | Wall Street Journal Did Ed Sheeran ACTUALLY Plagiarize Marvin Gaye? | Adam Neely The Grotesque Legacy of Music as Property | Adam Neely The Problem With Everything-Bagel Liberalism | NY Times Every policy objective, all the time, all at once | Slow Boring Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan discuss Dan’s essay in the Spring 2023 issue of RELIGION & LIBERTY magazine, “National Conservatism One Year Later,” revisiting the National Conservatism movement one year after his essay on his visit to the NatCon2 conference. What, if anything, do we now understand better about the NatCon movement? Does it stand apart from traditional American conservatism, or is it slowly being subsumed by the mainstream right? And where do the post-liberals and Catholic integralists figure into this movement, if at all? Then the guys turn their attention to the expulsion of two Democratic lawmakers in Tennessee from the State House. Was this move by Tennessee Republicans wise, prudent, or even necessary? Is it in keeping with a very NatCon mentality to turn all political fights up to 11? And finally, they take a look at the ProPublica story about the hospitality benefits billionaire Harlan Crow has provided over the years to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Is there any there-there to this story? Or is the simple appearance of impropriety bad enough to warrant concern? National Conservatism One Year Later | Dan Hugger, Religion & Liberty What I Saw at the National Conservatism Conference | Dan Hugger, Religion & Liberty Subscribe to Religion & Liberty The hundred-year war for American conservatism | Acton Line Tennessee House Ousts 2 Democratic Lawmakers: What You Need to Know | New York Times Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire | ProPublica Lawmakers Revive SCOTUS Ethics Debate | The Dispatch Photo Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan discuss what we know (and there’s still much we don’t know) about the indictment of former President Donald Trump by New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Was it a wise move to indict Trump? Does indicting a former president for the first time in American history presage the “end of the republic”? Next, the guys discuss the horrible school shooting in Nashville and the quick descent into collectivist thinking on the part of both the political left and the political right. And finally, Dylan shares a horrifying AI-created video of Will Smith eating spaghetti that highlights just how far some AI technology has to go, while Eric uses it to make a point about what AI creators won’t allow to be created, like political satire of China’s president, Xi Jinping. Subscribe to our podcasts Apply Now for Acton University 2023 What We Know About the Indictment and Surrender of Donald Trump | New York Times 6 Killed in Nashville School Shooting, Including 3 Children | New York Times The Lonely Man with a Gun | Russ Roberts AI-Generated Video of Will Smith Eating Spaghetti Midjourney CEO Says ‘Political Satire in China Is Pretty Not Okay,’ but Apparently Silencing Satire About Xi Jinping Is Pretty Okay | Techdirt Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan discuss the new legislation in Utah restricting social media access for minors. Will it work? Is it a good idea? Will it even have a chance to take effect, as social media companies are certain to sue over it? Then, continuing on the same theme, the guys take a look at last week’s congressional hearings on TikTok. Did anyone come out of this looking good? Is a ban on TikTok inevitable now? Does Congress’s reason for banning TikTok even matter? And finally, Xi and Putin meet for a summit. What does that mean for the future of the war in Ukraine and for U.S.-China relations? Subscribe to our podcasts Apply Now for Acton University 2023 Kids in Utah will need parents’ OK to access social media | Associated Press Brad Wilcox on Twitter Utah's Governor Should Veto “Social Media Regulations” Bill S.B. 152 | Electronic Frontier Foundation Social Media Data from Jonathan Haidt Lawmakers’ Drive to Rein In TikTok Intensifies After CEO’s Testimony | Wall Street Journal Xi and Putin’s Burgeoning Bromance | The Morning Dispatch Republican or Not? | Saturday Night Live Photo Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan discuss the protests in France over the move by French president Emmanuel Macron to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. How does France, and other countries facing the realities of math when it comes to their pension programs, navigate the reality that these kinds of reforms are simultaneously necessary and very unpopular? Next, the guys consider the alleged difficulty people are having defining “wokeness” in the wake of author Bethany Mandel’s going blank when asked to define the term on The Hill’s morning show, “Rising.” Is this just a rhetorical game? And finally, in the wake of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the usual suspects have been calling for new financial regulations to address the allegedly risky behavior of SBV. But would any of these proposals have done anything to prevent the kind of incident that just occurred? Subscribe to our podcasts Apply Now for Acton University 2023 French Protests, Turning Violent, Aim to Override Macron’s Pension Overhaul | Wall Street Journal Bethany Mandel on “Rising” Bethany Mandel defines “wokeness” Of Course You Know What "Woke” Means | Freddie deBoer PC Art Class | The Kids in the Hall SVB Is DOA | Acton Unwind Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan