Meeting of Minds Podcast: Recent Episodes
Salem Podcast Network
Meeting of Minds brings together the top minds in history, theology, finance, economics, language, mathematics and science. Host Jerry Bowyer invites guests to be both intelligent and clear and to follow truth wherever it leads.
In episode 132, Isaac Willour from Bowyer Research talks with Joel Chakra, president of the Tim Tebow Foundation, about the importance of Christian engagement in technology, the potential for faith-driven innovation, and how believers can lead in the development of tech that promotes human flourishing and serves the vulnerable.
Read Joel's piece at the Believe Journal here: https://www.thebelievejournal.com/p/christians-shouldnt-avoid-tech-we
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In Ep. 131, Jerry speaks with Jonathan Williams, chief economist of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Join us for a conversation surrounding the release of ALEC’s latest Rich States Poor States data. Jerry and Jonathan discuss:
- Which states are losing people — and gaining them
- The consequences of the COVID era move to remote work
- How states can “fall behind by standing still” on economic growth
- What's behind the recent trend of corporate redomiciliation?
See the 2026 edition of ALEC’s Rich States, Poor States report here: https://alec.org/publication/rich-states-poor-states-19th-edition/
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In Ep. #130, Isaac Willour from Bowyer Research sits down with Luke and Jennifer Richey, cofounders of Haiven, a safe, AI-powered gaming and chat platform designed to protect, connect, and empower the next generation online.
Join us for a discussion on:
- What parents need to know about the reality of child safety on online gaming platforms
- How Haiven is changing the game in combatting grooming and predation on these platforms
- The moral and business case for confronting online child exploitation
Learn more about Haiven’s work at haiven.gg.
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In Ep. 129, Isaac Willour from Bowyer Research sits down with Tyler O’Neil, senior investigative reporter at the Daily Signal, one of the foremost journalists covering the Southern Poverty Law Center. Join us for a conversation covering:
- The latest in the DOJ’s indictment of the SPLC
- How corporate America is cutting ties with activist groups like the SPLC
- The moral and theological ramifications of treating political affiliation as tantamount to hatred
Read Tyler’s excellent work here and follow him on X @Tyler2ONeil.
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At Amazon's annual meeting, the company faced a shareholder proposal from the Heritage Foundation via its Free Enterprise Initiative over its reliance on the Southern Poverty Law Center in vetting charities. Stefan Padfield presented for Heritage, urging the company to drop this biased, discredited data source as part of its responsibility to fiduciary duty and political neutrality.
"The board’s opposition statement is most notable for its glaring failure to address whether Amazon continues to use SPLC data, which is a question expressly raised in our proposal. That omission arguably constitutes a red flag in terms of current oversight.
More broadly, the proposition that shareholders should simply trust Amazon’s status quo is belied by the fact that Amazon has been rated a High Risk by 1792 Exchange on its Corporate Bias Ratings – including specifically for concerns about ongoing ties to the SPLC."
Learn more about Heritage's Free Enterprise Initiative here.
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At American Express' annual meeting of shareholders, the company faced a shareholder proposal from Inspire Investing over its perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, one of the primary corporate activist rating systems for LGBTQ+ issues.
Presenting at that meeting, along with Inspire's director of corporate engagement Tim Schwarzenberger, was Soren Aldaco, a detransitioner (someone who undergoes gender transition surgery and later regrets it). Aldaco talked to the company about the risks and ramifications of covering gender transition surgery in its healthcare, particularly for children as it appears that Amex does. This was a powerful example of the real human consequences of corporate policies that aid or adopt radical, activist social agendas - and why the corporate move away from such policies and back to sanity cannot come quickly enough.
Learn more about Inspire at inspireinvesting.com, and watch Soren's video here.
Follow Tim at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timschwarzenbergercfa/.
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At Docusign's 2026 annual meeting, the company faced a shareholder proposal from Inspire Investing over the use of non-fiduciary metrics in executive compensation. Listen to Inspire's presentation from director of corporate engagement Tim Schwarzenberger, urging the company to prioritize executive clarity and business performance over diversity incentives.
"The reputational risks of ESG and DEI elements in executive compensation are well-demonstrated — and the rapidly evolving legal & regulatory landscape around such elements is an additional point in favor of fiduciary duty above all else. We are asking Docusign to defend, and fully commit, to its most critical form of inclusion: including every employee, shareholder, and customer as part of its mission of a growing company and a healthier world.
Learn more about Inspire at inspireinvesting.com.
Follow Tim at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timschwarzenbergercfa/.
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At S&P Global's annual meeting, the company faced a shareholder proposal from the Heritage Foundation via its Free Enterprise Initiative, asking the company to report on the risks of the company’s work with activist groups like the Human Rights Campaign. Meanwhile, the company became once again embroiled in controversy over its ESG rating policies while this engagement was going on, underscoring politicization concerns.
As Heritage’s Stefan Padfield told the company at its annual meeting:
Another red flag calling into question the Company’s status quo is a recent letter from a coalition of 23 states questioning the lawfulness of the ESG policies of S&P Global Ratings. This letter was led in part by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers and raises the specter of undisclosed and unlawful material conflicts of interest, as well as concerns related to antitrust violations and deceptive trade practices – all connected to the Company’s embrace of politically charged ESG. The foregoing list of red flags suggesting biased decision-making at S&P Global should make it difficult for shareholders to trust the status quo.
Learn more about Heritage's Free Enterprise Initiative here.
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At Cummins' 2026 annual meeting, the company faced a shareholder proposal from David Bahnsen, founder of The Bahnsen Group, over the company's participation in activist rating systems like the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index. Listen to David's presentation, urging the company to prioritize core business over activist scorecards.
"Cummins’ rating from the Human Rights Campaign does not indicate political neutrality. It indicates alignment with highly controversial medical interventions, including hormone regimens and gender transition surgery. Further, Cummins’ active participation in activist indices is concerning for shareholders who expect the company to avoid political controversy.
Cummins should not be grabbing headlines for political stances. And it does not need to seek applause from activists. Its core business, meeting the needs of humanity by building the diesel engines and the generators that help power our world, is a noble, commendable, and vital business model that every investor can and ought to be proud of."
Learn more about The Bahnsen Group at thebahnsengroup.com.
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In Ep. #128, Jerry talks with Tom Carter, president and co-founder of Ridgeline Research. Join us for a conversation on:
- Why companies like Exxon and Starbucks are moving to business-friendly red states
- Navigating corporate impact as part of a conservative coalition
- How Ridgeline’s American Conservative Values ETF handles corporate engagement
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At Gilead Sciences' 2026 annual meeting, the company faced a shareholder proposal from David Bahnsen, founder of The Bahnsen Group over the use of ESG and DEI metrics in executive compensation. Listen to David's presentation, urging the company to prioritize executive clarity and business performance over activist incentives.
"Gilead does not need to be grabbing headlines or seeking activist plaudits over inclusion initiatives. Its core business, meeting the needs of humanity by combatting the world’s deadliest diseases, is a noble, commendable, and lifesaving model that every investor can and ought to be proud of. Gilead has done it so very well."
Learn more about The Bahnsen Group at thebahnsengroup.com.
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At Truist's annual meeting, the company faced a shareholder proposal from the Heritage Foundation via its Free Enterprise Initiative over brand politicization. Stefan Padfield presented for Heritage, urging the company to choose political neutrality in key areas, including charitable policies.
"While our nation has come to realize that nice-sounding phrases like “diversity, equity, and inclusion” apparently routinely mean discrimination in practice, Truist has unfortunately been associated with such initiatives. Truist scores 100 on the HRC’s CEI. And while the green energy transition has arguably been exposed as a utopian endeavor that leaves Americans poorer and vulnerable to foreign adversaries, Truist apparently maintains commitments furthering that agenda."
Learn more about Heritage's Free Enterprise Initiative here.
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At HPE’s annual meeting of shareholders, the company faced a shareholder proposal from a BR client over political neutrality in the company’s charitable partnerships. Presenting at that meeting was Bowyer Research's director of corporate engagement Isaac Willour, who laid out (1) the case for risk mitigation around controversial corproate partnerships, (2) what activist ratings indicate about the company's policy stances on critical issues like gender transition surgery, and (3) why peer companies, and the Fortune 500 is broadly moving away from these sorts of partnerships and choosing political neutrality.
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At Starbucks' annual meeting, the company faced a shareholder proposal from the Heritage Foundation via its Free Enterprise Initiative over its reliance on the Southern Poverty Law Center in vetting charities. Stefan Padfield presented for Heritage, urging the company to drop this biased, discredited data source as part of its responsibility to fiduciary duty and political neutrality.
"Given that relying on the SPLC’s Hate List is a business decision that must be fully informed in order to satisfy applicable fiduciary duties, shareholders can seemingly only conclude that Starbucks is aware of how biased the Hate List is, and either simply doesn’t care or actually supports that bias."
Learn more about Heritage's Free Enterprise Initiative here.
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At Disney's annual meeting, the company faced a shareholder proposal from a client of Patron Partners, asking for transparency around the company's charitable giving practices, including reported exclusions of religious/politically conservative organizations such as TPUSA. Listen to her full remarks here.
