In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Isaac Willour, an analyst at Bowyer Research, America's leading pro-fiduciary proxy consulting firm, about all things ESG, an investing principle that prioritizes environmental issues, social issues, and corporate governance.

What is ESG and how does it influence corporate governance and investment? What moral responsibilities do shareholders have in corporate governance? How do large state pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and institutional investors fit into the world of ESG? What is the role of consumers and political polarization in driving corporate activism? Are right-wing and left-wing corporate activists two sides of the same coin?

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Who Benefitted from DEI Initiatives? | Acton Line

Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation | Business Roundtable

Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia—CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: Annual Summary of Engagements with Corporations 2024–25

Bowyer Research

David Bahnsen: My Speech at the Gilead Sciences Shareholder Meeting

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In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Dylan Pahman, research fellow at the Acton Institute and founder and president of the St. Nicholas Cabasilas Institute for Orthodoxy & Liberty, about his account of the history of economic thought found in his new book, The Kingdom of God and the Common Good: Orthodox Christian Social Thought (Ancient Faith, 2025).

What is the Christian prehistory of economics? How do moral questions inform the work of the classical political economists? Why does modern economics distance itself from moral questions?

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The Kingdom of God and the Common Good: Orthodox Christian Social Thought | Dylan Pahman

Dylan Pahman Is Starting the Conversation on Orthodox Christian Social Thought | Acton Line

From Christian Political Economy to Christian Socialism | 2nd Annual Academic Colloquium

The Mainstreaming of Marx: Measuring the Effect of the Russian Revolution on Karl Marx’s Influence | Phillip W. Magness and Michael Makovi

History of Economic Analysis | Joseph A. Schumpeter

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 [email protected].

This month on the Acton Rundown Dan & Mark chat about upcoming Acton events and new video content.

Winter 2025 Religion & Liberty:

Why Orwell Still Matters by John Rodden

Video content:

Stephanie Slade Is Chronicling the New Right

Peter Boettke Is Teaching the Humanistic Foundations of Austrian Economics

Rev. Robert A. Sirico Responds to Jimmy Lai's Guilty Verdict #freejimmylai

Stephen Barrows Explains the Jimmy Lai Verdict

Acton Institute's 2025 Christmas Message

Father Robert Sirico on What Christmas Is All About

Kris Mauren Is Thinking About Think Tanks

Upcoming events:

Entrepreneurship and the Economy in Uncertain Times

Chicago Luncheon

Acton University 2026 | Acton Institute

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Kris Mauren, co-founder and president of the Acton Institute, about all things Acton. What was the original, animating idea behind the founding of the Acton Institute? Why a think tank? What makes Grand Rapids so grand? What are the greatest challenges Acton faces in fulfilling its mission? What new initiatives should viewers be on the lookout for?

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Acton Institute

Sources in Early Modern Economics, Ethics, and Law (First Series)

Sources in Early Modern Economics, Ethics, and Law (Second Series)

Journal of Markets & Morality

Makers of Modern Christian Social Thought

The History of Freedom | Lord Actonnotes

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In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Father Robert Sirico, co-founder and president emeritus of the Acton Institute, about the true meaning of Christmas.

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A Charlie Brown Christmas | Charles M. Schulz

A Christmas Carol | Charles Dickens

Pied Beauty | Gerard Manley Hopkins

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In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Stephen Barrows, chief operations officer of the Acton Institute, about the recent conviction of entrepreneur and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, who was found guilty by a Hong Kong court on Monday in a landmark national security trial.

Who is Jimmy Lai, and what is his long-standing relationship with Acton? What were the charges brought against him, and why are there reasons to doubt their fairness? How does Jimmy’s arrest, trial, and conviction show the erosion of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the rule of law in Hong Kong? What has been the reaction of the international community to the conviction? How can freedom-loving people show solidarity with Jimmy Lai?