discuss the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the actions of the federal government in response. How concerned should we be by the moral hazard problem of bailing out the depositors of the bank beyond the $250K that is insured by the FDIC? Does this expose how the Federal Reserve’s efforts to stifle inflation are riskier than many think? Next, they examine the report from the Department of Energy attributing, with “low confidence,” the outbreak of COVID-19 to a lab leak. What lessons should we take away from this about the perils of trying to determine in real time what is and is not misinformation, as the lab leak theory was labeled early on. And finally, Rod Dreher’s blog at The American Conservative is no more. Did Rod remain too long in an old world of blogging that no longer exists, to his detriment? Should businesses allow their employees to work remotely? Almost all employers and employees have wrestled with this question. More and more job-seekers are expecting remote-work flexibility, and COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns greatly accelerated this trend. But are employees really as productive working from home? Does remote work hurt company culture? Or could hybrid or remote options make businesses more successful? David Bahnsen, Founder of the Bahnsen Group, argues that remote work should be minimized. Dr. Raj Choudhury, remote work expert at Harvard Business School, argues that businesses should embrace hybrid and remote options. This debate took place as a part of the 2023 Business Matters conference. Subscribe to our podcasts Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing through March 15) The Second-Largest Bank Failure in U.S. History | The Morning Dispatch 'It’s a Wonderful Life' Bank Run Lab Leak Most Likely Origin of Covid-19 Pandemic, Energy Department Now Says | Wall Street Journal How Rod Dreher’s Blog Got a Little “Too Weird” for The American Conservative | Vanity Fair Gary Shteyngart’s ‘Gentile Region’ | Rod Dreher, The American Conservative How Rod Dreher Caused an International Scandal in Eastern Europe | The Bulwark The Internet of Beefs | Venkatesh Rao, Ribbonfarm Which political tweets do best? | Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Dan Hugger, Dan Churchwell, and Dylan Pahman discuss the question of artificial intelligence, particularly the software behind a series of AI chatbots that have become publicly available in the past year. What are the possible uses and abuses, especially when incorporated into search engines like Microsoft’s Bing? And what happens when they stop being polite and start acting as if they were alive? Then the panel discusses a paper presented last week by Dylan Pahman at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s American Politics and Government Summit. The paper, titled “A Brief, Christian Prehistory of American Liberalism,” addresses an ongoing and often contentious debate within the American conservative movement on the place of the liberal tradition within conservatism. Subscribe to our podcasts Register Now for Business Matters 2023 Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing) A science fiction magazine closed submissions after being bombarded with stories written by ChatGPT | Fast Company A Concerning Trend | Neil Clarke Bing Chat is blatantly, aggressively misaligned | Less Wrong Is Bing too belligerent? Microsoft looks to tame AI chatbot | AP News American Politics And Government Summit | ISI Photo Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan start with a discussion of President’s Day, a holiday where we’ve collectivized all the Presidents of the United States of America – good, and, and indifferent – into one day of celebration. That means it’s an opportunity for Eric to once again highlight how awful Woodrow Wilson really was. Then, they move on to the horrific shooting at Michigan State University. Why is it a new trend for advocates of a particular set of political beliefs to respond to these incidents with “f*** your thoughts and prayers?” And, if we spent some time thinking and praying about our legal system and the way it works, what could we imagine doing differently that could help prevent incidents like this from happening again? Finally, they examine the new editing of certain works by Roald Dahl to remove potentially offensive words, phrases, and ideas. Thomas Bowdler, please call your office. Subscribe to our podcasts Register Now for Business Matters 2023 Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing) Timeline of events in Michigan State University shooting | Associated Press Statement from Michigan State Rep. Ranjeev Puri | Twitter The Michigan State University killer was previously charged with a felony but was still able to buy guns. Here’s why | CNN Critics reject changes to Roald Dahl books as censorship | Associated Press Sen. Josh Hawley wants to create a legal age to be allowed on social media | NBC News But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past | Chuck Klosterman 'Fahrenheit 451' Was Once Sanitized for Public Schools | Reason Photo Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today Eric, Dan, and Dylan are joined by Terry Mattingly of GetReligion.org to discuss his essay in the Winter 2022 edition of Religion & Liberty, "The Evolving Religion of Journalism.” How has journalism—and its audience—changed, and why? Has the internet transformed broadcasting into narrowcasting? How has a transition from the old bias of liberalism to illiberalism, even “Jacobinism,” remade what journalists