Acton Line

Latest Episodes:

The foster care system is wrecking young lives Oct 20, 2021

Show notes

All children deserve the love and affection that come from being in a family. Most importantly, children deserve to have their needs met in a permanent and loving home. The original ideal of the foster care system was to provide such fundamental necessities until a child is reunited with his or her biological parents, or adopted. However, the present reality shows us something entirely different. The child welfare system has declined to the point where it now caters to the needs of the adults rather than to those of the children.

In this episode, Eric Kohn, Acton director of communications, sits with Naomi Schaefer Riley, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, to discuss her new book, No Way to Treat a Child: How the Foster Care System, Family Courts, and Racial Activists Are Wrecking Young Lives.

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No Way to Treat a Child: How the Foster Care System, Family Courts, and Racial Activists Are Wrecking Young Lives

Bio | Naomi Schaefer Riley

Anti-religious hostility takes aim at foster care and adoption agencies

Our Foster Care System Is Becoming A 'Pipeline' For Human Trafficking

Social justice crusaders are putting kids in the foster care system at risk

Banter Podcast | Naomi on American child welfare

Why kids in foster care end up sleeping in offices

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The political wisdom of Shakespeare's late plays Oct 13, 2021

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William Shakespeare is undoubtedly one of the greatest writers of Western civilization. As we watch or read his plays, we are still able to draw applicable lessons on politics, our fallen human nature, and how one should relate to God and neighbor.

In this episode, I sit down with Nicolas McAfee to discuss the political wisdom of Shakespeare's late plays.

Bio | Nicolas McAfee is a fourth-year doctoral student studying political philosophy at the University of Dallas. He is currently writing a dissertation on the political wisdom of William Shakespeare’s late plays under the direction of Dr. Gerard Wegemer. By unpacking the power of narrative storytelling to shape communities for good or ill, Nicolas’ work aims to foster thoughtful engagement of political literature and healthy participation in civic life. A native of Upland, Calif., he and his wife currently live in Irving, Texas.

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Playing Shakespeare: An Actor's Guide by John Barton

Playing Shakespeare, The Two Traditions, 1984

A Guide to Shakespeare's Political Thought

Can Shakespeare Survive Woke?

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How do we respond to Beijing’s forced-labor camps? Oct 06, 2021

Show notes

Forced labor camps have been embedded in Chinese politics since the birth of the People’s Republic of China. Mao Zedong created and instituted these camps to terrorize and indoctrinate anyone who didn’t “fall in line.”

Today these camps are more prevalent than ever. Not only are they hothouses for indoctrination and torture, but the products they produce are sold globally, generating more profit for the communist regime.

In this episode, Eric Kohn, Acton's director of communications, sits down with Weifeng Zhong, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, to discuss Dr. Zhong's troubling research.

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The China Challenge: The West Struggles To Respond To Beijing’s Forced-Labor Camps

Weifeng Zhong, Author at Discourse

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Cultivating Curiosity at Acton’s 1st Annual Academic Colloquium Sep 30, 2021

Show notes

On Friday, October 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Acton Institute will host its First Annual Academic Colloquium on Markets & Morality. This year’s theme is “Neo-Calvinism & Modern Economics.”

In this episode, Dan Hugger, librarian and research associate, and Sarah Negri, research project coordinator, both at the Acton Institute, sit down with Dylan Pahman, an Acton research fellow and executive editor of the Journal of Markets & Morality, to discuss why Acton is hosting an academic colloquium, what an academic colloquium is, and who should attend.

More details

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Lockdowns and their disturbing effects on children Sep 29, 2021

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COVID-19 has impacted us in ways that will continue to affect us for generations. In this episode, I explore a very particular consequence of COVID: Children born during the pandemic have scored significantly lower on IQ tests.

I sit down with Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, president and founder of the Ruth Institute, to unpack this disturbing phenomenon.

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The Ruth Institute

Bio | Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D

Love & Economics: It Takes a Family to Raise a Village

Love and Economics: Why the Laissez-Faire Family Doesn't Work

The Sexual State: How Elite Ideologies Are Destroying Lives and Why the Church Was Right All Along

Covid-19: Children born during the pandemic score lower on cognitive tests, study finds

Forbes deletes article on psychological damage of masking children - LifeSite

School Mask Mandates Mean Trauma For Millions Of Children, Especially Those From Low-Income Families

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The Beatles and Economics Sep 22, 2021

Show notes

The Beatles will go down in history as one of the most prolific music acts of all time. Their music is still played in our homes and around the world and has influenced pop culture on a global scale.

