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Latest Episodes:

Understanding DOGE Apr 02, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Ryan Bourne, R. Evan Scharf Chair for the Public Understanding of Economics, and Alex Nowrasteh, VP for Economic and Social Policy Studies, both at the CATO Institute, about all things DOGE. What does efficiency mean in the context of government? What has DOGE been doing? Is its process as chaotic as it has been portrayed? What are some useful models for understanding DOGE? What will it do in the future?

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Ryan Bourne | Cato Institute

Alex Nowrasteh | Cato Institute

Cato Institute Report to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) | Cato Institute

Six Ways to Understand DOGE and Predict Its Future Behavior | Cato at Liberty Blog

How Elon Musk Executed His Takeover of the Federal Bureaucracy | The New York Times

Secularist Violence in Modern History Mar 26, 2025

Show notes

In his latest book, “Broken Altars: Secularist Violence in Modern History,” Thomas Albert Howard presents three principal forms of modern secularism that have arisen since the Enlightenment: passive, combative, and eliminationist. Howard argues that the latter two have been especially violence-prone and says Westerners do not fully grasp this because they often mistake passive secularism for secularism as a whole. But a disconcertingly more complicated picture emerges when you adopt a broader global vision.

On today’s episode, John Pinheiro, Acton’s director of research, talks to Howard about secularism, what about it we often misunderstand, and his book.

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Broken Altars: Secularist Violence in Modern History | Yale University Press

Thomas Albert (Tal) Howard | Valparaiso University

The Gulag Archipelago | Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression

Lessons from Three Decades of Studying Economics Mar 19, 2025

Show notes

On today’s episode, Dan Churchwell, Acton’s director of programs and education, talks to James Hartley, professor of economics at Mount Holyoke College, ahead of James’ Acton Lecture Series event. They survey the discipline of economics and how James came to study it for over 30 years.

The lecture, entitled “Tariffs, Trade Wars, and the State of the Economy,” sifts through the noise of the often-bewildering claims and counterclaims of economic news. You can watch James’ lecture at ondemand.acton.org.

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Acton University

Acton On-Demand

Repairing American Society, One Zip Code at a Time Mar 12, 2025

Show notes

The 2024 PovertyCure Summit, “Dignity, Agency & Charity,” was a virtual event put on by Acton’s Center for Social Flourishing. Over two days, participants learned from scholars and practitioners involved in the global struggle against poverty—and against “toxic charity” that hinders people’s ability to rise.

On today’s episode, we bring you a presentation from Dr. Seth Kaplan, author of the book ‘Fragile Neighborhoods: Repairing American Society, One Zip Code at a Time.’ He talks about why American society is in trouble and what we can do about it.

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Fragile Neighborhoods: Repairing American Society, One Zip Code at a Time

PovertyCure Summit

Medical and Business Ethics Mar 05, 2025

Show notes

On today’s episode, we bring you a conversation from Acton University between Acton’s director of programming, Dan Churchwell, and Scott Rae, professor of philosophy and Christian ethics at Biola University. They discuss medical and business ethics, death, and the Resurrection.

Acton University is Acton’s flagship conference, focused on building the foundations of human freedom and exploring the intersection of faith and free markets. To learn more about Acton University, please visit university.acton.org. And to find additional content from previous Acton Universities, please visit ondemand.acton.org.

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Acton University

Acton On-Demand

Scott Rae | Biola University

The Christian Humanist Tradition Today Feb 26, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Stephen Smith, dean of the humanities, Temple Family Chair in English Literature, and professor of English at Hillsdale College, about St. Thomas More, William Shakespeare, and Christian humanism. What is the Christian humanist tradition? How does St. Thomas More exemplify that tradition? How was William Shakespeare inspired by More’s life, scholarship, and sensibility? How can we revive the humanities and continue the Christian humanist tradition today?

Stephen Smith — Hillsdale College

Thomas More Studies

The Essential Works of Thomas More

What is Christian humanism? A conversation with Bradley J. Birzer

The Year of Our Lord 1943: Christian Humanism in an Age of Crisis | Alan Jacobs

De officiis, with an English translation by Walter Miller | Marcus Tullius Cicero

On Friendship (De Amicitia) | Marcus Tullius Cicero

More’s Letter to Antonio Bonvisi, 1535

The Book of Sir Thomas More

Early Modern Economics, Ethics, and Law Feb 19, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Andrew M. McGinnis, assistant director of research at the CRCD and managing editor of the Journal of Religion, Culture & Democracy, about the Acton Institute’s recently completed Sources in Early Modern Economics, Ethics, and Law (Second Series). What is historical ressourcement, and why does it matter? What are the challenges scholars face when attempting such work? How can historical scholarship enrich the Church? The world?

Andrew M. McGinnis, Ph.D. | Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy

Sources in Early Modern Economics, Ethics, and Law (Second Series) | Acton Institute

On the Duties of Merchants — Acton Bookshop

The Right Use of Moral Philosophy — Acton Bookshop

On the Law of Nature: A Demonstrative Method — Acton Bookshop

On the Duty to Keep Faith with Heretics — Acton Bookshop

Commentary on Proverbs — Acton Bookshop

PRDL — Post-Reformation Digital Library

Vesuvius Challenge

Finding Solutions to America’s Housing Shortage Feb 12, 2025

Show notes

The 2024 PovertyCure Summit, “Dignity, Agency, & Charity,” was a virtual event put on by Acton’s Center for Social Flourishing. Over two days, participants learned from scholars and practitioners involved in the global struggle against poverty—and against “toxic charity” that hinders people’s ability to rise.

On today’s episode, we bring you a panel discussion from the summit, entitled “Finding Solutions to America’s Housing Shortage.” The director of Acton’s Center for Social Flourishing, Michael Matheson Miller, speaks to James Hurling and Charles Marohn about the importance of empowering impoverished households.

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PovertyCure Summit

Leading Citizenship Feb 05, 2025

Show notes

On today’s episode, Acton’s director of research, John Pinheiro, speaks to Gerard Wegemer, founding director of the Center for Thomas More Studies. They discuss More’s life, writings, and understanding of law, liberty, and citizenship.

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Center for Thomas More Studies

Presidential Transitions Jan 29, 2025

Show notes

This week, host Dan Hugger is joined by John Pinheiro and Dylan Pahman to discuss the presidential transition. What have past presidential transitions looked like, and how does this one compare? What should we make of the flurry of pardons from Presidents Trump and Biden? How many amendments does our Constitution, in fact, have—and what do they even mean? Who needs them when you have executive orders? And how will those new executive orders affect the economy and civil service?

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Biden Pardons 5 Members of His Family in Final Minutes in Office | The New York Times

Family outraged after man convicted in Connecticut killings gets clemency from Biden in drug case | AP News

Pardon of January 6 United States Capitol attack defendants | Wikipedia

Biden Says Equal Rights Amendment Has Passed, but Does Not Force Certification | The New York Times

Birthright Citizenship Is American Citizenship | John Yoo

Trump Admin Orders Federal D.E.I. Efforts to Shut Down by Wednesday Night | The New York Times

Restoring America Means More Tuskegee Airmen and Less DEI