Acton Line

In this episode, Dan Churchwell, Acton’s director for programs and education, talks to Molly Worthen about her new book: “Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump.” Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Acton Lecture Series Who Do We Trust Now? Charisma, Expertise, and the Future of Leadership | Acton Lecture Series Spellbound | Molly Worthen 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 podcast@acton.org. The tip at the opening of this podcast is informational and educational in nature. It is not offering professional tax, legal, or accounting advice. For specific advice about the effect of any planning concept on your tax or financial situation or with your estate, please consult a qualified professional advisor.

They highlight new books on scholasticism and the Christian roots of American liberty. They flag provocative essays on totalitarian temptation and moral failure in history. New videos and talks on Christ’s kingship, Hamilton vs Jefferson, and gender theory are promoted. Upcoming events include AI and free market panels, conferences, international meetups, and the annual dinner.

In this episode Dan Hugger speaks with Daniel Darling, director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and fellow at the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. They discuss his latest book, In Defense of Christian Patriotism, published by Broadside Books. The conversation explores why patriotism needs defending today, why Christians are called to be patriotic, and how Christian patriotism can revitalize and reinvigorate modern pluralistic America. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Daniel Darling In Defense of Christian Patriotism | Daniel Darling “Nationality,” The History of Freedom and Other Essays | Lord Acton 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 podcast@acton.org.

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Josh Herring, professor of humanities and classical education at Thales College. They discuss Josh’s new book, Sons of Adam, Daughters of Eve: C.S. Lewis’s Images of Gender, published by the Davenant Institute. Is it fair to describe Lewis as a gender theorist? Why should we turn to Lewis in times of gender trouble? How does his consideration of gender diverge from contemporary gender ideology? What are the sources for Lewis’s own theory on gender? How does Lewis’s conception of gender show up in his fiction and nonfiction? What do Lewis’s critics get wrong about his views on gender? Does he speak about these issues in a unique way, or is he simply an outstanding representative of an older tradition? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Sons of Adam, Daughters of Eve: C.S. Lewis’ Images of Gender The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | C.S. Lewis The Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength) | C.S. Lewis Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold | C.S. Lewis Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 4) | C.S. Lewis The Four Loves | C.S. Lewis The Abolition of Man | C.S. Lewis Spenser's Images of Life | C.S. Lewis Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature | C.S. Lewis Life on the Silent Planet: Essays on Christian Living from C.S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy | Rhys Laverty, ed. C.S. Lewis and the Apocalypse of Gender | J.C. Scharl Science Fiction with a Soul | Bradley J. Birzer 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 podcast@acton.org.

In the month of what would’ve been his 100th birthday, Acton co-founders Fr. Robert Sirico and Kris Mauren take a moment to remember an early supporter of the Acton Institute, Richard DeVos. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Believe! | Richard M. DeVos DeVos to Receive Faith and Freedom Award Richard M. DeVos Accepts the 2010 Faith and Freedom Award 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 podcast@acton.org.

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Jordan J. Ballor, executive director of First Liberty’s Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy (CRCD), about his feature essay in the latest issue of Religion & Liberty, “The Upside-Down Kingdom of Jesus of Nazareth.” Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here The Upside-Down Kingdom of Jesus of Nazareth Essays on Religion, Science, and Society | Herman Bavinck Rooted & Grounded: The Church as Organism and Institution | Abraham Kuyper On Charity & Justice | Abraham Kuyper Calvinism: Six Stone Lectures | Abraham Kuyper 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 podcast@acton.org.

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with John Pinheiro, director of research at the Acton Institute, about his latest contribution to Law & Liberty, “A Failure of Vision,” a review of legal theorist Robert C. Hockett’s A Republic of Producers. The wide-ranging conversation touches upon the American Republic’s early history, 20th-century interpretations of it, the sorts of lessons that history can teach us, those it cannot, and the trustworthiness of non-historians attempting to do history. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here A Failure of Vision | Law & Liberty A Republic of Producers: Completing Our Jeffersonian Economy with Hamiltonian Finance | Robert C. Hockett  Notes on the State of Virginia | Thomas Jefferson The Promise of American Life | Herbert David Croly A Student's Guide to U.S. History | Wilfred M. McClay Federalist No. 51 On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life | Friedrich Nietzsche 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 podcast@acton.org.

This month on the Acton Rundown, Dan and Mark chat about upcoming Acton events and new video content.   At the Frontiers of Scholasticism: Scientific Method, Innovation, and Economic Reasoning | Giovanni Patriarca Religion & Liberty Magazine and Online: The Atoning Death of the Last Scapegoat by Fr. Elias Carr Marriage: The Free Market We Take for Granted by Clara Piano   Video content: Entrepreneurship and the Economy in Uncertain Times | Acton Lecture Series Gabe Coyne and Collin Duff Want to Build Brands that Solve Real Problems Rev. Robert A. Sirico Responds to Jimmy Lai's Sentencing #freejimmylai Stephen Barrows Responds to Jimmy Lai’s 20-Year Prison Sentence #freejimmylai How Should Muslims View Human Rights? Claire Lai Is Sharing the Spiritual Strength of Her Father, Jimmy Lai   Upcoming events: AI & Human Freedom: Jewish, Christian and Muslim Perspectives Who Do We Trust Now? Charisma, Expertise, and the Future of Leadership Chicago Luncheon Rethinking Charity: "Building Civil Society” FAVs Acton University 2026 | Acton Institute: June 22–25, 2026 Acton Experience Brasil Acton’s 36th Annual Dinner

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Claire Lai, law student and daughter of entrepreneur and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, about her father’s unjust imprisonment and powerful Christian witness. ⁠Subscribe to our podcasts⁠ ⁠Watch this podcast here⁠ ⁠The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai's Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom [Full Film]⁠ ⁠Stephen Barrows Explains the Jimmy Lai Verdict⁠ ⁠Support Jimmy Lai⁠ ⁠@SupportJimmyLai⁠ ⁠Support Jimmy Lai Instagram⁠ 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 ⁠podcast@acton.org⁠.

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Steve Barrows, chief operating officer of the Acton Institute, about entrepreneur and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, who was recently sentenced by a Hong Kong court to 20 years in prison. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Jimmy Lai’s 20-Year Sentence Follows Beijing’s Playbook on Dissent | David Pierson, NY Times The Apple Daily sentences show a new era of media peril in Hong Kong | David Pierson, NY Times Jimmy Lai’s children have led a global campaign for him | David Pierson, NY Times The faith of my father, Jimmy Lai | Claire Lai The Hong Konger (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 podcast@acton.org.