

What We Can't Not Talk About
Austin Institute
Join Austin Institute Executive Director and Director of Academic Programs Dr. Marianna Orlandi as she discusses topics that are relevant for the family and for society at large with prominent scholars and leaders in their fields. We promise that you’ll learn something and enjoy the conversations!
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 17, 2021 • 36min
Memory and Mortality, with Dr. Rachel Alexander
Have you ever wondered how an immortal life would look like? In this episode, we have privilege to discuss some fascinating aspects of this topic with Dr. Rachel Alexander. Based on Dr. Alexander's treatment of "Memory and Mortality in Homer’s Odyssey," soon to be published in the book "Political Theory on Death and Dying," we talked about living in the past, about the passing of time, and about truth seeking. Tune in, enjoy, ... and remember to share!
LINK: https://www.routledge.com/Political-Theory-on-Death-and-Dying/Dolgoy-Hale-Peabody/p/book/9780367437411

Sep 9, 2021 • 1h 3min
Lecture: Ties That Bind, Preserving Parent/Child Relationships
We are back with season 2 of our podcast and we are kickstarting it with a special lecture given by Joseph Price, Professor of Economics at Brigham Young University and Senior Fellow of the Austin Institute and moderated by Andrew Brown, J.D., Distinguished Senior Fellow of Child and Family Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
In this episode, we explore the rights and responsibilities of parents and the limits of both parental and governmental authority over children. The parent-child relationship is the foundation of civil society. Increasingly, however, government is attempting to exert control over basic child rearing decisions traditionally made by parents.
Watch the lecture: https://youtu.be/0kHNOoI_3I8
Visit Texas Public Policy Foundation: https://www.texaspolicy.com/

Aug 19, 2021 • 39min
Protecting Your Children and Yourself From Pornography: Here Is How, with Sean Clifford
Once again, we are happy to host a conversation on the issue of today: online pornography. With the help of Sean Clifford, CEO of Canopy.us, and happy father of four children, we tried to understand what each of us can do to make sure that our kids are not exposed, not even accidentally, to this new and dangerous drug. As our guest tells us, internet is a great resource and we all love our smartphones (and our podcasts!); but the internet is also a very dangerous place. Internet filters are a great and necessary help. By the way, there are filters out there that can help adults too! Listen, share, and consider protecting your loved ones.
Canopy:
https://canopy.us/, https://www.covenanteyes.com/?msclkid=7a7c12200cf41fa7d10672dc5f188ce6
DISCOUNT CODE: SAFER at checkout: 15% off + 30 days free with any subscription plan.
Meet Circle:
https://meetcircle.com/

Aug 10, 2021 • 29min
What Does a Pro-Life America Look Like?, With Valerie Huber
What is the role that America can play in defending and promoting the right to life of all children, everywhere in the world? How does its international policy look like today and how did it look like during the former administration? In this episode we recorded a couple weeks back, we have the privilege of hosting a conversation with Valerie Huber, an architect of the Geneva Consensus Declaration (tune in to learn about it!) and former U.S. Special Representative for Global Women’s Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Enjoy!
Geneva Consensus
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/geneva-consensus-declaration-english.pdf

Jul 29, 2021 • 44min
"Jordan Peterson, God and Christianity," with Professor Christopher Kaczor
As promised, Professor Christopher Kaczor is back on our show to talk about his latest release—published today: "Jordan Peterson, God, and Christianity: The Search for a Meaningful Life!" Co-authored with Associate Professor Matthew R. Petrusek, the book analyses Peterson’s biblical series on YouTube as well as his bestselling book "12 Rules for Life" and his latest "Beyond Order" from a Christian perspective. In this episode, I get to ask Professor Kaczor a few deeper questions about Genesis, human creativity, and true happiness. Not *instead* ... but *before* reading the book, tune in for another great talk!
LINKS:
Book: https://books.wordonfire.org/peterson-book
https://www.amazon.com/Jordan-Peterson-God-Christianity-Meaningful/dp/1943243786/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=kaczor+jordan&qid=1627412081&s=books&sr=1-1
Our book club: https://www.austin-institute.org/events/the-good-life-book-club
Koons' episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6USikEhKuXigE2WCXmz886