produce and we consume? Then the guys look at the Super Bowl ads and explore why they seem to be less entertaining and mostly just celebrities in different unfunny situations. And was the Super Bowl ad that drew the most attention an ad for Jesus? Subscribe to our podcasts Register Now for Business Matters 2023 Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing) The Evolving Religion of Journalism | Terry Mattingly, Religion & Liberty Subscribe to Religion & Liberty GetReligion.org Overload: Will any shows from the Golden Age of TV endure? | Sonny Bunch, The Washington Examiner Put the State of the Union address out of its misery | Eric Kohn, Acton Institute Super Bowl commercials, from Adam Driver(s) to M&M candies; the hits and the misses | NPR Plug-In: Around 100 million Super Bowl viewers saw new commercials — about Jesus? | Get Religion Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan try to pump the hot air out of the Chinese surveillance-balloon story. What was China up to? Should we have shot it down earlier? Was the purpose to induce Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to cancel his visit? Then the guys turn their attention to the murder of Tyre Nichols in Memphis. Is this an example of the police department and the city acting appropriately in quickly firing the officers involved? How can we use this awful tragedy to make changes that will result in increased trust between the police and citizens? And finally, a presentation at the World Economic Forum suggests that wearable technology will soon enable the reading of brainwaves, which employers could allegedly use to make us more productive, or police could use to prevent crimes before they happen. Are we really on the cusp of Minority Report? Or does this whole idea misunderstand the nature of the human person? Subscribe to our podcasts Register Now for Business Matters 2023 Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing) Timeline: A Chinese spy balloon’s 7-day trip across the United States | Politico Here is a timeline of events in the death of Tyre Nichols | New York Times Davos AM23 — Ready for Brain Transparency? | World Economic Forum The Metaverse Does Not Exist | Dan Hugger, Acton Institute Suppose You Were an Idiot: On the Importance of Acknowledging Incompetence | Public Discourse A Multi-Level Bayesian Analysis of Racial Bias in Police Shootings at the County-Level in the United States, 2011–2014 | PLOS ONE Towards a Pure Theory of Threat Systems | The American Economic Review Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan breakdown the Ticketmaster/Taylor Swift ticket sale controversy in the wake of the proprietors of Live Nation Entertainment being dragged before Congress for a hearing. Are they a monopoly? If so, how would we know, and what should we do? And what is more offensive: Ticketmaster’s expensive fees and crashing website or a dozen U.S. senators reading questions written for them by junior staffers with Taylor Swift lyrics in them? Next, it’s 90 seconds until midnight on the Doomsday Clock, the PR gimmick of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists that allegedly predicts the apocalypse. Should we take it seriously, or is this another case of “scientism” instead of science—people with expertise in one area getting out of their lane? And finally, Big Tech has big layoffs. Maybe these companies aren’t the all-powerful behemoths both sides of the political aisle make them out to be. Subscribe to our podcasts Register Now for Business Matters 2023 Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing) Ticketmaster Faces the Music | The Morning Dispatch 52 Seconds of U.S. Senators Quoting Taylor Swift Lyrics The Doomsday Clock reveals how close we are to total annihilation | CNN ‘Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Demands $10 Trillion or It Will Destroy Earth by Setting Clock to Midnight | The Onion The Tech Bubble Burst | The Dispatch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan review the story of Ivan Provorov, the defenseman for the National Hockey League’s Philadelphia Flyers who skipped participating in warmups in a Pride-themed jersey before the team’s Pride Night game, citing his Russian Orthodox religious beliefs as the reason. Should this even be a story? Should NHL or other professional sports teams impose political stances and social causes on players? Then the guys look at the upcoming fight over raising the nation’s debt ceiling. If this isn’t the time to have a serious conversation about spending and debt, when is? And finally, they examine the enigma that is Rep. George Santos, who has come under fire recently for numerous inflated claims about his résumé and background. What drives people to lie about themselves, and to such an extent, when the truth can be so easily found out? Subscribe to our podcasts Register Now for Business Matters 2023 Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing) Flyers’ Provorov cites religion for boycott on Pride night | Associated Press Understanding the Debt Ceiling Debate | The Morning Dispatch James M. Buchanan on the Ethics of Public Debt and Default | James E. Alvey, Journal of Markets & Morality George Santos: Everything the Embattled Congressman Has Lied About | Forbes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan examine the revelations that President Biden, when he was Vice President Biden, mishandled classified documents, similar in some ways to how former President Trump mishandled “Top Secret” documents he took from the White House as his presidency