This week, host Dan Hugger is joined by John Pinheiro, Anthony Bradley, and Dylan Pahman to discuss the results of the 2024 U.S. elections. What do the results say about American society, its politics, its parties, and its future? A wide-ranging conversation from pre-election polls to possible party futures. Subscribe to our podcasts   2024 Presidential Election Results | AP News Exit poll results 2024 | CNN Politics How the Trump Polymarket Whale Correctly Called the Election, and Made Nearly $50 Million | Alexander Osipovich, WSJ Pro-Kamala Harris spot targeting ‘real men’ ripped as ‘cringiest political ad ever’ Susie Wiles: Who is Trump’s new chief of staff? | Max Matza, BBC News

This week, host Dan Hugger is joined by Dylan Pahman and Anthony Bradley to ask, what should politics look like in church? A highly polarizing election season is upon us and debates about church involvement in politics and how difficult political questions are discussed in church have renewed vigor. How does the way particular churches and religious traditions navigate politics differs according to time, place, and circumstance? In what way’s does America’s own history shape the way churches in America think about politics? In what ways can churches and church members constructively engage American politics without opting out into quietism or indulging in partisan polarization? Subscribe to our podcasts     Calming the Storm of Images | Acton Institute   The Rambler and the Transformative Power of Magazines | Acton Institute   Globalization and Orthodox Christianity | Victor Roudometof   Citizenship Without Illusions: A Christian Guide to Political Engagement: Koyzis, David T.: 9781514008621: Amazon.com: Books   Catechism of the Catholic Church | USCCB   Luther's Small Catechism with Explanation - 2017 Edition - Concordia Publishing House (cph.org)   The Commentary of Dr. Zacharias Ursinus on the Heidelberg Catechism - Google Books   An Exact Exposition Of The Orthodox Faith : St John of Damascus : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

This week, host Dan Hugger is joined by Dylan Pahman and Noah Gould to ask, Are those jobs numbers fake? Can we trust economic data, and do they tell the whole economic story? They then discuss the emerging bipartisan consensus that America should “build, baby, build” to address housing shortages and rising costs. How does such a consensus emerge, and is this a positive development? The panel concludes by scrutinizing the megachurch model. Why are some Catholic dioceses embracing the model? Should we welcome our new praise-and-worship overlords? Subscribe to our podcasts     Too Fake to Tell | balajis.com   No, the Biden Administration Is Not Manipulating Jobs Data | National Review   Democrats Are Pushing One Policy Loud and Clear: Build, Baby, Build | POLITICO   The Intellectual Roots of YIMBYism | Marginal REVOLUTION   Kamala Harris’ Economic Policies Can’t Keep Her Promises | Religion & Liberty Online   Catholic priest shortage gives rise to California “megachurch” as parishes expand | CBS News   Why Catholic bishops rocked out to megachurch worship hits | The Christian Century   Church in a Digital Age: Must We Worship Bodily to Worship at All? | Acton Lecture Series   AI and the Discipline of Human Flourishing | Acton Institute

This week, host Dan Hugger is joined by Anthony Bradley and James Patterson to discuss James’ recent essay at Law & Liberty: “Into the Reactionary Abyss.” Why are post-liberal Catholics drawing on European reactionary thinkers to critique liberalism? Why is the use of such sources dubious? And how do the arguments of public intellectuals form and deform young people? The panel then counts the costs of marijuana legalization: Was it a good idea? What have we learned in the past decade post-legalization? The panel concludes with an examination of some of Vice President Harris’ recent proposals to lower the cost of living. Are grocers price-gouging? Do we just need to subsidize more demand? Subscribe to our podcasts   Into the Reactionary Abyss | James M. Patterson   After Republican Virtue | James M. Patterson   Why Postliberalism Failed | YouTube   An Awkward Alliance: Neo-Integralism and National Conservatism | James M. Patterson   Maybe Legalizing Weed Wasn’t Such a Great Idea | Tyler Cowen              Harris Is Set to Lay Out an Economic Message Light on Detail | The New York Times   Harris to propose up to $25K in down-payment support for 1st-time homebuyers | ABC News

This week, new host Dan Hugger is joined by Noah Gould and Dan Churchwell to discuss the recent unrest in Bangladesh, why the rule of law matters, and the importance of religious liberty to free societies. They then explore Vice President Harris’ selection of Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate. What does this mean for the Democratic Party and for the presidential race going forward? Is Senator Vance’s love of Magic: The Gathering and Governor Walz’s addiction to SEGA Dreamcast the path through polarization? Finally, what do Americans think about tariffs and trade? The panel digs into a new CATO Institute study. Do the populist politicians and the populace agree on trade and globalization?   Bangladesh has achieved its second liberation, says Muhammad Yunus | The Economist   Bangladesh has ousted an autocrat. Now for the hard part. | The Economist   Muhammad Yunus on Bonsai People [PovertyCure Episode 3] | Acton Institute   Harris chooses Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as VP Pick | The Washington Post   JD Vance talks Tim Walz, Ukraine, and Ohio State football with Semafor | Semafor   Tim Walz Was a Clear Eyes, Full Hearts Kind of Coach | The New York Times   Poll: 63% of Americans Want to Increase Trade with Other Nations, 75% Worry Tariffs Are Raising Consumer Prices | Cato The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger | Marc Levinson

This week, it’s Eric’s final episode hosting Acton Unwind. Bye, Eric! He’s joined by David and Dan to discuss the national debt hitting $35 trillion. That seems bad. Then they discuss Republican VP nominee J.D. Vance’s recent comments that it would be worth $10 million to save a single toaster-manufacturing job in America. That seems expensive. And finally, the stock market is tanking. How bad is that?   Subscribe to our podcasts   U.S. National Debt Tops $35 Trillion for First Time | New York Times   J. D. Vance’s Toaster-Making Dreams Would Burn American Manufacturers | National Review   To Fix Economics, Try Teaching Economics | Alex Salter, Econlib   Dow drops 1,000 points, Nasdaq craters 4% in global market rout | CNBC

This week, Eric and Dan are joined by Mike Cosper of Christianity Today to discuss last week’s firing and then un-firing of ERLC president Brent Leatherwood and the subsequent resignation of ERLC board chairman Kevin Smith. What happened there, why, and what does it tell us about the political battles going on in the church? Then, is it worth being angry or upset over the blasphemous parts of the Paris Olympics opening ceremonies? And finally, does our American politics have a “childless cat lady” problem, as VP nominee J.D. Vance suggests? Subscribe to our podcasts ERLC Retracts Announcement Firing President Brent Leatherwood | Christianity Today Paris Olympics organizers sorry for Last Supper at Opening Ceremonies | Washington Post Vance continues to feel the scratch of "childless cat ladies” | Axios

This week, Eric is joined by Dylan and Peter Balos from Acton’s Emerging Leaders class to discuss President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek reelection. Is this a sign that our institutions are healing and that they’re starting to act in furtherance of their long-term interests? Then they examine former president Donald Trump’s choice of Ohio senator J.D. Vance as his vice presidential running mate, both of whom appeared at a rally in Grand Rapids on Saturday. Does this suggest a victory for the National Conservatives and their desired economic program? Subscribe to our podcasts   Peter Balos, Acton Emerging Leader   Acton’s Emerging Leaders Program   Statement from President Joe Biden   The Constitution Is Still the Answer | Acton Line   Pray for Our Nation | Acton Unwind   J.D. Vance, Breaking the Beard Barrier | New York Times

This week, Eric is joined by Dan Hugger, Anthony Bradley, and Stephanie Slade of Reason magazine as they discuss the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump over the weekend. Then they turn their attention to the National Conservatism 4 conference that took place last week in Washington, D.C. What is the state of this movement, where does it seem to be headed, and who were the standouts from the conference? Questions Surround Attempted Trump Assassination | The Morning Dispatch   NatCon 4 Speakers   Vivek Ramaswamy Debuts 'National Libertarianism' at NatCon 4 | Stephanie Slade, Reason Magazine   What I Saw at the National Conservatism Conference | Dan Hugger, Religion & Liberty   National Conservatism One Year Later | Dan Hugger, Religion & Liberty

This week, Eric is joined first by Justin Brierley to discuss his essay in the Summer 2024 issue of Religion & Liberty, “The ‘God' of the ‘Philosophers,’” a review of the book “Philosophers on God: Talking about Existence,” edited by Jack Symes. Then Eric is joined by Dylan and Dave to discuss the current state of America and the Constitution in the wake of the country’s 248th birthday. They then turn their attention to the recent elections in the United Kingdom and France to wonder if there’s any theme, like anti-establishment/anti-incumbency, that ties it all together. Subscribe to our podcasts     The “God” of the “Philosophers” | Justin Brierley, Religion & Liberty   Subscribe to Religion & Liberty   The Dream of Scalable Democracy | Dylan Pahman, Law & Liberty    5 Takeaways from France’s Snap Election | New York Times   Keir Starmer confirmed as Britain’s new prime minister after Labour Party’s decisive win | NBC News

This week, Eric, Anthony, and Emily are joined by Aaron Pomerantz, a post-doctoral research fellow at Rice University who specializes in conspiracy theories. They begin by discussing the first presidential debate through the lens of an observation by Anthony: that what we’re seeing is people caring more about politics than about Joe Biden’s well-being. Then Aaron shares his thoughts on why conspiracy theories still abound in this election and in modern society. And finally, the Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference. What will this mean for representative governance and the rule of law? Subscribe to our podcasts Video of the Presidential Debate The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories | Acton Line Can Americans Learn to Trust Again? | Christine Rosen, Religion & Liberty Supreme Court Overturns the Chevron Doctrine | The Morning Dispatch

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan are joined by AEI’s Christine Rosen to discuss her cover essay for the Summer edition of Religion & Liberty, "Can Americans Learn to Trust Again?” Why has social trust eroded in America, and what can be done to restore it? Then, would warning labels on social media like we have on cigarettes protect children, or anyone, from its harms? And finally, Cornerstone University here in Grand Rapids has laid off its humanities and music faculty, in addition to making other cuts. Is Christian higher education in a crisis? Subscribe to our podcasts   Can Americans Learn to Trust Again? | Christine Rosen, Religion & Liberty Christine Rosen | American Enterprise Institute Surgeon General: Why I’m Calling for a Warning Label on Social Media Platforms | Vivek Murthy, New York Times Decay and Reform in Christian Higher Education | Dylan Pahman, Acton Institute

This week, Eric, Noah, and Emily discuss the secret recording of SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. What will be the long-term consequences of these attacks on the legitimacy of the Supreme Court—one of the few institutions left that Americans still have faith in? Next, actor-director Rob Reiner has co-produced a new documentary on the threat of Christian Nationalism. Noah discusses his review of the film and if there’s any there there. And finally, former President Donald Trump proposed eliminating the federal income tax and replacing it with import tariffs to raise revenue. Bad idea? Or the worst idea? Subscribe to our podcasts   Filmmaker who recorded Alito, Roberts says she did it ‘in service of a public good’ | NPR The Smear Campaign Against Justice Alito | National Review A Christian Nationalist on Every Corner? | Noah Gould, Acton Institute The Will to Power Is Not the Christian Way | Jonathan Clark, Acton Institute Can Trump Eliminate the Income Tax? Maybe with an 85% Tariff | Forbes

This week, Eric, Dan, and David discuss the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation/Ticketmaster. Is there anything the federal government can do to appease unhappy Taylor Swift fans who couldn’t get tickets to the Eras Tour? And, more importantly, is Live Nation literally a monopoly? Next, the United States’ trade deficit surged by 9% in April. Does it matter? How concerned should we be with the balance of trade between the United States and the rest of the world? And finally, the guys break down the election results in India and Europe. Are we all in our populist era? Subscribe to our podcasts   U.S. Calls for Breakup of Ticketmaster Owner | New York Times  The Myth of the Robber Barons: A New Look at the Rise of Big Business in America | Burton W. Folsom Trade deficit jumps to 18-month high, but rise in imports is ‘good news’ for economy | Marketwatch Trade Deficits: Accounting Masquerading as Economics | David Hebert, AIER Relying on coalition partners, Modi is sworn in for a rare third term as India’s prime minister | Associated Press Far-right gains in the EU election deal stunning defeats to France’s Macron and Germany’s Scholz | Associated Press

