Acton Line

In this episode, Dan speaks with Noah Gould, Alumni and Student Programs Manager at the Acton Institute, about his recent op-ed “‘New Fish’ and ‘Old Fish’ Revive an Iconic Section of Philly,” published on June 5 in The Wall Street Journal. It’s a reported piece about how the working-class Philadelphia neighborhood of Fishtown has been gentrifying and what that means for the community there. Subscr...

This month on the Acton Rundown, Dan and Mark chat about upcoming Acton events, new video content, and Battlestar Galactica. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Why Postliberalism Failed | James M. Patterson & Thomas D. Howes The Christian Roots of American Liberty | Dylan Pahman & John C. Pinheiro Essays: Have We Been Spiritual but Not Religious Forever? | J.C. Scharl Winston Church...

In this episode, Dan speaks with Thomas Dias, Foundation Relations Officer at the Acton Institute, about his essay “Zohran Mamdani Is Not Radical Enough,” which was published at Public Discourse back in March of this year. In the essay, Thomas contrasts Dorothy Day’s and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s approaches to fighting poverty in New York City. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Zohran...

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with James M. Patterson, associate professor of public affairs in the Institute of American Civics at the University of Tennessee’s Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs and president of the Ciceronian Society, about his and Thomas Howes’s new book, Why Postliberalism Failed. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Why Postliberalism Failed |...

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with John Pinheiro, director of research at the Acton Institute, and Dylan Pahman, research fellow at the Acton Institute and founder and president of the St. Nicholas Cabasilas Institute, about the reception thus far of their new book, The Christian Roots of American Liberty: A Reader. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here The Christian Roots of Amer...

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Ismael Hernandez, founder and president of the Freedom & Virtue Institute, about his book Not Tragically Colored: Freedom, Personhood, and the Renewal of Black America and Rethinking Charity: Restoring Dignity to Poverty Relief. The book explores what people get wrong about charity and the truths about the human person we need to understand before we start r...

In this episode, Dan speaks with Dave Hebert, Director of Economics & Economic Freedom and Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research and an affiliate scholar here at the Acton Institute, about the economic impact of the ongoing conflict in Iran—from gas prices to consumer spending. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here ⁠Economics Reality Check | Dave Hebert...

This month on the Acton Rundown, Dan and Mark chat about upcoming Acton events and new video content. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Why Postliberalism Failed | Patterson & Howes Essays: Can We Moderate a Politicized Church Without Politics? | Stephen O. Presley, Religion & Liberty Magazine Freedom and Responsibility: Seven Takeaways from Magnifica Humanitas | John C. Pinheiro T...

In this episode, Dan speaks with Dylan Pahman, research fellow at the Acton Institute and founder and president of the St. Nicholas Cabasilas Institute, and Caleb Whitmer, project manager at Acton’s Center for Social Flourishing, about Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this...

Pope Leo XIV has signaled that artificial intelligence will be a defining concern of his pontificate, with an encyclical expected to address it directly. In this three-part series, the Acton Institute's Dan Hugger sits down with scholars across economics, history, and anthropology to ask what Catholic social teaching has to say about the AI revolution, as well as what an encyclical on AI will need...

Pope Leo XIV has signaled that artificial intelligence will be a defining concern of his pontificate, with an encyclical expected to address it directly. In this three-part series, the Acton Institute's Dan Hugger sits down with scholars across economics, history, and anthropology to ask what Catholic social teaching has to say about the AI revolution, as well as what an encyclical on AI will need...

Pope Leo XIV has signaled that artificial intelligence will be a defining concern of his pontificate, with an encyclical expected to address it directly. In this three-part series, the Acton Institute's Dan Hugger sits down with scholars across economics, history, and anthropology to ask what Catholic social teaching has to say about the AI revolution, as well as what an encyclical on AI will need...

Dan Hugger speaks with Anne Bradley, George and Sally Mayer Fellow for Economic Education and vice president of academic affairs at The Fund for American Studies, about the new affordability politics. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here The Curious Task of ‘Abundance’ | Anne Bradley Abundance | Klein and Thompson What We Got Right — and Wrong — in ‘Abundance’ | The Ezra Klein Show Ma...