ended. With such serious questions on offer about how much information we classify and inconsistencies in how we punish people who mishandle it, why are so many people focusing only on questions of hypocrisy on Biden’s part? Next, the guys turn to the storming of the capitol and other government buildings in Brazil by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Even as it conjures comparisons to January 6 in the U.S., is that the most helpful lens through which to examine this story? And finally, the constantly wrong Paul Ehrlich is back, having been featured on a “60 Minutes” segment about mass extinction, to declare himself to be the embodiment of science. How wrong can one biologist be? Very, it turns out. Subscribe to our podcasts Register Now for Business Matters 2023 Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing) Biden White House Mounts Absurd Defense on Classified-Document Discoveries | National Review Mar-a-Lago Madness | The Re-Education with Eli Lake The Dream of Scalable Democracy | Dylan Pahman, Law & Liberty True Liberty Demands Respectful Disagreement | Dylan Pahman, Acton Institute Welcome to the Internet | Bo Burnham (NSFW language) Bolsonaro Supporters Wreak Havoc on Brasília | The Morning Dispatch Letter from Birmingham Jail | Martin Luther King, Jr. Scientists say planet in midst of sixth mass extinction, Earth's wildlife running out of places to live | 60 Minutes 60 Minutes Promotes Paul Ehrlich's Failed Doomsaying One More Time | Ronald Bailey, Reason Paul Ehrlich: Wrong on 60 Minutes and for Almost 60 Years | FEE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan remember the life and legacy of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. What will be his enduring contributions to theology and to the Catholic faith? And how will his decision to resign the papacy, the first time in 600 years that this occurred, and handling of the Church’s sex abuse scandal be factored into his legacy? Then the guys turn their attention to Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s election as Speaker of the House after 15 rounds of voting. Is this a glorious mess that points to a return to normal order in the House? Or a sign of complete disarray in Congress and the Republican Party? Both? Finally, they examine the injury to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin during last week’s Monday Night Football game. Was the rush to resume the game, which was finally postponed, an indictment of our obsession with sports above the health and safety of the players? Subscribe to our podcasts Register Now for Business Matters 2023 Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing) Benedict XVI, First Modern Pope to Resign, Dies at 95 | New York Times Pope Benedict XVI: 1927-2022 | Joshua Gregor, Acton Institute Caritas in Veritate | Pope Benedict XVI Introduction to Christianity | Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger Jesus of Nazareth | Pope Benedict XVI ‘In the Beginning…': A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall | Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger Foundations of a Free & Virtuous Society | Dylan Pahman, Acton Institute The House Speaker Battle’s Dramatic Conclusion | The Morning Dispatch What to Know About Damar Hamlin’s Injury | New York Times More than $8 million has been raised to support a charity backed by NFL star Damar Hamlin | Insider Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman discuss China’s decision to relent on their “zero-COVID policies. With an ineffective vaccine and much of the older population unvaccinated, what happens if the current COVID variant rips through the country with a huge death toll? And why did China, which is clearly indifferent to human life, even decide to engage in these policies in the first place? Then the guys examine the release of Trump NFTs, which raised $4.5 million for the former president. Is there any current value to NFTs aside from the value people place on them by buying them? And finally, Eric, Dan, and Dylan make some traditional, and nontraditional, Christmas-movie recommendations. Subscribe to our podcasts Register Now for Business Matters 2023 Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing) From Zero Covid to No Plan: Behind China’s Pandemic U-Turn | New York Times Donald Trump's NFT Trading Cards Sell Out, Raise Over $5M | CNET Remember Alf? He’s back! In pog form. Christmas Movies: Dylan: Spirited & Jingle All the Way Dan: It’s A Wonderful Life & The Muppet Christmas Carol Eric: The Muppet Christmas Carol & Die Hard Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman tackle the “Twitter Files,” the internal documents from the social media company that have been released by several independent journalists like Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss. What, if anything, do they tell us about the way Twitter was run previously? Is there even enough information in what was released to draw meaningful conclusions about the pre–Elon Musk regime? Next, with Jimmy Lai sentenced to more than five years for his conviction on “fraud” charges, what will this mean for his upcoming National Security Law trial? And finally, is Christmas over-commercialized? And does it really matter if it is? Subscribe to our podcasts Twitter Files Part 1 | Matt Taibbi Twitter Files Part 2 | Bari Weiss Twitter Files Part 3 | Matt Taibbi Twitter Files Part 4 | Michael Shellenberger Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson Don’t Understand the First Amendment | David French, The Atlantic Jimmy Lai Gets 5 Years for