"I love Disney, and the many happy moments it’s provided me and my family and friends for decades. The way it’s dodging questions on this issue isn’t in keeping with that. Let’s get Disney away from biased corporate policies, and back to creating more of those happy moments. Choosing political neutrality is how to do that."
A huge thank you to Dana for her willingness to engage! Shortly after this annual meeting, Disney came under FCC review over its DEI policies. The company can't say no one was sounding the alarm now.
Learn more about Patron Partners here: https://www.patronpartnersadvisors.com/
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At John Deere's annual meeting of shareholders, the company faced a shareholder proposal from a BR client over its notable absence of faith-based employee resource groups (ERGs/BRGs). Presenting at that meeting was Bowyer Research's director of corporate engagement Isaac Willour, who laid out (1) the case for faith-based BRGs, (2) the company's baffling opposition to the proposal, and (3) why committing to political corporate neutrality means equal treatment for employees of faith.
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In Ep. 127, Jerry talks with Greg Scott, executive vice president at the corporate research organization 1792 Exchange, for an illuminating conversation around the even-more-disgraced Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Join us for a discussion on:
- What you need to know about the DOJ’s indictment of the SPLC.
- The disturbing connection between the Southern Poverty Law Center’s hate map and acts of political violence, from Family Research Council to Charlie Kirk and beyond
- How we’re engaging corporate America around curbing SPLC’s radical extremism
Learn more about 1792 Exchange’s work at 1792exchange.com.
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At IBM's annual meeting of shareholders, the company faced a shareholder proposal from the Heritage Foundation via its Free Enterprise Initiative over its perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, one of the primary corporate activist rating systems for LGBTQ+ issues.
Presenting at that meeting was Camille Kiefel, a detransitioner (someone who undergoes gender transition surgery and later regrets it). Kiefel talked to the company about the risks and ramifications of covering gender transition surgery in its healthcare, particularly for children as it appears that IBM does. This was a powerful example of the real human consequences of corporate policies that aid or adopt radical, activist social agendas - and why the corporate move away from such policies and back to sanity cannot come quickly enough.
Learn more about The Heritage Foundation's Free Enterprise Initiative here: https://www.heritage.org/free-enterprise-initiative
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In Ep. #126, Jerry talks with Justin Danhof, Director of Policy at the Department of Labor's EBSA division, to explain recent executive actions around proxy advisory services, what you need to know, and how it affects the financial freedom and future of ordinary Americans.
Join us for a conversation around:
- What is a proxy advisory service – and why should you care?
- Which factors determine whether proxy advisory services are fiduciary entities?
- Why eradicating political bias in finance has generational impact
Learn more at dol.gov/agencies/ebsa.
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In Ep. 125, Isaac Willour talks with Dustin DeVito, director of research at 1792 Exchange, a nonprofit helping to get politics out of corporate America (and one of Bowyer Research's many partner organizations). Join us for a conversation on:
- The latest iteration of the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index
- Why companies are backing away from gender ideology
- The future of getting corporate America out of politics
Check out 1792 Exchange on X (and follow Dustin here), and at 1792exchange.com.
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In December 2025, Bowyer Research president Jerry Bowyer delivered a speech on Genesis 1 at the 25th annual symposium for the Center for Cultural Leadership (CCL).
After that speech was over, CCL senior fellow David Bahnsen remarked, “Can you imagine what would happen for Christian-oriented economics if the 30 minutes Jerry Bowyer gave here today were permeated across the land? The leverage in his messaging about this is absolutely world-transformative.”
That’s a serious endorsement – and so we’re publishing that 30-minute speech from Jerry to you today for the education and, we hope, the encouragement and edification of our listeners.
Learn more about the Center for Cultural Leadership here: https://christianculture.com/
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In Ep. 124, Isaac Willour talks with Thomas Dias, Foundation Relations Specialist at the Acton Institute, about how Gen-Z can approach AI constructively, not reflexively.
Join us for a discussion on:
- How young Christians should be viewing technological innovation
- The use case for AI
- Responding to AI skepticism in 2026 and beyond
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In Ep. 123, Jerry talks with C. Theodore Hicks II (CFP, CKA, CMT), founder and CEO of Hicks & Associates Wealth Management, about:
- The flaws in modern portfolio theory
- Is ‘diversification’ a free lunch?
- Lessons from Warren Buffett’s ‘secret sauce’ of investing
- Why financial advisors need to be ‘good Bereans’ – and what that means.
Read Ted’s book, “Evidence-Based Investing” here: https://www.amazon.com/Evidence-Based-Investing-Long-Term-Sometimes-Short-Term/dp/B0FH65SD2K
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In Episode 122, Jerry is joined by Dr. Allen Mendenhall, Senior Advisor for the Free Enterprise Initiative at the Heritage Foundation. Dr. Mendenhall previously worked as a lawyer and served as the Associate Dean of the Sorrell College of Business. Join us for a fascinating discussion on:
- What Ayn Rand-style libertarianism gets wrong about capitalism
- How ESG activism inherently hinders the knowledge necessary for free enterprise
- How conservative and red-state-centric brands go woke, and what to do about it
- The Heritage Foundation’s goals for its Free Enterprise Initiative (previously the Capital Markets Initiative)
Learn more about The Heritage Foundation’s Free Enterprise Initiative here.
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In Ep. 121, Jerry Bowyer interviews Rick Graber, CEO of The Bradley Foundation and former U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic, on the right’s shift from classical liberalism to nationalism, the failure to defend capitalism, and victories against DEI and ESG. Graber warns about judicial overreach and rising anti-Semitism, explains how Bradley Foundation grantees are steering corporations back to principle, and shares why, despite deep divisions, there’s still reason for optimism about America’s future.
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Jerry Bowyer talks with Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick about the hidden influence of proxy advisory firms like ISS and Glass Lewis. Fitzpatrick explains why most pension plans lacked proxy guidelines (and the results of not having them), and how the left uses boardrooms to advance agendas that fail at the ballot box. He shares progress made in pushing back against ESG and why the battle for shareholder engagement is far from over.
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In Ep. 119, Jerry talks with West Virginia Treasurer Larry Pack, in a conversation touching on:
- How the ‘war on coal’ is connected to debanking controversies
- Debanking vs. Deplatforming: which is more dangerous, or are they the same?
- How Treasurer Pack is fighting for tax cuts for people wearing boots – not just suits.
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In Ep. 118, Isaac Willour from Bowyer Research sits down with Gabriella Hoffman, the director of the Center for Energy and Conservation at Independent Women's Forum. Join us for a wide-ranging conversation, including:
- The Gen-Z populism behind the rise of socialist candidates such as Zohran Mamdani
- The inherent privilege of being anti-energy — and why that matters
- Is ‘Abundance’ liberalism (1) real, (2) abundant, or (3) liberal?
- Why environmental conservation is conservative
Check out Gabriella’s work here and follow her on X @Gabby_Hoffman.
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In Ep. #117, Jerry speaks with Dr. John Fleming, treasurer of the state of Louisiana, for a wide-ranging conversation. Topics include:
- Do decarbonization efforts, from net zero to carbon capture, actually do anything?
- How racial gerrymandering creates a more polarized nation
- The history of property rights — and why that matters in creating wealth for ordinary Americans.
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In this episode, Isaac is joined by Dr. Brian Dellinger, AI expert and professor of computer science at Grove City College. We discuss:
- What a real theology of technology looks like
- Why Christian culture is so reflexively anti-AI
- Can AI be a tool for kingdom-building?
Hint: the answer’s yes.
Check out Grove City College’s work with AI in Biblical translation here: https://www.gcc.edu/Home/News-Archive/News-Article/gcc-research-aims-to-improve-ai-biblical-translation
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In this episode, Jerry welcomes Newsweek’s Jesse Edwards to unpack the controversy surrounding McDonalds’ decision to step back from its DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) hiring quotas. Together, they explore:
- Why corporations are expected to take stances on social and political issues at all
- How DEI initiatives often lead to further corporate activism — and unintended consequences
- Why these programs often harm the very people they pretend to support
Jesse shares insights from his recent Newsweek article, arguing that complex societal challenges shouldn’t be solved through corporate experiments. As he puts it: “There’s no logical reason to expect a company like McDonald’s to solve these issues by using its workforce as guinea pigs for social engineering.”
Listen in for a candid conversation on the limits of corporate responsibility — and why sometimes, fries should just be fries.
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In Ep. 114, Jerry sits down with Alabama State Auditor Andrew Sorrell. Join us for a fascinating conversation on topics including:
- Sorrell’s personal experience with being debanked
- Who’s the bigger problem in debanking: big banks or regional banks?
- How debanking creates problems in the cryptocurrency industry
- How banking restrictions threaten Second Amendment rights - and how Alabama’s fighting back
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In Episode 113 of Meeting of Minds, Utah State Treasurer Marlo Oaks returns for a compelling discussion on how alternative currencies—especially gold-backed systems—could offer economic resilience and restore financial autonomy to states seeking greater independence from federal monetary policy.
Jerry and Treasurer Oaks explore:
- How gold is strengthening state rainy-day funds in Utah
- The role of precious metals in safeguarding against inflation and economic instability
- The constitutional foundation for issuing gold-backed currency
- Whether Bitcoin and digital assets offer a viable alternative in currency crises
This episode dives deep into the intersection of economics, policy, and freedom—don’t miss it!
