Michael Novak: A Catholic Identity in 20th Century America

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Samuel Gregg, president of and Friedrich Hayek Chair in Economics and Economic History at the American Institute for Economic Research. He is also an affiliate scholar at the Acton Institute. They discuss his new essay “Michael Novak the Thoroughly Catholic Capitalist,” published in the Summer 2025 issue of Religion & Liberty. How was the American Catholic milieu of the first half of the 20th century different from today’s? Why were religious, ethnic, and political identities so intertwined? How did Michael Novak go from being a writer and journalist to a public intellectual? From liberal to conservative? What were Novak’s unique contributions to Catholic social thought?

Subscribe to our podcasts

Watch this podcast here 

Michael Novak: A Thoroughly Catholic Capitalist

Samuel Gregg | AIER

The Open Church | Michael Novak

Spirit of Democratic Capitalism | Michael Novak

Unmeltable Ethnics: Politics and Culture in American Life | Michael Novak

Toward the future : Catholic Social Thought and the U.S. economy: A Lay Letter | Lay Commission on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy

Will it Liberate?: Questions About Liberation Theology | Michael Novak

Instruction on Certain Aspects of the "Theology of  Liberation” | Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991) | Pope John Paul II

A Conversation with Michael Novak 

If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at podcast@acton.org.