Fraud as He Awaits Trial | Isaac Willour, Acton Institute The Hong Konger Film Website Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman discuss the move by Ukraine’s government to prevent churches affiliated with Moscow from operating in Ukraine. How dangerous is this? And why is trying to determine what constitutes a legitimate religion always problematic? Then the guys turn their attention to the protests in China and the delay of Jimmy Lai’s National Security Law trial in Hong Kong. How big of a threat to the Chinese Communist Party are these protests? And why should we focus more on marginal improvements in places like China and Hong Kong than on big revolutionary changes? Finally, they take stock of Kanye West’s public meltdown and his promotion of anti-Semitic ideology. Subscribe to our podcasts Zelensky proposes preventing Orthodox churches ‘affiliated’ with Moscow from operating in Ukraine | New York Times Man, Religion, and Tribalism | Joseph Pearce, The Imaginative Conservative Protests in China are about much more than COVID lockdowns | Rev. Robert Sirico, Fox News Hong Kong Blocks Visa for British Lawyer in Lai Trial | Isaac Willour, Acton Institute Trailer for ‘The Hong Konger’ Website for ‘The Hong Konger’ The Kanye/Kyrie storm, an explainer | Rachel Ferguson, Christian Post Why do some people hate the Jews? | Acton Line Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Dan Hugger, Michael Matheson Miller, and Stephen Barrows examine the collapse of the crypto currency exchange FTX and the sentencing of former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes. How should we think about fraud in business? What is the role of corporate governance in securing the common good? How should investors and prospective clients best do their due diligence on companies they use and invest in? How do disreputable corporate leaders utilize regulatory and ideological capture to deceive? Is crypto currency itself a scam? What is the role of conscience in business and what does justice and repentance look like for disgraced business leaders? Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda quietly used FTX customer funds for trading, say sources | CNBC The Collapse of a Cryptocurrency Guru | Titus Techera, Acton Institute Emoji for expenses, penthouses and slipshod accounting: The most damning details from new FTX CEO’s report | CNBC Sam Bankman-Fried tries to explain himself | Vox How FTX bought its way to become the 'most regulated' crypto exchange | Reuters Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What the Midterm Elections Say About American Civic Health This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan take a look at the surprising 2022 midterm election results to break down what they say about the health of American civic and political life. What does it mean that we’re seeing record participation in the political process but increasing dissatisfaction with the state of political life? What impact did the issue of abortion have, and did we all underestimate how important it would be? Then Dan gives an update on the latest from Ukraine as we approach the G20 meeting. Subscribe to our podcasts Zelenskiy visits recaptured Kherson, vows to drive Russia from all of Ukraine | Reuters Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman discuss affirmative action in college admissions shortly after two cases involving the University of North Carolina and Harvard were argued before the Supreme Court. Was affirmative action ever justified in college admissions? If so, is it still justified? And if it goes, should it be replaced with something else to help the historically disadvantaged? Then the guys examine a recent study highlighting the positive benefits to the environment from Catholics’ abstaining from meat on Fridays. Is this the right lens through which to consider a return to meatless Fridays year-round? And finally, tomorrow is Election Day. How should we think about voting as part of our personal civic involvement? Is there every a good reason to abstain? Subscribe to our podcasts Creation and the Heart of Man: An Orthodox Christian Perspective on Environmentalism | Fr. Michael Butler & Andrew P. Morriss Why Many Smart, Low-Income Students Don't Apply to Elite Schools | NPR Nearer, My God: An Autobiography of Faith | William F. Buckley, Jr. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn and Dan Hugger discuss Elon Musk’s finalized takeover of Twitter. Can he make it better? Is it possible to make Twitter better? Perhaps more important to Musk, can he make it profitable? And will Musk’s acquisition change the nature of the platform in how it serves as a public salon for the media elite? Then the guys discuss the presidential election in Brazil. What does the defeat of Jair Bolsonaro mean for Brazil and for the rise of populist leaders worldwide? Subscribe to our podcasts Elon Musk Is Said to Have Ordered Job Cuts Across Twitter | New York Times Elon Musk says Twitter blue tick to be revamped | BBC Twitter will be no worse with owner Elon Musk, and probably no better | Eric Kohn, Acton Institute Brazil Elects Lula, a Leftist Former Leader, in a Rebuke of Bolsonaro | New York Times Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Dan Hugger, Dylan Pahman, and John Pinheiro discuss the undoing of the Truss government in the United Kingdom. What caused the unraveling? Does “neoliberalism” have a future? What does the current political crisis in the United Kingdom tell us about the future of American conservatism and the right more generally? How should