This week, Dan Hugger, Dan Churchwell, and Dylan Pahman discuss the question of artificial intelligence, particularly the software behind a series of AI chatbots that have become publicly available in the past year. What are the possible uses and abuses, especially when incorporated into search engines like Microsoft’s Bing? And what happens when they stop being polite and start acting as if they were alive?Then the panel discusses a paper presented last week by Dylan Pahman at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s American Politics and Government Summit. The paper, titled “A Brief, Christian Prehistory of American Liberalism,” addresses an ongoing and often contentious debate within the American conservative movement on the place of the liberal tradition within conservatism.Subscribe to our podcastsRegister Now for Business Matters 2023Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing)A science fiction magazine closed submissions after being bombarded with stories written by ChatGPT | Fast CompanyA Concerning Trend | Neil ClarkeBing Chat is blatantly, aggressively misaligned | Less Wrong Is Bing too belligerent? Microsoft looks to tame AI chatbot | AP NewsAmerican Politics And Government Summit | ISIPhoto Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan start with a discussion of President’s Day, a holiday where we’ve collectivized all the Presidents of the United States of America – good, and, and indifferent – into one day of celebration. That means it’s an opportunity for Eric to once again highlight how awful Woodrow Wilson really was. Then, they move on to the horrific shooting at Michigan State University. Why is it a new trend for advocates of a particular set of political beliefs to respond to these incidents with “f*** your thoughts and prayers?” And, if we spent some time thinking and praying about our legal system and the way it works, what could we imagine doing differently that could help prevent incidents like this from happening again? Finally, they examine the new editing of certain works by Roald Dahl to remove potentially offensive words, phrases, and ideas. Thomas Bowdler, please call your office.Subscribe to our podcastsRegister Now for Business Matters 2023Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing)Timeline of events in Michigan State University shooting | Associated PressStatement from Michigan State Rep. Ranjeev Puri | TwitterThe Michigan State University killer was previously charged with a felony but was still able to buy guns. Here’s why | CNNCritics reject changes to Roald Dahl books as censorship | Associated PressSen. Josh Hawley wants to create a legal age to be allowed on social media | NBC NewsBut What If We're Wrong?: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past | Chuck Klosterman'Fahrenheit 451' Was Once Sanitized for Public Schools | ReasonPhoto Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today Eric, Dan, and Dylan are joined by Terry Mattingly of GetReligion.org to discuss his essay in the Winter 2022 edition of Religion & Liberty, "The Evolving Religion of Journalism.” How has journalism—and its audience—changed, and why? Has the internet transformed broadcasting into narrowcasting? How has a transition from the old bias of liberalism to illiberalism, even “Jacobinism,” remade what journalists produce and we consume? Then the guys look at the Super Bowl ads and explore why they seem to be less entertaining and mostly just celebrities in different unfunny situations. And was the Super Bowl ad that drew the most attention an ad for Jesus?Subscribe to our podcastsRegister Now for Business Matters 2023Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing)The Evolving Religion of Journalism | Terry Mattingly, Religion & Liberty Subscribe to Religion & Liberty GetReligion.org Overload: Will any shows from the Golden Age of TV endure? | Sonny Bunch, The Washington Examiner Put the State of the Union address out of its misery | Eric Kohn, Acton Institute Super Bowl commercials, from Adam Driver(s) to M&M candies; the hits and the misses | NPR Plug-In: Around 100 million Super Bowl viewers saw new commercials — about Jesus? | Get Religion Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan try to pump the hot air out of the Chinese surveillance-balloon story. What was China up to? Should we have shot it down earlier? Was the purpose to induce Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to cancel his visit? Then the guys turn their attention to the murder of Tyre Nichols in Memphis. Is this an example of the police department and the city acting appropriately in quickly firing the officers involved? How can we use this awful tragedy to make changes that will result in increased trust between the police and citizens? And finally, a presentation at the World Economic Forum