Acton Line

In 2022, the Acton Institute launched The Collins Center for Abrahamic Heritage. The mission is to advance research and education on economics, liberty, and human flourishing from Jewish, Christian, and Islamic perspectives. As part of this mission, earlier this year the Collins Center launched a debate series on the relationship between government and religion, featuring robust dialogue between scholars and leaders of different faiths.  On today’s episode, we present to you the second of these debates. Moderated by Acton’s director of research, John Pinheiro, senior editor of The European Conservative Sebastian Morello and professor of philosophy at Bowling Green State University Kevin Vallier discuss whether government and religion really should be separate.  Subscribe to our podcasts The Collins Center for Abrahamic Heritage DEBATE: Sebastian Morello vs. Kevin Vallier | Christianity and the State

During times of extreme divisiveness, civility can help us transcend important differences and flourish amid them. It is through true civility, the recognition of the innate dignity of others, that we can bridge social, cultural, and political disagreements. In this episode, Alexandra Hudson discusses her new book, “The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves,” with Acton’s director of programs and education, Dan Churchwell.  How can we empower people to live tolerantly with others? How should our shared humanity inform the respect that we have for others with different lives and opinions? We can’t change others, but if enough of us choose civility, we might be able to change the world. Subscribe to our podcasts The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves | Alexandra Hudson Acton Lecture Series

On today’s episode, Acton librarian and research associate Dan Hugger sits down with Acton research director John Pinheiro to talk about the state of higher education in America and contrast it with the philosophy of liberal learning advanced by the late Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.  Has philosophy fled the academy? How does the crisis in higher education compromise the teaching and learning of the liberal arts? What are the perils and promises of liberal learning outside the university? Are the “Great Books” the solution to the crisis? What role should the Christian faith play in higher education? What practical steps can students and teachers take to advance liberal learning in institutions uncongenial to the cultivation of wisdom and virtue? Subscribe to our podcasts   Education for a Free Society | Acton Line Podcast Rumble in the Christian College Jungle | Acton Unwind Podcast On Christians and Prosperity | James V. Schall The Great Books: Enemies of Wisdom? | Frederick Wilhelmsen A Student's Guide to Liber

In 2022, the Acton Institute launched The Collins Center for Abrahamic Heritage to advance research and education from Jewish, Christian, and Islamic perspectives on economics, liberty, and human flourishing. As part of its mission, the Collins Center earlier this year launched a debate series on the relationship between government and religion, featuring robust dialogue between scholars and leaders of different faiths.  On today’s episode, we present the first of these debates: dean of the Islamic Seminary of America Yasir Qadhi and Cato senior fellow Mustafa Akyol exchange a wide range of ideas on Islam and the state. The dialogue is moderated by Collins Center manager Nathan Mech. Subscribe to our podcasts The Collins Center for Abrahamic Heritage DEBATE: Yasir Qadhi vs. Mustafa Akyol | Islam and the State

The modern world is a busy and complicated place for Christians. Obligations to jobs, friends, and family, along with personal interests, frequently overshadow our relationship with Christ.  In spite of all this, John Michael Talbot shows there are many ways to deepen a connection to Christ with a busy life. He's written 28 books, produced 59 music albums, and still maintains an active ministry from Little Portion Hermitage in Arkansas, where he teaches the importance of community living and finding inspiration in the Scriptures. In this episode, Acton's director of research, John Pinheiro, speaks to John Michael about converting to Christianity, the choice to live the monastic life, and the challenges of following Christ in today’s world. Subscribe to our podcasts  John Michael Talbot Late Have I Loved You | Troubadour

When celebrated American novelist and short story writer Flannery O’Connor died at the age of 39 in 1964, she left behind an unfinished third novel titled, “Why Do the Heathen Rage?” Scholarly experts uncovered and studied the material, deeming it unpublishable. It stayed that way for 40 years. Until now. For the past 10-plus years, award-winning author Jessica Hooten Wilson has explored the 378 pages of typed and handwritten material of the novel—transcribing pages, organizing them into scenes, and collating everything to provide a glimpse into what O’Connor might have planned to publish. “Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress” is the result.   In this episode, Acton alumni and student programs manager Noah Gould speaks to Jessica Hooten Wilson about introducing O’Connor’s unfinished novel to the public for the first time. Subscribe to our podcasts  Why Do the Heathen Rage | Jessica Hooten Wilson How Racist Was Flannery O'Connor? | The New Yorker There th

There is no question today that new technology is changing the way we think about and experience work. Speculation abounds about how the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies will affect the workplace. Worries about machines replacing humans on the job are common. Others, however, are optimistic about the way AI is changing how we work—they see AI as an important tool to promote better efficiency and productivity in the workplace. How will AI change the way work is done? How will it affect the workforce? How will it affect the economy?  To answer some of these questions and more, we bring you a panel discussion from our February Business Matters Conference. Acton’s director of programs and education, Dan Churchwell, leads Brent Orrell, Mark Johnson, and Máté Csak in a conversation looking to the future of work and the role disruptive technology will play in it. Subscribe to our podcasts   Business Matters 2024: Hope for Work and Enterprise | Acton On-Demand