This week, Eric and Dan are joined by Jeffrey Polet to discuss his essay in the Spring 2024 issue of Religion & Liberty, “The Teacher as Prophet: John Dewey’s Liberating Education.” How did Dewey’s vision shape education in America and how is he still influential today? Next, Emily joins the conversation about Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker’s commencement address heard ’round the web. In what ways did it miss the mark? Are there any positive lessons we can take from it? Then, does Apple want to crush all your creative things? A new ad for the iPad Pro suggests yes, but only if you’re hyper-literal. And finally, what does the lewd and inappropriate behavior at The Portal art installation connecting New York City and Dublin, Ireland, reveal about human behavior? Subscribe to our podcasts   Subscribe to Religion & Liberty The Teacher as Prophet: John Dewey’s Liberating Education | Jeffrey Polet, Religion & Liberty Harrison Butker’s Benedictine College Commencement Address | National Catholic Register Harrison Butker Misses the Point | Haley Strack, National Review Crush! Apple iPad Pro Ad Dublin–New York portal reopens with set hours | BBC

This week, Eric and Noah are joined by Acton’s Dan Hugger to discuss his essay in the Spring 2024 issue of Religion & Liberty, “The Rambler and the Transformative Power of Magazines.” Why, even in an age of digital publishing, have print magazines endured? Then the group looks at legislation that has recently moved in Congress to add a definition of anti-Semitism to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If we acknowledge that anti-Semitism is a problem on college campuses, is this the best way to address it? And finally, Oklahoma’s charter school board has approved a Catholic charter school. We don’t yet know if this is legal, but is it a wise move by proponents of religious education? Subscribe to our podcasts   Subscribe to Religion & Liberty The Rambler and the Transformative Power of Magazines | Dan Hugger, Religion & Liberty The End of Democracy? The Judicial Usurpation of Politics | First Things The Paper of Record Meets an Ephemeral Web: An Examination of Linkrot and Content Drift within The New York Times | SSRN House passes bill to expand definition of antisemitism amid growing campus protests over Gaza war | Associated Press First Religious Charter School Sparks Legal, Philosophical Battles | Wall Street Journal

This week, Eric, Anthony, and Emily are joined by Gene Edward Veith to discuss his essay “Sheen and Maier: Broadcasting Theology,” which explores the broadcast ministries of Fulton J. Sheen and Walter A. Maier. Then, are frat bros the heroes we’ve been waiting for, pushing back on the radical protests on elite college campuses and defending the American flag? And finally, Florida has banned lab-grown meat. Is there anything more to this than protection for the traditional meat industries?  Subscribe to our podcasts   Subscribe to R&L Sheen and Maier: Broadcasting Theology | Gene Edward Veith, Religion & Liberty UNC frat brothers who defended US flag speak out: 'Deeply important to us’ | The Daily Mail Flag-Protecting Frat Brothers Have Plans for $500K in Donations | Newsweek Heroic Fraternities: How College Men Can Save Universities and America | Anthony B. Bradley ‘We Will Save Our Beef’: Florida Bans Lab-Grown Meat | The New York Times

This week, Eric, Dylan, and Dan are joined by Karen Swallow Prior to discuss her essay in the new Spring 2024 issue of Religion & Liberty, “Who Will Comfort Me? The Total Care of Cicely Saunders” and issues of, literally, life and death. Then Eric, Dylan, and Dan discuss the place of free markets within the conservative movement and how college administrations should be dealing with the protest encampments being established on their campuses. Subscribe to our podcasts   Subscribe to Religion & Liberty Who Will Comfort Me? The Total Care of Cicely Saunders | Karen Swallow Prior, Religion & Liberty The Conservative Movement Is Defending Free Markets — from Both Sides | Erick Erickson, National Review Heritage Foundation’s Wesley Coopersmith’s Response Karl Polanyi's Battle with Economic History | Alex Nowrasteh, Libertarianism.org Texas Gov. Abbott faces backlash after mass arrest at UT Austin pro-Palestine protest | The Hill UF threatens student protesters with suspension, banishment from campus for 3 years | WUFT

This week, Eric, Dan, and Emily discuss the death of O.J. Simpson and examine how the combination of his celebrity and his criminal trial launched a thousand cultural ships, including reality TV, true-crime obsession, and the 24/7 news cycle. Next, Belgian politicians tried to shut down the National Conservatism Conference, only to have it saved by liberal institutions. Oh, the irony. And finally, what can we learn from NPR senior business editor Uri Berliner’s piece at The Free Press accusing NPR of losing its journalistic integrity? Subscribe to our podcasts   O.J. Simpson, Football Star Whose Trial Riveted the Nation, Dies at 76 | New York Times Europe’s hard-right bags big win after ‘own goal’ by Brussels mayors | Politico Brussels Mayor Attempts to Shut Down National Conservatism Conference by Force | Stephanie Slade, Reason What I Saw at the National Conservatism Conference | Dan Hugger, Religion & Liberty National Conservatism One Year Later | Dan Hugger, Religion & Liberty I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust. | Uri Berliner, The Free Press

This week, Eric, Noah, and David Hebert, making his maiden voyage on the podcast, discuss squatters’ rights: Do they really exist? And if so, how big a problem are they really?. Then, has the problem with industrial policy been that we just weren’t doing it right all these years? Sen. Marco Rubio thinks so. Oh, and a new California minimum-wage law for fast-food workers has taken effect. Our future fast-food robot overlords are appreciative. And finally, Sam Bankman-Fried gets 25 years for the fraud he perpetrated. Is this sentence too harsh, too light, or just right? Subscribe to our podcasts   What’s Behind Recent ‘Squatters’ Rights’ Disputes? | Reilly Stephens, The Dispatch  Why Christians Should Be (the Best) Landlords | Rachel Ferguson, Religion & Liberty Online Why I believe in industrial policy—done right | Sen. Marco Rubio, Washington Post Beware the Bipartisan Folly of Industrial Policy | Noah Gould, National Revie  California’s Crazy ‘Fast Food’ Minimum Wage Takes Effect | David Neumark, Wall Street Journal FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years for crypto fraud, to pay $11 billion in forfeiture | CNBC

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan are joined by Mike Cosper of Christianity Today to discuss his cover essay in the latest issue of Religion & Liberty, “There Shall Be None to Make Him Afraid: American Liberty and the Jews.” Then they turn their attention to controversial LSU basketball coach Kim Mulkey to explore how hard-driving and tough-coaching styles fit in the modern world and what it means for a perspective on leadership. Subscribe to our podcasts There Shall Be None to Make Him Afraid: American Liberty and the Jews | Mike Cosper, Religion & Liberty Subscribe to Religion & Liberty Promised Land podcast | Christianity Today Why do some people hate the Jews? | Acton Line The History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict | Acton Line A Christian Perspective from Visiting Israel | Acton Line The Kim Mulkey Way | Washington Post The Bobby Knight Problem | The Rise & Fall of Mars Hill They’re Coming After Us | John Podhoretz, Commentary Magazine

This week, Dan Hugger, Noah Gould, and Emily Zanotti discuss the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Maryland. They then turn their attention to the announcement of the God Bless the USA Bible, the only Bible endorsed by President Trump and country music sensation Lee Greenwood. What does this reveal about the state of religion, politics, and culture in America today? And finally, is it time to rethink the culture war? Subscribe to our podcasts  The impact of the Baltimore bridge disaster | Economist.com Lawyers Gear Up for Swift Start in Legal Fight Over Baltimore Bridge | WSJ Donald Trump Is Selling a 'God Bless the USA' Bible for $60 | NPR God Bless the USA Bible The New Culture Warriors | Religion & Liberty Online

This week, Eric, Anthony, and Dan discuss the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple for alleged monopolistic practices in the smartphone market. They then turn their attention to a strange essay in National Affairs on the “Soft Tyranny of Smartphones” and explore whether a desire to use a smartphone less requires government action. And finally, should we be concerned about Elon Musk’s brain-chip company, Neuralink, or should we celebrate such a technological advancement? Subscribe to our podcasts   U.S. accuses Apple of illegally maintaining monopoly in broad lawsuit | Axios The Apple Antitrust Case and the ‘Stigma’ of the Green Bubble | Wired Brandon Sanderson Says Deal with Audible Is in the Works | Publishers Weekly The Soft Tyranny of Smartphones | National Affairs Patient of Elon Musk’s Neuralink Shows Off New Life With Implant | Wall Street Journal

This week, Eric, Noah, and Emily discuss the legislation moving through Congress that would force the sale of TikTok from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or ban the app’s availability in the United States. Are the national security issues serious enough to trump all other concerns about setting such a precedent? Then the panel turns its attention to Ben Shapiro’s comments about work and retirement. How should we think about work and its role in our lives—now and when we’re older? Subscribe to our podcasts   House passes bill that could lead to TikTok ban | Axios Acton Institute on TikTok TikTok Suspends a Film on Jimmy Lai | Wall Street Journal Ben Shapiro on work and retirement | X Closing the Gap Between Work and Life | David Bahnsen, Acton Line

This week Eric, Dan, and Emily discuss President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address and give their own takes on the state of the union, the recent ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that implicates IVF treatment, and the recent remarks by Pope Francis calling for Ukraine to have the “courage of the White Flag” in bringing about an end to the war in Ukraine. Subscribe to our podcasts   Remarks by President Biden in State of the Union Address | The White House Put the State of the Union address out of its misery | Eric Kohn, Religion & Liberty Online Alabama Supreme Court Sparks IVF Debate | The Morning Dispatch It’s time for hard conversations about frozen embryos | Emily Zanotti, Deseret News Alabama Against IVF | Advisory Opinions podcast Pope Says Ukraine Should Have the ‘Courage of the White Flag’ | New York Times Kremlin says appeal by Pope Francis for Ukraine talks is quite understandable | Reuters

On this special bonus episode of Acton Unwind, Eric, Dan, Dylan, and Daniel discuss Dune: Part Two, the second entry in director Denis Villeneuve’s trilogy adapting the Frank Herbert novels. The panel discusses the technical filmmaking, how this film compares to the 1984 David Lynch adaptation of Dune, how it compares to the original books, what was left out, and more. Warning: Spoilers! Subscribe to our podcasts   Dune: Part Two trailer Dune: Part Two and the Death of Freedom | Joseph Holmes, Religion & Liberty Online Discovering human dignity in Villeneuve’s Dune | Dylan Pahman, Religion & Liberty Online

This week, Eric, Anthony, and Dylan discuss the self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell and the ethics of using his suicide to advance the Palestinian cause, the online free-speech cases that SCOTUS heard last week, and the story that the fast-food chain Wendy’s was planning to roll out surge pricing in the spirit of Uber and Lyft. Wendy’s isn’t doing that—but should it? Subscribe to our podcasts   Man Dies After Setting Himself on Fire Outside Israeli Embassy in Washington, Air Force Says | New York Times Cornel West tweet about Aaron Bushnell The History of Self-Immolation as Political Protest | TIME Magazine US Supreme Court weighs landmark online free speech case | BBC ‘Mainstream Media’ Doesn’t Have a Liberal Bias | Dylan Pahman, The Federalist Supreme Court justices raise First Amendment concerns in NetChoice oral argument | FIRE Wendy’s says ‘dynamic pricing’ is different from ‘surge pricing,’ but whatever it’s called may still alienate customers | Fortune Consumerism, Service, and Religion | Dylan Pahman, Religion & Liberty Online