Jul 14, 2021 • 36min
Recovering Virtue: Humility in the Age of Social Media, with Dr. Melissa Moschella
As promised, Dr. Melissa Moschella came back on our show! This time, we talked about true humility and about the ways in which exercising this virtue would improve all of our social interactions. In an age dominated by constant self-awareness and by an actual cult of the self, humility reminds us that we do not need to be "liked," but to be true to others. Even within marriage, humility is necessary to acknowledge our limits and to grow together, as couples and as individuals. Enjoy... with prudence, courage, temperance and justice, of course!
What happened to Virtue, the Common Good, and Pluralism, Teachings from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam:
https://www.religiousfreedominstitute.org/rfievents/what-happened-to-virtue-the-common-good-and-pluralism

Jul 2, 2021 • 47min
No, We Can't Not Talk About Pornography, with Dr. Jimmy Myers
**This episode contains mature content**
If there is one thing we absolutely must talk about, that is pornography. We have to talk about it because it affects our children, our friends, our spouses. If you are young, and if you are using it, it will inevitably affect your sexual life (let alone the romantic one). If you are a parent, you need to listen to Dr. Jimmy Myers, Founder and CEO of the Timothy Center, whose experience treating sexual addictions will be an eye-opener for many. Listen, and *do* talk about this!
Timothy Center:
https://www.timothycenter.com/whatwedo
Brain Heart World Documentary:
https://brainheartworld.org/screening-type
How Porn Can Harm Consumers' Sex Lives:
https://fightthenewdrug.org/how-porn-can-harm-consumers-sex-lives
How Porn Can Change the Brain:
https://fightthenewdrug.org/how-porn-can-change-the-brain/
Canopy, a digital parenting app that blocks pornography:
http://canopy.us
Pornographic Double-Bind by Professor Mark Regnerus
https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/11/the-pornographic-double-bind?fbclid=IwAR1sDl_XK39JdSYpMFwz6FID2eYLKJYalzC7z4FUQDoctt1IPexf6g9Lv-s

Jun 23, 2021 • 33min
Religion and Science: Friends or Foes? with Professor Robert Koons
In this episode, Austin Institute's Senior Fellow, UT Professor of Philosophy Robert Koons, offers a brilliant description of the reasons why modern science does not disprove the existence of God. Last spring, Professor Koons presented these arguments more extensively, in the context of a compact seminar that he led for Austin Institute's attendees. (Be sure to subscribe for the next compact seminars: they are not recorded!) Go to www.austin-institute.org to check out our upcoming events! Enjoy!
Links:
Where The Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism, by Alvin Plantinga: https://www.amazon.com/Where-Conflict-Really-Lies-Naturalism/dp/0199812098
Science and Theism: Concord, not Conflict*: http://robkoons.net/uploads/1/3/5/2/135276253/science_and_theism.pdf

Jun 10, 2021 • 25min
Did Covid Affect the Family? with Professor Mark Regnerus
In this episode, University of Texas Professor and Senior Fellow of the Austin Institute Mark Regnerus shows how the family resists all sorts of pandemics, including biological ones. During lockdown and mandatory quarantines, this fundamental unit of society has again proven to be a safe haven for all the subjects involved. Rather than living alone in their one-bedroom apartments, children happily moved back home. Notwithstanding the pressure caused by the pandemic, the majority of married couples reported stronger marital bonds and greater appreciation for their spouses. The family helps, uniquely so.

Jun 4, 2021 • 38min
The Family or the State: To Whom Do Children Belong? with Melissa Moschella
Drawing from the research presented in her 2016 book, philosophy professor and Austin Institute senior fellow Dr. Melissa Moschella discusses the status, the nature, and the reasonableness of parental rights. In a world increasingly concerned with individual rights and forgetful of duties, the risk is to forget that children are first and foremost the fruits of spousal love.
Link to her book: https://www.amazon.com/Whom-Children-Belong-Education-Childrens/dp/1316605000
Link to her previous episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5VeVtUjfGJBBIqnRgMKwRq?si=0ca29ed0182146f7