Acton Line
Episodes
Nate Hochman on conservative environmentalism
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In his article in the September 21st edition of National Review, “Toward a conservative environmentalism,” Nate Hochman says, “conservatism and ...
Ilya Shapiro on Supreme Disorder and SCOTUS politics
30 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The untimely death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in February of 2016 amplified questions about the Supreme Court in the 2016 election to new...
Stephanie Slade on will-to-power conservatism
23 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With fusionism – the strategic alliance of conservative foreign policy hawks, social conservatives and economic libertarians knitted together in th...
Dylan Pahman on Charles Malik and 'Christ and Crisis'
16 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Charles Malik, the Lebanese diplomat and one of the drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was intimately involved in the crises of hi...
Iain Murray on the socialist temptation
09 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In his new book, The Socialist Temptation, author Iain Murray examines the resurgence of socialist ideology in America and across the world. Seemingly...
Daniel Darling on using social media for good
02 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On February 4th, 2004, a sophomore at Harvard University by the name of Mark Zuckerberg launched TheFacebook. At the time, the social networking websi...
Dr. David Hebert on COVID-19 pandemic economics
26 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 has brought with it enormous costs. These include, first and foremost, an enormous cost in the terms ...
Kevin Williamson on socialism as religion
19 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From accusations of embracing socialism leveled at the Obama administration by the Tea Party movement to the rise of self-proclaimed democratic social...
Matthew Continetti on the rise of the national conservatives
12 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The conservative movement in America has always been evolving. From the old right of the progressive era to the conservative intellectual movement ide...
Phil Magness on critiquing the 1619 Project
05 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Since debuting in the New York Times Magazine on August 14, 2019, the 1619 Project has ignited a debate about American history, the founding of the co...
Jordan Ballor on Richard Baxter & 'How to Do Good to Many'
29 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Baxter, the English Puritan churchman and theologian, was perhaps one of most prolific English language author in the seventeenth century. Hi...
Russ Roberts on the intersection of faith and economics
22 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Since 2006, economist Russ Roberts – the John and Jean De Nault Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution – has hosted the podcast EconTalk, a wee...
David French on religious liberty at the Supreme Court
15 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The latest term of the Supreme Court, which wrapped up on July 8th, saw the Court decide several cases with major implications for religious liberty. ...
Rebroadcast: Ryan Anderson on a primer on religious liberty
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week we’re rebroadcasting a conversation about religious liberty with Ryan T. Anderson, the William E. Simon senior research fellow at the Heri...
Dr. Samuel Gregg on Are we in a revolutionary moment?
01 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Since late May, many parts of the United States have grappled with unrest. Anger over George Floyd's death sparked protests, with looting and violent ...
Jimmy Lai on his fight against Chinese oppression
24 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
At the age of 13, Jimmy Lai escaped China to experience freedom in Hong Kong and grew to be one of Hong Kong’s highest-profile media moguls. Through...
Helen Raleigh on how China is destroying Hong Kong's freedom
17 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When Hong Kong was released from British rule and handed over to China in 1997, the United Kingdom and Beijing struck a deal that guaranteed the freed...
Ryan Patrick Hanley on François Fénelon, the forgotten philosopher
10 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In 18th century France, the most-read book after the Bible was a work on political philosophy written by the Roman Catholic archbishop François Féne...
Anthony Bradley on George Floyd, police reform, and riots
03 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The tragic and disturbing footage of George Floyd's unjust death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers has been circulating for over a week. Flo...
Rev. Ben Johnson on the universal basic income
27 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For over two years, former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang campaigned across the country, building a coalition along the political spect...
Lyman Stone on the decline of religiosity in the US
20 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Religion plays, and has always played, a crucial role in American life. In the past 75 years, however, religiosity has been in rapid decline. What's c...
Bradley J. Birzer on Christian humanism
13 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Bradley J. Birzer, professor of history and the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies at Hillsdale College, joins this episode of Acton Line to ...
Rev. Robert Sirico on the church's response to COVID-19
06 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the United States continues to wrestle with the fallout of COVID-19, many people are falling back on their faith and the church for peace. Many chu...
Stephen Barrows on COVID-19 and job loss
29 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The United States has been in a state of emergency since mid-March as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. In order to slow the spread of the virus, sta...
Kerry McDonald on a Harvard prof's call to ban homeschooling
22 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Homeschooling is growing in popularity. In fact, the U.S. Department of Education has shown that it's grown at a rate of over 60% in the last decade, ...