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Hong Kong Court Finds Jimmy Lai Guilty in National Security Trial

Governments and groups condemn conviction of Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai

Rev. Robert A. Sirico Responds to Jimmy Lai's Guilty Verdict #freejimmylai

The Hong Konger (documentary)

The Call of the Entrepreneur (documentary)

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 [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Peter J. Boettke, Distinguished University Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as the director of the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, about the importance of the history of economic thought and the Austrian School of economics.

Why read the classics in economics? What is the place of the Austrian School in economics today? How is the humanistic and scientific nature of the Austrian School related to political ideology and commitments? What is the prehistory of the Austrian School in the theologians and jurists of early modern Europe? How do figures in the Austrian tradition relate economics to religion? Why have GMU and Mercatus been so successful in fostering research and educating the next generation of scholars in the Austrian tradition?

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Why Read the Classics in Economics? | Peter J. Boettke

After Samuelson, Who Needs Adam Smith? | Kenneth E. Boulding

Competition and Entrepreneurship | Israel M. Kirzner

Human Action: A Treatise on Economics | Ludwig von Mises

Mercatus Center

F. A. Hayek Program

Sources in Early Modern Economics, Ethics, and Law (First Series)

Sources in Early Modern Economics, Ethics, and Law (Second Series)

The Peaceableness Project

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 [email protected].

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Stephanie Slade, senior editor at Reason magazine and a fellow in liberal studies at the Acton Institute, about the “New Right.” Who comprises the New Right, and what is their approach to politics? Has the old conservative movement failed? How does the New Right’s rhetoric relate to their larger political project? Who were the forerunners of the New Right? What are the religious currents of the New Right? Why should conservatives appeal to ideas rather than passions? Is there a moral dimension to conflicts within the American conservative movement?

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Against Game of Thrones Christianity | Stephanie Slade

The New Right Isn't So New | Stephanie Slade

Liberalism Isn't Rule by Elites | Stephanie Slade

The Devil Went Down to Wall Street | Dan Hugger

National Conservatism and the Great Controversy Reborn | Dan Hugger

Frank S. Meyer's Fusionism Melded Classical Liberalism with Traditional Religion | Stephanie Slade

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 [email protected].

This month on the Acton Rundown Dan & Mark chat about upcoming Acton events and new video content.

Essays:

Fall 2025 Religion & Liberty

American Religion by the Numbers by Miles Smith

A Pope for the 21st Century

Video content:

Anne Bradley Interrogates Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s Abundance

Yasir Qadhi on LEAVING Salafism and Rejecting Sectarianism

Peter Lipsett Is Podcasting to Answer the Question, "What Is the Right?"

How to Rebel

John Wilsey Is Priming Conservatives for Religious Freedom

Andrew Abela Is Popularizing the Virtues with “Superhabits”

Upcoming events:

Artificial Intelligence, Human Dignity, and the Free Society | Acton Institute

Acton University 2026 | Acton Institute

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Andrew Abela, founding dean of the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America and affiliate faculty member at Harvard University’s Human Flourishing Program, about his book Superhabits: The Universal System for a Successful Life. How do we best popularize virtues? How does the positive psychology account of the virtues differ from St. Thomas Aquinas’s theological account? What are “superhabits,” and how do they differ from mere “habits”? How do constituent virtues relate to the four cardinal virtues? What resources has the Busch school developed to help students, faculty, and business leaders cultivate the virtues? How do you decide which virtues to cultivate?  

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Superhabits: The Universal System for a Successful Life | Andrew Abela

Superhabits Substack

The Anatomy of Virtue | Andrew Abela

Virtues, Jordan Peterson, and Thomas Aquinas | Andrew Abela

Busch School Virtues Diagnostic

GrowVirtue: The New Superhabits App

Treatise on the Virtues | St. Thomas Aquinas

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change | Stephen R. Covey

The Divine Center | Stephen R. Covey

He Once Ran the Most Powerful Conservative Think Tank in D.C. Now He's a Self-Help Guru Writing Books with Oprah. | Ian Ward on Arthur Brooks

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 [email protected].