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In Ep. 112, Isaac Willour from Bowyer Research sits down with Dr. Chris DeArmitt, a materials scientist, author, and public speaker known for his work discussing misconceptions surrounding the environmental impact of plastics. Join us for a conversation about corporate America’s plastic policies, recycling, and what the future of real sustainability looks like.
Check out Chris’ work here: plasticsresearchcouncil.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdearmitt/
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In Ep. 111, David Bahnsen returns to the podcast to discuss how high-achievers struggle to relate to the church, how the lessons of God’s creation carry a call to human ambition, and other lessons sparked from his recent book Full-Time: Work and the Meaning of Life.
Check out David’s recent book here: https://www.fulltimebook.com/
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Oklahoma State Treasurer Todd Russ gave this speech at Lululemon's annual meeting of shareholders recently, defending a shareholder proposal urging the company to back away from partnering with non-fiduciary corporate activist groups like the Human Rights Campaign, and take seriously the controversy caused by the company's previous donations to radical organizations like Black Lives Matter & Reclaim the Block (which called for the defunding of the Minneapolis Police Department). We present Treasurer Russ' speech here for our listeners.
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In Ep. 110, Jerry sits down with author Eric Dunavant, author, entrepreneur and creator of the Kingdom ROI (Return on Intention) method. They discuss Eric’s recent book, At the Bistro with Bob, the story of Dunavant’s friendship with oilman Bob Pritchard. Jerry & Eric also discuss the importance of exercising ownership of companies, how to balance transferring wisdom & wealth, and Eric’s work teaching high-net-worth people to build & maintain relationships, not just money.
Check out At the Bistro With Bob here.
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In Ep. 109, Isaac Willour from Bowyer Research sits down with Tommy Martin, CEO of the Tebow Group. Join us for a wide-ranging conversation on topics like:
- Biblical lessons for business – from 1 Samuel to Paul
- How Christians should navigate the 21st century job market
- The incredible work that the Tebow Group is doing to bring faith, hope, and love to the darkest parts of the world
Check out The Tebow Group’s work here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tebowgroup/posts/?feedView=all
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Financial advisor Rick Figueroa gave this speech at Meta’s annual meeting of shareholders several weeks ago, defending a shareholder proposal urging Meta to be transparent with shareholders regarding preventing AI-driven child exploitation. This proposal received one of the highest levels of vote support in Bowyer Research's history - we present Rick’s excellent speech here for our listeners.
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Walker Wildmon, vice president of American Family Association, gave this speech at Apple's annual meeting of shareholders earlier this year, defending a shareholder proposal urging Apple to explain its lax policies regarding online child abuse and distribution of child pornography. This proposal received one of the highest levels of vote support in Bowyer Research's history - we present Wildmon's speech here for our listeners.
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One of Bowyer Research’s clients, financial advisor David Bahnsen, recently spoke at Gilead Sciences’ annual meeting in defense of a shareholder proposal asking the company to eschew divisive DEI quotas in its supplier policies. We’re presenting the speech here for our listeners.
Learn more about The Bahnsen Group here.
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In episode 108, Jerry sits down with Rich Todd, CEO and co-founder of Innovest, to talk about one of the biggest drivers in value-based investments: financial consultants. Rich & Jerry discuss the Christian philosophical rebuttal to ESG & DEI, the importance of having an investment manager with a pro-Christian culture, and what it truly means to be “equally yoked” when it comes to your investment strategy, financial influence, & proxy voting.
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Recently, Jerry (as president of Bowyer Research) gave a short speech to the board of directors of BlackRock, asking the company (1) to move back to political neutrality and (2) to go back to the classical economics of shareholder capitalism as opposed to stakeholderism. We present the speech (three minutes in length) here for our listeners to listen to.
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Few people are as keyed in on ESG’s “war on food” as former Nebraska State Treasurer John Murante. In Ep. 107, Murante sits down with Jerry to discuss how corporate activism is leaning heavily into anti-agriculture sentiment, how utopian visions of animal welfare create dystopia in reality, and how fiduciary duty gets applied to everything from carbon emissions to crypto investments.
Read John’s piece at NRO here: https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/11/esg-investing-hurts-the-poor-and-empowers-tyrants/
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In Ep. 106, Jerry sits down with Missouri Treasurer Vivek Malek to discuss the threat of China, the ongoing battle with Vanguard’s self-perpetuating autocracy, and the ‘Three-P’ approach: protecting taxpayers’ dollars, providing opportunities, and promoting the promise of America.
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In. Ep. 105, Isaac Willour from Bowyer Research sits down for a conversation with Dr. Paul Mueller, senior fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER). Join us for an in-depth discussion of a Protestant approach to economics, how ESG agendas advance elitist ideology, and how G.K. Chesterton can fix our social media problems.
Check out Dr. Mueller’s work at AIER here: https://aier.org/people/paul-mueller/
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In Ep. 104, Jerry sits down with Tim Schwarzenberger, CFA, of Inspire Investing. The next installment of our miniseries on a Catholic response to ESG explores how Christian investors can apply faith and prudential judgment to today’s complex investment landscape.
They dive into the levels of Church teaching authority, discuss why reclaiming shareholder voice through proxy voting is so important, and examine how DEI and ESG frameworks often conflict with authentic Christian moral principles. Whether Catholic or broadly Christian, this conversation offers practical insights for investing faithfully and intentionally in a world of competing values.
Inspire: www.inspireinvesting.com
Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timschwarzenbergercfa/
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In Ep. 103, Jerry sits down with Jonathan Berry, managing partner at Boyden Gray PLLC, in the next episode of our miniseries on a Catholic response to ESG. Join us for a discussion ranging from subsidiarity to diversity: we cover the historical roots of ESG & DEI ideology, the 'agency problem' and how ESG casts light on it, and the way that ESG often mirrors (and perverts) religious ways of thinking.
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In Ep. 102, Isaac from Bowyer Research sits down with Wade Myers, general partner at Eagle Venture Fund, and John de la Chapelle, COO at TruePathVision. Join us for a fantastic discussion on how Eagle is changing the game on impact investing, how TruePathVision is combating human trafficking in the hotel industry, and why Christians should embrace the growth of AI.
Eagle Venture Fund: https://www.eagleventurefund.com/
TruePathVision: https://truepathvision.com/
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Do sustainability initiatives actually fix the problems they claim to solve? In Ep. 101, Isaac Willour from Bowyer Research sits down with Christian Britschgi of Reason Magazine to discuss how Starbucks' 2018 decision to nix plastic straws in the name of 'sustainability' ended up being far more complicated than anticipated, and what corporate activists often miss in their crusades against plastic use.
Link to Christian's original piece here: Starbucks Bans Plastic Straws, Winds Up Using More Plastic
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In Ep. 100, Jerry sits down with Dr. Andrew Abela, dean of the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America, for a discussion on how cardinal virtues drive good business and how businesses can cultivate true virtue in employees. Jerry & Dean Abela also discuss stewardship (and how ESG is not the answer), and how concepts like private property rights are indispensable to a free and responsible society.
Check out Dean Abela's book Superhabits here.
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In Ep. 99, Isaac Willour from Bowyer Research speaks with David Everitt, CEO of GameSafe, an AI start-up combating the way predators groom children via online gaming portals. From Microsoft to Roblox, online gaming is a hotbed for child abuse - and the private sector is working hard to generate solutions like GameSafe.
NOTE: This episode contains descriptions of online child predation.
Check out GameSafe here.
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In Ep. 98, Dr. Samuel Gregg kicks off our series on Catholicism and ESG. He & Jerry discuss what a Catholic doctrine of the human person has to say about our economic vision, the moral response to ‘stakeholder capitalism,’ and why God’s command to stewardship & dominion doesn’t mean buying into false narratives about fossil fuels & environmental hysteria.
Dr. Gregg is the Friedrich Hayek Chair in Economics and Economic History at the American Institute for Economic Research. Read more here.
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In Ep. 97, Jerry & Utah treasurer Marlo Oaks discuss the historical & political state of Europe’s anti-fossil fuel mandates, how ESG mandates on American companies hurt American employees, and a powerful legal strategy by which the Trump administration can push back against European regulators. Also, why it’s premature to take ‘victory laps’ against ESG & DEI.
Read Treasurer Oaks’ op-ed for RCP here: https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2025/02/27/collusion_coercion_and_the_eus_corporate_sustainability_directives_1094273.html
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Why are companies like Apple struggling to combat the spread of child porn in their networks? In Ep. 96, Isaac Willour (Bowyer Research) sits down with Richard Pursey, founder of cyber security company SafeToNet, to discuss why companies are often unwilling (not unable) to prevent child exploitation, the importance of the private sector in fighting human trafficking and abuse, and Richard's innovative new technology HarmBlock that's changing the game when it comes to keeping kids safe online.
Learn more about Richard & Sharon's company here.
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In Ep. 95, Jerry sits down with Trevor Lewis, an economic analyst who previously worked at the Buckeye Institute, to discuss how anti-fossil fuel policies, from nitrogen fertilizer to net-zero emissions requirements, inevitably hurt the agriculture sector and in turn American consumers. Jerry & Trevor also discuss the details of sow housing practices, the economics of oat milk pricing, and the practical realities of feeding 9 billion people.