This week on Acton Unwind, guest host Dan Hugger is joined by Dylan Pahman and Noah Gould. They begin the podcast by discussing two recent essays that call into question Hillsdale College’s “Christian College” bona fides. What makes a college Christian, and does Hillsdale fit the bill? Next, Google’s Gemini generative AI chatbot’s political biases are explored. What does AI bias look like? Why is it important, and what can be done to mitigate it? Is it inadvertent performance art?  Finally, the group unpacks the recent scandal that has engulfed science fiction and fantasy’s most prestigious award, the Hugo. Is it prudent to host such awards in China? Is the Hugo scandal an indictment of democracy? How does this scandal effect the award’s credibility going forward? Subscribe to our podcasts  Selling “Christian” Hillsdale | Current  Some additional thoughts about Hillsdale | Current On Hillsdale College and Christianity by Dan Hugger | Reign of Conscience On Constitutions, Confessionalization, and Gandhi | Reign of Conscience (Substack) More human than human: measuring ChatGPT political bias | Public Choice Hugo Awards 2024: What Really Happened at the Sci-Fi Awards in China? | Esquire Authors ‘excluded from Hugo awards over China concerns’ | The Guardian Your New Aesthetic | YouTube

This week guest host Dan Hugger is joined by Dan Churchwell and Emily Zanotti. The panel begins by discussing the recent death of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny in prison. How should the international community respond? Will this tragedy cause Americans on the extreme left and right develop a more critical attitude toward Vladimir Putin? Next, recent discoveries of rare-earth minerals in Wyoming promise to give the U.S. a geopolitical and economic edge, but what tradeoffs are involved in the extraction of natural resources? Then—what does OpenAI’s plans for investment in chip production mean for our world and our home?  Finally, the gang reflects on the penitential season of Lent. What’s behind its increasingly ecumenical appeal? It’s cultural, political, and theological dimensions are explored before the panelists share their spiritual practices for the season. Subscribe to our podcasts Putin critic Alexei Navalny dies in Arctic Circle jail, says Russia (bbc.com) Russian Exceptionalism | New York Review of Books Wyoming Hits the Rare-Earth Mother Lode | WSJ Rare Earths Discovery Near Wheatland So Big It Could Be World Leader | Your Wyoming News Source (cowboystatedaily.com) Sam Altman Seeks Trillions of Dollars to Reshape Business of Chips and AI | WSJ ‘The astonishing Jensen Huang of Nvidia talks about the future of AI. Sovereign AI is the future and more valuable than oil or gold’| Twitter (X)  More Work For Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave  The Harried Leisure Class | Marginal Revolution  2024 Lent Project | Biola University Center for Christianity, Culture and the Arts Tuna Fish and Tollhouse Cookies | Emily Zanotti (substack.com) Catechism of the Catholic Church

This week, Eric talks with Mustafa Akyol about his essay in the Winter issue of RELIGION & LIBERTY, a book review of “Wahhābism: The History of a Militant Islamic Movement.” Where did Wahhabist Islam come from and how much sway does it hold in the Muslim world today? Then Eric is joined by Anthony Bradley and Noah Gould as they discuss the He Gets Us ads from the Super Bowl, Tucker Carlson’s interview of Vladimir Putin, and how old is too old to be president of the United States. Subscribe to our podcasts Subscribe to Religion & Liberty The Rebirth of a Heretical Islam | Mustafa Akyol, Religion & Liberty Foot Washing | He Gets Us Who is My Neighbor? | He Gets Us Vladimir Putin tells Tucker Carlson that Russia is 'willing to negotiate' with Ukraine | USA Today Overwhelming majority think Biden is too old to serve following Hur report: Poll | The Hill Ad-Copy Gospel and the Christian Marketing Dilemma | Isaac Willour, Religion & Liberty Online

This week, Eric, Anthony, and Dylan are joined by John G. Grove, managing editor of Law & Liberty, to discuss his essay in the Winter edition of Religion & Liberty, “The Gods of the City.” Is Christian nationalism a real thing? What is the proper interplay between faith and government? Then Emily joins the show to discuss the way-too-online theory that the Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce relationship, and even possibly the Super Bowl, is actually a psyop or deep-state conspiracy. But setting aside that silliness, shouldn’t conservatives be holding up Swift and Kelce as an example of a courtship done right? And finally, social media CEOs were on Capitol Hill for their annual congressional hearing/public beating. Is there a role for the government in helping parents handle kids and social media? Or do we just need better parenting? Subscribe to our podcasts Subscribe to Religion & Liberty The Gods of the City | John G. Grove, Religion & Liberty The Existential Threat of Anti-Christian Nationalism | D.G. Hart, Religion & Liberty This Lawmaker Wants to Jail People for Watching Porn | Rolling Stone The ‘Taylor Swift Psyop’ Freaks Need to Go Outside | National Review Hawley presses Zuckerberg to compensate online harm victims | Axios

This week, Eric, Dan, and Emily discuss the Supreme Court’s ruling lifting an injunction that prevented the federal government from removing razor wire installed by the state of Texas at the southern border. What did SCOTUS actually do here? What are we supposed to do in this bizarre situation where the federal government will not enforce federal law but doesn’t want states to enforce it either? Will political incentives prevent any definitive action? Next, Alabama executed a death row inmate using nitrogen hypoxia, after previous attempts using more common methods had failed. How should people of faith think about the death penalty? Are our attempts to avoid supposedly cruel and usual methods like firing squads and the electric chair leading to less certain and possibly more inhumane methods? And finally, what does the Ayodhya Ram temple’s inauguration by Indian prime minister Modi tell us about the place of religion in Indian public life? Subscribe to our podcasts Divided SCOTUS grants Biden administration request to cut Texas’ razor wire | Axios Letter from Texas Governor Greg Abbott What Part of Legal Immigration Don’t You Understand? | Reason The U.S. had its first execution by nitrogen gas. Here’s what to know. | Washington Post Why India’s New Ram Temple Is So Important | New York Times

This week, Eric, Dan, and Noah discuss Javier Milei’s speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos. Did the Davos set know what they were getting into when they invited him? How important and refreshing was it to hear a voice opposed to the elite consensus at Davos? Will anyone listen to him? Next, Donald Trump claims that a president can’t be the president without also being guaranteed full and complete immunity from prosecution. Is there any legal basis for this? What will be the consequences of the continual degradation of norms in our society? And finally, South Africa brings a case against Israel for genocide at the International Court of Justice at The Hague. Does the case have any merit? And does international law even really exist?  Subscribe to our podcasts  Davos 2024: Special address by Javier Milei, President of Argentina | World Economic Forum Javier Milei Speech at the World Economic Forum | Video Argentinian prez Javier Milei kills ’em with common sense as he scolds Davos elites | Douglas Murray, New York Post The Intellectuals and Socialism | F.A. Hayek Trump, awaiting ruling, says presidents must have ‘complete and total’ immunity | NBC News Trump invokes ‘rogue cops’ and ‘bad apples’ to explain why he needs total immunity | The Independent Israel rejects genocide charges, tells World Court it must defend itself | Reuters Mere Natural Law with Hadley Arkes | Acton Line

This week, to start the show, Eric is joined by Fr. Robert Sirico, Acton’s co-founder and president emeritus, who just returned from a quasi-secret trip to Hong Kong, where he attended a day of Jimmy Lai’s National Security Law trial. What did he see in Hong Kong and at the trial? How has the “feel” of Hong Kong changed since he last visited? Then Eric is joined by Dan Hugger and Dylan Pahman for a discussion of how universities are reappraising standardized tests like the SAT and ACT. What have we learned since some schools dropped these tests as admissions criteria during COVID and after years of a campaign to reduce their use because of their “inherent bias”? Next, SCOTUS will decide the constitutionality of the right of cities to ban homeless encampments. Aside from the legal questions, is allowing homeless camps advisable in regard to public health and safety? How should we approach the issue of homelessness? And finally, President Joe Biden spoke in the pulpit of South Carolina’s Mother Emanuel AME Church in what was widely regarded as a campaign speech. How should we think about politics from the pulpit? Subscribe to our podcasts  The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai’s Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom The Misleading SAT Debate | David Leonhardt, New York Times Supreme Court to Decide If Homeless-Camping Bans Violate Constitution | National Review NYC HS principal lashes out at parents who bashed decision to force students to go remote as migrants sheltered at school | New York Post The Great Unlearning | Acton Line Biden condemns white supremacy in a campaign speech at a church where Black people were killed | Associated Press

This week, Eric, Anthony Bradley (making his maiden voyage on the podcast), and Emily discuss the resignation of Harvard University president Claudine Gay. How significant a story is this? Does it matter only for elites, or do the downstream effects impact more of America? Does it matter that the people who uncovered her plagiarism had their own political motivations? Did race play any role in this story, with Gay having been the first black woman president of Harvard? Next, the panel reflects on the passing of Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor in early December. Beyond being the first woman on the Court, what will she be remembered for? And finally, what are Eric, Anthony, and Emily hopeful for in 2024? Harvard President Resigns After Mounting Plagiarism Accusations | New York Times Claudine Gay: What Just Happened at Harvard Is Bigger Than Me | New York Times Harvard President Claudine Gay Hit with Six New Charges of Plagiarism | Washington Free Beacon How We Squeezed Harvard to Push Claudine Gay Out | Christopher F. Rufo, Wall Street Journal Sandra Day O’Connor, First Woman on the Supreme Court, Is Dead at 93 | New York Times

This week, Eric is joined first by Mark Clifford, the president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, as they discuss the National Security Law trial of Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong. After numerous delays, the trial has finally started. What charges is Jimmy facing, of which he will certainly be convicted? What comes after those convictions, both in regard to the cause of freeing Jimmy Lai and the cause of freedom in Hong Kong? What significance do the calls from the U.K. and American governments for Lai to be released hold? Then Eric is joined by Noah Gould and Emily Zanotti to discuss the Satanic Temple’s statue of the pagan idol Baphomet in the Iowa State House. Should such displays be prohibited? If so, on what grounds? What does the legal jurisprudence say on matters like this? Does the First Amendment require indulging efforts to troll people of faith? And finally, Sam Bankman-Fried was indicted and convicted on multiple federal charges related to fraud perpetrated at his cryptocurrency exchange FTX. His adopted philosophy of effective altruism has also come in for criticism in the wake of the conviction. The group discusses Noah’s piece in Fusion magazine on the topic. The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai’s Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom | Full Film The Trial of Jimmy Lai | Isaac Willour, Acton Institute Jimmy Lai: Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon’s trial begins | BBC Britain calls for Jimmy Lai’s release as Hong Kong trial begins | Reuters Trial of Jimmy Lai Under the Hong Kong National Security Law | US State Department Satanic Temple says part of display in Iowa Capitol ‘destroyed beyond repair’ | Des Moines Register Effective Altruism’s Reign Should End with Sam Bankman-Fried’s | Noah Gould, Fusion Poverty, Inc.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan discuss the passing of Henry Kissinger at the age of 100. How should Kissinger be remembered? Is there any merit to the claims he was a war criminal? What will be his enduring legacy? Next, Venezuela might be preparing to annex some of the territory of neighboring Guyana after the discovery of large oil reserves in that nation. How concerned should we be? How much does this underscore the disaster that the socialist governments of Chávez and Maduro have been for Venezuela? And finally, the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn appeared before Congress to testify on anti-Semitism on their campuses—and it didn’t go very well. How should we think about free speech on college campuses?  Pax Kissinger | The Morning Dispatch The Meaning of History: Dr. Henry Kissinger’s Undergraduate Thesis | Johns Hopkins University Guyana agreed to talks with Venezuela over territorial dispute under pressure from Brazil, others | Associated Press Venezuela’s autocrat, Nicolás Maduro, threatens to annex Guyana | The Economist Antisemitism Beleaguers the Ivies | The Dispatch

Today, Eric and Dan talk with Acton’s Michael Matheson Miller about his essay “The Poverty Pyramid Scheme,” and AIER’s Samuel Gregg about his review “Mistaken About Poverty,” both of which appear in the Fall 2023 issue of our magazine RELIGION & LIBERTY, which is focused on the issue of poverty. How should we think about poverty in the developing world and in places like the United States? What conditions are necessary for people to rise out of poverty? What do social engineers get wrong about how we should address issues that contribute to poverty? And what is Acton’s new Center for Social Flourishing doing to advance the discussion on poverty? 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