suggests that wearable technology will soon enable the reading of brainwaves, which employers could allegedly use to make us more productive, or police could use to prevent crimes before they happen. Are we really on the cusp of Minority Report? Or does this whole idea misunderstand the nature of the human person?Subscribe to our podcastsRegister Now for Business Matters 2023Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing)Timeline: A Chinese spy balloon’s 7-day trip across the United States | PoliticoHere is a timeline of events in the death of Tyre Nichols | New York TimesDavos AM23 — Ready for Brain Transparency? | World Economic ForumThe Metaverse Does Not Exist | Dan Hugger, Acton InstituteSuppose You Were an Idiot: On the Importance of Acknowledging Incompetence | Public DiscourseA Multi-Level Bayesian Analysis of Racial Bias in Police Shootings at the County-Level in the United States, 2011–2014 | PLOS ONETowards a Pure Theory of Threat Systems | The American Economic Review Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan breakdown the Ticketmaster/Taylor Swift ticket sale controversy in the wake of the proprietors of Live Nation Entertainment being dragged before Congress for a hearing. Are they a monopoly? If so, how would we know, and what should we do? And what is more offensive: Ticketmaster’s expensive fees and crashing website or a dozen U.S. senators reading questions written for them by junior staffers with Taylor Swift lyrics in them? Next, it’s 90 seconds until midnight on the Doomsday Clock, the PR gimmick of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists that allegedly predicts the apocalypse. Should we take it seriously, or is this another case of “scientism” instead of science—people with expertise in one area getting out of their lane? And finally, Big Tech has big layoffs. Maybe these companies aren’t the all-powerful behemoths both sides of the political aisle make them out to be.Subscribe to our podcastsRegister Now for Business Matters 2023Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing)Ticketmaster Faces the Music | The Morning Dispatch52 Seconds of U.S. Senators Quoting Taylor Swift LyricsThe Doomsday Clock reveals how close we are to total annihilation | CNN‘Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Demands $10 Trillion or It Will Destroy Earth by Setting Clock to Midnight | The OnionThe Tech Bubble Burst | The Dispatch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan review the story of Ivan Provorov, the defenseman for the National Hockey League’s Philadelphia Flyers who skipped participating in warmups in a Pride-themed jersey before the team’s Pride Night game, citing his Russian Orthodox religious beliefs as the reason. Should this even be a story? Should NHL or other professional sports teams impose political stances and social causes on players? Then the guys look at the upcoming fight over raising the nation’s debt ceiling. If this isn’t the time to have a serious conversation about spending and debt, when is? And finally, they examine the enigma that is Rep. George Santos, who has come under fire recently for numerous inflated claims about his résumé and background. What drives people to lie about themselves, and to such an extent, when the truth can be so easily found out?Subscribe to our podcastsRegister Now for Business Matters 2023Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing) Flyers’ Provorov cites religion for boycott on Pride night | Associated Press Understanding the Debt Ceiling Debate | The Morning Dispatch James M. Buchanan on the Ethics of Public Debt and Default | James E. Alvey, Journal of Markets & Morality George Santos: Everything the Embattled Congressman Has Lied About | Forbes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan examine the revelations that President Biden, when he was Vice President Biden, mishandled classified documents, similar in some ways to how former President Trump mishandled “Top Secret” documents he took from the White House as his presidency ended. With such serious questions on offer about how much information we classify and inconsistencies in how we punish people who mishandle it, why are so many people focusing only on questions of hypocrisy on Biden’s part? Next, the guys turn to the storming of the capitol and other government buildings in Brazil by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Even as it conjures comparisons to January 6 in the U.S., is that the most helpful lens through which to examine this story? And finally, the constantly wrong Paul Ehrlich is back, having been featured on a “60 Minutes” segment about mass extinction, to declare himself to be the embodiment of science. How wrong can one biologist be? Very, it turns out.Subscribe to our podcastsRegister Now for Business Matters 