Gertrude Himmelfarb was one of the foremost historians of Victorian life. She produced page-turning biographies of some of the age’s most intriguing and influential figures, including Lord Acton, Charles Darwin, John Stuart Mill, and George Eliot. She also produced social histories of the period and brought a Victorian sensibility to American politics as a leading conservative public intellectual. In this episode, Acton librarian and research associate Dan Hugger speaks with Nicole Penn, author of an essay just published in National Affairs entitled “The Historian’s Craft,” which deftly explores the life and legacy of one of the conservative movement’s most accomplished women. Subscribe to our podcasts   The Historian's Craft | National Affairs Middlemarch | George Eliot The Roads to Modernity: The British, French, and American Enlightenments | Gertrude Himmelfarb The Moral Imagination: From Adam Smith to Lionel Trilling: Gertrude Himmelfarb Write like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals:

Many Christian congregations now offer hybrid worship services: you can worship in person or online. While these options have become increasingly popular, our understanding of them has not kept pace. Furthermore, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence will only complicate matters further. The contemporary church needs a way to make sense of the dizzying influx of emerging technologies, practices, and possibilities. In this episode, Acton director of programs and education Dan Churchwell talks to Rev. A Trevor Sutton, senior pastor of St. Luke Lutheran Church in Lansing, Michigan, and coauthor of “Redeeming Technology,” about hybrid worship, the effect AI will have on the church, and how to respond to concerns from laity and clergy alike. AI and the Discipline of Human Flourishing | Religion & Liberty Online Church in a Digital Age: Must We Worship Bodily to Worship at All? ‘Redeeming Technology’ | Concordia Publishing House  Acton Lecture Series

In this episode, Noah Gould, Acton’s alumni and student programs manager, speaks to Jane Clark Scharl about her verse play, Sonnez Les Matines, which asks, What if John Calvin, Ignatius of Loyola, and Francois Rabelais had their convictions put to the test while navigating their involvement in a brutal crime? Subscribe to our podcasts Sonnez Les Matines | Wiseblood Books  Calvin, Loyola, Rabelais: A Murder Mystery | Religion & Liberty The Violent Faith of Cormac McCarthy | Acton Unwind

Our culture tells parents there’s one best way to raise kids: enroll them in a dozen activities, protect them from trauma, and get them into the most expensive college possible. If you can’t do all that, don’t even bother. How’s that strategy going? Record rates of anxiety, depression, medication, debts, loneliness, and more. In his new book, Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be, bestselling author and father of six Timothy P. Carney says it’s time to end this failed experiment. In this episode, Acton director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn speaks to Carney about why he wrote his new book, why we should have more kids, and how to give kids deeper meaning for their lives than material success. Subscribe to our podcasts   Family Unfriendly | HarperCollins

In this episode, we bring you a conversation from our recent Business Matters virtual conference between Acton’s director of marketing and communications, Eric Kohn, and David Bahnsen, founder, managing partner, and chief investment officer of the Bahnsen Group. They discuss Bahnsen’s new book, Full Time: Work and the Meaning of Life, in which he makes the case that our understanding of work and its role in our lives is deeply flawed—we are unmoored from what he calls “created purpose.” He argues that the time has come to stop tiptoeing around the issues that matter, that separating our identity from what we do is deeply damaging, and that this era of alienation is for many a direct result of a low view of work. It is in work of every kind—effort, service, striving—that we discover our meaning and purpose, and a significant and successful life is one rooted in full-time productivity and the cultivation of God’s created world. Subscribe to our podcasts   Acton On-Demand  Business Matters 2024 “Full-Time: Work

In 1980, Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman released a 10-part documentary series on PBS called “Free to Choose,” with each hour-long episode giving his perspective on important public policy debates and social issues. The series was a hit and possessed a staying power far beyond the 1980s. Through this and much of his other work, Friedman became one of the leading public intellectuals of his time, and his ideas have influenced economics and public policy deeply. In this episode, Acton director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn speaks to Jennifer Burns, author of a new biography, Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative. In this important contribution to understanding Friedman’s legacy, Burns explores the great economist’s life, ideas, and the important women with whom he worked. Subscribe to our podcasts   Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative | Jennifer Burns Milton Friedman: The Conservative Institution Builder | James M. Patterson