Randy Barnett and David French on 'common-good Constitutionalism'
17 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On March 31, The Atlantic published an article titled "Beyond Originalism," written by Adrian Vermeule, professor of Constitutional law at Harvard Law...
Rebroadcast: Russell Kirk and the genesis of American Conservatism
08 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Russell Kirk has long been known as perhaps the most important founding father of the American Conservative movement in the second half of the 20th ce...
Adam MacLeod on how to talk about rights in our polarized age
01 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today, our most contentious controversies are about morality. We disagree about questions of efficiency and democracy, but across political aisles, we...
A hopeful message in a time of crisis from Rev. Robert Sirico
25 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Acton's President and Co-Founder, Rev. Robert Sirico, offers some thoughts on what the role of the government should be during a cris...
Helen Raleigh on how Communist China's coverup caused a pandemic
18 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As of March 18, 2020 Coronavirus, or COVID-19, which originated in Wuhan, China, has infected over 200,000 people worldwide, and has killed more than ...
Rebroadcast: Samuel Gregg on the life and impact of Michael Novak
11 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It’s now been three years since Michael Novak passed away. Novak was Roman Catholic theologian, philosopher and author, and was a powerful defender ...
Stephanie Slade on the biggest problems of national conservatism
05 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In recent years, a rift has opened within American conservatism, a series of divisions animated in part by the 2016 presidential election and also by ...
John D. Wilsey on Who was John Foster Dulles?
26 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
If you've traveled to Washington, D.C. before, it's likely that you've flown through Washington Dulles International Airport, named after President Ei...
Yuval Levin on why trust in institutions is declining
19 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's not news that America's trust in public institutions is falling. Gallup polls reveal that confidence in the church is at an all time low, and sim...
Rev. Robert Sirico on responding to the Pope's call for wealth redistribution
12 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On February 5, Pope Francis addressed a crowd of economists and finance ministers that had gathered together for a seminar on "New Forms of Solidarity...
Michael Wagenman on Abraham Kuyper and how Christians should engage the world
05 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Central to the mission of the Acton Institute is educating people of faith about the connections that exist between religious life and economic thinki...
Jonathan Wood on how to save endangered species through markets
29 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know that there are over 1,300 endangered species in the United States? Polar bears, northern spotted owls, red wolves, Florida panthers and e...
Dr. Samuel Gregg on why we need Sir Roger Scruton's true conservatism
22 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When Sir Roger Scruton passed away at the age of 75 on January 12, the world lost a giant in philosophy. Scruton wrote approximately 50 books on topic...
Rev. Ben Johnson on Is anti-Semitism on the rise?
15 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On December 10, 2019, shoppers in a Kosher market in Jersey City, N.J., became the targets of anti-Semitic violence. Two men opened fire in the grocer...
Yuval Levin on remembering Gertrude Himmelfarb
08 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On this week's episode, we pay tribute to Gertrude Himmelfarb who passed away last Monday, December 30th, at the age of 97. Gertrude Himmelfarb was a ...
Behind China's drive for global domination
24 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
During Christmastime in China in 2015, 1,700 churches were torn down or vandalized, a result of the Chinese government growing increasingly hostile to...
Breaking down Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society with Amity Shlaes
18 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On May 22nd, 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson launched his program for a "Great Society" in a speech at the University of Michigan. "The Great Society rests on...
Elizabeth Warren wants $3 trillion tax hike; Mark Hall on America's Christian founding
11 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Massachusetts Democratic Senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has proposed to increase taxes for big businesses and high earners to rak...
Rev. Robert Sirico responds to Marco Rubio's 'common good capitalism'
04 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sen. Marco Rubio's recent proposals for 'common good capitalism' have sparked criticism and praise across the board. Rubio draws heavily from Catholic...
The untold story of Stalin's Ukrainian famine
27 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation recently released their annual poll for the year 2019, revealing that over one third of the millennial ge...
How property rights save the planet
20 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Panic surrounding climate change and the environment is on the rise and doomsday predictions abound. Most headlines about the environment only tell on...
Are we all Keynesians now? Why Lord Acton matters today
13 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 1965, Milton Friedman was quoted by Time magazine for saying "We are all Keynesians now," referring to how pervasive the thoughts of economist John...
Liberation theology drives the Amazon synod; Remembering the Berlin Wall
06 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, Acton's Samuel Gregg joins the podcast to break down liberation theology, a Marxist movement that began in the 20th century and took ...
