Acton Line

In a recent interview for Vogue, Prince Harry declared to British anthropologist Jane Goodall that he and Meghan plan on having only two children, due to environmental concerns. Alarmist predictions about the results of overpopulation is nothing new, of course. Even Goodall herself said in 2010, that "[i]t's our population growth that underlies just about every single one of the problems that we’v...

A crisis in the adoption and foster system is currently plaguing the nation. With over 400,000 children in need of homes, a shortage of placements is driving some states to desperate measures, even housing children in hotels and office buildings. States should be working to support and safeguard the work of adoption and foster care providers, however discrimination motivated by anti-religious bias...

On July 18, the Raise the Wage Act passed the U.S House of Representatives, a bill that would double federal minimum wage by 2025. Members of Congress who support the bill believe it will increase pay for 27 million workers and lift over one million people out of poverty, but those opposed to the bill say it would cause millions more to lose their jobs. Dave Hebert, professor of economics at Aquin...

Populism is gaining traction, both abroad and in the United States. In 2017, the Swedish libertarian think tank Timbro and the European Policy Information Center released their "Authoritarian Populism Index," showing that populist parties have gained the highest percentage of the vote in nine countries, including Hungary (65.2%), Poland (46.4%) and Greece (45.1%). Zoltán Kész, co-founder of the Fr...

In a few short days, thousands of federal inmates will be returning home on "earned good time." That’s a result of The First Step Act, a federal prison reform bill which was signed into law in December. Criminal justice reform advocate Mark Holden joins the show to discuss the new law, why these ex-prisoners should have been freed earlier and what reforms should be made in the future. In 2013, Ros...

On June 14, an International Coalition for Religious Freedom in North Korea was launched, consisting of almost 200 activists, including Thae Yong-ho, a North Korean diplomat and defector to South Korea. President and co-founder of Acton Institute, Rev. Robert Sirico joins the podcast to talk about communism in North Korea as well as his hopes for the coalition. On the second segment, Bruce Ashford...

On June 29, violent riots between alt-right groups and antifa broke out in Portland, Oregon, leaving several people with severe injuries. Portland is becoming a hotbed for violent, left-wing groups. Who is antifa and what are they protesting? Rev. Ben Johnson, senior editor at Acton, joins the podcast to explain the events of the protest and antifa's objective. After that, Craig Bruce Smith, profe...

Last week, nearly 2 million Hong Kong residents gathered to protest a newly proposed extradition bill. Helen Raleigh, senior writer at the Federalist, joins the show to explain the current extradition agreements held between Hong Kong and China, why so many in Hong Kong are angry about the bill and how the extradition bill, if passed, would threaten Hong Kong's rule of law. After that, Acton's Tre...

On this episode of Acton Line, Romanian author and public intellectual, Mihail Neamtu, joins the show to talk about what he calls the "ghost" of Marxism. What defines Marxism and what remnants of the ideology are we seeing today? After that, Daniel J. Mahoney, writer and professor of politics at Assumption College, speaks with Acton's Director of Communications, John Couretas, about the legacy of...

On this episode of Acton Line, we talk about HBO's new miniseries, 'Chernobyl' and the events surrounding the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Pripyat, Ukraine in 1986. Kyle Smith, writer at National Review, joins us for this segment and explains how 'Chernobyl' is an indictment of socialism. Afterwards, Aaron Rhodes, human rights activist and co-founder of the Freedom Rights Proj...

On this episode of Acton Line, we first cover the Equality Act, a bill recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Keisha Russell, associate counsel at First Liberty Institute joins the podcast to break down the basics of the bill and explain how the bill would threaten religious liberty. Afterwards, Charlie Weime...

On this episode of Acton Line, Bradley J. Birzer, History professor and the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies at Hillsdale College, joins the podcast to talk about the movie Tolkien, explaining what the film got right about the life of British author J.R.R. Tolkien and what the film missed. Afterwards, Bruce Ashford, professor of theology and culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological S...

