Acton Unwind

91
Politics #121

Acton Unwind is a weekly 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 Eric Kohn is joined by Acton Institute experts for an exploration of news, politics, religion, and culture.

Recent Episodes
  • The 2024 United States Presidential Election
    Nov 13, 2024 – 01:07:50
  • How to Do Politics in Church
    Sep 30, 2024 – 01:08:30
  • Build, Baby, Build
    Aug 26, 2024 – 51:40
  • Why Pot Stinks
    Aug 19, 2024 – 01:08:17
  • Polarization to the Walz
    Aug 12, 2024 – 41:58
  • Is the American Economy Toast?
    Aug 5, 2024 – 44:42
  • Is It Safer to Offend Christians than ‘Childless Cat Ladies’?
    Jul 29, 2024 – 01:00:19
  • No Longer Biden His Time
    Jul 22, 2024 – 53:52
  • Pray for Our Nation
    Jul 15, 2024 – 57:26
  • Is the Constitution Broken?
    Jul 8, 2024 – 01:16:07
  • When Politics Trump Caring
    Jul 1, 2024 – 47:25
  • A Matter of Trust
    Jun 24, 2024 – 01:08:34
  • A False Flag Attack on SCOTUS
    Jun 17, 2024 – 46:04
  • Ticketmaster in its Antitrust Era
    Jun 10, 2024 – 01:03:07
  • Harrison Butker Misses Wide Right
    May 20, 2024 – 01:18:04
  • The Enduring Power of Magazines
    May 13, 2024 – 59:59
  • Will Fraternity Bros Save America?
    May 6, 2024 – 01:19:26
  • Decamping Campus Encampments
    Apr 29, 2024 – 01:07:01
  • Did OJ Simpson Break American Culture?
    Apr 22, 2024 – 01:06:12
  • Squatters’ Wrongs
    Apr 15, 2024 – 01:00:47
  • The Rise of Anti-Semitism Is the Fall of American Liberty
    Apr 8, 2024 – 01:10:12
  • Key Bridge Collapse
    Apr 1, 2024 – 01:03:30
  • DOJ Takes an Anti-Trust Bite Out of Apple?
    Mar 25, 2024 – 01:06:08
  • Is the Clock Ticking for TikTok?
    Mar 18, 2024 – 49:37
  • The Vibes of the Union Are Weird
    Mar 11, 2024 – 55:48
  • Spice, Spice Baby
    Mar 7, 2024 – 01:04:00
  • Baconator Arbitrage
    Mar 4, 2024 – 01:15:48
  • Rumble in the Christian College Jungle
    Feb 26, 2024 – 01:04:38
  • Lent So Hot Right Now
    Feb 19, 2024 – 58:12
  • He Gets Us. But Do We Get 'He Gets Us'?
    Feb 12, 2024 – 01:13:10
  • Look What You Made Us Do (Discuss Taylor Swift)
    Feb 5, 2024 – 01:20:26
  • Messing with Texas
    Jan 29, 2024 – 01:00:57
  • Javier Milei vs. Davos Man
    Jan 22, 2024 – 01:01:28
  • What Fr. Sirico Saw at Jimmy Lai’s Trial in Hong Kong
    Jan 15, 2024 – 01:36:09
  • Plagiarism and Its Defenders
    Jan 8, 2024 – 01:00:44
  • Jimmy Lai on Trial in Hong Kong
    Dec 18, 2023 – 01:01:53
  • Remembering Henry Kissinger
    Dec 11, 2023 – 01:08:54
  • Poverty: Not One Solution, But Many
    Dec 4, 2023 – 01:21:17
  • Milei Wins the Day in Argentina
    Nov 27, 2023 – 54:27
  • You Don’t Gotta to Hand It to Osama bin Laden
    Nov 20, 2023 – 01:09:27
  • MrBeast of Burden
    Nov 13, 2023 – 01:06:20
  • WeWork Don’t Work Anymore
    Nov 6, 2023 – 01:06:49
  • The Meltdown Over the Robert E. Lee Meltdown
    Oct 30, 2023 – 01:02:12
  • They Don’t Speaker for Us
    Oct 23, 2023 – 01:12:36
  • Anti-Semitism Rears Its Ugly Head
    Oct 17, 2023 – 01:02:51
  • Saving St. Louis & Terror in Israel
    Oct 9, 2023 – 01:09:08
  • Synodality in Reality
    Oct 2, 2023 – 01:06:45
  • Did Compassionate Conservatism Kill Welfare Reform?
    Sep 25, 2023 – 01:01:27
  • Has Organized Labor Overplayed Its Hand? Again?
    Sep 18, 2023 – 01:08:03
  • What Is Populism’s Place in American Conservatism?
    Sep 11, 2023 – 01:05:39
Recent Reviews
  • CPez87
    One of my go-to podcasts
    The title says it all—interesting and informative discussions on timely topics.
  • Cynical Forester
    A Critical Review
    Permit me to begin on the good foot. The content or subject matter of the Acton Unwind Podast is always interesting, relevant to current events, and timely. As others have observed, the crew members are thoughtful and usually mostly well informed abut the subjects they address. My criticisms are primarily matters of delivery. Eric does a superlative job of moderating the discussions. Occassionally, rarely, his observations about a particular topic are expressed in a condescending and dogmatic fashion. The reader and he will ask for specific examples. I have one. I do not recall the podcast date or title, but he asserted tha the American Civil War was about slavery and nothing else. Then he went on to make his point. Let me just say he is not current on the subject of the causes of the American Civil War. Perhaps if he had stated that in his view of the matter the Civil War was solely about slavery, he would have been on solid grounds upon which a discussion could