The conversion of Kanye West; What Wilhelm Röpke has to say about our digital age
30 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In just the first week of the release of Kanye West's new explicitly Christian record "Jesus is King," it's outsold his previous album "Ye," projected...
The morality of 'Joker'; How Clarence Thomas is changing SCOTUS
23 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The new super villain drama 'Joker' has shattered box office records and gained much controversial media attention along the way. Set to top $900 mill...
Communist China dunks on NBA; Robert Doar on poverty in America
16 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On October 4, Daryl Morey, manager of the Houston Rockets, posted a tweet that included the words “Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong.” After...
Special report: Churches and ministries at the front line of the opioid crisis
09 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 2017, a poll from NPR and Ipsos found that one in every three people in the U.S. has been affected by the opioid crisis in one way or another. One ...
Is Catholicism at odds with the American experiment?
02 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 1995, Pope John Paul II spoke to a crowd in Baltimore, MD, saying, "Democracy cannot be sustained without a shared commitment to certain moral trut...
Rebroadcast: Alexis de Tocqueville’s enduring insights
25 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy In America is renowned as one of the best examinations of early American society and politics, and remains one of th...
Why the '1619 Project' is a lie; Yes, we've tried 'real socialism'
18 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In August, the New York Times launched the '1619 Project,' an initiative that includes school curriculum, videos, and a podcast, which aims to "refram...
Boris Johnson fights for Brexit; The faith of Antonin Scalia
11 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On June 23, 2016, Britain voted to exit the European Union, but since then, Members of Parliament have repeatedly delayed Brexit. While Prime Minister...
Why we need the Religious Freedom Restoration Act; The truth about recession rumors
04 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On November 16, 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) into law, a bill backed by nearly unanimous bipartisa...
What is woke capitalism? Daniel J. Mahoney on 'The Idol of Our Age'
28 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
From Gillette to Pepsi, many companies are starting to market their products by advocating for social justice issues, signaling to consumers that they...
What is cronyism? Samuel Gregg on reason and faith in Western civilization
21 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Cronyism is everywhere, affecting industries, entrepreneurs and customers and distorting the market through political advantage. So what is cronyism a...
Prince Harry's population bomb; A doctor diagnoses Medicare for All
14 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Discrimination against faith-based adoption agencies; Lessons from the fall of ancient Rome
07 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
The reality of a $15 minimum wage; Should big tech be regulated?
31 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Tackling populism with Ben Domenech
24 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Populism is gaining traction, both abroad and in the United States. In 2017, the Swedish libertarian think tank Timbro and the European Policy Informa...
First Step Act brings home thousands of prisoners; A win for property rights
17 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 pri...
Glimmers of faith in North Korea; American religious liberty in a secular age
10 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On June 14, an International Coalition for Religious Freedom in North Korea was launched, consisting of almost 200 activists, including Thae Yong-ho, ...
Antifa explained; America’s Founders in the crosshairs
03 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On June 29, violent riots between alt-right groups and antifa broke out in Portland, Oregon, leaving several people with severe injuries. Portland is ...
Hong Kong's freedom coming to an end? SCOTUS takes on regulatory state
26 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, nearly 2 million Hong Kong residents gathered to protest a newly proposed extradition bill. Helen Raleigh, senior writer at the Federalist,...
Why Marxism is still alive; The legacy of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
19 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 Marxi...
Why you should watch 'Chernobyl'; A federal commission for natural rights
12 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Understanding the Equality Act; Why Sweden is no utopia
05 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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...
A pretty good Tolkien movie; Public truths in the Gospel
29 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Acton Line, Bradley J. Birzer, History professor and the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies at Hillsdale College, joins th...
Lessons on tyranny from Game of Thrones; Poverty and alienation in China
22 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Acton Line, Jordan Ballor and Tyler Groenendal break down the last season of Game of Thrones, discussing positive and negative aspe...
Jonah Goldberg on his ‘Suicide of the West’; Remembering Fulton J. Sheen
15 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode, National Review senior editor Jonah Goldberg speaks about his latest book, "Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Nationalism, Popu...
Andrew Klavan tackles AOC propaganda film; Rev. Robert Sirico on the religious left
08 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 th...
The moral hazard of student debt; Unraveling Islam
01 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Acton Line, Caroline Roberts speaks with Andrew Kloster, the deputy director of the Center for the Study of the Administrative Stat...
