Episodes

  • Silicon Valley Revival?

    Silicon Valley Revival?
    Jun 25 2025
    In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Dan Churchwell, director of programs and education at the Acton Institute, and A. Trevor Sutton, senior pastor of St. Luke Lutheran Church, about their essay “The Gospel According to Silicon Valley,” which is the cover story for the Summer 2025 issue of Religion & Liberty. Is there a Christian revival going on in Silicon Valley? How might technology shape and be shaped by a renewal of Christian faith? Is the renewed interest in Christianity genuine? Is “cultural Christianity” merely ideological? What would the fruits of a genuine revival mean for Silicon Valley and the technology produced there? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here The Gospel According To Silicon Valley | Religion and Liberty Online Christianity Was “Borderline Illegal” in Silicon Valley. Now It’s the New Religion | Vanity Fair The Silicon Valley Christians Who Want to Build ‘Heaven on Earth’ | WIRED Silicon Valley Is Embracing Christianity (With the Help of Peter Thiel) | The New York Times Come to Me, All You Networking Techies | Christianity Today ACTS 17 Collective Church in a Digital Age: Must We Worship Bodily to Worship at All? | Acton Lecture Series Darrell Bock and Jonathan Armstrong on virtual reality church | Acton Institute 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.
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    51 mins
  • A Preview of Acton University 2025

    A Preview of Acton University 2025
    Jun 18 2025
    On today’s episode, Dan Hugger speaks to Dan Churchwell, Acton’s director of programs and education, about what people can expect at Acton University 2025. They share some favorite memories from past years, look forward to some special guests this year, and dive in to what makes this conference unique. Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here Acton University Acton On-Demand 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.
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    37 mins
  • Acton Line: Now on Video!

    Acton Line: Now on Video!
    Jun 16 2025
    Today, Acton librarian Dan Hugger and podcast producer Mark Townsend announce that the podcast will be on video going forward. They reveal the new podcast studio, talk about how recent economic events forced them to move quickly, and discuss the joys of flailing-arm tube men. Subscribe to our podcasts Acton On-Demand If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review at Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can reach us at podcast@acton.org.
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    11 mins
  • Technological Threats to Liberty

    Technological Threats to Liberty
    Jun 11 2025
    On today episode, Acton’s director of programs and education, Dan Churchwell, speaks to Philip Bunn, assistant professor of political science at Covenant College. They discuss his Acton Lecture Series presentation “The Heart of a Machine: Technological Threats to Liberty in Adam Smith and Beyond.” Subscribe to our podcasts Acton Lecture Series Philip D. Bunn
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • The Role of Business in Society

    The Role of Business in Society
    Jun 4 2025
    On today’s episode, Acton librarian Dan Hugger speaks with James Otteson from Acton University 2024. They discuss Adam Smith and what he tells us about the role of business in society. Subscribe to our podcasts Acton University Acton On-Demand James Otteson | Mendoza College of Business
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    45 mins
  • Who Benefitted from DEI Initiatives?

    Who Benefitted from DEI Initiatives?
    May 28 2025
    In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Isaac Willour, journalist and analyst at Bowyer Research. They discuss his Religion and Liberty Online essay “America Poured Billions into DEI Initiatives. Who Benefited?” What ideology underlies diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives? How did DEI take root in corporate America, and why is it now in retreat? What roles do journalism, shareholder activism, and employee initiative play in the ebb and flow of the fortunes of DEI? What alternatives to DEI exist to counter hostile work environments and build workplace cohesion for employees regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, or faith? America Poured Billions into DEI Initiatives. Who Benefited? | Isaac Willour The Strange Death of DEI | Isaac Willour A Friedman Doctrine: The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits | The New York Times The Social Responsibility of Business: Milton Friedman Reconsidered | John Elrick What Costco’s Doubling Down on DEI Means—and Doesn’t Mean | Isaac Willour Not Tragically Colored: Freedom, Personhood, and the Renewal of Black | Ismael Hernandez Commonality Training | Freedom & Virtue Institute
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    1 hr
  • An Ascetic Way of Life in a World of Abundance

    An Ascetic Way of Life in a World of Abundance
    May 21 2025
    In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Dylan Pahman, research fellow and executive editor of the Journal of Markets and Morality at the Acton Institute. They discuss his recently published essay “An Ascetic Way of Life in a World of Abundance,” an adaptation of a chapter from Dylan’s forthcoming book, The Kingdom of God & the Common Good (Ancient Faith, 2025). How is Orthodox Social Thought shaped by liturgical theology? Why should Christians view life as fundamentally ascetic? What lessons does Orthodox Social Thought have to teach other Christian traditions? Subscribe to our podcasts ‘An Ascetic Way of Life in a World of Abundance’ | Acton Institute For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy | Alexander Schmemann A Voice for Our Time: Radio Liberty Talks, Volume 1 |: Alexander Schmemann A Voice for Our Time: Radio Liberty Talks, Volume 2 | Alexander Schmemann The Pillar and Ground of the Truth: An Essay in Orthodox Theodicy in Twelve Letters | Pavel Florensky, Boris Jakim, Richard F. Gustafson What Is Marriage?: Man and Woman—A Defense | Sherif Gergis, Ryan T. Anderson, Robert P. George Quadragesimo Anno (May 15, 1931) | PIUS XI CHURCH FATHERS: Epistle to the Smyrnaeans | St. Ignatius
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    55 mins
  • Pope Leo XIV and 'New Things'

    Pope Leo XIV and 'New Things'
    May 14 2025
    In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with John Pinheiro, director of research at the Acton Institute, and Daniel Wagner, chair of the philosophy department and director of Catholic Studies at Aquinas College, about the election of Pope Leo XIV. Why is the election of an American pope so surprising? How is his choice of name significant? How will the legacy of Pope Leo XIII in philosophy and Catholic Social Teaching inform Leo XIV’s papacy? What are the “new things” of the 21st century that the new pope will address? Subscribe to our podcasts Pope Leo XIV and a New Age of ‘New Things’ | The Dispatch Pope 267: The Guessing Game | Religion & Liberty Online All Things Conclave | Acton Institute Aeterni Patris (August 4, 1879) | LEO XIII Rerum Novarum (May 15, 1891) | LEO XIII Centesimus Annus (May 1, 1991) | John Paul II Pope Leo XIV on the counterculture of the new evangelization (Part 1 of 2) Pope Leo XIV on the counterculture of the new evangelization (Part 2 of 2) FULL TEXT AND VIDEO: Pope Leo XIV’s homily at Mass with the cardinal electors in the Sistine Chapel | Catholic News Agency Leisure the Basis of Culture | Josef Pieper The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion | Berger, Peter L. Berger
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    58 mins