This week, Eric, Dylan, and Noah are joined by Acton Managing Director, International, Alex Chafuen to discuss Argentinian president-elect Javier Milei. Who is Milei? Is there anything to the comparisons American media are making to Donald Trump? Can he pull off changing Argentinian currency from the peso to the dollar? They also dive in to the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the deal made to release hostages from the terrorist organization in exchange for Palestinian prisoners currently held in Israel. Will this be good for the war, and will this incentivize more hostage taking in the future? And finally, Senator Elizabeth Warren is warning us about a “sandwich shop monopoly” emerging from a deal that would unite Subway under the same ownership with Jimmy Johns and McAlisters. Because, you know, those are the only three options you have for lunch. Javier Milei will be Argentina’s first libertarian president | The Economist Israel, Hamas Reach Deal to Release 50 Hostages | Wall Street Journal Israel-Hamas War: Sides Near Hostage Release, Truce Extension | Wall Street Journal The FTC puts your lunch on its plate | Politico

This week, Eric and Dan are joined by Philip Booth, professor of finance, public policy, and ethics at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, England, to discuss his essay in the Fall 2023 issue of RELIGION & LIBERTY, "Creating an Economy of Inclusion.”  Catholic Social Teaching has, for decades, provided both guidelines and cautions for market economies that exclude marginalized populations. The question is, however, are those populations excluded by markets or from markets? Eric and Dan then discuss the alleged surge in popularity for Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America” on TikTok. Is this justification for the 9/11 attacks really as pronounced of a phenomenon as it was made out to be? Or were the people expressing horror and outrage about the trend helping to boost it into a bigger problem than it originally was?Is there a case to be made to ban the TikTok app? And finally, a number of American CEOs gathered in San Francisco to celebrate Chinese president Xi Jinping. How should we think about the interplay — and the apparent inextricable link — between the American and Chinese economies? Creating an Economy of Inclusion | Philip Booth, RELIGION & LIBERTY Subscribe to RELIGION & LIBERTY Videos About Bin Laden’s Criticism of U.S. Surge in Popularity on TikTok | New York Times How Osama bin Laden’s ‘Letter to America’ reached millions online | Washington Post When Product Markets Become Collective Traps: The Case of Social Media | University of Chicago Dinner with Xi in San Francisco: A Who’s Who of America’s Beijing-Friendly Elite | Jimmy Quinn, National Review

This week, Eric, Dan, and Noah discuss the philanthropic efforts of MrBeast, the YouTube star with more than 200 million followers, in building wells in Kenya, which has come in for some criticism. Are MrBeast’s efforts making a positive impact, or are they worthy of the criticism they’re receiving? Or both? And what could he and other people with high profiles who seek to do good do differently? Next, the panel discusses the report from the pro-Israel outfit Honest Reporting about freelance photojournalists working for the Associated Press, Reuters, the New York Times, and others being embedded with Hamas on October 7. What questions about ethics in journalism does this raise? And finally, the University of Austin is open for business. But how successful will it be at attracting students and building a different way of providing higher education? MrBeast builds 100 wells in Africa, attracting praise – and some criticism | CNN Broken Borders: AP & Reuters Pictures of Hamas Atrocities Raise Ethical Questions | Honest Reporting Israel Accuses Freelance Photographers of Advance Knowledge of Oct. 7 Attack | New York Times Media watchdog says it was just ‘raising questions’ with insinuations about photographers and Hamas | Associated Press Watchdog accepts news orgs weren’t tipped off about Oct. 7: We just ‘raised questions’ | Times of Israel Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board gives first go-ahead to new University of Austin | Austin American-Statesman University of Austin Board of Advisors

This week, Eric, Dylan, and Emily work over the news that WeWork, a company that provides flexible office workspace, will file for bankruptcy this week. Was it a victim of the pandemic? A creature of a low-interest-rate economy and a venture-capital mentality that said they’d figure out how to be profitable at some point that never arrived? Both? Next, legendary and controversial college basketball coach Bobby Knight passed away last week at the age of 83. What does Knight’s ends-justify-the-means success tell us about civic, economic, and church life? And finally, nearly 3,000 former Morehouse College students had their student debt erased without any government action. Is it true that debt relief is yours if you want it, whether or not Washington intervenes? Subscribe to our podcasts WeWork plans to file for bankruptcy as early as next week, source says | Reuters Monetary Policy Is Working | Dominic Pino, National Review Legendary basketball coach Bob Knight dies at 83 | ESPN The Bobby Knight Problem | “The Rise & Fall of Mars Hill,” Christianity Today The Last Days of Knight | ESPN 30 for 30 These former HBCU students owed their college nearly $10 million. The debt was just erased | USA Today Student Loans and the Sin of Usury | James Caton & Dylan Pahman, Acton Institute

This week, Eric, Dan, and Emily discuss the decision to melt down the statue of Robert E. Lee that was at the center of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Is removing statues of Confederate generals erasing history? What is the proper way to memorialize the Confederacy, if there is one? And how should we think about and remember Robert E. Lee? Then the panel turns its attention to engagement farming on X (formerly known as Twitter) and Elon Musk’s announcement that posts with community notes correcting factual inaccuracies would no longer be eligible for the platform’s ad-revenue-sharing program. Is this a good way to fight misinformation online? Or will it just be gamed the same way ad revenue sharing is? And finally, was the Catholic Church's Synod on Synodality really, after all, just the friends we made along the way? How are we to interpret the 21,000-word report from the Synod? And what are we to make of its release coinciding with the news that a (briefly) excommunicated Jesuit priest accused of abuse has been returned to ministry? Charlottesville’s Lee statue meets its end, in a 2,250-degree furnace | Washington Post Removing statues won’t erase the past, could mar the future | Dan Hugger, Acton Institute Elon Musk on monetization on X | X (formerly known as Twitter) The Internet of Beefs | Venkatesh Rao, Ribbonfarm Synod report proposes ways to foster synodal Church | The Pillar Pope orders Vatican to reopen case of priest accused of adult abuse but allowed to keep ministering | Associated Press

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan discuss the Speaker of the House of Representatives, or more specifically, the lack of one. What does this situation say about how well-functioning, or not, our system of government is right now? What does it say about a possible decline in civic virtue in the United States? Then the guys turn their attention to the Israel-Hamas war and the Israeli airstrike on a hospital in Gaza that killed 500 people that turned out to not be an Israeli airstrike, that didn’t hit a hospital but its parking lot, and that didn’t kill hundreds of people. What does the way this story evolved reveal about modern media—and the prominence of social media in the news-gathering ecosystem? And finally, Ozempic is a drug that was developed for treating diabetes but is frequently used off-label for weight loss. Is it a miracle? Or should we be more skeptical about something that delivers incredible results without much work on the part of the person taking it? House GOP speaker race balloons to nine candidates | Axios NYT admits error in Gaza hospital report | Politico It's easy to screw up on breaking news. But you have to admit when you do. | Nate Silver The Dream of Scalable Democracy | Dylan Pahman, Law & Liberty What Is Ozempic and Why Is It Getting So Much Attention? | New York Times Desperate Indians want Ozempic on prescription. Huge shift from traditional drugs, say doctors | The Print How Weight Loss Drugs Stopped a Danish Recession | Apricitas Economics

This week, Eric, Dylan, and Emily examine the purportedly pro-Palestinian rallies and campus protests that took place in the wake of the slaughter of Israeli Jews by Hamas terrorists. How surprised should we be by people chanting “gas the Jews” in Sydney, Australia, or by members of student organizations at Harvard University claiming that “the Israeli regime is entirely responsible for all unfolding violence”? What should be the consequences, if any, for people who have openly supported or defended the murder of Israelis by Hamas? Should universities and corporations end the practice of publishing a statement on every major issue? Then the panel reviews the awarding of the Nobel Prize in economics to Claudia Goldin for her work contributing to a better understanding of women’s participation in the labor force. And finally, is Bigfoot real, and did a couple vacationing in Colorado capture it on video? Probably not. But it’s fun to imagine. A Weekend on the Brink | The Morning DispatchAustralian pro-Palestinian protesters chant ‘gas the Jews’ as police warn Jewish people to stay away from area | Fox NewsCollege campus protests erupt across US ahead of anticipated Israel operation in Gaza | Fox NewsNYU law student group moves to oust president who cheered Hamas attack | New York PostAOC knocks ‘bigotry and callousness’ of Times Square rally for Palestinians | PoliticoA Stanford University instructor has been removed from the classroom amid reports they called Jewish students colonizers and downplayed the Holocaust | CNNStar of David is graffitied on Jewish homes in Berlin after Hamas attacks on Israel — in chilling echo of anti-Semitic persecution of the Jews under the Nazis | Daily MailWhy do some people hate the Jews? | Acton Line PodcastCollege Free Speech Rankings | Foundation for Individual Rights and ExpressionClaudia Goldin Is the Ideal Academic Researcher | Victor V. Claar & Angela K. Dills, Acton Institute‘Feels like a hoax’: Purported Bigfoot video from Colorado attracts skeptics, believers | USA Today

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan are joined by Rachel Ferguson—director of the Center for Free Enterprise and assistant dean and professor of business ethics at Concordia University Chicago and an affiliate scholar at the Acton Institute—to discuss her essay in the most recent issue of RELIGION & LIBERTY, “Saving St. Louis One Block at a Time.” How did St. Louis end up in the state it’s in? How does neighborhood stabilization work? How is investing in single city blocks more effective than a panoply of government-initiated anti-poverty programs? How important is trust between citizens and law enforcement to these ends? Then the guys discuss the terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel over the weekend. What will come next? What does this mean for efforts at peace accords between Israel and countries like Saudi Arabia? What should we make of the people pouring into the streets of American cities in support of the Palestinian cause, if not the actions of Hamas? Subscribe to RELIGION & LIBERTY Saving St. Louis One Block at a Time | Rachel Ferguson, RELIGION & LIBERTY A ‘Black Day’ in Israel | The Morning Dispatch Today Is Israel’s 9/11 | Noah Pollack, The Free Press Iran Helped Plot Attack on Israel Over Several Weeks | WSJ

This week, Eric, Emily, and Dylan tackle the Catholic Church Synod on Synodality taking place starting this week at the Vatican. What is the Synod on Synodality all about? What issues facing the Church—the ordination of women, the blessing of same-sex couples, married priests, and more—are on the table? What power does the Synod actually have? And could this Synod have just been an email? Next, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, is up for renewal, and there are some conservative lawmakers who don’t want to renew it because of concerns over potential funding of abortion. Are those concerns valid? And if so, are they valid enough to scuttle what is largely agreed to be one of the most successfully public health programs in recent memory? And finally, California has raised the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 an hour. What could go wrong? Quite a few things, actually. Say hello to your friendly new robot burger chef!   Vatican Assembly Puts the Church’s Most Sensitive Issues on the Table | New York Times A Public Health Setback | New York Times Poverty, Inc. PovertyCure How to Have a Great and Holy Council | Dylan Pahman, Religion & Liberty Online New California law raises minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour, among nation’s highest | Associated Press The social responsibility of Chick-fil-A is to make delicious sandwiches | Dylan Pahman, Religion & Liberty Online

Marvin Olasky joins Eric and Noah this week to discuss his feature essay in the new Fall 2023 issue of RELIGION & LIBERTY, entitled “The Thrill and Chill of Compassionate Conservatism,” in which Marvin revisits two of his books: The Tragedy of American Compassion (1990) and Compassionate Conservatism (1999). What has transpired in terms of poverty intervention and amelioration on the federal, state, and local levels since their publication and the welfare reforms of the 1990s? Where are we doing now to address effectively issues of poverty in America? How has conservatism itself, and its expression through the Republican Party, changed since the compassionate conservatism days of George W. Bush’s first term? Next, the guys examine Sen. Josh Hawley’s proposal to cap credit card interest rates at 18%. How many unintended consequences would this produce if it were enacted? And finally, the headlines about a Canadian study on cash transfers claim it “debunks stereotypes of homeless people’s spending habits” and that cash transfers “reduce homelessness” and will supposedly enable them to save money. Are they sure about that? Subscribe to our podcasts The Thrill and Chill of Compassionate Conservatism | Marvin Olasky, Religion & Liberty Subscribe to Religion & Liberty and get 4 issues for $29.99/year The Law of Conservation of Welfare—And What Energy Source Can Transform It | Marvin Olasky @ Acton University 2023‘ Americans are being crushed’: Sen. Josh Hawley wants to cap credit card APR at 18%—here’s his plan to help ‘working people’ | Yahoo Finance Unconditional cash transfers reduce homelessness | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Payday Loans and Predatory Politicians | Eric Kohn, Foundation for Economic Education

