Acton Line

The Rev. John Arthur Nunes, Ph.D., is a Lutheran pastor and senior fellow at the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy, discusses the current challenges in higher education. How can students be challenged to enter into the world of new ideas in an era when many students and administrators seem more concerned with affirming student identities and experience? What are the current challenges to academic freedom in the face of increasing pressure to censor ideas? How can campus leaders promote an environment of free inquiry? What bureaucratic obstacles exist to building student resilience? In addition, Rev. Nunes considers the promise of creative disruption in the educational status quo by new institutions of higher learning, particularly within the humanities. How does a robust education in the humanities prepare students not only for a future world of work but all of life.The conversation concludes with an illuminating discussion of the religious dimensions of current conflicts in higher education and how trust can be restored in damaged institutions.Harvard lecturer takes heat for defending existence of biological sex Biology Lecturer’s Comments on Biological Sex Draw BacklashUniversity of AustinPano Kanelos on the University of Austin | Acton LineAcademic Leaders Task Force on Campus Free ExpressionMeant for More: In, With. and Under the Ordinary | John NunesWittenberg Meets the World: Reimagining the Reformation at the Margins | Alberto L. GarciaThe Road to Character | David BrooksA World after Liberalism: Philosophers of the Radical Right | Matthew Rose Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’ve heard of the Seven Deadly Sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. Each is a natural and recurring human weakness that impedes happiness. In addition to these vices, however, there are deadly economic “sins.” They, too, wreak havoc in both our personal lives and in society. They can seem intuitively compelling, yet lead to waste and lost prosperity. Dylan Pahman, Acton’s research fellow and executive editor of the Journal of Markets and Morality, sat down with James R. Otteson, author of "Seven Deadly Economic Sins," to discuss his lecture on this very topic during Acton University 2022.  Subscribe to our podcasts ‘Seven Deadly Economic Sins’  About James R. Otteson  David Hume | Essential Scholars Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Acton Institute’s Emerging Leaders Program is a leadership development initiative that brings together a cohort of students from across the nation and globe for a transformative experience. During the summer, Emerging Leaders gain professional experience, grow their network, and delve deeper into the ideas of a free and virtuous society.  In this episode, we sit down with three of our Emerging Leaders: Walker Haskins, Lauren McCoy, and David Mendoza. They discuss Acton’s Emerging Leaders Program, the landscape of the broader liberty movement, and how Acton fits into their future scholarly pursuits. Also discussed is Walter’s and David’s research on Wawrzyniec Goślicki, a 16th-century influential but now largely forgotten Polish bishop whose book, The Accomplished Senator, argued for the importance of legislative bodies in mediating between a monarch’s absolutist tendencies and noblemen’s attempts to acquire more power. Subscribe to our podcasts Emerging Leaders Program | Acton Institute  Our Mission & Core Principles | Acton Institute Why Read the Classics in Economics? | Econlib How to Get Action | Foundation for Economic Education Wawrzyniec Goślicki | Wikipedia ‘De optimo senatore’ | Wikipedia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Francis Beckwith, professor of philosophy and church-state studies at Baylor University, discusses the lecture he gave at Acton University 2022 entitled, “Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith.” Sarah Negri, Acton’s research project coordinator, sits down with Beckwith to discuss how religious rites such as marriage have a special significance not typically recognized in civil law, and how religion is unfairly set up as in conflict with reason, when in fact rites and religious observances can be profoundly reasonable. In addition, they talk about the difference between conscience and religious freedom, and how using these two similar but distinct concepts as a basis for legal decisions may have different social ramifications. Subscribe to our podcasts About Francis J. Beckwith  Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith  The Heart Has Its Reasons | Church Life Journal  Is it Time to Rethink the School Prayer Cases? | Anchoring Truths  Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith | Kresta in the Afternoon  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer at the Human Rights Foundation, discusses his new book, “Check Your Financial Privilege,” and how cryptocurrency can aid in pulling people out of poverty. Dan Hugger, Acton’s librarian and research associate, sits down with Gladstein to discuss what's happening, for example, in Nigeria, where human rights activists depend on Bitcoin for donations. In Cuba, those who saved in Bitcoin managed to stay afloat after a dual-currency system devalued the peso. In El Salvador, where remittance fees and exchange rates can eat away a simple money transfer to family members in need, Bitcoin offers hope with lower fees and faster transactions.  