Green New Deal fantasies; Defending Andrew Jackson
24 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Mourning the Notre-Dame cathedral inferno; Rev. Robert Sirico on education
17 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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...
F.A. Hayek's Road to Serfdom; The media vs. 'Unplanned'
10 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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...
A trial for religious liberty; defining honorable business
04 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Acton Line, Trey Dimsdale, director of program outreach at Acton Institute, sits down with Andrew Graham, attorney at First Liberty...
How secularization is killing middle America
27 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Acton Line, Acton's director of communications, John Couretas, speaks with Tim Carney, editor at the Washington Examiner and a visi...
Neighborly help for the poor; Americans flunk political science
20 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s Acton Line podcast we hear about a church-based ministry that engages with the homeless and poor “relationally, responsibly, and co...
Denmark isn’t socialist; Who is William Penn?
13 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Rev. Robert A. Sirico on the reality of socialism; Interview with a Venezuelan dissident
06 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 Hu...
Is entrepreneurship declining? All jobs are on the A team
27 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Acton Line, Caroline Roberts is joined by the founder and president of the Center for American Entrepreneurship, John Dearie, to di...
P.J. O'Rourke on capitalism; Peter Jackson's 'They Shall Not Grow Old'
20 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Acton Line, research associate at the Acton Institute, Jordan Ballor, talks with best-selling author and leading political satirist...
Love and economics; Ending poverty and saving farms
13 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Acton Line, producer Caroline Roberts speaks with Sarah Estelle, professor of economics at Hope College. Estelle breaks down some c...
How churches lost the schools; Chinese censorship of American movies
06 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Acton Line, Rev. Ben Johnson, senior editor at Acton, speaks with Rev. Richard Turnbull from the Center for Enterprise, Markets, an...
The life of Francis Schaeffer; Netflix's 'Watership Down'
23 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Radio Free Acton, Caroline Roberts speaks with Stephen Nichols, the president of Reformation Bible College, about the life and wor...
Ashanti Bryant explains AmplifyGR; What is a government shutdown?
16 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Radio Free Acton, Acton’s Tyler Groenendal speaks with Dave Hebert, professor of economics at Aquinas College, about the current ...
A first step towards criminal justice reform; The human cost of unemployment part II
09 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Radio Free Acton, producer Caroline Roberts speaks with Sarah Estelle, associate professor of economics at Hope College. Caroline ...
The legacy of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn; The human cost of unemployment part I
02 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Radio Free Acton, John Couretas, Acton's Director of Communications, talks with Daniel J. Mahoney, professor of political science a...
RFA Redux: David LaRocca on Brunello Cucinelli's new philosophy of clothes
19 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On this remastered episode of Radio Free Acton, we revisit an interview with David LaRocca: a philosopher, author, and filmmaker who has released a do...
The Church and the market; Who is Lord Acton?
12 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Radio Free Acton, Senior Editor at Acton, Rev. Ben Johnson, speaks with the Director of the Center for Enterprise, Markets and Ethi...
A.J. Jacobs on coffee and gratitude; The story of freedom in Estonia
05 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Radio Free Acton, producer Caroline Roberts speaks with A.J. Jacobs, journalist and New York Times bestselling author, about his la...
The legacy of C.S.Lewis; Marvel’s Daredevil
28 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Radio Free Acton, producer Caroline Roberts speaks with Michael Ward, a British Scholar and professor of apologetics at Houston Bap...
Gratitude in a tight knit world
21 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this special thanksgiving episode of Radio Free Acton, occasional host Anne Marie Schieber speaks with Liz Hilton, a designer, entrepreneur and 3D ...
Defining a human right; Understanding Brexit
14 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Radio Free Acton Trey Dimsdale, director of Program Outreach at Acton, speaks with Adam MacLeod, professor of law at Faulkner Unive...
The need for Christian statesmanship; ‘Ideas have Consequences’
07 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Radio Free Acton, Jordan Ballor, Director of Publishing at Acton, speaks with Hunter Baker, Acton Affiliate Scholar, about the need...
The story of Arthur Vandenberg; Russell Kirk’s horror fiction
31 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Radio Free Acton: Gleaves Whitney, Director of Grand Valley State University Howenstein Center for Presidential Studies, talks with...
Hot, dirty, noisy: Purposeful work at Kerkstra Precast; Media blackout on Gosnell movie
24 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Radio Free Acton, award winning news anchor Anne Marie Schieber speaks with James Morgan about his job at Kerkstra Precast, an indu...