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan discuss the United Auto Workers strike. Are the demands from the UAW reasonable? How should we think about trade unionization in America today? Are there any risks to the new strategy that the UAW is engaging in? Next, the guys evaluate the FDA’s decision to make Narcan, the treatment for opioid overdoses, available over the counter. Is this a good thing? What are the potential downsides, if any? And how do we need to look at ways to treat the underlying disease of the soul that’s driving addiction problems like the opioid epidemic? And finally, the truth is out there about “Mexican aliens.” The UFO kind, that is. Mexico’s Congress heard testimony as to their “authenticity.” The truth, however, is that it was all a sham. So why the big show? Subscribe to our podcasts What are the UAW strike demands? Here are the issues amid negotiations | Washington Post The UAW Labor-Strike Debacle | National Review How UAW Tossed Its Old Playbook and Pursued a Surprise-Attack Strike Strategy | Wall Street Journal More Michigan pharmacies will carry over-the-counter Narcan | ABC 12 News Michigan State Police trooper uses Narcan to save man from heroin overdose | MLive Mummies From Outer Space? Mexico’s Congress Gets a Firsthand Look. | New York Times

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.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman ponder the nexus of age, experience, and leadership. Is it possible to be too old to have a job with as many high-pressure responsibilities as come with being president of the United States? If so, what is the wisest way to implement an age limitation? Should we just leave it up to voters to decide based on the individual candidates available? Then the guys discuss whether changing our language has the ability to change what it is we’re talking about. Does insisting people use words like “Latinx” have any meaningful impact on concepts of gender? Or does it just annoy a lot of people? Finally, Dylan details the argument made in his and Texas Tech University economics professor Alexander Salter’s recent Wall Street Journal essay on lessons from the Bible on money and inflation.  Jill Biden’s ‘LatinX IncluXion Luncheon’ FiaXco | Charles Cooke, National Review In God—and Sound Money—We Trust | Dylan Pahman & Alexander Salter, Wall Street Journal For the Least of These: Against Inflation Economics | Dylan Pahman & Alexander Salter, Public Discourse Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman discuss both the shocking assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the political downfall of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. What is Abe’s legacy and the significance of his assassination in Japanese civic and political culture? And will Boris Johnson even leave a legacy beyond negotiating Brexit? Next, Twitter is looking to sue Elon Musk, who has announced he’s backing out of his deal to purchase the social media platform. Can you force someone to buy something? And finally, the guys break down the end of the Supreme Court’s term, particularly the case of West Virginia v. EPA. How much in American political life could be fixed by Congress just doing its job?   Subscribe to our podcasts   Who Shot Shinzo Abe and Why? Everything We Know So Far | Bloomberg   Shinzo Abe, powerful former Japan PM, leaves divided legacy | Associated Press   Why was U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson forced to resign, and what happens next? | CBS News   Nine Tories Vie for Leadership in Contest for Johnson’s Successor | Bloomberg   Twitter, Elon Musk Set for Unprecedented Legal Battle Over Deal Collapse | Wall Street Journal   Twitter will be no worse with owner Elon Musk, and probably no better | Eric Kohn, Acton Institute   West Virginia v. EPA | US Supreme Court Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman take stock of the current status of the American founding, 246 years after the colonies declared independence. How effective have the attacks coming from the left and the right on the founding been, if at all? Then they examine the horrific mass shooting at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois. If public policy can’t fix broken souls, how can we reach people like this shooter before they perpetrate these violent acts?   Highland Park shooting sends shockwaves | Axios   Liberal Practice v. Liberal Theory | Daniel E. Burns, National Affairs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss everything surrounding the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned previous precedents in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Why has most of the reaction been about the policy implications flowing from the decision and not what the Supreme Court actually wrote and held in Dobbs? What does that say about civics education in America right now? What should we take away from the concurring opinions filed by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas? What, if anything, was the impact of the leak of Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion? And how will the decision affect the nascent common-good constitutionalism movement?   Subscribe to our podcasts   Opinion of the Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization   The Essential Natural Law | Samuel Gregg   The future of abortion in America | Acton Unwind   Samuel Gregg Joins AIER to Lead Initiative Defending Freedom, Combatting Collectivism | AIER Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, Eric Kohn, Dylan Pahman, and Dan Hugger discuss the newly launched LIV Golf International Series, a competitor to the PGA Tour that has drawn defections from some big golfing names—Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Bryson DeChambeau, to name a few—and controversy for being primarily funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. What is the ethical responsibility of the average sports consumer when a sporting event is being funded or supported by a monstrous regime? Then the guys turn their attention to the Federal Reserve, which raised interest rates by 75 basis points in an effort to combat inflation. Will it work? Will it have terrible unintended consequences? Both?   Subscribe to our podcasts   What is LIV Golf? The controversial PGA Tour competitor Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson are joining, explained | The Athletic   Shark trailer | ESPN 30 for 30   But What if We're Wrong?: Thinking About the Present as if It Were the Past | Chuck Klosterman   For the Least of These: Against Inflation Economics | Public Discourse    Partisan vitriol threatens the economy—and lives (with David Bahnsen) | Acton Unwind Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, special guest David Bahnsen joins Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger as they discuss inflation in America hitting a 40-year high. What’s driving the present persistent inflation? How is our present economic malaise different from our last bout of persistent inflation in the 1970s? How does political polarization hamper our ability to respond effectively to economic crises? The second half of the program is dedicated to a review and evaluation of the ongoing work of the January 6 committee, as well as the recent assassination attempt on Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh. What does the emerging tendency toward political violence say about America? How does our present partisan politics fuel this disturbing trend?   Subscribe to our podcasts   Higher Unemployment Rate Looms as the Fed Fights Inflation | The Wall Street Journal    There's No Free Lunch: 250 Economic Truths | David Bahnsen   In First Jan. 6 Hearing, Graphic Footage and Stark Testimony Show Depth of Attack | The New York Times   Who Is the Former TV News Chief Helping the Jan. 6 Committee? | The New York Times   Armed Man Traveled to Justice Kavanaugh’s Home to Kill Him, Officials Say | The New York Times Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss the massacre of 19 children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas. How do we grapple with horrors like this? What can we do, as individuals and as a society, to reduce the likelihood that attacks like this will happen again? Are we lacking the moral language to effectively discuss such events? Then there’s the lack of response on the part of the Uvalde police. While these cops clearly failed the people they were charged with protecting, what role did the failure to properly prepare them to do their job play in this outcome? And finally, the guys examine Ilya Shapiro’s resignation from Georgetown Law School shortly after he was exonerated in regard to his offending tweets about Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. Will it make any difference in the cause of free speech?   Subscribe to our podcasts   Uvalde School Shooting | The Texas Tribune   What we know, minute by minute, about how the Uvalde shooting and police response unfolded | The Texas Tribune   Ilya Shapiro Resigns from Georgetown Law School | National Review   We Got Here Because of Cowardice. We Get Out With Courage | Bari Weiss, Commentary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Acton Unwind, Dan Churchwell, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger focus on the crisis in evangelical Christianity, with factions within the broader evangelical community pitted one against the other. The discussion is framed by Tim Alberta’s recent piece in The Atlantic, “How Politics Poisoned Evangelicalism,” which examines the responses of several evangelical churches in Brighton, Michigan, to the presidency of Donald Trump and the COVID-19 pandemic. Just what is evangelicalism and its relationship to politics? How has evangelicals’ embrace of modern technology both widened their influence and fostered divisions within?   Also discussed is the upcoming Acton University. What is Acton University, who are some of the featured speakers, and what sorts of people attend? How does Acton University seek to foster dialog among people of diverse faiths to address the crises, both social and economic, of our time?   Subscribe to our podcasts    How Politics Poisoned the Evangelical Church | The Atlantic    The “Bebbington quadrilateral” | Wikipedia   The Scopes Trial | Wikipedia   Acton University 2022   Acton University Online 2022 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the episode of Acton Unwind, Dylan Pahman, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger focus on the war in Ukraine and its religious context. What battles over ecclesiastic authority are involved? What is the Russian Orthodox Church saying about the conflict? The discussion then turns to the economic effects of the war upon the rest of the world, with particular focus on food production and distribution. Why are some countries affected more severely than others? Also among the discussion is a focus on China and its COVID lockdowns and growing economic problems. How is China moving away from its limited economic liberalization of the past? What does this mean for America’s future relationship with China? Lastly, Nancy Pelosi has been recently barred from receiving holy communion by the Archbishop of San Francisco. What makes the Pelosi case different from instances of Roman Catholic politicians in conflict received Church teaching on abortion? What does this case say about how many Americans view the relationship between church and state?   Subscribe to our podcasts   Everyday Saints and Other Stories Paperback – Archimandrite Tikhon    The Promise of Confucian Liberty – Law & Liberty   What the West Got Wrong About China – Law & Liberty   Full text of Archbishop Cordileone letter to Nancy Pelosi banning her from Communion – Catholic News Agency   Speaker Pelosi on Meet the Press transcript 2008 – NBC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss the arrest of Cardinal Joseph Zen in Hong Kong on charges of violating the National Security Law and allegedly "colluding with foreign forces.” The arrest of Zen and three others comes in the wake of the arrest of other pro-democracy and human rights activists like Jimmy Lai, the subject of Acton’s most recent documentary feature film, THE HONG KONGER: JIMMY LAI’S EXTRAORDINARY STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM. What does this arrest tell us about the state of Hong Kong? And how has the Holy See responded to this incident? Then the guys break down the latest inflation numbers and the proposed “anti-price gouging” legislation and other supposed “solutions” to inflation that have nothing to do with inflation or that would simply make matters worse.   Subscribe to our podcasts   Apply now for Acton University 2022    Hong Kong cardinal Joseph Zen arrested under China's security law | BBC   The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai’s Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom   The Hong Konger movie trailer   Inflation Is Tanking the Stock Market | The Dispatch   Will-to-Power Conservatism and the Great Liberalism Schism | Stephanie Slade, Reason Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dylan Pahman, and Dan Hugger tackle the issue that’s on everyone’s mind: the leak of the Supreme Court draft option in the Dobbs case overturning both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. How monumental is the leak itself, and how does it threaten the institution of the Court? What does the draft opinion from Justice Samuel Alito actually do? What do the American people actually think about abortion? What happens now? And finally, assuming the Court overturns Roe and Casey in the Dobbs decision, how will the period of time between Roe and Dobbs be remembered?   Subscribe to our podcasts   Apply now for Acton University 2022    How overturning Roe v. Wade can reset the civil order | Acton Unwind   Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows | Politico   Are children their parents’ property? | Dylan Pahman, Acton Institute   How Americans Understand Abortion: A Comprehensive Interview Study of Abortion Attitudes in the U.S. | University of Notre Dame Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss the case that was argued before the Supreme Court last week about whether Joseph Kennedy, a former football coach in Washington State, could pray with others at the 50-yard line after public school football games. Kennedy looks likely to win his case, but should he? Why do we have such a hard time grappling with the role of religion in public life? Will this case do anything to help that problem? Next, we already have inflation. Now we have negative GDP growth. Are the 1970s back in full force? Would a recession be the worst thing that could happen right now if we need to head off inflation? And if inflation is still a problem, why are we even talking about “canceling” $1.75 trillion in student loan debt? Finally, the Department of Homeland Security’s new Disinformation Governance Board—Orwellian nightmare or total joke?   