Read Lewis’ report, published with the Buckeye Institute, here: https://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/library/docLib/2024-02-07-Net-Zero-Climate-Control-Policies-Will-Fail-the-Farm-policy-report.pdf
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In Ep. 94, Bowyer Research’s Isaac Willour sits down with Dustin DeVito, director of corporate research at the 1792 Exchange, to discuss the Human Rights Campaign, one of the most notorious organizations pushing corporate bias on companies. Also discussed, the HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, a major pressure point for companies stepping back towards politically neutrality. Follow Dustin & the 1792 Exchange on X: @DustinDeVito @1792Exchange
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Few citizens understand how much the toxic alphabet soup of political ideologies such as ESG, DEI and CRT has burst out of academia into government and even financial markets. The first line of defense against this has been the states, particularly the formerly somewhat mundane offices such as Treasurer, Auditor General, Comptroller, Commissioner of Revenue, CFO. Woke politics in investing was a major theme in North Carolina's Treasurer election this year, and the people resoundingly chose Brad Briner to go into office and continue the task initiated by his predecessor Dale Folwell of cleaning ESG and DEI out of consideration in investment decisions. In Ep. 93, Briner joined Jerry on this episode to talk about that battle as well as the battle for federalism, to stop the federal government from forcing N.C. to finance sex change treatments in its already overloaded state health care program. Briner also talks about going into office to reduce its power and the business case against green energy mandates. Briner makes the case against the intrusion of both left wing and right wing politics into finance.
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In Ep. 92, Bowyer Research analyst Isaac Willour sits down with filmmaker, producer, and activist Robby Starbuck. We discuss Robby's latest victory at Walmart, the fate of discriminatory DEI programs in the next 4 years of Republican governance, and what the future holds for getting corporate America out of politics and back to business.
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The most respected class of elected officials in America hold titles such as Treasurer, Auditor General, Comptroller, or Commissioner of Revenue. These are financial watchdogs with their eyes on the details. Worker bees. On the other hand, Congress often polls as one of the least trusted political institutions. One reason? By and large, states balance their budgets and Congress… well, doesn’t. That's why we spoke with Indiana Comptroller Elise Nieshalla in Ep. 91, who chairs the National Debt Crisis Task Force for the prestigious State Financial Officers Foundation. This group sent a letter (National-Debt-Letter.pdf) to Congress urging its members to deal immediately with exploding debt levels which could potentially trigger a debt crisis and, in its wake, a geopolitical crisis created by American decline.
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With 45 billion dollars under advisement, Innovest is one of the largest commercial Christian financial consultants in the marketplace. In Ep. 90, CEO and co-founder Rich Todd joined Jerry to talk about the evils of ESG, the way that Christians' money has been weaponized against them, and why it is imperative to have aligned companies helping Christian institutions with their portfolio construction.
Financial consultants are different from financial advisors and asset managers in that financial consultants tend to work with ultra-high-net-worth individuals and with institutions. Their function is not generally to manage money but rather to work in the institutional space to help large investors decide who should manage their money. Todd talks about the powerful pressure towards the left and towards secularism in the finance industry. and how ESG & DEI have been the levers used to apply that pressure. Christians, including large Christian institutions, have naively entrusted their values decisions and their voices to people who despise everything they stand for. Todd also emphasizes that faith-alignment does not have to come at the cost of professional excellence or market returns.
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In Ep. 89, Dean Andrew Abela, of the Busch School of Business at Catholic University of America, talks with Jerry about his new book, Superhabits. Abela describes the difference between ESG/DEI and other forms of virtue signaling which are forms of pseudo-morality. Abela also explains why he used the language of a self-help book to communicate ancient truths about virtue. instead of using older language. Abela goes on to describe ways in which his book and the corresponding app could be used not just for personal development. but also on an enterprise-wide scale to help businesses create a corporate culture rich in Superhabits.
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In Ep. 88, Dr. OJ Oleka, new CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation, sits down with Jerry to discuss the next phase of the battle for free markets, the role state fiduciaries play in protecting retirees and taxpayers, the need for a meritocracy, and how to go on offense against entrenched ESG/DEI interests.
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The folks from the Life:Powered initiative at the Texas Public Policy Foundation leveraged public disclosure rules to find out how state pension plans are voting at the annual meetings of the companies they own shares in. The results were pretty shocking. From 2019 to 2023, many red states, some with politicians who have publicly attacked ESG investing, are voting to the left of BlackRock. In Ep. 87, Brent Bennett, policy director of Life:Powered, joined Jerry to talk about this important new research, and why states which don't want to continue to vote with their shares for ESG ideology and "energy discrimination" don't need to any longer. Here's the report, see if your state is on it and if it is, send it to your legislator, Treasurer and state Auditor. How State Pensions Unwittingly Push ESG Goals Through Proxy Votes | Life:Powered (lifepowered.org)
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In Ep. 86, Dale Folwell, the outgoing (in both senses of the word) Treasurer of North Carolina talked to Jerry about his case before the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court case mandating that the state health plan pay for sexual transition treatments, including millions of dollars worth of surgical procedures. Folwell also talks about the true heroes of Hurricane Helene: the mountain people and local volunteer firefighters which were first at the scene. Finally, Folwell talks about the upcoming N.C. governor's race in which the scandal-ridden Republican candidate, Mark Robinson, is likely facing defeat, pointing out that Republicans need to stop choosing candidates based on who they hate rather than their ability to solve problems.
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The Treasurer of the state of Louisiana, Dr. John Fleming, joined Jerry to talk about why he opposed approval for Bank of America for a business contract due to the companies debanking of Indigenous Advance, a ministry to Ugandan Orphans and Widows. Treasurer Fleming talks about how the left has been successful in pressuring companies to a politicized and anti-Christian pattern of behavior. Dr. Fleming also talks about the corporate governance battle of the year, the attempt by activists and blue state pensions to attack the board of Exxon. Fleming talks about how to balance the need to do business in the world and the need for large financial entities with the desire not to pay businesses which then turn around and hurt the economy of a state and attack the faith of many of its citizens.
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How can Christians build support networks in an arena where employees of faith feel increasingly unwelcome to be religious in the workplace? Mark Whitacre, executive director of Coca-Cola's t-factor initiative, joins Jerry to discuss forming Christian employee resource groups, responding to common objections, and what the future looks like for religious employees.
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Former Texas senator Phil Gramm joins Bowyer Research's Isaac Willour on Meeting of Minds for a wide-ranging discussion of AI, defending free market ideals in our current political moment, and the medieval/feudal roots of the modern ESG movement.
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Veteran financial journalist Charles Gasparino joins Meeting of Minds to discuss his recent book "Go Woke, Go Broke: The Inside Story of the Radicalization of Corporate America." He and host Jerry Bowyer discuss the extent of corporate politicization, from Disney's corporate strategies to Goldman Sachs meltdowns over Chick-fil-A, as well as the future of combatting ESG activism.
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Which companies have been targeted by anti-Israel activists since October 7th? In Ep. 81, Isaac talks with Ron & Vanessa of the Zachor Legal Institute to discuss anti-Israel activism, boycotts, and the intersection between ESG and the BDS movement.
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Professor and TED speaker Alex Edmans of the London Business School joins Meeting of Minds for a wide-ranging discussion on confirmation bias, decision making, and how many ESG policies are rooted in biased/black-and-white thinking that renders people and industries dumber.
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Walker Wildmon of the American Family Association returns to Meeting of Minds for an in-depth discussion of AFA’s forays into corporate engagement, current events, and the future of conservative institution-building.
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Why aren't journalists covering the tremendous bias of the pro-ESG movement? Jerry talks with Tom Jones, head of the American Accountability Foundation about the weakness of pro-ESG academic analysis, sneaky ESG malfeasance in Oklahoma, and how the AAF uses FOIA requests to expose the interconnected web of anti-fiduciary activists working behind the scenes in American business.
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Is ESG at odds with human flourishing? And how do we move beyond it? Our guest, advisor and author Terrence Keeley, served for 12 years as a managing director at BlackRock before leaving to author several ESG-critical books. He joins Bowyer Research analyst Isaac Willour to discuss the failures of ESG, the roots of human flourishing, and the political/financial future of the free enterprise system, guided by the recent AEI book Ending ESG & Restoring the Economic Enlightenment.
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Mike Sharrow is the head of C12, the most prominent network of Christian CEOs. Sharrow talked with Jerry about how ESG, DEI and SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) have taken a small kernel of Christian truth and built a system which creates division and rancor in the workplace. Sharrow uncovers the roots of these toxic ideas in critical theory: an offshoot of Marxism which divides the world into oppressor and oppressed, with no escape from those categories possible. Sharrow also talks about the Holy Spirit is expanding the C12 network internationally in Egypt and increasingly in Brazil, which is undergoing revival and a wave of Christian discipleship in the marketplace.
