Acton Unwind

This week, Eric, Dylan, and Emily parse former vice president Mike Pence’s speech in New Hampshire, which was aimed at drawing distinctions between his definition of conservatism and the populism of the New Right and Donald Trump. Does Pence’s definition of the two in opposition to each other make sense? Or has populism always existed in American conservatism and on the left? Next, the panel looks at the implications for the Church of Scientology of the conviction and sentencing of former THAT ’70s SHOW co-star Danny Masterson to 30 years to life for rape. There are many people who would like to see Scientology lose its tax-exempt status and other constitutional protections, but what concerns should we have about the implications of those kinds of calls for other religions? And finally, the group reflects on the 22nd anniversary of September 11 and the passing of Jimmy Buffett.

Pence Calls Trump’s Populism a ‘Road to Ruin’ for the G.O.P. | New York Times

Conservatism vs. Populism Speech | Mike Pence for President

The Dream of Scalable Democracy | Dylan Pahman, Law & Liberty

Danny Masterson Sentenced to 30 Years to Life in Prison in Rape Retrial | TMZ

Leah Remini Rips “Criminal” Scientology in Aftermath of Danny Masterson Prison Sentencing | Deadline

A New York firefighter tells his story of 9/11 | Acton Line

Bombs, guns, and drones cannot win a spiritual war (UPDATED) | Dylan Pahman, Religion & Liberty Online

Jimmy Buffett, Roguish Bard of Island Escapism, Is Dead at 76 | New York Times

This week, guest host Dan Hugger is joined by Dylan Pahman and Emily Zanotti to discuss the Georgia election racketeering prosecution of former President Donald Trump. What is this case actually about, and how does it differ from the other Trump indictments? Are mug shots exploitative? Why did President Trump choose this moment to break his long Twitter silence?

Then the panel examines last week’s Republican presidential debate. Have we leaned anything new about the candidates? How do we best think about the place of debates in our national life? Is Twitter/X the future of presidential politics?

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Donald Trump says Georgia arrest and mugshot are a ‘travesty of justice’ | Telegraph.co.uk

Georgia election racketeering prosecution | Wikipedia

First Republican Presidential Debate Draws 12.8 Million Viewers | New York Times

Trump’s Interview with Tucker Carlson Has More Than 150 Million ‘Views’ on X—Here’s Why That’s Misleading | Forbes.com

Trump support grows among college-educated as primary foes fail to lock up group | Washington Examiner

Nikki Haley turned Republican rumble into campaign momentum: Polls | Washington Examiner

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photo credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office via AP

This week, Eric and Dan are joined by Sarah Isgur, senior editor of The Dispatch, to examine whether there’s a crisis in masculinity. With the successes of feminism and the shift in gender roles and expectations, how do men grapple with society’s needing less of what they traditionally have provided? How is the internet and social media influencing this supposed crisis? Is it helping in any way, making things worse, or is it a mixed bag? Then the gang closes on two quickly minted internet celebrities: Oliver Anthony of “Rich Men North of Richmond” fame, and the “crazy plane lady” who appears to be rebranding herself after her “not real” meltdown.

How to Bury a Billionaire | The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg

Rethinking Sex: A Provocation | Christine Emba

The Man in Me: Versions of the Male Experience | Ross Firestone

The Internet of Beefs | Venkatesh Rao

The Legal Academy, Episode 5: Eric Posner

The Changing Face of Social Breakdown | Acton Line

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan are joined by James M. Patterson, associate professor of politics and chair of the politics department at Ave Maria University, to discuss his essay from the Summer 2023 issue of RELIGION & LIBERTY, “Is the New Right Fascist?” What is fascism, beyond the most common Orwellian definition “that which is not desirable”? How much of the radicalism of the New Right is driven by a lot of young members who are “very online”? How seriously should we take the arguments of these people, and how much should we engage with them?

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Is the New Right Fascist? | James M. Patterson, Religion & Liberty

Patrick Deneen’s Otherworldly Regime | Jonah Goldberg, Religion & Liberty

The man vs. the myth: who was John Foster Dulles? | Acton Line

Ron DeSantis fires staffer who shared video with fascist imagery | David Weigel & Shelby Talcott, Semafor

Why Integralism Is an Ideology of Despair | James M. Patterson, Law & Liberty

After Republican Virtue | James M. Patterson, Law & Liberty

Fascist Economics | Wilhelm Röpke 

Ur-Fascism | Umberto Eco, The New York Review of Books

What if We’re the Bad Guys Here? | David Brooks, New York Times

This week, Eric is joined by Daniel Baas and Titus Techera, Acton’s premier movie reviewer, to discuss all things cinema, including: the success of Oppenheimer (which Titus liked), the success of Barbie (which Titus did not like), and what it is that’s bringing people back to theaters. Also, is it really a big deal that Dune 2 will bump The Marvels out of IMAX theaters, since The Marvels wasn’t made for that format anyway? Is it all right that some movies hit you over the head with a message sledgehammer-like? And finally, what explains the surprise success of Sound of Freedom?