Managing a business is a challenge no matter the context. Talent comes and goes, supplies change, and you can’t always achieve everything you want. Every day, new constraints create roadblocks to the next goal. There may not be one solution to these problems, but co-founder and managing partner of Michigan Software Labs Mark Johnson says strong company culture is the foundation of any successful company.  In this episode, Acton director of programs and education Dan Churchwell speaks to Mark about becoming an entrepreneur, managing the ever-changing challenges of managing a business, and why it’s important to be a good steward to both clients and colleagues. Subscribe to our podcasts  Mark Johnson | Michigan Software Labs Serving Trough Technology | Cornerstone University

Anyone of a certain age will remember the massive hit that was “We Are The World,” the Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, and Quincy Jones produced charity single by USA for Africa. The considerable profits from the that hit song went to the USA for Africa Foundation, which used them for the relief of famine and disease in Africa and specifically to 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. Even though Africa is an enormous and diverse continent with 54 sovereign countries, many people in the United States, and the west more generally, were left with the impression of Africa as destitute and poverty-stricken. What they may not realize is the enormous amount of growth and development Africa has been seeing. To help us better understand this growth and development, particularly in the country of Nigeria, today Eric Kohn talks with Wiebe Boer and Danladi Verheijen. Wiebe Boer is the president of Calvin University, here in Grand Rapids, MI, and Danladi Verheijen is the co-founder and managing partner of Verod Capital Management

On today’s episode, Acton librarian and research associate Dan Hugger sits down with Acton research fellow and Journal of Markets & Morality executive editor Dylan Pahman to talk about education. They begin with the 18th-century vision of education advanced by America’s Founders. Why did they believe education was necessary for a free society, and what kind of education did they have in mind? The discussion then turns to attempts by St. John Henry Newman, F.D. Maurice, and Abraham Kuyper to build institutions of liberal learning in 19th-century Europe. What innovations did these men introduce to education? How did their approaches differ from what came before (and each other), and where were there continuities? What can we learn from these attempts in addressing the crisis in education today? Subscribe to our podcasts  Benjamin Rush Proposes a system of public schools for Pennsylvania | Monticello Discourse 5: “Knowledge Its Own End” | John Henry Newman Learning and Working | F. D. Maurice Like Bright Stars:

We are living in the age of deconstruction. We are constantly bombarded online, in schools, and sometimes even in our homes by attitudes and arguments aimed at deconstructing our faith. Through this, do we know what it means to question well? Faith is not the sort of thing that endures so long as our eyes are closed. The opposite is the case: Faith helps us see, and that means not shrinking from the ambiguities and the difficulties that provoke our most profound questions. Professor Matthew Lee Anderson says we need not fear questions. By the grace of God, we have the safety and security to rush headlong into them and find ourselves better for it on the other side. In this episode, Professor Anderson joins Acton director of programs and education Dan Churchwell to discuss his latest book “Called into Questions: Cultivating the Love of Learning Within the Life of Faith”. Subscribe to our podcasts  Matthew Lee Anderson Called into Questions: Cultivating the Love of Learning Within the Life of Faith Reality: A

In this episode, we bring you a recent Acton Lecture Series event with Kevin Vallier. The 20th century featured an unusual phenomenon: global secularizing movements. In the 19th century, these movements were confined mostly to Western Europe, but in the 20th century they exploded, suppressing the influence of religion around the world. In some milder cases, as in Turkey and India, the political expression of only the great religions was throttled. In others, such as in the USSR and Mao’s China, ferocious religious persecution was an ideological necessity. In light of new political realities, however, older religious traditions are beginning to take back their influence in the public square. And they’re doing so by rejecting the “liberalism” they see as their oppressor.  Dr. Vallier discusses these different anti-liberal movements, critiques them, and explains how Christian liberals can understand and engage them. Subscribe to our podcasts  Acton Lecture Series

On today’s episode, Acton librarian and research associate Dan Hugger speaks with lawyer and chair of Common Good Philip K. Howard about his new book: Everyday Freedom: Designing the Framework for a Flourishing Society. Why do so many people feel powerless today? How can people experience “everyday freedom” at work, in school, and in all of life? What forces in American life today stifle our sense of freedom and responsibility, and how can they be counteracted to ensure flourishing for all? What special role do people of faith have in empowering others in their community to realize freedom and responsibility?  Subscribe to our podcasts  Everyday Freedom: Designing the Framework for a Flourishing Society | Philip K. Howard Common Good Philip K. Howard | Common Good

After decades of trade and investment with advanced democracies, China is far richer and stronger than it otherwise would have been. Simply put, the West’s strategy of engagement with China has failed. Democracies have underestimated the resilience, resourcefulness, and ruthlessness of the Chinese Communist Party. Growth and development have not caused China’s rulers to relax their grip on political power, nor have they accepted the rules and norms of the existing international system. In this episode, Acton director of marketing and communications Eric Kohn speaks with Aaron L. Friedberg, professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University, about the biggest misconceptions the West has about China and the current Chinese regime—and what the West should be focused on in years to come. Subscribe to our podcasts  Getting China Wrong | Polity