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Paul Tice has 40 years of experience on Wall Street managing money with a focus on the energy sector. He has worked for many of the largest firms in the world, including Blackrock. He now teaches finance at the Stern School at NYU. Tice explains exactly how ESG will tank global financial markets by destroying the energy sector on which all economics depends. He identifies the motive behind these policies driving politicians as the lust for power. He further identifies the motive for business CEOs: cowardice. Tice destroys the allegedly scientific arguments that fossil fuels are causing global warming and exposes the harrowing effects of the policies that are based on such flawed arguments.
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Dr. Wayne Winegarden, Senior Fellow in Business and Economics at the Pacific Research Institute, explains why the claims of ESG investing advantage turned out to be based on an illusion, which reversed itself when energy companies began to outperform tech stocks. He also points out that ESG when applied as an investment methodology increases fees and decreases returns. Dr. Winegarden warns that a crisis in state pension and health insurance plans is virtually inevitable and how red states are likely going to be forced to bailout blue states.
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Alliance Defending Freedom is the leading defender of religious and political speech protection in our nation’s legal system. With fifteen Supreme Court victories and over 70 assists since 2011, no other organization has done more in the courts to protect religious freedom. But several years ago, ADF became a victim of cancel culture at Amazon, which kicked the organization out of being eligible for customers to direct gifts on its Smile program. ADF realized that there was another, perhaps even greater, threat to free speech than government – large corporations. In response, they launched a corporate engagement operation, headed by Jeremy Tedesco, and an objective scoring system called the Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index, www.viewpointdiversity.com. ADF recently released the third annual edition of this index and Jeremy Tedesco joined us to talk about the trends he has seen. While victory is probably far in the future, progress is being made right now, with more companies being covered by the index, more companies participating in the survey and some companies seeing significant improvements. Tedesco also gives helpful advice and an inspiring call to ordinary shareholders to join the fight. Momentum has shifted our way, and Tedesco invites those who are concerned about “woke capitalism” to move from impotent outrage to engagement and influence.
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We at Bowyer Research worked with a financial advisor to place a proposal on the annual shareholder meeting ballot of Mastercard. One of the rights that comes with placing such proposals is the right to address the board, CEO, and other shareholders present at the meeting directly and unfiltered. Usually, the advisors and ministries we work with give this speech themselves, but in this particular case, the advisor delegated it to me. It’s only three minutes long. Given the grave moral consequences of Mastercard’s actions, I was not my usual, quiet and reserved self. Some issues require a no-holding-back approach.
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In a recent op/ed for the Wall Street Journal, Commissioner of Revenue for the State of Alaska Adam Crum made the case that a recent attempt by blue state pensions to intimidate the board into acquiescing to the demands of anti-oil activists is a violation of the fiduciary duty to put retirees’ life savings ahead of politics. (Exxon Mobil Takes On Climate Extremists - WSJ). He should know. Commissioner Crum is responsible for the oversight of 138 billion dollars in public assets. And as the Commissioner of Revenue, he sits on the boards both of the state’s pension fund and of the state’s Permanent Fund, which receives oil and gas royalties and distributes them and investment earnings as dividends to the citizens of Alaska.After all, it was the discovery of oil and gas, without which, Crum argues, Alaska would never have been permitted to become a state. The Alaska model has also been a tremendous success for indigenous “First Peoples”, with groundbreaking legislation 50 years ago that allowed them to monetize the mineral rights of their land, creating unprecedented prosperity, while at the same time allowing them to their subsistence way of life such as hunting, fishing and whaling. Crum insists on fulfilling his role on the basic principle enshrined in law and long tradition that a trustee must put financial return for beneficiaries as the one and only end of pension management and leaving politics out of it.
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According to Alabama State Auditor Andrew Sorrell, blue state pension plans and the stakeholder capitalism movement have been attempting to intimidate private corporations into imposing policies which have been repeatedly rejected by Americans at the ballot box. Sorrell points out that the demands of anti-energy activists and blue state pension bosses would lead inevitably to an authoritarian shutdown of all oil and gas resources in perpetuity. Particularly ominous is the attempt this week to remove the board of directors of ExxonMobil, the world's largest private oil company, using the states' pension assets, which he wrote about here: State Auditor Andrew Sorrell: Blue state officials play cheap political games ahead of Exxon shareholder meeting (1819news.com). Sorrell offers a serious warning to America about how much our liberties are at stake in this battle to keep politics from invading and weaponizing corporate life.
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A group of blue state officials are attempting to use their pension funds to kick out the board of ExxonMobil because the firm has successfully sued to block an attempt by an activist group to place a proposal on the company's ballot that is hostile to the oil and gas industry. In addition, these states are pressuring Blackrock, JPMorgan Chase, and other asset managers to also vote against the Exxon board. In this episode of Meeting of Minds, Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming explains that if this unprecedented act of intimidation were to succeed, how devastating it would be to his home state, America, and the world. The Treasurer tells why he has urged the pension plans of Louisiana not to participate in this blue state corporate coup attempt (Treasurer Fleming condemns plot to take over Exxon (kedm.org)), and why his fellow red state treasurers have urged America's largest asset managers also not to participate (U.S. Republican states support Exxon in shareholder activism dispute | Reuters). He explains that what is truly at stake is the modern economy itself.
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The battle between red states and ESG is raging in Oklahoma right now. The pro-energy Treasurer Todd Russ is suffering massive backlash for attempting to enforce a law which calls upon the state to not do business with asset managers such as Blackrock that boycott or seek to harm the fossil fuel industry. Russ found himself on the receiving end of a lawsuit from a union boss and attacks from numerous directions, including the Republican Attorney General of the state. Jerry talks in this episode with Tom Jones, President of the American Accountability Foundation (American Accountability Foundation), who has used Freedom of Information Requests to demonstrate the secretive and cozy relationship between various public officials who have been attacking Russ and an influential Blackrock lobbyist. AAF uncovers a disturbing pattern of public officials coordinating strategy with a company blacklisted by the state for acting against the interests of the state’s energy industry. This interview should be a wake-up call to conservative Oklahomans to see that the swamp isn’t just in Washington DC, but everyplace where special interests work against the interests of the people.
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Over twenty states have passed legislation that prohibits the state entrusting the management of state assets to companies that seek to harm the fossil fuel industry. Many of these states have been under attack by mysterious, well-funded, coordinated efforts to discredit those laws and the financial officials who are enforcing them. Right now that backlash is falling hardest against Oklahoma, it's anti-ESG law, and Treasurer Todd Russ, whose job it is to enforce it. Russ talks with Jerry and brings the goods on how Blackrock works against his state's principal industry. He details how, when he attempted to fire Blackrock from managing state assets, out-of-towners with "large briefcases of money" showed up and suddenly there were lawsuits, mysteriously funded studies supportive of Blackrock, and media campaigns launched against the law and himself. Russ explains why it's not just Oklahoma jobs at stake, but the whole world, which needs Oklahoma's energy to stay warm and fed.
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Continuing our series about the battle between Texas and Blackrock (as well as other anti-energy financial entities), we talk in this episode with the chief financial officer of the state of Texas, Comptroller Glenn Hegar. He defends the Texas law which forbids the state from doing business with financial companies that boycott or otherwise seek to harm oil and gas companies. Comptroller Hegar also explains exactly why Blackrock deserves to be on that list and why the $53 billion school fund was right to divest from Blackrock as an enforcement of the law. Comptroller Hegar and other Texas officials are leading the country in fighting for the economic prosperity of energy producing states. But Texas is also saving short-sighted Wall Street firms headquartered in energy dependent states from themselves, because in the long run, all of America is going to need energy from Texas.
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A Texas State Investment fund, under the leadership of school board chairman Aaron Kinsey, just divested 8.5 billion dollars from Blackrock. Blackrock quickly retaliated, suggesting that the move was against the law. On this episode of Meeting of Minds we talk to the Honorable Jason Isaac, formerly of the Texas Legislature, who played a key role in drafting the legislation. Isaac defends the Texas law and the decision to divest from Blackrock as in accordance with that law. Isaac also discusses research from the American Energy Institute and from the Texas Public Policy Foundation showing exactly how Blackrock attacks the energy industry. Isaac goes on to defend the Treasurer of Oklahoma Todd Russ, who is likewise under attack for following his state's law and attempting to divest from Blackrock. Finally, Isaac shows how the anti-fossil fuel agenda is really an anti-human agenda, at war with humans and with nature.
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American Family Association has been the leader among evangelical Christians when it comes to boycotting companies that violate the values of their Christian customers. AFA still leads in that area, but recently they widened their mission to focus their attention on the powerful strategy of shareholder corporate activism. Non-profit ministries often are given stocks as gifts from donors, but they do not use the legal authority that comes with those stocks to influence the companies they own. AFA is breaking the mold by using shares in Apple, and also banks they own, to oppose the pernicious practices of deplatforming and/or debanking Christian and conservative customers. AFA's Walker Wildmon reveals for the first time in this interview how AFA itself was the victim of debanking by the payment service Stripe and also how a security company refused to help the AFA protect its employees from violence because that company didn't like AFA's politics.
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In his new book, Full-Time: Work and the Meaning Life (https://www.fulltimebook.com/), entrepreneur David Bahnsen confronts the anti-work-ethic culture of modern evangelical Christianity and calls upon churches to reassert the Biblical mandate for hard work and high productivity. He talks about the problem of a deficient pastoral work ethic, and the tendency of the church to focus on things like family time to the exclusion of a focus on economic productivity. He argues that the modern faith at work movements and the call for business leaders to get out of the business world and spend their “second half” in ministry in order to move “from success to significance” both fall far short of the high Biblical calling of business.