Subscribe to our podcasts   Apply now for Acton University 2022    Coach’s Prayers Prompt Supreme Court Test of Religious Freedom | The New York Times   Kennedy v. Bremerton School District | SCOTUSblog   Supreme Court Hears Football Coach Prayer Case | Advisory Opinions podcast   US economy unexpectedly shrinks 1.4% in first quarter of 2022: Is a recession looming? | Fox Business   Biden considering student-loan forgiveness of at least $10,000 per borrower through executive action: report | Business Insider   Are You Ready for the DHS ‘Disinformation Governance Board’? | National Review Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger give quick takes on two developing stories previously discussed on this program: the French presidential election, in which the incumbent, Emmanuel Macron, has emerged victorious over Marine Le Pen; and Twitter’s reported acceptance of Elon Musk’s purchase offer. Then they turn their attention to Florida and the recently passed legislation to strip Disney of its Reedy Creek Improvement District carveout in retaliation for Disney’s objection to the Parental Rights in Education bill. How much can the political ideas of Nazi legal theorist Carl Schmitt explain what’s happening in Florida right now? Finally, after a Florida judge ruled against the transportation mask mandate, acceptance of the endemic nature of COVID-19 in the U.S. became pretty much a given. China, however, is still invested in their COVID-Zero policy by completely locking down the port city of Shanghai. What does that portend for other cities in China? Subscribe to our podcasts    French election result: Macron defeats Le Pen and vows to unite divided France | BBC   Twitter set to accept Musk’s $43 billion offer | Reuters   Disney government dissolution bill signed by DeSantis | Associated Press   End of Reedy Creek: Disney won’t pay more taxes, but you will | WFTV   The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits | Milton Friedman, The New York Times   A Man for All Seasons: “Give the Devil Benefit of Law”   What I Saw at the National Conservatism Conference | Dan Hugger, Religion & Liberty   What’s Wrong and What’s Right about Judge Mizelle’s Mask-Mandate Decision | Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review   Beijing COVID outbreak prompts fear of Shanghai-style lockdown | ABC News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dylan Pahman, and Dan Hugger update the Elon Musk twitter drama. How serious should we take Musk’s attempt to purchase Twitter? And even if he did, how much would it impact people who aren’t just very, very online. How much has this episode revealed about the people who are either outraged or delighted by the story? Then the guys dive into the most recent Atlantic essay from social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, “Why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely stupid.”   Subscribe to our podcasts    Elon Musk offers to buy Twitter for $43 billion, so it can be ‘transformed as private company’ | CNBC   The 4 Most Unhinged Responses to Elon Musk’s Offer to Buy Twitter | Based Politics   Journalism Professor Roasted for Comparing Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover With the Rise of Hitler in Nazi Germany | Mediaite   Why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely stupid | Jonathan Haidt, The Atlantic Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn and Sam Gregg pilot this two-person ship through four topics. First, they tackle the first round of French presidential elections, where the incumbent Emmanuel Macron will face off in a rematch with Marine Le Pen. What does the rise of Le Pen’s right-wing populism mean for France, and why have the two major political parties lost support so dramatically? Next, Elon Musk is now the largest shareholder in Twitter, prompting a mini-freakout in the Big Tech world. Are Musk’s actions a clear example of the way the market can deal with Big Tech issues better than the heavy hand of government? And why is Musk so hated among the left for finding more effective and fun ways to address their concerns, like climate change and space travel? Next, Eric and Sam take on the continued call to cancel all student-loan debt. Who would really benefit if this happened? (It’s probably not the people you think.) And finally, the right’s fashionable new epithet to hurl at opponents is “groomer.” Maybe it’s not OK to cheapen pedophilia… Subscribe to our podcasts Macron to Face Le Pen for President as French Gravitate Toward Extremes | New York Times In major reversal, Elon Musk is not joining Twitter board | TechCrunch Psaki: Student loan borrowers likely to have to pay debt ‘sometime’ | Politico Biden to delay student loan repayment, again extending pause, as Dems push for forgiveness | USA Today Student Loan Debt Statistics: 2022 | NerdWallet The ‘Groomer’ Accusation Is Counterproductive | David Harsanyi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger take on Florida’s HB 1557, christened by the media as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. While it doesn’t say, “Don’t say gay,” it does say several things worth discussing. And how much of a backlash could Disney be in for now that their internal conversations about adding “queerness” to its programming are public. Next, the guys consider President Joe Biden’s pledge to release 1 million barrels of oil per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Is this anything but political posturing? And finally, Ezra Klein of The New York Times had an extraordinary interview with economist Larry Summers during which Klein’s feelings ran headlong into reality. We can help him connect his good intentions to sound economics.   Subscribe to our podcasts   HB 1557: Parental Rights in Education bill text   Breaking Down the So-Called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill | The Dispatch   Disney Executive Producer Admits to ‘Gay Agenda,’ ‘Adding Queerness’ Wherever She Could | Caroline Downey, National Review   What I Saw at the National Conservatism Conference | Dan Hugger, Religion & Liberty   Biden orders 'unprecedented' release of oil reserves | BBC   Transcript: Ezra Klein Interviews Larry Summers | The New York Times   Modern Economics Is Not an Illuminati Conspiracy | Stan Veuger, American Compass Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a two-man show this week as Eric Kohn and Dan Hugger begin by discussing the slap heard ’round the entertainment world. In the event you haven’t heard yet, actor Will Smith stormed the Oscars stage last night to slap Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Was it staged? Was it real? Can we know? Does it matter? Speaking of blurring the lines of reality and fantasy, next Eric and Dan examine the stolen Jan. 6 text messages from Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas. How much of politics now is just playacting of the kind we see in Hollywood? Finally, what is a woman? Perhaps Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson can’t define one, but Dan and Eric can.    Subscribe to our podcasts   Will Smith slaps Chris Rock (Warning: NSFW language)   Sorry, but Chris Rock Had It Coming | Rod Dreher, The American Conservative   Texts Show Ginni Thomas’s Embrace of Conspiracy Theories | The New York Times   Justice Scalia Won | Dan McLaughlin, National Review Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss the controversy surrounding Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer on the women’s swim team at the University of Pennsylvania, who just recently took home the NCAA Division I national championship in the women's 500-yard freestyle. What questions does this raise about the nature of the human person, and to what extent has that anthropological question gone unexamined and ignored by the people and institutions surrounding this story? Then the gang examines Pope Francis’ comments from last week that “wars are always unjust.” What is the church’s just war theory, and what did the pope mean by his comments? And finally, the guys answer the first listener question with some book recommendations to acquaint you with how they see the world.   Subscribe to our podcasts   Watching Lia Thomas Win | Common Sense   ‘I Am Lia’: The Trans Swimmer Dividing America Tells Her Story | Sports Illustrated   ‘Just war’ no more? What did Pope Francis say, and what does it mean? | The Pillar Listener-question book recommendations:  Sam:  Treatise on Law | St. Thomas Aquinas Natural Law and Natural Rights | John Finnis The Wealth of Nations | Adam Smith Dan:  Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991) | John Paul II The Humane Economist: A Wilhelm Röpke Reader | Wilhelm Röpke (Author), Daniel J. Hugger (Editor) Lord Acton: Historical and Moral Essays | Lord Acton (Author), Daniel J. Hugger (Author) Eric:   The Law | Frédéric Bastiat The Quest for Community: A Study in the Ethics of Order and Freedom | Robert Nisbit The Theory of Moral Sentiments & The Wealth of Nations | Adam Smith Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Stephen Barrows discuss the latest spike in inflation, hitting 7.9% over last year. That’s the worst it’s been since 1982. What action will the Federal Reserve take? Has the Federal Reserve simply failed? If so, what’s the lesson we should learn? Then the guys discuss the sanctions regime that’s been put on Russia. Are sanctions effective? Are they moral? Are they working? And finally, would you fight for your country if it was invaded? In a new poll, an alarming number of Americans say no. What should be the takeaway from that?   Subscribe to our podcasts   US inflation soared 7.9% in past year, a fresh 40-year high | Associated Press   Average US gas price rises 22% in two weeks to record $4.43 | Associated Press   What sanctions are being imposed on Russia over Ukraine invasion? | BBC   The Great Demographic Reversal: Ageing Societies, Waning Inequality, and an Inflation Revival | Charles Goodhart and Manoj Pradhan   Yes, If America Is Ever Invaded, You Must Take Up Arms and Fight | National Review   Vast Majority of Americans Say Ban Russian Oil, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Nearly 8 in 10 Support U.S. Military Response if Putin Attacks a NATO Country | Quinnipiac University Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dylan Pahman discuss the latest on Ukraine and Russia. Should we be surprised by the unanimity of the European response? To what extent did Vladimir Putin underestimate the strength of Western institutions and alliances? Then they discuss how both the Orthodox Church and the Vatican have responded to the crisis. Finally, they close with brief reactions to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.   Subscribe to our podcasts    The Morning Dispatch: Putin Cracks Down at Home | The Dispatch   The Orthodox Response to Putin’s Invasion | Commonweal   Remarks of President Joe Biden – State of the Union Address as Prepared for Delivery | The White House Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine. How will this change the rules-based, post–World War II world order? How did the West misread Vladimir Putin? How did Putin misread how the invasion would go? How surprising is the story of actor/comedian-turned-stateman Volodymyr Zelensky? And how much has this international crisis revealed about the corruption of the American political right? Then the guys turn their attention to the upcoming State of the Union address that President Joe Biden will deliver on March 1. What actually is the state of the union?   Subscribe to our podcasts   The End of History and the Last Man | Francis Fukuyama   The Other Mr. President | This American Life   The Clash of Civilizations? | Samuel P. Huntington   The Internet of Beefs | Venkatesh Rao   Justin Trudeau’s political overreach is a greater threat to liberty than the truckers’ protest | Samuel Gregg Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss the end of the Canadian trucker convoy as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invokes the Emergencies Act—the precursor of which was last used to respond to domestic terrorism—to clear the convoy from the capital. Boy, that escalated quickly. What will be the lasting effects of this protest, not to mention the way it ended? And how chilling are the threats to freeze bank accounts of protesters and supporters, even as donation data is leaked from the crowdfunding site that hosted a fundraiser for the convoy? Next, the Acton gang examines the recall of three members of the San Francisco school board by overwhelming margins. If a parent uprising against out-of-control public school systems can happen in San Francisco, can it happen anywhere? And finally, the guys remember the late, great writer and humorist P.J. O’Rourke, who passed away last week at the age of 74.   Subscribe to our podcasts   Business Matters 2022 — 50% off registration with promo code PODCASTBM22   Canada invokes unprecedented emergency measures — and triggers a political firestorm | Politico   Trudeau vows to freeze anti-mandate protesters' bank accounts | BBC   Names of Canada truck convoy donors leaked after reported hack | Reuters   San Francisco Unified School District recall, California | Ballotpedia   P. J. O'Rourke, 1947-2022 | Matt Labash   P.J. O’Rourke was America’s greatest satirist and coolest conservative | John Podhoretz   Why we need more O’Rourke Conservatives | Anthony Sacramone   P.J. O’Rourke speaks at Acton’s 2013 Anniversary Dinner | Acton Vault Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger are truckin’ to the Canadian truckers’ blockade of Ottawa and the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor. Even if the truckers’ cause is just, are their tactics justifiable? And does it mean now that famously polite and compliant Canada has a populist uprising on its hands over overreaching COVID policy? Then they dissect The New York Times op-ed from three post-liberal conservatives on foreign policy hawkishness. Is the hesitancy to get into foreign entanglements all that novel an argument, or is it concealing something far more radical than mere retrenchment? And finally, the guys discuss Dan’s Detroit News op-ed on Joe Rogan and the problem of misinformation in the media.   Subscribe to our podcasts   Business Matters 2022 — 50% off registration with promo code PODCASTBM22   Canada Opens Blockaded Bridge, but in Ottawa, Truckers Won’t Budge | New York Times   Hawks Are Standing in the Way of a New Republican Party | Sohrab Ahmari, Patrick Deneen, and Gladden Pappin, New York Times   Public Choice Theory and the Illusion of Grand Strategy: How Generals, Weapons Manufacturers, and Foreign Governments Shape American Foreign Policy | Richard Hanania   Joe Rogan is not a problem, but a mirror | Dan Hugger, Acton Institute Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

