Acton Line

On today’s episode, Acton’s director of research, John Pinheiro, speaks with Joe Creech, executive director of the Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities. They discuss what’s changed in higher education (for better and worse) and what role the Lilly Network plays.

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The Lilly Network

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Mark Clifford, award-winning journalist and historian of Hong Kong, about his new book Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared Critic. Hong Kong has scores of billionaires, but only one of them dared stand up to China while the city’s freedoms were whittled away. What in Jimmy Lai’s extraordinary life explains such courage?

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Mark Clifford

The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation

The Troublemaker | Book by Mark L. Clifford | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster

Today Hong Kong, Tomorrow the World: What China's Crackdown Reveals About Its Plans to End Freedom Everywhere: Clifford, Mark L.

Let There Be Light: How Electricity Made Modern Hong Kong (Center on Global Energy Policy Series): Clifford, Mark

The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai's Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom [Full Film]

Jimmy Lai’s Fight For Freedom Continues | Panel Discussion

The Call of the Entrepreneur | Acton Institute

Join Acton Institute’s president emeritus Rev. Robert Sirico as he hosts a live panel featuring Mark Simon, Mary Kissel, and William McGurn as they discuss the resumption of Jimmy’s trial in Hong Kong. Featured in Acton’s award winning documentary The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai’s Extraordinary Fight for Freedom you will hear the insights of these close friends and associates of Jimmy as they examine his prospects for release and the future of freedom in Hong Kong. The panel was streamed live on Monday, November 25, 2024. 

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Watch the panel

The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai's Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom

The Troublemaker | Simon & Schuster

With decades of hindsight, the peaceful end of the Cold War seems to have been inevitable. But in the early 1980s, most experts believed the Soviet Union was strong and stable, and would last into the next century. Ronald Reagan entered the White House with no certainty of what would happen next, only an overriding faith in democracy and an abiding belief that Soviet communism—and the threat of nuclear war—must end.

Based on his interviews with senior Reagan officials and thousands of pages of newly declassified documents, Dr. William Inboden, in his new biography “The Peacemaker,” sheds a fresh perspective on President Reagan’s unwavering faith and commitment to freedom during the Cold War. 

On October 30, 2024, Dr. Inboden was the keynote speaker at Acton’s 34th Annual Dinner. Take a listen.

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Acton On-Demand

William Inboden | University of Florida 

The Peacemaker | Penguin Random House

This week, host Dan Hugger is joined by John Pinheiro, Anthony Bradley, and Dylan Pahman to discuss the results of the 2024 U.S. elections. What do the results say about American society, its politics, its parties, and its future? A wide-ranging conversation from pre-election polls to possible party futures.

This episode is a crossover with our other podcast, Acton Unwind. An occasional roundtable roundtable discussion of news and current events through the Acton Institute's lens on the world: promoting a free and virtuous society and connecting good intentions with sound economics. Host Dan Hugger is joined by Acton Institute experts for an exploration of news, politics, religion, and culture.

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2024 Presidential Election Results | AP News

Exit poll results 2024 | CNN Politics

How the Trump Polymarket Whale Correctly Called the Election, and Made Nearly $50 Million | Alexander Osipovich, WSJ

Pro-Kamala Harris spot targeting ‘real men’ ripped as ‘cringiest political ad ever’

Susie Wiles: Who is Trump’s new chief of staff? | Max Matza, BBC News

While the challenge of poverty has always been a part of the human condition, the rise of modernity and the Industrial Revolution have made the problem more acute, particularly for Christians who know that the poor will always be with us and that we’ve been commanded to look out for the least of these. While we cannot rightly characterize C.S. Lewis primarily as an economic or political thinker, he did address social and political matters in his major and minor works. Perhaps more importantly, his treatment of “mere” Christianity with regard to matters of conviction and practice offers hope that Christians from different backgrounds can find common cause in thinking about, and acting on, such issues.

On today’s episode, we present to you the latest installment of the Acton Lecture Series, recorded live at the Acton Building in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In his address, Dr. Micah Watson considers what wisdom we might glean from Lewis’ understanding of how the church should, and shouldn’t, engage the social question.

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The Church Should Give Us a Lead: C.S. Lewis on Modern Social Thought

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Jordan Ballor, Director of Research at the Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy, about his Religion & Liberty cover story “The Faithful Christian and the Politics of the Tao”. They discuss the nineteenth and twentieth century Dutch political party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, it’s most famous member the theologian and politician Abraham Kuyper, and the prospects for a distinctly Christian politics today.

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Religion & Liberty Online 

The Faithful Christian and the Politics of the Tao | Acton Institute

Select Works of Edmund Burke, vol. 2 | Online Library of Liberty (libertyfund.org)

Unbelief and Revolution (Lexham Classics): van Prinsterer, Groen, Van Dyke, Harry:

9781683592280: Amazon.com: Books

Our Program: A Christian Political Manifesto – Acton Bookshop

Makers of Modern Christian Social Thought – Acton Bookshop

Work info: Calvinism: Six Stone-lectures - Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org)

About — American Solidarity Party (solidarity-party.org)

Richard Dawkins and Mere Cultural Christianity – Religion & Liberty Online (acton.org)

Code of Canon Law - Book II - The People of God - Part I. (Cann. 208-329) (vatican.va)

Ecumenical Babel: Confusing Economic Ideology and the Church's Social – Acton Bookshop

On today’s episode, Noah Gould, Acton’s Alumni and Student Programs manager, talks to author Caleb Franz about his new book, “The Conductor: The Story of Rev. John Rankin, Abolitionism’s Essential Founding Father.”

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The Conductor: The Story of Rev. John Rankin, Abolitionism’s Essential Founding Father

Named after distinguished American theologian Michael Novak, the Acton Institute’s prestigious Novak Award rewards outstanding scholarly research concerning the relationship between religion, economic freedom, and the free and virtuous society. 

In recognition of her outstanding research in the fields of family economics, law and economics, and public choice, the recipient of the 2024 Novak Award is Dr. Clara Piano.

In this episode, Acton’s executive editor of the Journal of Markets and Morality, Dylan Pahman, sits down with Dr. Piano to discuss the fertility gap, family economics, and the Novak Award.

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Novak Award

Clara Piano | 2024 Novak Award Winner

Acton University

Acton On-Demand

For this episode of Acton Line, we’re bringing you one of the plenary talks from Acton University 2024. Robert and Berni Neal explore the complementarity of business and philanthropy, sharing their personal journey and philosophy on integrating wealth creation and ethical stewardship. Robert, a managing partner at Hager Pacific Properties, and Berni, a dedicated Catholic evangelist, discuss how their faith and values guide their business decisions and philanthropic efforts. They emphasize the importance of delayed gratification, ethical behavior, and the role of stewardship as a collaboration with God. Through personal anecdotes and strategic insights, the Neals illustrate how business can serve as a noble vocation that not only generates wealth but also contributes to the greater good.

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Acton University

Acton On-Demand