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While at Davos, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase Jamie Dimon called for elites to acknowledge the economic accomplishments of the Trump administration and to stop showing contempt for 75 million Americans who are not on the left. Exxon, the world’s largest public oil company, is suing shareholder activists who pretend to represent the interests of investors while pushing oil companies away from their core businesses. On this edition of Meeting of Minds, we talk with financial advisor David Bahnsen, who last year addressed the CEO, board of directors, and shareholders of both JPMorgan Chase and Exxon, urging them to restore the trust of conservatives and focus on and defend their company’s business interests.
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The New Civil Liberties Alliance (https://nclalegal.org/) has exposed the extreme extent to which the Biden Administration has been coercing social media companies to censor the research of credible experts who dared to disagree with the party line on lockdowns, vaccines, and mandatory masking. A combination of legal discovery and Congressional subpoena powers reveals an astounding amount of collusion between the government and social media companies to deprive dissenters from their right to speak and citizens of their right to hear things the government doesn’t like. Even worse, subsequent events have shown the dissenters are right far more often than the enforced consensus. Jenin Younes, the attorney who led NCLA’s efforts in this regard, joined Jerry to talk about what the courts have done to protect the Bill of Rights, and what comes next, and what it was like to sit in a conference room deposing an uncooperative Anthony Fauci.
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Another state treasurer is taking on ideologically-captured Wall Street firms. Dale Folwell of North Carolina is publicly calling for Larry Fink to be fired because he is isn't doing his job. The job of asset managers is to manage assets, to put the financial returns of investors above all else. But what happens when the "invisible people…the people who work with their hands and their backs…the people who shower at the end of the day" lack the wealth and power to keep Wall Street firms from using their own money against their interests? Answer: the state officials whom they trust to look out for them should step up. Treasurer Folwell talks about how he has been fighting Blackrock and other entities that are politicizing finance, including rating agencies, which have been attacking local governments for not being politically aligned with the ESG movement. He also explains why he thinks that taxpayer money should not be going to elective surgery such as sex change operations, especially for minors. A video of oral arguments before Fourth Circuit can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/live/Cuc32k5BETw?si=aw89_bKII29Oz4ID Don't miss the discussion about how unaccountable health care bureaucracies use lack of transparency to distort markets and take advantage of patients. https://www.shpnc.org/what-the-health/nc-hospital-price-transparency-report
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Like most people who run for a constitutional state-level row office, Dan Elliott has a business background and a desire to focus on “worker bee” type issues, such as cyber-security. But on the campaign trail running for Indiana Treasurer, he met a law-abiding gun store owner who had his bank account cancelled for no reason other than being a gun store owner. That’s when Elliott became aware that ESG and corporate politicization was going to be battle he would have to fight. Treasurer Elliott talks with Jerry about his frank conversations with Blackrock about retirees who had to decide between food and medicine, and why financial return--and only financial return--should be the focus of the pension plans under his supervision. Elliott also talks about the importance of school choice, and why he administers a program that aids young people who don’t go to college, but instead want to apprentice in the real world.
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The Christian Employers Alliance is the leading association of Christian business people who employ others. Shannon Royce, its president, talks to Jerry about their upcoming conference and how Christian employers can learn what they’re up against, but also how to triumph. Topics include agility in the marketplace, how to maintain Christian identity and not run afoul of the law, strategies for dealing with ESG, and a great deal more. Listen to the interview, share it with others and visit here: https://christianemployersalliance.org/2023fallsummit/ to sign up for the most important conference for a most important group of people, Christians on whom others depend for leadership and livelihood.
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It is clear that certain political factions have been highly successful at hijacking the debate over whether and how American companies should engage in non-core social issues. Jonathan Berry, Managing Partner of the prestigious DC law firm Boyden Gray, and a leading authority on the overlap between federal regulation and corporate law regarding ESG and proxy voting, explains how the SEC arrogated to itself powers not granted by Congress and used those powers to shift the balance of power towards political change agents whose interests are not aligned with investors. Berry also shows how the recent SCOTUS ruling against Harvard’s affirmative action program makes racially biased corporate diversity goals and human resources training highly vulnerable to legal challenge. Berry also lays out concrete ways in which excess power could be stripped away from bureaucracies and their favored interest groups and shifted back to the interest of investors.
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After decades of neglect, conservative shareholders just had a banner year placing far more proposals on the ballots of companies than they ever have before. Scott Shepard, who heads up The Free Enterprise Project (Free Enterprise Project - The National Center) at the National Center for Public Policy Research, has been tracking the resistance movement against the ideological capture of American corporations. Shepard discusses the fight to get JPMorgan Chase away from de-banking religious liberty groups, tech companies out of the business of suppressing verboten politics, and oil companies to stay in the oil business. He also discusses the highly influential, but not highly visible, businesses known as proxy advisory services, which set the agenda for corporate governance far more than high-profile asset managers such as Blackrock.
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Conservative activists have focused largely on complaining about celebrity corporate brands associated with ESG and stakeholder capitalism, such as Blackrock. However, state treasurers have turned their attention to the large proxy advisory services, which are arguably the most influential voices when it comes to whether your shares are being used to vote for policies that are in your interest. Led by Utah Treasurer Marlo Oaks, these financial officers are trying to fulfill their constitutional duty to the taxpayers and retirees of their states by constructively challenging institutions that are not highly visible, but are highly influential. Oaks talks with Jerry on this edition of Meeting of Minds to dive deep on this important topic.
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Bob Pruitt serves as Senior Counsel and Corporate Affairs Director with Alliance Defending Freedom. He recently appeared on Meeting of Minds to update our listeners about the state of affairs of the battle over religious freedom at America’s largest bank. He gave a helpful overview of the pattern of apparent discrimination, the engagement with the company by Financial Advisor David Bahnsen, the conflicting answers which the bank has given to shareholders and the press about the cancellation of Ambassador Sam Brownback’s account and the unwillingness of the company to participate in the Viewpoint Diversity Survey (Viewpoint Diversity Score). Pruitt also had some good news to offer about comments which the company has made to Kentucky Attorney General, Daniel Cameron which suggest that the company may be willing to participate in the survey.
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The Alliance Defending Freedom recently released its second annual Viewpoint Diversity Index, and the findings are shocking. The survey looks at 75 of the most prominent companies in America, with an emphasis on technology and financial firms. With few exceptions, their scores are in the single or low double-digit range (out of a scale of 100). Jeremy Tedesco, who heads up the Corporate Engagement project for ADF, describes the survey, explains where companies are failing and highlights the few companies that are moving in the right direction. Whether you are a customer, employee, investor, or all three, you should go to Viewpoint Diversity Score and find out who you are doing business with.
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Dave Brat, former econ professor, congressman and now Vice Provost for Engagement at Liberty University explains the monetary bubbles have obscured the continuous declining productivity in the real economy, how a Christian culture shift made the West the leader of global prosperity, how the loss of the culture is causing us to lose that prosperity and how we might get both back. Brat explains the fundamental equation of economic output and inflation (MV=PQ) in clear language. He also talks about woke capitalism and ESG and previews Liberty’s Upcoming CEO Summit for Christians in the C-suite with a special outreach to CEOs who do business with Africa.
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Todd Russ was a community bank CEO in Oklahoma who decided to become a public servant. He ran for Treasurer which he saw as a low-key “worker bee” kind of job. But when he learned how gigantic Wall Street firms like Blackrock were managing the pension assets of public workers and using those assets to undermine the hydrocarbon economy on which the workers of Oklahoma depend, he decided to go to battle. Working with the state legislature he helped change the law to allow the state to stop doing business with financial firms that boycott or undermine the energy industry. But then came the backlash. Treasurer Russ tells his story and why he is undeterred in his fight to see that ESG investing will not be used as a weapon against the people he works for – the citizens of Oklahoma.
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A group of 14 state-level financial officials, led by Nebraska state Treasurer John Murante, recently wrote a letter to the CEO of JPMorgan Chase asking the bank to account for the recent cancellation of banking services to conservative organizations. Murante also discussed a new Biden proposal to impose an extra tax on mortgages for people with high credit ratings, a move likely to hurt the people it is intended to help as well as the banking system.
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Stephen Moore is one of the leading voices in favor of economic freedom and wealth creation. But being pro-wealth doesn’t necessarily mean being automatically pro-business. Moore talks about a new report created by The Committee to Unleash Prosperity https://committeetounleashprosperity.com/ , which exposes how many of the most trusted names in finance have been actually voting with their clients’ money for decarbonization and other policies, which if they were enacted, would severely harm their clients. Few people know that when they invest their money in investment funds, they give up their right to vote on corporate ballots, delegating their voices and their votes to fund managers. But fund managers, often unwittingly, end up voting for policies that are anti-growth, racially charged and highly ideological. Moore and Bowyer discuss the new index, what it tells us about the finance industry and also the limitations of the research.
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David Bahnsen of The Bahnsen Group has used his authority as an investor to put a resolution on the ballot of JPMorgan Chase’s annual meeting held on Tuesday, which asks the company to be transparent about a troubling apparent pattern of debanking conservatives such as former Ambassador for religious liberty Sam Brownback. Bahnsen explains the difference between shareholder activism (which is hostile to capitalism) and shareholder engagement (which affirms the capitalist system). And he explains precisely how he and other investors can put corporate America back on track to wealth creation and away from social engineering.
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Stephen Soukup is the leading intellectual critic of the "Woke Capitalism" movement, including its stakeholder capitalism and ESG investing elements. He talks with Meeting of Minds about his book, The Dictatorship of Woke Capital (Stephen R. Soukup - Encounter Books), and the intellectual and spiritual roots of that movement. Soukup's historical research reveals how intellectual elites built governance structures intentionally designed to minimize the ability of citizens to use their voting authority to determine policy, and how those insulated power structures which they built were captured by cultural revolutionaries. His research can be found at Home - Woke Capital.
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Paul Chesser of the Corporate Integrity Project talks about why he and others have filed a statement in opposition to a proposal to be voted on by the shareholders of the Coca-Cola company, which would pressure the company to divest from pro-life states. The proposal is being voted on during Coca-Cola's annual meeting tomorrow morning, April 25th, 8:30 AM EDT.
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Will Hild is the Executive Director of Consumers’ Research (Consumers' Research (consumersresearch.org), America's oldest consumer advocacy group. Hild told Meeting of Minds that "stakeholder capitalism" models of money management hurt the customer by diluting financial return goals in favor of social ones. He also explained the failure of Silicon Valley Bank as an example in which the customers' and shareholders' interests were demoted beneath the political agenda of managers. Hild also discusses a recently released resource (Home - Our Money Our Values) which helps ordinary citizens who want to understand what ESG is and how it harms them.
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The 1792 Exchange is making available to the public, at no charge, a tool which easily allows someone to assess the risk of getting cancelled by businesses with which they have dealings (Corporate Bias Ratings - 1792 Exchange). Whether you are simply a citizen using social media, or a business getting web hosting, banking or legal services, or tech support this online app allows you to type in the name of a company you deal with and get an automatic assessment of how prone that company is to cancel customers, employees or suppliers over political, ideological or religious differences. Paul Fitzpatrick, President of the 1792 Exchange, talks with Meeting of Minds about cancel culture and how it has become a genuine business risk against which businesses should protect themselves.
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Derek Kreifels of the State Financial Officers Foundation (https://sfof.com/) talks with Meeting of Minds about how state treasurers have been protecting the assets of their retirees and taxpayers by pulling money away from Wall Street firms that use their own money to vote against their interests. He also discusses OurMoneyOurValues, an educational initiative that explains in clear terms just what ESG is and how it harms us in our day-to-day lives. We learn that fighting against the imposition of politics into the management of pension assets was a winning electoral strategy for conservatives last year.
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Nicholas Stonestreet is the CEO of Ronald Blue Trust, the largest financial services firm built on Biblical principles of wealth management, with roughly 13 billion dollars under management. Stonestreet talked with Meeting of Minds about the recent recession and inflation, and why the economic troubles are not likely over yet. Stonestreet also offers practical solutions to the problem of large wall street firms such as Blackrock using shareholder money to promote their own social and political agenda. He advocates for a Christian strategy of assailing the gates of hell rather than retreat from corporate engagement.
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Is it wrong for the government of a coal-producing state such as Kentucky to stop doing business with banks that are committed to shutting down coal and other fossil fuel industries? Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball explains why she has put certain banks on notice that they should stop using Kentucky taxpayers' money against them or they will risk losing the state's business. She and Jerry also discuss the backlash from the ESG industry and their media allies, and the numerous fallacies used by the ESG industry against ESG-skeptical red-state officials.
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One of the most important and growing trends in finance is state officials who recognize their constitutional role to protect the financial interests of their taxpayers and retirees. We continue our discussion of this phenomenon with Nebraska Treasurer John Murante, who has spoken publicly about how Blackrock and others are not just attacking the energy industry, but attacking our food producers as well (https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/11/esg-investing-hurts-the-poor-and-empowers-tyrants/). He talks with Meeting of Minds about how politicized investing hurts farmers, and also empowers tyrants, and how it functions as a kind of secular religion.
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Bill Tillman of the American Culture Project talks to Meeting of Minds about how the conservative agenda is finding unexpected support among constituencies traditionally associated with the liberal coalition, including black, Latino and working-class white voters.
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America has a wonderful history of ‘civil society’ institutions. Issues that would be addressed by the state in Europe are addressed by ad hoc groups of private citizens in the U.S. However, in recent years many of those private associations have fallen into disrepair. Rick Graber of the Bradley Foundation talks about the sorts of groups that are knitting civil society back together again, especially private religious education, in communities in which the state has failed. Bradley has created an inspiring and uplifting series of videos about models of educational excellence that can be imitated around the nation: https://www.bradleyfdn.org/k12
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Ambassador Sam Brownback, co-author of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and former United States Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, has been fighting for people who have been persecuted for their faith for his entire career. However, he didn't expect that he himself would become a victim of religious persecution by his own bank. He tells Meeting of Minds how a religious liberty group he founded had its account cancelled by Chase and how he launched Chased Away (https://thencrf.org/chasedaway) to put an end to denial of service based on anti-religious bias.
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The ESG "Socially Responsible Investing" industry is on the defense. Having pushed the ideological edge too far forward, they are reaching a point of resistance, particularly from red state treasurers and attorneys general. As these gatekeepers resist the politicization of finance, they are now being accused by the people who really are politicizing finance. For example, Treasurer Allison Ball of energy-producing Kentucky is blowing the whistle on anti-energy activism by Wall Street firms and pushing back on behalf of her constituents. She believes that "You cannot serve two masters." Her single goal is to pursue financial returns for her constituents and not to blend that with an externally imposed social justice agenda. She joins Jerry for this latest edition of Meeting of Minds.
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Peter Thiel, arguably the most successful tech investor of modern times, also reads widely and thinks deeply about philosophy and theology. In a fascinating follow-up to his previous interview about his mentor, Rene Girard, Thiel discusses how modern ideologies such as fascism and communism "up the dose" from murder to genocide as Christianity weakened the power of human sacrifice. He also discusses how progressive ideologies are "stronger moves" than fascistic or reactionary ones because they weaponize Christianity's concern for victims. Thiel talks about how the state, with its origins in paganism, restrains violence by using violence and how Christians might navigate that dilemma by engaging politically but not becoming excessively entangled by it. Finally, Thiel points out how those who promise to protect us from Apocalypse can actually accelerate its coming.
Timestamps:
01:08 Girard, Scapegoating
04:00 Mimetic copies: Hitler and Stalin, Nazism and Communism, Fascism
05:30 Wokeism, Christianity, and Academia
10:40 Wokeism in cities, response to real estate costs. Structural Wokeism
14:27 Winning and losing postures towards wokeism
17:10 Wokeism is Christianity without the forgiveness
18:30 Acknowledging sin even when it enables critics
21:55 Holocaust as the ultimate test of forgiveness, destroying the concept of forgiveness
25:52 Ignorance and forgiveness
27:55 Gospels as deconstruction of philosophy
32:05 Getting tangled in politics. Government and violence
33:55 Can leaders behave like Christians?
35:37 The katechon and accelerationism. Preterism and futurism.
39:10 The Antichrist as a false katechon
41:14 The Precautionary Principle: technological Armageddon
45:15 Enabling Fascism to fight Communism
46:12 Reagan coalition
49:30 Christianity and mimetic entanglement, political atheism
54:30 How much can people change?
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In my upcoming interview with Peter Thiel, we will really hit the ground running, so you might benefit from re-listening to the one from last year to get you up to speed and ready for Peter's next set of insights, which are coming shortly. No discussion we've ever had has received as many requests by listeners for a follow-up.
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Peter Thiel, the highly successful tech entrepreneur and author, discusses his mentor Rene Girard; the Bible, how we read it, and how it reads us; Jesus’ death and resurrection; atheism and the limitless escalation of violence towards apocalypse.
Timestamps:
0:43 The Bible reads us
2:02 Cain and Abel vs. Romulus and Remus
6:05 Cross vs Resurrection
7:26 The Gospels are different from Death of Socrates
9:04 The Bible is discontinuous from pagan classics
11:30 "The idea that victims exist comes from Judeo-Christianity and nowhere else." 14:54 Was Nietzsche somehow extremely close to the truth of Christianity?
17:18 Pagan Pharmakoi, the ancient sacrificial medicine
19:48 Fascism and Communism
23:00 Girard on the Woes against the Pharisees
26:02 The cycle that leads to apocalypse
31:11 Steven Pinker and the story of progress
32:19 Is an apocalypse, such as a nuclear war, inevitable?
35:10 Being too sanguine about apocalypse makes it more likely
42:08 Is there an off-ramp? What would it look like? If we don't know, shouldn't we at least try to figure it out?