National Review ISI fellow Nate Hochman joins Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger this week to discuss his recent reporting on the Ilya Shapiro controversy at Georgetown Law School. The student sit-in in the wake of Shapiro’s poorly worded tweets produced demands for cry rooms and reparations. Will they get what they want? Why do people in places of authority seem incapable of standing up to these outrage mobs? Then the group discusses the surprisingly good jobs report for January, where the economy added nearly 500,000 jobs—and all during the Omicron wave. If this is more evidence that the public is moving on from the pandemic, why do so many political leaders refuse to take the off-ramps they’re being offered and instead stand by mask mandates and other mitigation measures? And finally, should we have boycotted the Beijing Winter Olympics? Subscribe to our podcasts Business Matters 2022 — 50% off registration with promo code PODCASTBM22 Acton Institute announces $300,000 Beijing Olympics broadcast ad campaign advocating for the release of Hong Kong democracy activist Jimmy Lai "The Hong Konger” 30-second Olympics ad The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai’s Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom Georgetown Law Students Stage Sit-In, Demand Dean Fire Ilya Shapiro | Nate Hochman, National Review Ilya Shapiro Tweets about Biden Supreme Court Nominee | FIRE How Michigan’s Ballooning DEI Bureaucracy Stifled Speech and Divided the Campus | National Review Companies unexpectedly cut 301,000 jobs in January as omicron slams labor market, ADP says | CNBC Payrolls show surprisingly powerful gain of 467,000 in January despite omicron surge | CNBC What message does NBC’s Olympics coverage send? | Isaac Willour, Acton Institute Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss the retirement of Stephen Breyer from the Supreme Court. Will he have an enduring legacy, or will he be largely forgotten? How should we evaluate his jurisprudence? He is often thought of as a moderate liberal but was frequently deferential to state power. Can we expect any fireworks from the confirmation hearing of his successor, or will it be a far duller affair compared to those of Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett? Then the Acton gang discuss what action the Federal Reserve is likely to take to combat inflation. How much of a shock to the economic system would an increase in interest rates be, and what’s the likely political fallout? Finally, they consider Eric’s recent Detroit News op-ed, arguing for COVID-19 risk assessment and decision making to be made on a personal and family level. How long can “COVID Zero” approaches endure? And how much longer will we continue masking kids in schools?   Subscribe to our podcasts   Business Matters 2022 — 50% off registration with promo code PODCASTBM22   Justice Stephen Breyer to retire from Supreme Court, paving way for Biden appointment | NBC News   Justice Breyer’s Retirement May Not Be All Bad News for Conservatives | National Review   Fed likely to hike rates in March as Powell vows sustained inflation fight | Reuters   Fed seen as hiking interest rates seven times in 2022, or once at every meeting, BofA says | MarketWatch   It’s time individuals, not the government, make choices about COVID-19 risk | Eric Kohn, Acton Institute   Maryland county school CEO suggests students will be required to wear masks until 'COVID no longer exists’ | Fox News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Stephen Barrows discuss the “the big quit,” as more than 20 million Americans quit their jobs in the second half of 2021. With more than 10.5 million job openings right now, what does this pandemic-induced change in the labor market mean for workers and employers going forward? Next, they look at President Joe Biden’s speech in Atlanta, Ga., on voting rights, comparing anyone not in agreement with him to being on the side of George Wallace, Bull Connor, and Jefferson Davis. So much for turning down the temperature on political rhetoric. Finally, they examine the incident at Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. Why is it so hard for some to identify anti-Semitism as anti-Semitism?   Subscribe to our podcasts   The Great Resignation: Why more Americans are quitting their jobs than ever before | 60 Minutes   Remarks by President Biden on Protecting the Right to Vote | The White House   About That Speech … | The Dispatch   Jewish leaders react to FBI statement on Texas synagogue hostage-taker: 'The FBI got it wrong’ | Fox News   Why do some people hate the Jews? | Acton Line Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger briefly discuss the first anniversary of the January 6 capitol riot. Have we learned anything helpful in the past year? Then they examine the waves being caused by teachers unions once again forcing public schools to close in major cities. Is this enough to stir a parent revolt to change the nature of public education as we know it? Next, they take a look at the newly announced policies of the Manhattan district attorney that would effectively eliminate jail time for an array of serious offenses. What damage will this light-on-crime approach do to meaningful and serious criminal justice reform? And finally, they review the conviction of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes on four federal counts of defrauding investors. What, if anything, does this have to say about market capitalism or Silicon Valley?   Subscribe to our podcasts   The Chicago Teachers Union’s Priorities | Wall Street Journal   Manhattan DA to stop seeking prison sentences in slew of criminal cases | New York Post   Justice Reformers Need to Update Their Priors | The Atlantic   Elizabeth Holmes is the con artist we were all waiting for | Acton Institute   The Dropout Podcast | ABC News Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss the progress of the House Select Committee on the events of January 6. Has everyone already formed their conclusions about what happened? Is there anything that could be revealed that would change anyone’s mind? Is there any civic good that could come from this? The Omicron variant appears to be more transmissible but less deadly. That’s a good development. So why is it prompting renewed talk of school shutdowns, greater lockdowns, and mask mandates that extend forever? Are we perpetually searching for a technocratic solution to a problem that has no actual solution? And finally, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has proposed the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (W.O.K.E.) Act to extricate wokeness from schools and businesses. Is this a problem that we can legislate away?   Subscribe to our podcasts   The Fifth Column Podcast with Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.)   Fox News hosts urged Meadows to have Trump stop Jan. 6 violence, texts show | Washington Post   Remarks by President Biden After Meeting with Members of the COVID-⁠19 Response Team | White House   Fauci says masks on planes will always be necessary no matter what: 'Go that extra step’ | Fox Business   Schools, classrooms close doors again in latest Covid surge | NBC News   Governor DeSantis Announces Legislative Proposal to Stop W.O.K.E. Activism and Critical Race Theory in Schools and Corporations | State of Florida   D.C. third-graders were made to reenact episodes from the Holocaust | Washington Post Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Samuel Gregg, Stephen Barrows, and Michael Matheson Miller discuss two topics. The first is the ongoing rise of inflation in the United States. Whatever happened to “transitory inflation”? Who benefits and who doesn’t from inflation? What needs to be done to bring inflation under control? Then this week’s all-Catholic team weighs in on a broader topic: the state of the Catholic Church around the world today. Much of the Church seems to be in disarray, whether it’s the resignations of bishops, the state of the Church in Germany, the Synod on Synodality, disputes about Holy Communion and liturgy, or the Vatican’s deal with the Communist regime in Beijing. We discuss some of the underlying causes, but also where we can find signs of hope.   Subscribe to our podcasts   How do you feel about inflation? The answer will help determine its longevity | Wall St Journal   El-Erian says ‘transitory’ was the ‘worst inflation call in the history’ of the Fed | CNBC   Inflation: Prices on the Rise | IMF   Inflation surged 6.8% in November, even more than expected, to fastest rate since 1982 | CNBC   Ratzinger’s Cross | Public Discourse   The Vatican Would Profit from the Views of This Jesuit | Alejandro Chafuen, Forbes   After Two Decades, Abuse Crisis Has Humbled the Catholic Church | The Wall Street Journal   China’s Catholic Leviathan: Jesuits and the Sino-Vatican Agreement | Catholic World Report Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss the implications of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the case involving Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks, which was argued before the Supreme Court on Dec. 1. How much has the legal regime created by Roe and Casey distorted our civic and political life? And what would be likely to happen if the Supreme Court did overturn the Roe and Casey decisions in their Dobbs ruling? Would it be as incendiary as some people seem to assume? Then the guys discuss the primary theme of Blake Masters’ campaign for Senate: “In America, you should be able to raise a family on one single income.” Is it true that people can’t do that right now? Do the proponents of this vision ignore the costs associated with it? And are GDP growth and family formation really at odds? Subscribe to our podcasts   Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization | SCOTUSblog   Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Oral Arguments   Exit poll results from the 2021 election for Virginia governor | Washington Post   The Blake Masters Vision | National Review   Why Parents Staying Home to Raise Their Kids Is a Good Thing | National Review Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Stephen Barrows, and Dan Hugger discuss the emergence of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19. With so little known about it, are political leaders and public health officials getting too far ahead of themselves? Dr. Anthony Fauci says he “represent[s] science.” When did we come to have such a malformed understanding of the scientific process that we moved into an ideological understanding of science? And how unsurprised should we be that the World Health Organization skipped over the “Xi” variant name? Finally, they discuss Yuval Levin's recent essay "The changing face of social breakdown.” What's holding people back from starting their lives? Has the pandemic made these problems worse or just revealed trends already at work? And how can we learn to better deal with our changing world to establish more communion, not just communication?   Subscribe to Acton Unwind, Acton Line & Acton Vault    Omicron Rises, but Our Fears Should Not | National Review   Fauci: Republican detractors are "criticizing science” | Axios   In Naming Omicron Variant, Authorities Skipped ‘Xi’ and ‘Nu’ | Wall Street Journal   A ‘Simpsons’ Episode Lampooned Chinese Censorship. In Hong Kong, It Vanished. | New York Times   The changing face of social breakdown | The Dispatch   For first time, India’s fertility rate below replacement level | Times of India   Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali | B. K. S. Iyengar   National Economic Planning: What Is Left?| Don Lavoie   The Use of Knowledge in Society | Friedrich A. Hayek Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on Acton Unwind, Stephen Barrows, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman join Michael Matheson Miller—guest editor of the new double issue of Religion & Liberty, Acton’s quarterly journal of religion, economics, and culture—to discuss the issue’s theme: the challenges of thinking clearly in an age dominated by ideology. How can we function in a time when the pursuit of truth, and even the meaning of “truth” itself, is subservient to a suffocating ideology that makes real dialogue between opposing viewpoints difficult if not impossible? What are the risks that come with the adoption of a rigid ideology? What is the difference between ideology and worldview? And how do we resist the temptation of adopting ideological thinking ourselves?   Religion & liberty Summer/Fall 2021   Carter Snead at the Acton Lecture Series: What it means to be human   The History of Freedom in Antiquity    Bastiat’s Theory of Class: The Plunderers vs. the Plundered    Biblical Worldview Crucial for the New Millennium    Subscribe to Acton Unwind, Acton Line & Acton Vault  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today Eric Kohn, Stephen Barrows, and Dan Hugger discuss all things inflation. What makes the inflation we’re seeing now different from the experience of the 1970s? What does it mean that we have a contracting labor force along with high inflation? How long will inflation be with us, and is there anything that can be done about it? The discussion then turns to mission creep and masking guidance from the CDC, with the agency head suggesting we keep wearing masks to combat, not only COVID-19, but the flu and the common cold as well. And finally, the trials of Kyle Rittenhouse and the accused killers of Ahmaud Arbery are both underway, but only the Rittenhouse proceeding is getting much attention, thanks largely to people using it as a political cudgel. What would happen if we lost faith in our legal system the way we’ve lost faith in so many other American institutions?   