Acton Unwind Acton Institute

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan rummage around a grab bag of topics for this potpourri episode of the podcast. First up: The expiration of Title 42, the pandemic-era border-security measure. Will its going away create new problems at the border? Almost certainly. But the policy can’t stay if the pandemic is, according to the federal government, over. If Congress could find a way to do its job, it could reinstitute a similar policy. Next, a communist coffee shop in Toronto closes. Might it have been a good idea to be open before 9 a.m., when most people want coffee? The laws of economics and the marketplace will get you every time. Then, is it appropriate for women to wear yoga pants in public? Is it even appropriate to wear yoga pants for yoga? Penultimately, the guys marvel at the tale of La Sombrita, a piece of metal that’s supposed to provide light and shade at bus stops in Los Angeles that does neither and came at the low, low cost of $200,000 and three years in development. And finally, Pastor Tim Keller is remembered a few days after he passed away at the age of 72.
Subscribe to our podcasts
What Is Title 42? What Its End Means for Immigration and U.S.-Mexico Border | Wall Street Journal
What Part of Legal Immigration Don’t You Understand? | Reason
The Anarchist: Toronto's anti-capitalist cafe is permanently closing | Daily Hive
DieWorkwear Twitter Thread on Yoga Pats and Menswear
La Sombrita, or, How to Fail at Infrastructure | Cato Institute
Engaging the Culture for Christ | Stephen O. Presley, Acton Institute
Died: Tim Keller, New York City Pastor Who Modeled Winsome Witness | Christianity Today
Photo Credit: @LADOTofficial Twitter

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Acton Unwind, special guest panelist Farah Adeed along with Dan and Dylan discuss two major stories in the majority-Muslim world: the arrest and subsequent release of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan and Sunday’s election in Turkey. 
Farah is an incoming Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at Boston University and studies the role of religion in the nation-building process and democratization in Muslim-majority countries. He is also a former Emerging Leader at Acton. 
The panel begins with an examination of Imran Khan’s place in Pakistani public life, then move on to the larger political landscape of Pakistan, the place of the military establishment, and the role of Islam in public life. 
Next the panel turns to Sunday’s election in Turkey: What is the state of Turkish politics today in the wake of the election? Why was it both so close and so contentious? And what does the election suggest about the state of Turkey’s democratic institutions? 
Lastly, the panel examines how Islam can play a constructive role in the development of free and democratic institutions in the Muslim-majority world and what historical resources can inspire such reform and renewal.
Arrest of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan was illegal, top court rules | CNN
Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan released on bail | CNN
Turkey’s Election Scenarios: The Good, the Bad, and the Scary | National Review
Turkey’s Erdogan faces second round in fevered race for presidency | BBC
Is Indonesia’s “Civil Islam” a model for the Muslim world? | Religion & Liberty Online
Abolishing blasphemy laws in Pakistan will lead to more violence | Religion & Liberty Online

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan discuss the suspension of the Acton Institute’s TikTok account after it shared promotional content for our award-winning documentary feature film, The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai’s Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom. Is it just a weird coincidence that these kinds of suspensions keep happening to accounts that share content that the Chinese Communist Party would disapprove of? How should we think about attempts by Congress to address the risks presented by the TikTok app, which funnels a ton of personal information back to its parent company, ByteDance, in China? Would banning the app even be effective at reducing such a threat to privacy? Next, the guys turn their attention to CPAC Hungary, the Conservative Political Action Conference’s latest international summit. What are the lessons we’re supposed to learn from Hungary that could actually apply to the United States, which is a vastly different country in almost every conceivable way?
Subscribe to our podcasts
 
TikTok Suspends a Film on Jimmy Lai | Wall Street Journal
 
Banned by TikTok: The CCP Doesn’t Want You to See The Hong Konger | Isaac Willour, Acton Institute
 
TikTok Claims ‘Technical Error’ Led to Suspension of Think Tank that Posted about Hong Kong | National Review
 
Acton Institute on TikTok
 
Stream The Hong Konger On Demand
 
CPAC Hungary Speakers List
 
The GOP-Hungary connection shaping the ’24 campaign | Axios
 
I Was Banned From Entering CPAC Hungary’s ‘Woke Free Zone’ | Politico
 
The Words TikTok Parent ByteDance May Be Watching You Say | Forbes
Photo Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Dan, Dylan, and Stephen discuss recent housing policy proposals in Texas. What market-based reforms could lower housing costs? What should policymakers keep in mind when seeking to lower housing costs? What are the biggest political obstacles they face and how might moral arguments help in overcoming them? The panel’s ears then turn to the AI song stylings of “Fake Drake.” Is the music industry poised to be disrupted by AI? What sort of property rights are likely to emerge in the wake of AI disruption? Is all music just copying already? Are music and Muzak that different? Finally, our panel turns to a discussion of “Everything-Bagel Liberalism.” Why do progressives feel the need to satisfy all constituencies in every policy all at once? How can economics help translate policies from mere good intentions into real-world change?
Subscribe to our podcasts
Apply Now for Acton University 2023
Texas Looks To The Free Market To Tackle Housing Costs | Forbes
An A.I. Hit of Fake ‘Drake’ and ‘The Weeknd’ Rattles the Music World | NY Times
I Cloned Myself With AI. She Fooled My Bank and My Family. | Wall Street Journal
Did Ed Sheeran ACTUALLY Plagiarize Marvin Gaye? | Adam Neely
The Grotesque Legacy of Music as Property | Adam Neely
The Problem With Everything-Bagel Liberalism | NY Times
Every policy objective, all the time, all at once | Slow Boring




Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan discuss Dan’s essay in the Spring 2023 issue of RELIGION & LIBERTY magazine, “National Conservatism One Year Later,” revisiting the National Conservatism movement one year after his essay on his visit to the NatCon2 conference. What, if anything, do we now understand better about the NatCon movement? Does it stand apart from traditional American conservatism, or is it slowly being subsumed by the mainstream right? And where do the post-liberals and Catholic integralists figure into this movement, if at all? Then the guys turn their attention to the expulsion of two Democratic lawmakers in Tennessee from the State House. Was this move by Tennessee Republicans wise, prudent, or even necessary? Is it in keeping with a very NatCon mentality to turn all political fights up to 11? And finally, they take a look at the ProPublica story about the hospitality benefits billionaire Harlan Crow has provided over the years to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Is there any there-there to this story? Or is the simple appearance of impropriety bad enough to warrant concern?
National Conservatism One Year Later | Dan Hugger, Religion & Liberty
What I Saw at the National Conservatism Conference | Dan Hugger, Religion & Liberty
Subscribe to Religion & Liberty
The hundred-year war for American conservatism | Acton Line
Tennessee House Ousts 2 Democratic Lawmakers: What You Need to Know | New York Times
Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire | ProPublica
Lawmakers Revive SCOTUS Ethics Debate | The Dispatch
Photo Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Eric, Dan, and Dylan discuss what we know (and there’s still much we don’t know) about the indictment of former President Donald Trump by New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Was it a wise move to indict Trump? Does indicting a former president for the first time in American history presage the “end of the republic”? Next, the guys discuss the horrible school shooting in Nashville and the quick descent into collectivist thinking on the part of both the political left and the political right. And finally, Dylan shares a horrifying AI-created video of Will Smith eating spaghetti that highlights just how far some AI technology has to go, while Eric uses it to make a point about what AI creators won’t allow to be created, like political satire of China’s president, Xi Jinping.
Subscribe to our podcasts
Apply Now for Acton University 2023
What We Know About the Indictment and Surrender of Donald Trump | New York Times
6 Killed in Nashville School Shooting, Including 3 Children | New York Times
The Lonely Man with a Gun | Russ Roberts
AI-Generated Video of Will Smith Eating Spaghetti
Midjourney CEO Says ‘Political Satire in China Is Pretty Not Okay,’ but Apparently Silencing Satire About Xi Jinping Is Pretty Okay | Techdirt 


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.