Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
Acton Line podcast: Lessons on tyranny from Game of Thrones; Poverty and alienation in China
Acton Line podcast: Lessons on tyranny from Game of Thrones; Poverty and alienation in China
Dec 10, 2025 11:49 PM

On this episode of Acton Line, Jordan Ballor and Tyler Groenendal break down the last season of Game of Thrones, discussing positive and negative aspects of the show as well as lessons on the role of government and the danger of power. Afterwards, Caroline Roberts speaks with Li Ma, senior fellow at the Henry Institute, about Ma’s book The Chinese Exodus. Ma explains how the current economic system in China drives agricultural workers to the city, setting them on a path for family disintegration, poverty and alienation munity.

Check out additional resources for this podcast:

On Game of Thrones, Absolute Power Corrupts Daenerys Targaryen Absolutely

Game of Thrones Finale: Daenerys Vows to Make a Hell of Earth

5 questions about the last episode of Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones and the judgment of history

Buy: “The Chinese Exodus: Migration, Urbanism, and Alienation in Contemporary China”

China’s Northeastern rust belt struggling to retain population as economic slowdown speeds up exodus

Conversation with a Migrant-Worker Church Minister

Educational Inequality for Migrant Children Perpetuates Poverty

New to the Acton Line podcast? Subscribe here! We also mend starting with these episodes:

Mourning the Notre-Dame cathedral inferno; Rev. Robert Sirico on education

F.A. Hayek’s Road to Serfdom; The media vs. ‘Unplanned’

Rev. Robert A. Sirico on the reality of socialism; Interview with a Venezuelan dissident

Do you have feedback for the Acton Line podcast team? We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]. Lastly, if you like what you heard on today’s episode, please leave a review and rating on iTunes.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Samuel Gregg: The Vatican’s Calls for Global Financial Reform
In the journal Foreign Affairs, Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg offers an analysis of the Vatican’s recent pronouncements on economic policy, most notably the document issued in October titled “Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of Global Public Authority” (also called “The Note”). The Church, Gregg said, “wanted to attract the attention of world leaders as they assembled to discuss ongoing turmoil in financial markets at the G-20 Summit in Cannes and to add its...
Obamacare vs the Catholic Bishops
I pleted a very short interview on Vatican Radio to discuss the current battle between the Obama administration and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It didn’t permit me to say more than that the Obama administration is making a political mistake, so I’d like to say a bit more about the serious consequences that will likely result and how we ended up with this Church-State conundrum in the first place. As Dr. Donald Condit has already explained, the...
Video: Sirico on Presidential Prooftexting
Jordan Ballor has already mented on President Obama’s ments on taxation and Christian social responsibility. Acton President Rev. Robert A. Sirico now joins the fray, having been called upon by Fox News Channel to add his insight to the discussion. In case you missed yesterday’s appearance on “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” we’ve got it for you. ...
The Reversal of Proposition 8: A Dangerous Precedent
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has acted to reverse the democratic decision of the people of California to confine marriage to its traditional parameters of a man and a woman. In making this decision, the court decided that it could overturn the will of the people of California on the basis of what is known in legal circles as “the rational basis standard.” When evaluating the violation of fundamental rights, the court has often used a standard of “strict...
Next Steps Conference – Business As Mission
I am attending the Next Steps conference hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University and organized by IWU Students for BAM. This is their first annual conference. Acton Institute is sponsoring this conference as a part of our evangelical network building work. As I have opportunity, I will post blogs including highlights of the plenary and workshop sessions. Last night, Bill Moore, owner and CEO of PacMoore Products spoke on principles of integrating business as mission in pany. Bill started his lecture...
Video: Renewing the Call: Why Pastors and Business Leaders Need Each Other
At this past year’s Evangelical Theological Societymeeting, the Oikonomia Network convened a luncheon entitledRenewing the Call: Why Pastors and BusinessLeaders Need Each Other. Dr. Amy Sherman, senior fellow at the Sagamore Institute and author of recently publishedKingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship For the Common Goodpresented along with Dr. Scott Rae, professor at Talbot School of Theology and co-author of Business For the Common Good: A Christian Vision For the Marketplace. Click the video image below to watch the luncheon presentation. ...
The Perils of Presidential Prooftexting
Much has been made already about President ments yesterday at the National Prayer Breakfast concerning the Christian faith’s teachings about social responsibility. During his time at the breakfast, the president opined that getting rid of tax breaks for wealthy Americans amounted to a Christian obligation: In a time when many folks are struggling and at a time when we have enormous deficits, it’s hard for me to ask seniors on a fixed e or young people with student loans or...
Madison the Politician
James Madison has rightfully been forever identified as father of the U.S. Constitution, author of the Bill of Rights and coauthor of the Federalist Papers. In his new biography of America’s fourth president, Richard Brookhiser introduces us to Madison the politician. In many ways, Madison is the father of modern American politics, with all its partisanship, wheeling and dealing, vote getting, partisan media, and popular opinion polling. Brookhiser helps us to see the early framers as they were, brilliant men,...
Samuel Gregg: Obama and the Dictatorship of Relativism
“If there was ever any doubt about one of the Obama Administration’s key mitments,” writes Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg in a new article in the American Spectator, “it was dispelled on Jan. 20 when the Department of Health and Human Services informed the Catholic Church that most of its agencies will be required to provide employees with insurance-coverage for contraceptives, sterilization, and abortifacient drugs: i.e., products, procedures, and chemicals used to facilitate acts which the Church and plenty of...
Work and the Meaning of Life
In his classic book Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer asks the critical question for the Christian life in today’s world: “What could the call to follow Jesus mean today for the worker, the businessman, the farmer, or the soldier?” This question is a corollary of another, more basic, question: “Who is Jesus Christ for us today?” If Christ is Lord, then what does his lordship mean for the lives of his followers? In a worthwhile post over at Out of Ur, Skye...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved