Acton Line

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 appr...

In this episode, Nathan Mech, program outreach project manager here at the Acton Institute, sits down with Mustafa Akyol, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, to discuss his new book, Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance.  In his book, Akyol dives deep into Islamic theology, shares lessons from his own life story, and reveals how Muslims lost the universalism that mad...

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...

As of May 2021, prices increased 5% over the course of one year – the sharpest increase in inflation since 2008. Inflation poses a palpable threat to the economic prosperity of America. Its prevalence is perpetuated by political institutions, corporations, and personal opinions. Big corporations and moguls will not necessarily suffer through significant change with a 5% increase in prices, the com...

We're thrilled to bring you a new podcast from the Acton Institute: Acton Unwind. Acton Unwind is a weekly roundtable discussion of news and current events through the Acton Institute's lens on the world: promoting a free and virtuous society and connecting good intentions with sound economics. Each week I’ll be joined by Dr. Samuel Gregg and other Acton Institute experts for an exploration of new...

Genuine friendships are one of the core qualities of a great life. Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero called a friend “a second self.” British author C.S. Lewis exalted friendship as adding “value to survival.” Whether in antiquity or modernity, friendship plays an integral part in the richness of the human experience for men and women alike. However, recent studies have shown that the amount...

In the early 1900’s, the Netherlands was under the rule of a dynamic prime minister, Abraham Kuyper. A multi-faceted figure, he implemented significant change in a vast array of sectors and contributed his work to Dutch society as a statesman, a journalist, a historian, a University founder, and a Calvinist theologian, among many other things. But what can contemporary economic and political reaso...

Industrial policy is making a comeback in political discourse as a key issue to be tackled in maintaining America’s dominance internationally. Industry has always been a greater reflection of the trademarks of America; its efficiency, economic values, and its entrepreneurial spirit. However, in America’s current understanding of industrial policy, among other issues, it leans towards the governmen...

Generation Z is a demographic group born between the late 1990’s and early 2010’s and they are beginning to trickle into workplaces. The push for open mindedness to become the norm in modern society means “Gen Zers” have already been confronted with ideas like fourth wave feminism, intersectionality, the transgender movement, and wokeism throughout their upbringing. Along with receptivity for prog...

Suzanne Nossel, CEO of Pen America sits down with Eric Kohn, Acton’s director of communication to discuss her new book, Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All.  Nossel, a leading voice in support of free expression, delivers a vital, necessary guide to maintaining democratic debate that is open, freewheeling, but at the same time respectful of the rich diversity of backgrounds and opinions i...

In this episode, we're bringing you a panel discussion featuring Betsy Devos and Sal Khan that was delivered as part of Acton University Online 2021. The Panel was moderated by Jeff Sandefer, entrepreneur and founder of the Acton School of Business.  An educated citizenry is fundamental to securing a free and flourishing society.  Innovation, technology, and entrepreneurial endeavors are transform...

Liberal Arts Education is a classical academic discipline that focuses on educating the whole person and is rooted in a lifelong study of transcendent, interdisciplinary knowledge. In June 2021, Dr. Margarita Mooney, an associate Professor in the Department of Practical Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary and Executive Director of the Scala Foundation, published her book “The Love of Learni...

Along with more than half a million American deaths, lockdowns and federal mandates, the COVID-19 pandemic brought with it unprecedented government spending and economic disruption. In this episode, Acton Institute’s research fellows, Dan Hugger and Dylan Pahman evaluate the economic and moral implications of the COVID relief bill. In March 2021, the Biden administration passed a 1.9 trillion doll...

Cultural American ideologies, which were historically influenced by Christian beliefs, have continued to deteriorate throughout the years. Faith in politics, rather than having a theological perspective, continues to grow aggressively. While our country is greatly divided, American culture turns to ideological politics for a solution. Shadi Hamid, senior fellow at the center of middle east policy...

We bring you a conversation between Acton’s Director of Communications, Eric Kohn, and the Jack Miller Family Foundation’s Director of Freedom Initiatives, Rabbi Jonathan Greenberg. In this episode, they discuss a new surge in antisemitic violence in America as tensions between Israel and Gaza continue to grow. Jews have been beaten in broad daylight, synagogues have been vandalized, pro-Israel de...

We bring you a conversation between Acton’s Director of Communications Eric Kohn and Congressman Peter Meijer, who took office in January as the representative for Michigan’s 3rd congressional district, and recently visited the Acton Building. They discuss bipartisanship, leadership, the often counterintuitive incentive structure that exists in the US Congress and much more. Representative Peter M...

Does hard work pay off? Do workers enjoy the fruits of their labor? Can a child living in poverty grow up to be financially successful? These are the questions Dr. Michael R. Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, answers in his new book, The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It). Populists on both sides of the political aisle routinely...

Police reform, police training, foot pursuit policy, how to comply, lack of parenthood, and why we are so preoccupied with race. It’s been a year since the death of George Floyd and a lot has changed and a lot hasn’t. Dr. Anthony Bradley from King’s College presents effective solutions on how we can promote human flourishing in black communities. Acton Line podcast: Anthony Bradley on George Floyd...

Acton Line brings you a conversation with Dylan Pahman and Alexander Salter. Pahman is a research fellow here at Acton Institute and serves as executive editor of our Journal of Markets and Morality. Salter is an associate professor of economics at Texas Tech University, and research fellow of the university's Free Market Institute.  In this episode they discuss the relationship between money and...

Today, we’re bringing you a conversation between our director of communications, Eric Kohn, and Nate Hochman about young conservatives and what’s happening today on the young right. Nate is a Publius Fellow at the Claremont Institute, a previous contributor to Acton’s Religion & Liberty magazine, and, in my opinion, one of the sharpest and most interesting voices among the young conservatives out...

In this episode we speak with Helen Raleigh on her new book, Backlash: How China’s Aggression has Backfired. This book sets out to provide a comprehensive overview of China’s domestic and international aggressions and how they overplayed their hand. We discuss China’s actions in the South China Sea, their cultural tyranny with their social credit system, oppressive international trade, and their h...

Adam Smith once said, “Every man, as long as he does not violate the laws of justice, is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest in his own way, and to bring both his industry and capital into competition with those of any other man.” In this episode, Acton brings you a conversation with political scientist and scholar, Dr. Donald Devine and Eric Kohn, director of communications here at the...

Acton Line brings you a conversation with theologians Darrell Bock and Jonathan Armstrong, and Dan Churchwell -- Acton’s director of program outreach. In this episode, they discuss the pros and cons of virtual reality and its impact on Christian worship. Bock and Armstrong recognize that the world is changing faster each day as we discover new ways of navigating this seemingly infinite digital spa...

What is the difference between propriety and virtue, and how does this relate to the constant abuse of free speech we see today? According to economist and philosopher, Adam Smith, propriety is the extent to which our actions accord with social expectations; which themselves are subjective and you could say are relationally determined. Virtue, on the other hand, is the extent to which an action is...

We are bringing you a conversation with Trent Horn, staff apologist for Catholic Answers, and Eric Kohn, the director of communications here at Acton. In this episode, they discuss Horn’s new book, Can a Catholic be a Socialist? Horn explains that, “Societal injustices are the result of deeper moral evils like greed, envy, indifference, and selfishness. However, simply reordering society so people...