Acton Institute Powerblog

Promoting free societies characterized by liberty & religious principles

Utopias Denied: Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon at 75

“In the world of literature,” says Bruce Edward Walker in this week’s Acton Commentary, “perhaps only Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn did more to expose the lies and cruelty of 20th century totalitarianism.” What makes Darkness at Noon such an enduring artistic work is Koestler’s firsthand knowledge of his source material. Continue Reading...

Mahoney: New Václav Havel biography is ‘moving and intelligent’

Daniel J. Mahoney reviewed Michael Zantovsky’s 2014 book Havel: A Life in the City Journal last week, calling it “a remarkable book about a complex and genuinely admirable human being.” Václav Havel was a Czech writer, philosopher and dissident who served as the first democratically elected president of Czechoslovakia and then the first president of the Czech Republic. Continue Reading...

Putin’s Kleptocracy and Family Values

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T65SwzHAbes There will be some twists and turns here, so hold on. Earlier this month, the BBC highlighted what it called “YouTube sensation ‘I, Russian Occupier'” the hit propaganda film that “feels more like the opening sequence of a big budget Hollywood movie than a homemade political message.” Continue Reading...

Rockin’ the Wall’s Inspiring Message

A Note to Readers: The Acton Institute is presenting a special screening of the film Rockin’ the Wall on November 20 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The event features a talk by Larry Schweikart, who worked closely with the film’s producers and is featured prominently throughout the documentary. Continue Reading...

The Chaos Theory of Career Development

[Note: This month hundreds of thousands of young people will be graduating from high schools and colleges across America. Because I’ve had an unusual vocational path, I thought I’d offer them some unsolicited career advice. Continue Reading...

Orthodoxy and Ordoliberalism

Today at Red River Orthodox, I offer a brief introduction to the liberal tradition for Orthodox Christians living in the West: Liberalism, historically, is a broad intellectual tradition including a large and disparate group of thinkers. Continue Reading...