be had. Dan pontificates when he delivers his knowledgeable and well informed comments. Unfortunately for the clarity of his remarks, he constantly punctuates his remarks with the annoying verbal place holder "you know." Please stop saying "you know." The Buckley School of Public Speaking in Camden, SC will cure you of this awful habit. Emily's audio cuts in and out too often. I recognize this issue may not be her fault. I have a hard time following her train of thought - probably my issue. Also, her terminology frequently is incorrect. The specific example I will give is in the discussion of in vitro fertilization in episode 122 she (and Eric) referred to the Catholic Church's teaching about IVF as a stance. No, the Church has a teaching about IVF, not a stance. "Stance" communicates the idea of a negotiable position or opinion. A teaching is a firm statement of belief,and in the case of the Catholic Church a teaching is binding on the faithful. While I do not always agree with Dylan (or the others), when he is on the crew he is just about perfect. Despite my fault finding, I am a faithful listener, although I frequently fall a month or two behind in listening.
  • Claversj
    Synodality in reality
    This was a well presented podcast, reflective, balanced, intelligent. Clearer on synodality than other things I’ve read. The other items were interesting as well, but the lay theology articulated gave me hope for both Orthodox and Catholic Churches.
  • 77westend
    Crisis of Masculinity
    Interesting pod. But, the gist of that conversation was that, yeah, there are a lot of bad things for men out there and they need to do better. So, at the end of the day, men’s problem are their own and they should get over it. Women and children hardest hit.
  • mborlado
    I look forward to it!
    Just an overall great thought-provoking podcast.
  • Kevin from AZ.
    Must listen too for informed and intellectual views
    What a Joy to Listen to well-informed and very intelligent in facts and details as well as information and a very good Viewpoints
  • mrmcmaq
    Swifties vs Tick & Jack Handey
    What a joy to listen to brilliant speakers annoying each other with Taylor Swift songs while seamlessly dropping quotes from The Tick and Jack Handey (Ticketmaster podcast 1/30/23). Thank you!
  • WSturgis
    Twitter Files
    When the panelists, early in the program, suggest that they don’t really know enough about this topic, take their word for it. The long discussions only reinforce that. You can learn about self-awareness and double standards. At the outset there was much complaining about how hard it was to understand what one should think. Lack of narrative or context were both factors making it “too hard” for these reviewers to understand the gist. Later, after begrudgingly admitting that suppressing a story from a major newspaper might be wrong “in principle”, it was pointed out that consumers will to put in extra effort could have eventually accessed the story. If consumers don’t try because they find it “too hard”, these panelists would fault the readers who put in no more effort than they did reading files. One speaker suggested that he can’t say that right-leaning viewpoints were targeted more than left. He needs to see a “spreadsheet”. Somehow it escaped his analysis that only those on the right expressed suspicions about banning. The files show that several of these people or entities were correct. Does one need a spreadsheet to notice that left- leaning sources had expressed no suspicions and, apparently, have found no proof of suppression? The wrap up was classic. After admitting that they hadn’t done the work and that they weren’t sure what to think of the files or the release, they confidently stated that none of it is important as “others” (unidentified) want us to think. So, we just spent your time on something probably meaningless. After all, it’s trending. Lazy, lazy work.
  • FabianBond
    New favorite podcast
    Great topics and keeps them entertaining.
  • CBR 528
    Perfect
    A great podcast that presents timely information and stimulating conversation on the issues in our world.
  • Scott Pichard
    Fabulous New Podcast!
    Acton Unwind is a fabulous new podcast that delves into politics, economics, religion, and culture, providing a Christian perspective on freedom, virtue, and the common good. Eric Kohn is a great host, Samuel Gregg is a terrific commentator, and the other guests always provide a great discussion!
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