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Thomas Howes, editor-in-chief of The Vital Center and lecturer at Princeton University, about his and James Patterson’s forthcoming book, Why Postliberalism Failed. ⁠Subscribe to our podcasts⁠ ⁠Watch this podcast here⁠ ⁠Why Postliberalism Failed | Patterson & Howes⁠ ⁠Why Postliberalism Failed Podcast⁠ If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by le...

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Caleb Whitmer, project manager at the Center for Social Flourishing at the Acton Institute. They discuss Caleb’s essay on the long-developing welfare-fraud scandal in Minnesota, titled “After the Flood in Minnesota,” published at Law & Liberty. The nature and scope of the fraud is unpacked along with some of the underlying approaches to policy and community...

This month on the Acton Rundown, Dan and Dylan chat about upcoming Acton events and new video content. The Christian Roots of American Liberty | Pahman and Pinheiro Essays: Persuasion and Propaganda: How Poetry Helps Navigate Politics | J.C. Scharl “Only a Digger”: The Misunderstood Story of the First Christian Socialist | Dylan Pahman Did Anti-Federalists Pass the Religious Test? | John Pinheiro...

In this episode Dan Hugger speaks with John Pinheiro, director of research at the Acton Institute, and Dylan Pahman, research fellow at the Acton Institute and founder and president of the St. Nicholas Cabasilas Institute, about their new book, The Christian Roots of American Liberty: A Reader. The book is a response to new movements on the right and old prejudices on the left that dismiss the Ame...

In this episode Dan Hugger speaks with Jeffrey Polet, professor emeritus of political science at Hope College and director of the Ford Leadership Forum at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation. They discuss his review of Gen. Stanley McChrystal's book On Character: Choices That Define a Life, “The Honor of General Stanley McChrystal,” which was published at Religion & Liberty Online. The conv...

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Jason Sorens, senior research fellow at the American Institute of Economic Research. They discuss the American housing market, the role of institutional investors in single family housing, the 21st century ROAD to Housing Act, and the path to a future of housing abundance. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Jason Sorens Are Institutions Buying...

In this episode, Dan Churchwell, Acton’s director for programs and education, talks to Molly Worthen about her new book: “Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump.” Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Acton Lecture Series Who Do We Trust Now? Charisma, Expertise, and the Future of Leadership |...

This month on the Acton Rundown Dan & Mark chat about upcoming Acton events and new video content. At the Frontiers of Scholasticism: Scientific Method, Innovation, and Economic Reasoning The Christian Roots of American Liberty Essays: Rescuing Souls from the Totalitarian Temptation The Consolation of the Cross When Hitler Was a Moral Compass After the Flood in Minnesota Video content:  Jordan Bal...

In this episode Dan Hugger speaks with Daniel Darling, director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and fellow at the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. They discuss his latest book, In Defense of Christian Patriotism, published by Broadside Books. The conversation explores why patriotism needs defending tod...

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Josh Herring, professor of humanities and classical education at Thales College. They discuss Josh’s new book, Sons of Adam, Daughters of Eve: C.S. Lewis’s Images of Gender, published by the Davenant Institute. Is it fair to describe Lewis as a gender theorist? Why should we turn to Lewis in times of gender trouble? How does his consideration of gender diver...

In the month of what would’ve been his 100th birthday, Acton co-founders Fr. Robert Sirico and Kris Mauren take a moment to remember an early supporter of the Acton Institute, Richard DeVos. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Believe! | Richard M. DeVos DeVos to Receive Faith and Freedom Award Richard M. DeVos Accepts the 2010 Faith and Freedom Award If you’d like to support this po...

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Jordan J. Ballor, executive director of First Liberty’s Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy (CRCD), about his feature essay in the latest issue of Religion & Liberty, “The Upside-Down Kingdom of Jesus of Nazareth.” Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here The Upside-Down Kingdom of Jesus of Nazareth Essays on Religion, Science, and Society | He...