On this episode of Acton Line, Jordan Ballor and Tyler Groenendal break down the last season of Game of Thrones, discussing positive and negative aspects of the show as well as lessons on the role of government and the danger of power. Afterwards, Caroline Roberts speaks with Li Ma, senior fellow at the Henry Institute, about Ma’s book The Chinese Exodus. Ma explains how the current economic syste...

On this episode, National Review senior editor Jonah Goldberg speaks about his latest book, "Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Nationalism, Populism, and Identity Politics Is Destroying American Democracy." Jonah will also be speaking at our upcoming annual conference in Grand Rapids, Acton University, and you can still register to hear him during the plenary dinner on Wednesday, June 19. Af...

On the episode of Acton Line, Andrew Klavan, award winning novelist, screenwriter, and regular host at the Daily Wire, joins the show to talk about the new Netflix documentary, "Knock Down the House." The new political documentary follows four far left-leaning women during their run for congress in 2018, eventually leading up to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's congressional win. Klavan explains the ide...

On this episode of Acton Line, Caroline Roberts speaks with Andrew Kloster, the deputy director of the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at George Mason University, about the student debt crisis. Kloster claims that the student debt crisis is the greatest moral hazard of our nation and explains how he sees the crisis panning out in the future. On the second segment, Acton's director...

On this episode, we bring John Baden onto the show. A rancher in Bozeman Montana, Baden has co-founded several organizations dedicated to free market environmentalism including the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE), dedicated to harnessing the power of markets and property rights to improve environmental quality. Baden will be addressing the environmental concerns rai...

On this episode of Acton Line, host Caroline Roberts is joined by Acton's director of research, Samuel Gregg, to touch on the historical and religious significance of Notre-Dame in the wake of the fire that consumed much of the cathedral this past Monday. After that, research associate Dan Hugger sits down with Acton's president and co-founder Rev. Robert Sirico to discuss current issues in educat...

On this episode of Acton Line, Caroline Roberts speaks with Sarah Estelle, professor of economics at Hope College, to revisit the life and work of F.A. Hayek on the 75th anniversary of the publishing of "The Road to Serfdom." On the second segment, Caroline then speaks with Tyler O'Neil, senior editor at PJ Media, about the film "Unplanned" and how its release highlights issues such as human right...

On this episode of Acton Line, Trey Dimsdale, director of program outreach at Acton Institute, sits down with Andrew Graham, attorney at First Liberty Institute, a public interest law firm. Trey and Andrew talk about a current case threatening Bladensburg World War I Memorial in Maryland, known as the Peace Cross. The land on which the cross stands was first privately owned by American Legion and...

On this episode of Acton Line, Acton's director of communications, John Couretas, speaks with Tim Carney, editor at the Washington Examiner and a visiting fellow at AEI. They talk about Tim's new book, "Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse." The "American Dream" is fading away in much of the country, and the problem isn't pure economics, nor is it a case of stubborn old...

On this week’s Acton Line podcast we hear about a church-based ministry that engages with the homeless and poor “relationally, responsibly, and compassionately.” James Whitford, executive director of Watered Gardens Gospel Rescue Mission in Joplin, Missouri, joins Acton’s Andrew Vanderput in a thought provoking conversation on private charity and the intensely personal nature of the organization’s...

On this episode of Acton Line, Caroline Roberts speaks with Acton's senior editor, Rev. Ben Johnson, about a new study released by a free market think tank in Denmark, claiming that Denmark isn't actually socialist. Although Denmark is regularly cited as a country whose socialist policies have done good, this isn't the whole story. Denmark isn't technically socialist, and the current welfare state...

On this episode of Acton Line, Acton's co-founder and president, Rev. Robert Sirico, sits down with Acton's associate researcher and librarian, Dan Hugger, to discuss the realities of socialism seen specifically in Nicaragua and Venezuela. After that, a redux segment is re-released, featuring 2018 summer intern and student at Grove City College, Noah Gould, who speaks with Javier Avila about infla...

On this episode of Acton Line, Caroline Roberts is joined by the founder and president of the Center for American Entrepreneurship, John Dearie, to discuss the state of entrepreneurship in America. Dearie explains why start up innovation and small businesses sustain the economy and alerts us to the danger of declining entrepreneurship in America. Afterwards, occasional host and award winning news...