In this episode, Eric Kohn, Acton's Director of Communications, sits down with Samuel Staley to discuss his new book The Beatles and Economics: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and the Making of a Cultural Revolution.

Book | Beatles & Economics

Pope John Paul, George, and Ringo on the harms of high taxes

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Music contained in this episode:

Getting Better | The Beatles | 1967

I Want to Hold Your Hand | The Beatles | 1963

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | The Beatles | 1967

Here Comes the Sun | The Beatles | 1969

Everything in its Right Place | Radiohead | 2000

Come Together | The Beatles | 1969

Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) | The Beatles | 1965

Tomorrow Never Knows | The Beatles | 1966

Strawberry Fields Forever | The Beatles | 1966

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds | The Beatles | 1967

Revolution | The Beatles | 1968

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The legitimacy of executive powers during a state of emergency Sep 15, 2021

Show notes

“Crisis” is a catch-all phrase used in modern rhetoric typically attached to any movement or belief that aims to point out an issue. However, it is as important as ever to rationally conclude what constitutes a crisis, and to what extent eras of “crises” defend government intervention.

In this episode, Acton Institute’s research associate and librarian Dan Hugger sits down with participants of Acton’s Emerging Leader program, Grace Hemmeke, Ben Luker, and Jeremy Ward to discuss their Capstone project on the rights and responsibilities of government action in times of crisis.

The three Emerging Leaders discuss the ordered role of the United States government during times of crisis through the Acton Institute’s framework of a free and virtuous society, characterized by individual liberty, and sustained by religious principles. Their research was prompted by the government’s role in the COVID-19 crisis, and is extended to practical judgement in both historical and current analysis of catastrophic periods.

Are crises an agent in government force and control? And how will American society return to normalcy if and when this Coronavirus crisis is ever over?

COVID-19 bailout unleashed a pandemic of fraud

Is big government a near occasion of sin?

COVID-19: the tyranny of experts

Acton Line | Covid relief bill’s side effects on our future economy

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A New York firefighter tells his story of 9/11 Sep 08, 2021

Show notes

The events of 9/11 are forever etched in the hearts of all Americans. Most of us still remember exactly where we were when it happened. In this episode, Acton’s Director of Communications Eric Kohn sits down with Niels Jorgensen, a retired New York firefighter, who shares his story of what happened at ground zero that day.

As we approach the 20th anniversary of September 11th, let us reflect on the bravery and courage that took place those two decades ago and to be especially thankful for all that God has given us.

20 for 20 podcast: 20 Stories for 20 Years Since 9/11

The Gift of a Second Chance

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Islam & Economics Sep 01, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Nathan Mech, program outreach project manager here at the Acton Institute, sits down with Ali Salman, co-founder of Islam & Liberty Network, to discuss his new book, Islam & Economics.

Islam offers three moral principles of economic organization: ownership, wealth creation, and wealth circulation. Based on these principles, Islam and Economics derives a framework of operational institutional tenets for the economic organization of a society. It addresses all important business, policy, and equity issues that any economic system should resolve and broadens the discussion on the modern discipline of “Islamic economics.”

In this conversation, they delve into the most contentious issue within Islamic economics, which is charging interest. They cover how Islamic banks have answered the Qur’anic prohibition on usury, and how Salman sorts through this problem. Next, they explore the Islamic view of taxation, and Salman made an Islamic argument that the only two permissible forms of taxation are wealth taxes and land use taxes. Based on his view of taxation, Salman built an Islamic case for a limited government.

Islam & Economics: A Primer on Markets, Morality, and Justice

Islam & Liberty Network

On Islam available for first time in English

Islam and Markets

Islam and Freedom

Bio | Ali Salman

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Acton Unwind: We are not cogs for social engineers Aug 30, 2021

Show notes

This week on Acton Unwind, Sam Gregg, and special guests Dan Hugger and Michael Miller discuss the ongoing developments in Afghanistan as we approach the 31st deadline. Then, they discuss the $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill and how we can look to C.S. Lewis for guidance on how to respond. What is human infrastructure? Is the United States a civilization-building nation? Is all truth subjective?

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Biden’s ‘stimulus’ for a growing economy is all about central control

Afghanistan I fought for lacks foundation for freedom

A Taliban 9/11 - William McGurn

Bio | Michael Miller

Bio | Dan Hugger

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