this inform our thinking about the conflict between classical liberals and the “New Right”? Our panel then explores technology through the lens of the new “Unplugged Scholarship” being offered at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Is this the way forward in education, or indeed life? Subscribe to our podcasts For Britain’s PM, Chaos Has Consequences New Avatars for the Right | Law & Liberty Classical liberalism vs. The New Right | Marginal Revolution Boris Johnson returns to UK in bid for rapid political comeback | Reuters Innovative Scholarship Confronts Crisis of Smartphone Addiction | Franciscan University of Steubenville Innovative Steps to Reclaim a Human Way of Life for the Next Generation | Newsweek Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman discuss the protests in Iran over the death of a 22-year-old woman who had been arrested for improperly covering her head. Why isn’t there more media coverage of these protests after five weeks? Is the Iranian regime actually in danger? And what, if anything, should countries like the United States being doing to encourage these human rights protesters? Then the guys examine a new study from the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology on the striking lack of intellectual diversity on elite college campuses. Should we be surprised that places like Harvard, Yale, and Smith College are so unrepresentative? Should we even expect them to be? Iran Protests Spread With Uprising at Prison | Wall Street Journal Mahsa Amini: How one woman's death sparked Iran protests | BBC Diverse and Divided: A Political Demography of American Elite Students | CSPI Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Dan Hugger is joined by Sarah Negri and John Pinheiro to discuss the national debate around Columbus Day and the ongoing escalation of the war in Ukraine. What should we as American’s in general, and Christian’s in particular mark of Columbus’s Legacy? What is Indigenous Peoples’ Day and need its celebration be in conflict with Columbus Day? What is the relationship between Columbus Day and the Italian American Community? What do the latest escalations by the Russian Federation kinetic, political, and rhetorical mean for the future of Ukraine? Is peace possible? Should we take the threat of nuclear escalation seriously? How should the international community respond? Subscribe to our podcasts Russia launches biggest air strikes since start of Ukraine war | Rueters Putin signs annexation of Ukrainian regions as losses mount | AP News Poland suggests hosting US nuclear weapons amid growing fears of Putin’s threats | The Guardian Russia’s Nuclear Bluster Is a Sign of Panic | The Atlantic In S.D., it's Native Americans' Day, not Columbus Day | Argus Leader Hochul, Zeldin find common ground: Columbus Day won’t be canceled despite ‘woke’ push | New York Post N.J. district eliminates Columbus Day as a school holiday over objections of Italian American groups | NJ.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn is joined by Dan Hugger and Dan Churchwell to discuss the theme of the Fall 2022 issue of Acton’s magazine, Religion & Liberty: What is the metaverse? What is its relationship to science fiction literature? And what is the impact of technology on society and culture, and how we should think through the consequences, intended and unintended, of technology and the metaverse on our lives? Dan Hugger’s Fall 2022 R&L cover story is entitled, “The Metaverse Does Not Exist.” Dan Churchwell’s review essay, which also appears in the issue, is entitled, “The Screen Is Not Your Master.” Subscribe to our podcasts The Metaverse Does Not Exist | Dan Hugger, Religion & Liberty The Screen Is Not Your Master | Dan Churchwell, Religion & Liberty (forthcoming) Overload: Will any shows from the Golden Age of TV endure? | Sonny Bunch, The Weekly Standard The changing face of social breakdown | Acton Line The Changing Face of Social Breakdown | Yuval Levin, The Dispatch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn and Dan Hugger are joined by two special guests—Stephanie Slade, senior editor at Reason magazine and Fellow in Liberal Studies at the Acton Institute, and Jack Butler, submissions editor at National Review—both of whom attended the National Conservatism 3 conference, to discuss all things pertaining to the conference and the National Conservatism movement. Subscribe to our podcasts The Will to Power Was Front and Center at NatCon III | Stephanie Slade, Reason Both Left and Right Are Converging on Authoritarianism | Stephanie Slade, Reason Four Myths About National Conservatism You Should Stop Believing | David Brog, The Federalist National Conservatism and the Declaration | David Tucker, Law & Liberty National Conservatism and Its Enemies | Religion & Liberty What I Saw at the National Conservatism Conference | Dan Hugger, Religion & Liberty National Conservatism: A Primer for the Uninitiated | Josh Hammer, Newsweek National Conservatism: A Statement of Principles | The American Conservative The hundred-year war for American conservatism | Acton Line Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman are joined by special guest Rabbi Jonathan Greenberg to discuss the recent New York Times article on New York City’s Orthodox yeshivas. Is the Times piece fair? What interest does the state have in the kind of education the children in Hasidic enclaves in New York City are receiving? And is America becoming increasingly inhospitable to Jews? Then the guys discuss the move by some state governors to send migrants who