2023Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing) Biden White House Mounts Absurd Defense on Classified-Document Discoveries | National Review Mar-a-Lago Madness | The Re-Education with Eli Lake The Dream of Scalable Democracy | Dylan Pahman, Law & Liberty True Liberty Demands Respectful Disagreement | Dylan Pahman, Acton Institute Welcome to the Internet | Bo Burnham (NSFW language) Bolsonaro Supporters Wreak Havoc on Brasília | The Morning Dispatch Letter from Birmingham Jail | Martin Luther King, Jr. Scientists say planet in midst of sixth mass extinction, Earth's wildlife running out of places to live | 60 Minutes 60 Minutes Promotes Paul Ehrlich's Failed Doomsaying One More Time | Ronald Bailey, Reason Paul Ehrlich: Wrong on 60 Minutes and for Almost 60 Years | FEE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan remember the life and legacy of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. What will be his enduring contributions to theology and to the Catholic faith? And how will his decision to resign the papacy, the first time in 600 years that this occurred, and handling of the Church’s sex abuse scandal be factored into his legacy? Then the guys turn their attention to Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s election as Speaker of the House after 15 rounds of voting. Is this a glorious mess that points to a return to normal order in the House? Or a sign of complete disarray in Congress and the Republican Party? Both? Finally, they examine the injury to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin during last week’s Monday Night Football game. Was the rush to resume the game, which was finally postponed, an indictment of our obsession with sports above the health and safety of the players?Subscribe to our podcastsRegister Now for Business Matters 2023Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing)Benedict XVI, First Modern Pope to Resign, Dies at 95 | New York TimesPope Benedict XVI: 1927-2022 | Joshua Gregor, Acton InstituteCaritas in Veritate | Pope Benedict XVIIntroduction to Christianity | Cardinal Joseph RatzingerJesus of Nazareth | Pope Benedict XVI‘In the Beginning…': A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall | Cardinal Joseph RatzingerFoundations of a Free & Virtuous Society | Dylan Pahman, Acton InstituteThe House Speaker Battle’s Dramatic Conclusion | The Morning DispatchWhat to Know About Damar Hamlin’s Injury | New York TimesMore than $8 million has been raised to support a charity backed by NFL star Damar Hamlin | Insider Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman discuss China’s decision to relent on their “zero-COVID policies. With an ineffective vaccine and much of the older population unvaccinated, what happens if the current COVID variant rips through the country with a huge death toll? And why did China, which is clearly indifferent to human life, even decide to engage in these policies in the first place? Then the guys examine the release of Trump NFTs, which raised $4.5 million for the former president. Is there any current value to NFTs aside from the value people place on them by buying them? And finally, Eric, Dan, and Dylan make some traditional, and nontraditional, Christmas-movie recommendations.Subscribe to our podcastsRegister Now for Business Matters 2023Apply Now for Acton University 2023 (Early Bird Pricing)From Zero Covid to No Plan: Behind China’s Pandemic U-Turn | New York TimesDonald Trump's NFT Trading Cards Sell Out, Raise Over $5M | CNETRemember Alf? He’s back! In pog form.Christmas Movies:Dylan: Spirited & Jingle All the WayDan: It’s A Wonderful Life & The Muppet Christmas CarolEric: The Muppet Christmas Carol & Die Hard Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric Kohn, Dan Hugger, and Dylan Pahman tackle the “Twitter Files,” the internal documents from the social media company that have been released by several independent journalists like Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss. What, if anything, do they tell us about the way Twitter was run previously? Is there even enough information in what was released to draw meaningful conclusions about the pre–Elon Musk regime? Next, with Jimmy Lai sentenced to more than five years for his conviction on “fraud” charges, what will this mean for his upcoming National Security Law trial? And finally, is Christmas over-commercialized? And does it really matter if it is?Subscribe to our podcastsTwitter Files Part 1 | Matt TaibbiTwitter Files Part 2 | Bari WeissTwitter Files Part 3 | Matt TaibbiTwitter Files Part 4 | Michael ShellenbergerElon Musk and Tucker Carlson Don’t Understand the First Amendment | David French, The AtlanticJimmy Lai Gets 5 Years for Fraud as He Awaits Trial | Isaac Willour, Acton InstituteThe Hong Konger Film Website Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.