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Barbie Is a Movie for Our Time. This Is a Bad Thing. | Titus Techera, Acton Institute

Oppenheimer and the Last Great America | Titus Techera, Acton Institute

Sound of Freedom Is a Clarion Call for More Christians in the Arts | Titus Techera, Acton Institute

Overload: Will any shows from the Golden Age of TV endure? | Sonny Bunch, The Weekly Standard

This week, Eric, Noah, and Emily are joined by Christine Rosen, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of the cover story in the Summer 2023 issue of RELIGION & LIBERTY entitled “The Death of Conservatism Is Greatly Exaggerated.” Why have there been so many attempts to declare American conservatism dead? Why do so many of them, and in particular a recent piece from Jon Askonas in Compact magazine, ignore the fact that so many of the criticisms the current “New Right” levels at conservatism and American life are not all that new? How should we grapple with the effects of technology on American life? And what is our politics supposed to be for, as opposed to what we’re using it for now? Next, they discuss an open letter primarily written by Harvard Law School professor Mark Tushnet calling for President Joe Biden to ignore Supreme Court rulings he doesn’t like. Does the left have a comprehensible legal philosophy? How much was the rise of the New Right derailed by the success of the Federalist Society and the Dobbs decision? And is this just a mirror version of what Harvard Law professor Adrian Vermeule is calling for? And finally, three members of our four-person panel have seen Oppenheimer. Was dropping the bomb on Japan the right decision?

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The Death of Conservatism Is Greatly Exaggerated | Christine Rosen, RELIGION & LIBERTY

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Harvard’s Mark Tushnet Wants Joe Biden to Become a Dictator | Charles C.W. Cooke, National Review

Oppenheimer and the Last Great America | Titus Techera, Acton Institute

This week, Eric, Dan, and Emily discuss the recent decision in the 303 Creative from the Supreme Court. Is bad journalism the major culprit in people misunderstanding both the holding in the case, as well as the very facts of it? How much does it matter that it’s a First Amendment speech case and not a First Amendment religious case? Next, they tackle the newly announced plan from the Biden administration to cancel a load of student loan debt and ask the question, this again? Then, they examine the story of Hunter Biden’s daughter who has not been accepted or acknowledge by President Biden. Is it fair to hold this against him when making a political analysis of his fitness for the office? And finally, they look at two stories – the elevation of Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández, who authored a book 30 years ago titled “Heal Me with Your Mouth. The Art of Kissing,” to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the statements by Bishop Américo Aguiar about not seeking to convert people at World Youth Day – and ask the question: what’s up with the Catholic Church?

303 Creative LLC v. Elenis | SCOTUS Blog

Biden Thumps Nose At Supreme Court, Still Plans to Forgive Student Debt— In a Big Way | The Root

Hunter Biden’s Daughter and a Tale of Two Families | New York Times

‘Heal Me with Your Mouth. The Art of Kissing.’ An old book sparks a new controversy in the Vatican | Associated Press

World Youth Day and Converting Everyone to Christ | Bishop Robert Barron, Word on Fire

Bishop Robert Barron: The Philosophical Roots of Wokeism | Acton Line

This week, Eric, Dan, and Noah Gould, Acton’s Alumni and Student Programs manager, are joined by Jane Clark Scharl. Jane is the author of the essay “Blood of a Thousand Christs: The Violent Faith of Cormac McCarthy,” which appears in the Summer 2023 issue of RELIGION & LIBERTY. What are we to make of McCarthy’s style and the prevalence of violence in his works? Where is God in McCarthy’s work? How much is obscured by McCarthy’s unique and stripped down style? Then, Eric, Dan, and Noah discuss two of the recent big rulings by the Supreme Court: overturning affirmative action policies at elite universities and tossing out President Joe Biden’s student debt relief program. 

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About Jane Clark Scharl

Blood of a Thousand Christs: The Violent Faith of Cormac McCarthy | J.C. Scharl, Religion & Liberty

Student Debt Cancellation, Canceled | The Morning Dispatch

Supreme Court Guts Affirmative Action | The Morning Dispatch

photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan discuss the coup attempt in Russia over the weekend, as the Wagner Group paramilitary organization marched from its position in Ukraine toward Moscow before suddenly calling off the revolt. What does this mean for Russian president Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine? Do we have reason to believe this was an actual revolt or coup attempt—or something orchestrated by Putin for his own purposes? Then the guys recap the tragic story of the OceanGate Titan submarine, which imploded while on a trip taking people to view the wreck of the Titanic. Is this, like the story of the Titanic itself, the high cost of hubris? Why do so many people so quickly retreat into making jokes about an awful tragedy?

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Taking Putin Down a Peg | The Morning Dispatch

Does Britain Have High or Low State Capacity? | Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution

Real estate is China's economic Achilles heel | Noah Smith, Noahpinion

On Differences Between Urban & Rural China | Dan Wang

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

Titan sub implosion: What we know about catastrophic event | BBC

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This week, Jonah Goldberg joins Eric, Dan, and Dylan to discuss his newly released review of Patrick Deneen’s book, "Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future.” Following on the success, or at least the popularity, of his last book, “Why Liberalism Failed,” does Deneen have solutions to the problems he sees in modern society? Does his scholarship hold up under scrutiny? And is that the odor of Marxism exuding from the book—or is it just the choice to name the final chapter after the famous speech by Lenin? Is there more to it than that? (Narrator: “There’s more to it than that.”) To close out, the guys comment on the passing of the novelist Cormac McCarthy and how his books understood and demonstrated the grotesque violence of man in a state of nature.

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Patrick Deneen’s Otherworldly Regime | Jonah Goldberg, Acton Institute

Liberalism Isn't Rule by Elites | Stephanie Slade, Reason Magazine

‘I Don’t Want to Violently Overthrow the Government. I Want Something Far More Revolutionary.’ | Politico Magazine

Episode 150: Define Your Terms | The Editors Podcast, National Review

Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics Is Destroying American Democracy | Jonah Goldberg

Liberal Practice v. Liberal Theory | Daniel E. Burns, National Affairs

From Peak Oil to Peak Liberalism | D.G. Hart, Journal of Markets & Morality

What I Saw at the National Conservatism Conference | Dan Hugger, Acton Institute

National Conservatism One Year Later | Dan Hugger, Acton Institute

Cormac McCarthy, Novelist of a Darker America, Is Dead at 89 | New York Times

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