arrive at the southern border to so-called sanctuary cities. Is this a defensible policy, with the supposed ends justifying using fellow humans as the means of making a political point? Subscribe to our podcasts In Hasidic Enclaves, Failing Private Schools Flush with Public Money | New York Times The Jews of the Jews | Moshe Krakowski, Commentary The Plot Against Jewish Education | Liel Leibovitz, Tablet Magazine New York State vs. the Yeshivas | Eli Spitzer, Mosaic Magazine Religious Liberty in the States | Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman discuss the legacies of two world leaders who have recently passed: Queen Elizabeth II of England and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. How should these two very different figures be remembered, and what will be their enduring legacies? How should we think about the legacy of the British Empire, which was dissolved under Queen Elizabeth’s reign with the end of British rule in Hong Kong? And how much credit should Gorbachev get for the dissolution of the Soviet Union under his watch when this was never his intention? And finally, the guys discuss the ongoing National Conservatism 3 conference and the status of that movement. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022) | Richard Turnbull, Acton Institute Would Kuyper go to Mars? | Dylan Pahman, Acton Institute Gorbachev Pizza Hut commercial What I Saw at the National Conservatism Conference | Dan Hugger, Acton Institute National Conservatism and Its Enemies | Religion & Liberty Winter-Spring 2022 National Conservatism and Its Enemies | Religion & Liberty Winter-Spring 2022 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, John Pinheiro, and Dylan Pahman discuss every angle of the executive order from President Joe Biden granting up to $20,000 of student-loan-debt forgiveness to qualifying individuals. Is there a solid legal case for doing this? Can one argue persuasively that transferring debts from those who incurred them to those who did not—namely, the American taxpayers—is in any way just? Does it make sense to take this action without addressing the deeper problems in the student loan and higher education system, which debt-relief advocates themselves portray as predatory? How do we address the cultural problems that exist in the system—namely, the increased expectation that everyone should go to college? Student Loan Debt Statistics: 2022 | NerdWallet Untangling the college loan crisis | Anne Rathbone Bradley, Religion & Liberty Is There a Christian Case for Biden’s Debt Relief Plan? | David French, The Dispatch Blue Collar Intellectuals: When the Enlightened and the Everyman Elevated America | Daniel J. Flynn Millennials and Marriage | Rachel Lu, Public Discourse Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman reflect on what has transpired in Afghanistan in the year since the withdrawal of American forces from the country. Could the inevitable withdrawal have been better planned to prevent the debacle that ensued? What is the current state of the country’s economy, and of the rights of women and children? Could things be worse? Then the guys turn their attention to a possible earthquake in the American public school system, as major cities see declining enrollments while states like Arizona make large expansions to school-choice programs. What happens when these unstoppable forces meet the immovable object of teachers unions? Subscribe to our podcasts The Taliban retake Afghanistan | Acton Unwind Have the Taliban changed? | Acton Unwind Afghanistan, One Year Later | The Morning Dispatch Lawmakers Still Wrestle With Biden’s Chaotic Afghanistan Withdrawal | The Dispatch Afghanistan's Economic Collapse | The Morning Dispatch After just 68 days of summer, Chicago Public Schools’ new year starts Monday. Here’s what you need to know. | Chicago Tribune One-third of Chicago Public Schools are half full | Illinois Policy Institute Universal school vouchers: What you should know about the bill that Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law | Fox 10 Phoenix Inside the Massive Effort to Change the Way Kids Are Taught to Read | Yahoo News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman explore some of the big picture questions raised in the wake of the FBI's executing a search warrant for Trump’s Florida digs, Mar-a-Lago. How should we balance practical political concerns with questions of the rule of law? Would more transparency help? Or would breaking the Department of Justice’s protocol, as former FBI director Jim Comey did about the Hillary Clinton private-server investigation, cause more harm than good? And are we capable of viewing a former president as just another American citizen once he’s left office? Then the guys reflect on the reaction to the violent attack on novelist Salman Rushdie last week. While news outlets claim we’re still searching for a motive for the attack, Iran affirmed the fatwa and bounty on Rushdie’s life, so what’s the mystery? And finally, a piece in The Atlantic accuses rad-trad Catholics of “weaponizing” the rosary. While the original incendiary title has since been edited, wouldn’t it save a lot of embarrassment to have at least one person of faith around to avoid making basic mistakes? Subscribe to our podcasts The FBI’s Mar-a-Lago ‘Raid’: It’s about the Capitol Riot, Not the Mishandling of Classified Information | Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review Do We Believe Our Own Dogma? | Kevin Williamson, National Review What Comes Next After Mar-a-Lago Search | Morning Dispatch, The