Fastest Inflation in 31 Years Puts More Heat on Washington | New York Times   The number of U.S. workers quitting their jobs in September was the highest on record | New York Times   Labor force participation is static, a conundrum for the Fed | New York Times   Inflation Will Make or Break the Next Spending Bill | New York Times   The CDC's Director Implies That Face Masks Are More Effective Than Vaccines at Preventing COVID-19 Infection | Reason   The Rittenhouse Trial Is a Master Class in Media Bias | National Review   Subscribe to Acton Unwind, Acton Line & Acton Vault Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Michael Matheson Miller, and Dan Hugger discuss the National Conservatism convention, from which Dan just recently returned. What do the national conservatives want? Should we think about this as an intellectual movement or as a political movement? Have they achieved a consensus about their own identity? And how much of a force will they prove to be within conservative intellectual circles and conservative politics going forward? National Conservatism Convention agenda The biggest problems of national conservatism | Acton Line A healthy conservative nationalism? Not without classical liberalism | Joseph Sunde, Acton Institute Subscribe to Acton Unwind, Acton Line & Acton Vault  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Eric, Sam, and Dylan discuss the potential for upheavals in public education. Will fights over the curriculum and the cumulative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (and the behavior of the teachers union during it) open up the possibility of wholesale changes in public schools? Next, Joe Biden’s meeting with Pope Francis goes very, very well. At least according to Joe Biden. Is the president to be believed when he says Pope Francis assured him he's a Catholic in good standing? Is this something he should even be saying out loud? Finally, Eric and Dylan discuss Dune and explore the important themes related to human nature at play in Frank Herbert’s book and Denis Villeneuve’s film--and in all good science fiction. Subscribe to Acton Line, Acton Unwind, & Acton Vault  Virginia governor's race now hinges on education, and one candidate has a clear edge: poll | Fox News Critiquing the 1619 Project with Phil Magness | Acton Line Capitalism in the 1619 Project | Heritage Foundation, Samuel Gregg Biden: Pope told me that I should ‘keep receiving Communion’ | Associated Press Discovering human dignity in Villeneuve’s Dune | Dylan Pahman Dune trailer Acton’s 31st Annual Dinner Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric and Sam discuss the growing threat from China. First, Sam recaps a talk he gave in Houston last week entitled, "China: Enigma and Challenge for the World." In the wake of China’s test of a hypersonic missile that could carry a nuclear warhead, how should we think about the military, economic, and cultural threat that China poses to the United States and to the world? Subscribe to Acton Unwind, Acton Line & Acton Vault China tests new space capability with hypersonic missile | Financial Times Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, October 18, 2021 | White House China has won AI battle with U.S., Pentagon's ex-software chief says | Reuters What to Do About China? | Sam Gregg, Law & Liberty Decline Is a Choice | Charles Krauthammer, Manhattan Institute Acton’s 31st Annual Dinner Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss Netflix standing up to the woke mob coming after Dave Chappelle for his new comedy special, The Closer, in which he makes jokes about the trans-rights movement. Can we view this as a watershed moment in the culture wars? Or is Netflix just defending their $60 million investment in the legendary comedian? Then, the supply chain has problems. Between that, high energy prices, employment problems, and inflation, are we staring down the barrel of a repeat of the 1970s? Next, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been out for two months on paternity leave. Setting aside the political-football aspect, how should we think about paternity leave in the modern culture and economy? And finally, we end with a new segment called Recommendable, where the crew will recommend articles, books, podcasts, or anything else they found important and recommendable throughout the week.   Subscribe to Acton Unwind, Acton Line & Acton Vault    Defending Dave Chappelle | National Review   Jews in Space | History of the World Part 1, Mel Brooks   Jon Gruden emails, explained: Raiders coach resigns following release of damning messages | Sporting News   Pete Buttigieg defends being on paternity leave amid supply-chain crisis | New York Post   Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek | EconStories   Recommendable:   Eric - We Got Here Because of Cowardice. We Get Out With Courage | Bari Weiss, Commentary   Sam - Abusing the Power of the Purse, with Philip Hamburger | Law & Liberty   Dan - India Before Modi: How the BJP Came to Power | Vinay Sitapati   Acton’s 31st Annual Dinner Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dylan Pahman discuss the possibility that objection to Southwest Airlines’ COVID-19 vaccine mandate was behind the cancelation of more than 1,000 flights over the weekend. Even if it wasn’t, there is clearly resistance to vaccine mandates out there, whether coming from the government or private businesses. And why is resistance to mandates, for some people at least, turning into resistance or rejection of the vaccine itself? A University of Michigan professor is under fire for showing his class Lawrence Oliver's black-face film portrayal of Othello. Is the biggest culprit in situations like these the people in authority who cave to the mob? And finally, Sam Gregg discusses his review of Vivek Ramaswamy’s new book Woke, Inc. and how the behavior we're seeing in big corporations is similar to that on display in the University of Michigan story. Southwest cancels more than a thousand flights, cites air-traffic control issues | Fox Business Southwest Airlines denies that pilot "sick out" drove weekend of delays | Axios Michigan Students Accuse Celebrated Music Professor of Racism for Screening Othello | Robby Soave, Reason The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium | Martin Gurri Why I Am Suing UCLA | Gordon Klein, Common Sense with Bari Weiss The Distorted Market for Woke Capitalism | Sam Gregg, Law & Liberty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s episode, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Michael Matheson Miller discuss U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance’s comments about the Ford Foundation--namely, that we should “seize the assets of the Ford Foundation, tax their assets, and give it to the people who've had their lives destroyed by their radical open borders agenda.” When did it become acceptable for the right to abandon concepts like constitutionality and the rule of law? Why is this kind of rhetoric constantly escalating? Is it really what the polity wants? Then, have we thrown open the Overton window on spending with the trillion-dollar infrastructure deal? When Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who is still cool with spending $1.5 trillion on a reconciliation bill on top of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, is the “conservative” in the conversation, have words lost their meaning entirely? And how long before we’re talking about quadrillion-dollar spending bills?   Subscribe to Acton Unwind, Acton Line & Acton Vault    J.D. Vance's latest Fox News stunt is a far-left fantasy | Noah Rothman, MSNBC   Ford Foundation’s aim to ‘change philanthropy’ warps the true meaning of ‘justice’ and ‘generosity’ | Dan Hugger, Acton Institute   The Conservatives Dreading—And Preparing for—Civil War | Emma Green, The Atlantic   A Whiff of Civil War in the Air | David French, The Dispatch   Terry McAuliffe’s War on Parents | National Review   Attack Ads, Circa 1800 | Reason   Manchin proposed $1.5T top-line number to Schumer this summer | Politico   Related: Digital Contagion: 10 Steps to Protect your Family & Business from Intrusion, Cancel Culture, and Surveillance Capitalism | Michael Matheson Miller Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s episode, Eric Kohn, Dan Churchwell, and Dan Hugger discuss America’s dueling refugee crises: one on the southern border manifesting in around 14,000 migrants descending on Del Rio, Texas, and the refugees fleeing the Taliban rule in Afghanistan following the American exit from that country. How should we approach these problems as Americans, and as Christians? Crime has been rising in American cities. How should we understand the problem, and how important is it to truly understand the nature of the problem and how it’s different in different places before we attempt to pick and choose policies to solve the problem? And finally, Brookings senior fellow and Washington Post columnist Robert Kagan says our constitutional crisis is already here. When they’re subject both to erosion and attack, how long can our American institutions hold up? Welcoming the stranger: The dignity and promise of Afghan refugees | Joseph Sunde National Review Special Issue in Crime: Law and Disorder The Mistakes We Cannot Make Again | David French Our constitutional crisis is already here | Robert Kagan Trump's 'Eastman Memo' Proposed an Unconstitutional Power Grab by the Vice President | Damon Root Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes’ Met Gala tax-the-rich dress stunt says about the current state of our elites and of elite culture. Are our elites so frivolous because we’ve become frivolous? Or is it the other way around? And why are we so preoccupied with identifying hypocrisy rather than observing and highlighting the underlying implications of that hypocrisy, and the tributes that vice are paying to virtue when we find them? Then, they discuss the email sent to observant Jews at Barnard College in New York City, in effect demanding that they violate their Shabbat obligations to utilize technology for Covid-19 symptoms and to participate in contact tracing. Why is religious freedom so often an afterthought?   Subscribe to Acton Unwind, Acton Line & Acton Vault    A lady and her dress, &c. | Jay Nordlinger, National Review   Barnard College Bureaucrat Apologizes After Using COVID-19 Protocols To Target Jewish Students | Daniella Greenbaum Davis, The Federalist   Norm MacDonald on Bill Cosby   How 'elite overproduction' and 'lawyer glut' could ruin the U.S. | Peter Turchin, Bloomberg   Congress Is Weak Because Its Members Want It to Be Weak | Yuval Levin, Commentary   The Revolt of The Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium | Martin Gurri   Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960–2010 | Charles Murray Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Stephen Barrows, and Dan Churchwell discuss the new vaccine mandate President Joe Biden has announced for businesses larger than 100 employees, to be administered by OSHA. In what ways are they failing to consider the role of incentives, and what unintended consequences might this effort have? Will it just drive people further into their political corners and continue to undermine faith in our institutions? Then, they discuss a new piece in Wired from Azeen Azhar about the concept of exponential growth. Are we prepared for a time when technological growth happens at a blinding pace? Can we even effectively prepare for it? Are we at all prepared to cope with the unrest that it will create? Subscribe to Acton Unwind, Acton Line & Acton Vault The Exponential Age will transform economics forever | Wired The Way Amazon Uses Tech to Squeeze Performance Out of Workers Deserves Its Own Name: Bezosism | WSJ The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger | Marc Levinson The Technology Trap: Capital, Labor, and Power in the Age of Automation | Carl Benedikt Frey Ezra Klein Interviews L.M. Sacasas | New York Times Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Stephen Barrows discuss the corporate reactions to SB 8, the new abortion law in Texas, including the pledge from the rideshare company Lyft to pay for any potential legal fees for drivers, as well as to make a $1 million contribution to Planned Parenthood. Is this just responding to the market and what their customers want? Or are politics overwhelming corporate decision making and leading them astray? Then, they discuss the strict Covid-19 lockdown measures in Australia. Will political leaders experience any kind of comeuppance for over-promising and under-delivering on dealing with the pandemic? And finally, Eric, Sam, and Steve all reflect on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Subscribe to the Acton Unwind Podcast  Defending drivers and women’s access to healthcare | Lyft Josh Szeps tweet thread Gray Connolly tweet thread Australia’s Crazy Covid Response | City Journal 20 for 20 podcast: 20 Stories for 20 Years Since 9/11 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Acton Unwind, Sam Gregg, and special guests Dan Hugger and Michael Miller discuss the ongoing developments in Afghanistan as we approach the 31st deadline. Then, they discuss the $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill and how we can look to C.S. Lewis for guidance on how to respond. What is human infrastructure? Is the United States a civilization-building nation? Is all truth subjective?  Subscribe to the Acton Unwind Podcast  Biden’s ‘stimulus’ for a growing economy is all about central control  Afghanistan I fought for lacks foundation for freedom  A Taliban 9/11 - William McGurn  Bio | Michael Miller  Bio | Dan Hugger  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Acton Unwind, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and special guest Mustafa Akyol discuss the latest developments in Afghanistan, as the United States works feverishly to get Americans out of the country. How many refugees should the United States accept? What will rule by the Taliban look like? Have they changed at all, as some people have suggested? Then, Eric and Sam discuss the FDA’s final approval of the COVID vaccines, the lockdowns in Australia and New Zealand and the resistance they have produced, and whether our elites and civic leaders are more incompetent than they were in the past, or whether the velocity and availability of information just makes it seem that way. Mustafa Akyol Reopening Muslim Minds with Mustafa Akyol - Acton Line Welcoming the stranger: The dignity and promise of Afghan refugees - Joseph Sunde Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Acton Unwind, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Dan Hugger discuss the collapse of the Afghanistan government as the United States withdraws from the country nearly 20 years after September 11th and the beginning of combat operations there. We were told a collapse might happen in a year. Instead, it took days. What lessons should be learned from this? And how are we to trust our institutions when they’re constantly shown to be either wrong or lying to us? August 15 marked the 50th anniversary of President Richard Nixon taking the United States off the gold standard. How much of the economic turbulence in the decades since can be blamed on this decision? And, what role can cryptocurrencies play in the future of monetary policy? “Why, as a Muslim, I Defend Liberty” by Mustafa Akyol “Islam and Economics: A Primer on Markets, Morality, and Justice” by Ali Salman Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this, the inaugural edition of Acton Unwind, Eric Kohn, Sam Gregg, and Stephen Barrows discuss the extension of the CDC's unconstitutional eviction moratorium, the Biden administration's economically problematic proposal for free community college, and the New Right's infatuation with Viktor Orbán's Hungary. ‘Small-Time Landlords “Hanging on By Their Fingernails” as Eviction Moratorium Drags On’ - National Review A Landlord Says Her Tenants Are Terrorizing Her. She Can’t Evict Them. - New York Times Making community college free has hidden costs - Detroit News Acton Institute Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.