Subscribe to our podcasts ‘Check Your Financial Privilege’ About Alex Gladstein  The Quest for Digital Cash | Bitcoin Magazine  Bitcoin's Price Surge Amid Doubts: What Would Aquinas Say? | Forbes  Crypto and Blockchain: A flash in the pan or something more? | Acton Institute  Should you bet on Bitcoin? | Acton Institute  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” is one of the most popular Christian podcasts of the past year. It chronicles how Mars Hill Church in Seattle went from one of the most influential multisite evangelical churches in the U.S. to an abuse- and scandal-ridden nightmare, finally having to shut its doors for good in 2014 following the resignation of its charismatic founder, Mark Driscoll. Eric Kohn, Acton’s director of marketing and communications, sits down with Mike Cosper, producer, writer, and host of the podcast, to discuss the lessons from the stories Cosper tells in “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill,” as well as the problems associated with celebrity pastors and church institutions.  Subscribe to our podcasts ‘The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill’ Podcasts | Christianity Today  About Mike Cosper Is Christianity doing more harm than good to American men? | Acton Institute PowerBlog  Saving men requires the leadership of laymen | Acton Institute PowerBlog  Faithfulness Is the Future of the Church | Acton Institute Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anthony Bradley, professor of religious studies at The King’s College, NYC, and Acton research fellow, sits down with Dan Churchwell, Acton’s director of program outreach, to discuss the importance of fatherhood as well as Dr. Bradley’s new research on the good that fraternities do in the way of moral formation of young men. Subscribe to our podcasts About Anthony B. Bradley, PhD  Black Marriage Matters | Acton Institute  Saving men requires the leadership of laymen | Acton Institute  Is Christianity doing more harm than good to American men? | Acton Institute  Mobilizing Fathers to Close Prisons - Dr. Anthony Bradley | BreakPoint  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Award-winning author Jessica Hooten Wilson has written an exciting new book—“The Scandal of Holiness: Renewing Your Imagination in the Company of Literary Saints”—on how we’re called to live beyond a merely mundane existence of settling for small goals. In fact, we’re called to live a life of holiness. Wilson instructs us on how hearing the call to holiness requires cultivating a new imagination—one rooted in the art and discipline of reading. Reading with eyes attuned to the saints who populate great works of literature enables us to see how God opens up ways of holy living.  Sarah Negri, Acton’s research project coordinator, sits down with Wilson to discuss how literature has the power to show us what a truly holy life looks like.  Subscribe to our podcasts The Scandal of Holiness: Renewing Your Imagination in the Company of Literary Saints About Jessica Hooten Wilson  Jessica Hooten Wilson on Solzhenitsyn Against Propaganda | Acton Institute YouTube Channel  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Betsy DeVos joins Eric Kohn, Acton’s director of marketing and communications, in the studio to discuss her new book, “Hostages No More.“ In her book, DeVos writes about her experiences working in the Trump administration and how the “woke” curriculum is negatively impacting our children’s learning. She also lays out a detailed approach to fixing America’s badly broken education system and securing a prosperous future for our kids.  Subscribe to our podcasts Hostages No More by Betsy DeVos | Center Street About Betsy DeVos Redemption, not retreat: Betsy DeVos' vision for redeeming U.S. education | Acton Institute PowerBlog  Betsy DeVos and Sal Khan on education and entrepreneurial disruption | Acton Line Podcast What's driving the decline of religion in America? Secular education | Acton Institute PowerBlog  The Myth of a Value-Free Education | Acton Institute Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Dan Churchwell, Acton’s director of program outreach, sits down with Dr. Richard Turnbull, the director of the Center for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics, to discuss how banks and credit unions develop a culture of savings, independence, and poverty prevention. Do trends in the direction of large, national, even global banking institutions best serve these ideals? And what are the implications of the loss of diversity in institutional and local provisions for personal saving? What does all this tell us about the nature of civil society? Subscribe to our podcasts About Dr. Richard Turnbull  Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics  4 arguments for the free market | Acton Institute Brexit: One last roll of the dice? | Acton Institute How to rebuild the economy after COVID-19 | Acton Institute Boris Johnson: The great survivor? | Acton Institute PowerBlog John Calvin and God's civil government | Acton Institute PowerBlog  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.