Dispatch Thinking Through the Trump Search | David French, The Dispatch Salman Rushdie recovering from 'life changing' injuries after he was stabbed on stage. Here's what we know | CNN Abolishing blasphemy laws in Pakistan will lead to more violence | Farah Adeed, Acton Institute How Extremist Gun Culture Is Trying to Co-Opt the Rosary | The Atlantic Original headline and image for Atlantic article GetReligion Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, guest host Dan Hugger, Sarah Negri, and Dylan Pahman discuss the diplomatic crisis unfolding in the wake of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. How should the United States respond to an increasingly aggressive Communist China? From there the discussion turns to the recent defeat of the proposed Value Them Both Amendment to the Kansas Constitution. What can we learn about the future of the abortion debate in America from this result? Then we discuss the recent Republican primary election in Michigan’s 3rd congressional district between John Gibbs and Congressman Peter Meijer. What does this close race tell us about the state of the Republican Party and the near-future prospects for American politics at large? Subscribe to our podcasts Pelosi has landed in Taiwan. Here's why that's a big deal | NPR Nancy Pelosi: Why I’m leading a congressional delegation to Taiwan | The Washington Post Furious China fires missiles near Taiwan in drills after Pelosi visit | Reuters Right to abortion protected by Kansas Constitution, state Supreme Court rules | The Wichita Eagle 'No' prevails: Kansas votes to protect abortion rights in state constitution | The Kansas City Star The end of Roe is the beginning of new life for citizens and their duties | Acton Institute How Meijer's Trump impeachment vote sealed his fate in west Michigan | Detroit News Gibbs, Scholten seek to win over supporters of defeated Congressman Peter Meijer | MLive Defeated GOP lawmaker sees ‘dark and cynical’ streak prevailing in politics - POLITICO Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David L. Bahnsen joins Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman on the show this week to discuss all things economics. Just what is a recession? How do we know? What should we do if we’re actually in one? What is the future of inflation? If inflation comes down, is it a good sign or would it be indicative of different problems in the economy? Are we at risk of investing too much in the power of government and politicians to both break and fix the economy? And are oil companies making record profits? Subscribe to our podcasts U.S. GDP Fell at 0.9% Annual Rate in Second Quarter; Recession Fears Loom Over Economy | Wall Street Journal Fed hikes interest rates by 0.75 percentage point for second consecutive time to fight inflation | CNBC The Inflation Reduction Act Won’t Reduce Inflation | Wall Street Journal The Dividend Cafe | David L. Bahnsen There’s No Free Lunch: 250 Economic Truths | David L. Bahnsen Foundations of a Free & Virtuous Society | Dylan Pahman Crisis of Responsibility: Our Cultural Addiction to Blame and How You Can Cure It | David L. Bahnsen Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman discuss the rising concern about political violence in the wake of the attack in New York on Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin. How do we stem this tide, and what role do politicians and rhetoric play in inciting such violence? From there the discussion turns to the elimination of cash bail in New York. Then, given President Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia, how should we approach dealing with nations that violate human rights and, specific to Saudi Arabia, murder journalists, especially when there are geopolitical security concerns in the region? Finally, two St. Louis Cardinals superstars can’t travel to Canada to play the Blue Jays because they aren’t vaccinated. Do travel restrictions like this make sense anymore? Subscribe to our podcasts Suspected attacker of GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin arrested on federal assault charge | CNN Survey Looks at Acceptance of Political Violence in U.S. | New York Times Roberts rebukes Schumer for saying justices will ‘pay the price’ for a vote against abortion rights | Washington Post Biden Says He Told Saudi Prince He Blames Him for Khashoggi Murder | New York Times Here's what the 'glowing orb' Trump touched in Saudi Arabia actually was | Insider ‘The Dissident’ Dictatorships & Double Standards | Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Commentary Magazine Kansas City Royals, with 10 unvaccinated players absent, beat Toronto Blue Jays | ESPN Cardinals’ unvaccinated stars explain decision; Miles Mikolas regrets getting vaccine | The Comeback Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a very special bonus episode of Acton Unwind, Eric Kohn is joined by Dylan Pahman and Daniel Baas to discuss the fourth season of the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things.” They explore the show’s depiction of communism, the satanic panic of the 1980s, concepts of good and evil, and tease out some possible religious allegories. Supernatural thriller Stranger Things shows the all-too-human evil of communism | Dylan Pahman Cronyism vs. free markets in ‘Stranger Things’ | Dylan Pahman Stranger Things on America: ‘It’s not rigged!’ | Jordan Ballor Stranger Things’ Impressive Run | Bradley Birzer, National Review Stranger Things 4 | Eddie Munson's Upside Down Guitar Scene | Netflix Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.