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No one has been more involved in fighting for the sanctity of life and marriage in corporate board rooms than Tom Strobhar. In his day job he works as a financial advisor http://www.strobharfinancial.org/, but since 1989 he has given of his own time, using his financial expertise and authority as a shareholder in major American companies to fight for the moral teachings of his Catholic faith. He has directly influenced scores of companies to drop funding to Planned Parenthood, including AT&T, Berkshire Hathaway and Chevron. He's filed well over a hundred resolutions on matters such as abortion, same sex marriage, pornography and discrimination in the name of diversity. As long ago as 2008, he was already recognized as a veteran "David" in corporate proxies https://wng.org/articles/david-versus-goliaths-1617305176. Tom joins Meeting of Minds to discuss how ordinary investors can actually do this, and why we should use the authority we have to witness to the truth in the darkness.
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The ideological capture of large American financial institutions is running into a barrier. State level offices such as Treasurer, Auditor General, and Comptroller are asserting their authority as financial watchdogs protecting the interests of their citizens. One of the leaders in this resurgence of federalism is Marlo Oaks, Treasurer of Utah (www.marlooaks.com) who wrote recently in the Wall Street Journal (S&P Hits U.S. States With Politicized Credit Scores - WSJ) about his efforts to protect his state from politically motivated scoring from rating agencies such as S&P. That battle over ideologically captured financial management has shifted to the states and to the shareholders themselves. Treasurer Oaks joins Jerry on this episode of Meeting of Minds to talk about how he got pulled into this battle and how we are going to win it.
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On this episode of Meeting of Minds, Tom Carter of the American Conservative Values Fund www.investconservative.com talks about his company’s fifth survey of conservatives’ attitude towards various companies, including unfavourability towards large well-known publicly traded corporations. He talks about the shifts in attitudes towards Facebook, Disney and Tesla, as well as problems with the ESG movement. In addition, he talks about practical conservative alternatives to companies such as Blackrock, which have become tainted brands for conservatives.
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Rob West is CEO of Kingdom Advisors (www.kingdomadvisors.org) which is the world’s largest professional association for Christians in the financial industry. Rob also hosts the most widely-syndicated radio program for ordinary Christians (www.moneywise.org). On this episode of Meeting of Minds Podcast, Rob talks about the big topics he sees Christians, from the poor and middle class to the wealthy, needing to grapple with and what he’s learning by being in touch on a daily basis with Christian of all economic classes.
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At various times and places the major cultural battle lines have fallen in different spots. During WWII and the Cold War the conflict was centered in the military. At other times, our conflicts centered in politics or in the fight against biased media. Currently the zone of conflict has moved to the marketplace. The ideological capture of the boardrooms of many large publicly traded companies represents a threat, but also an opportunity for Christian entrepreneurs to speak up and promote the good of their employees. During a time of rapidly increasing volatility and confusion, the “load-bearing structure” class, the people whose decisions affect hundreds of people whom they know and care for, have the credibility to speak the truth with authority. Shannon Royce of The Christian Employers Alliance (Christian Employers Alliance) joins Jerry on Meeting of Minds Podcast to talk about this leadership group which is no longer willing to be silent about the crisis of our age.
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Andrew Olivastro, V.P. of Outreach for the Heritage Foundation, talks about how DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance), and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) are ruining corporate America. Heritage believes people should not be made to feel bad when they buy or use products or invest in companies that deride their beliefs and take controversial stances against their values. ESG made the mistake of getting investors out of fossil fuels when energy is the foundation of civilization, and exposed investors to significant risk. Olivastro makes the case that the left agenda in corporate boardrooms has gotten overextended and is collapsing in the face of public backlash.
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The State Financial Officers Foundation (https://sfof.com/) is the public voice of state-level constitutional officers whose job is to safeguard the people’s money and who are committed to small government, free-markets and to fighting the politicization of the financial sector. This includes treasurers and auditors general, which each have oversight roles when it comes to whom a state does business with and how money, such as the pension assets of employees, is invested. It has fallen to this group to stand up to activists who are pushing to de-bank energy and other politically disfavored industries, and to stand up to pressure from giant financial institutions such as Blackrock who are imposing ideological requirements on companies and on states. Derek Kreifels, the founder and CEO, talks about how a new generation of officials is pushing back and winning this battle.
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The Great Seal of the United States was commissioned by Congress in order to represent in visual form the foundational principles of the American Republic. In this presentation which I gave in the historic Trinity Cathedral in downtown Pittsburgh for a group of CEOs hosted by the Young President’s Organization, we unpack the meaning of the various images which can be found on the back on any U.S. Dollar Bill.
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Pastor and scholar Jeff Meyers discusses his new commentary on the book of James, Wisdom for Dissidents. Meyers explains how modern commentators have failed to take the actual words of James seriously. When James mentions war, battles, and murder, he's not talking about arguments over the color of the new carpeting. James guided Christians through a time of political strife, assassination, civil violence and insurrection; in other words, a time much like our own.
Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 1:14 – James and Ecclesiastes 8:25 – Rebellion against Rome 13:12 – Israel and Egypt 19:53 – James helps Christians grow up 26:00 – What is James preparing Christians for? 31:05 – How Christians should respond to political violence 42:00 – Why you should read this commentary
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The Alliance Defending Freedom (Alliance Defending Freedom - Protecting Religious Freedom (adflegal.org)), the top religious freedom litigator in America, is now taking on anti-religious prejudice in public corporations. Having surveyed 50 major companies, ADF found the average score is a miserable 12 out of 100. The new index (Viewpoint Diversity Score) outlines precisely how companies can become beacons of tolerance and true diversity (not just the skin-deep kind) and precisely where and how companies are falling short now. ADF take an engage approach, not the popular but ineffectual disengage approach of boycotts and sin-screens. Identitarian ideologues have had the field to themselves for far too long, and ADF's new Viewpoint Diversity Score is exactly the right tool to use to challenge that monopoly.
Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 1:13 – Amazon discriminates against Alliance Defending Freedom 4:38 – Corporations are starting to face political consequences 9:17 – Engagement, not divestment 14:41 – Diversity includes diversity of belief
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Justin Danhof of Strive Asset Management joins Jerry to talk about the new company's plans to replace the recent woke agenda in corporate life with an agenda of excellence.
Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 1:18 – Being a voice where the right is the quietest 4:10 – ESG is a luxury good – Reigning in Netflix 7:10 – Solving the activist problem 11:03 – Depoliticizing corporate America 14:40 – “Do you want Coca-Cola to be the moral arbiter?”
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Preventative Cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston rejoins Jerry to talk about what the latest scientific research shows about hunger and how to fight it. Ignoring the differences between different varieties of hunger means ignoring physiology and neurology and excess dependence on "willpower", leading to failure. Dr. Agatston explains the three different types of hunger, how to recognize each and how to overcome each in an effective way.
Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 1:33 – Bears with hypoglycemia 7:45 – Grazing and carb craving 14:11 – Chemistry, not discipline 20:26 – Artificial sweeteners 24:49 – Keto flu 30:09 – Juvenile diabetes and insulin resistance 36:42 – Fasting and controlling appetite 42:56 – Addictive hunger
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Dr. Peter Jacobsen teaches economics at the Gwartney Center at Ottawa University, where he also heads up the MBA program. He is one of the hosts of the Faith and Economics podcast. On this episode, Dr. Jacobsen speaks in depth about the errors of population growth hysteria; how it was imposed on poor nations by rich nations; why it’s bad economics; and why it is still causing harm in places like China. Jacobsen also talks about the reality of inflation and why some were unable to see it coming, and whether cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin can be an antidote to debasement of currency.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro 5:26 – How the one child policy is destroying China 13:24 – Malthus wouldn’t be a Malthusian today 18:30 – Population control and war 25:50 – Immigration and overpopulation 27:56 – Inflation 33:33 – Crypto offers currency competition 38:08 – Bitcoin and deflation 40:42 – Malthus didn’t account for entrepreneurship
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Dr. Arthur Agatston is the world's leading preventative cardiologist. Creator of the Agatston Score, which measures heart attack risk by analyzing calcification of arteries. He is also the author of the bestselling South Beach Diet books. Here he discusses what he has observed looking at thousands of scanned images and patients over four decades, particularly about the relationship between career-building and heart disease among high-achievement entrepreneurs and executives. He also deals with how that heightened risk can be reversed and what the most up-to-date science shows about what really causes heart attacks. He outlines how to spot risk early and vastly decrease the risk of heart attacks occurring later.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro 1:20 – Stress and weight gain 9:17 – Entrepreneurs vs. groupthink 15:10 – The scientific consensus is behind the times 22:30 – Visceral fat hiding obesity 28:35 – Observation instead of clinical trial 35:21 – New development in calcium scans 42:11 – The problem with opening obstructions 49:51 – Why the calcium scan is essential 52:31 – The aerobic myth
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Robert Plummer of Daily Dose of Greek joins Meeting of Minds to talk about how ordinary Christians (not just pastors or academics) can learn New Testament Greek for free with a small daily commitment of time; common mistakes of people who know just enough Greek to be dangerous; how to use Greek properly; and the new availability of similar resources for Hebrew, Latin and Aramaic.
Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 3:44 – Learning Greek is doable 8:58 – Text criticism, are translations accurate? 14:35 – Going back to early manuscripts 20:54 – Beyond basic Greek 23:00 – The pitfalls some preachers fall into 30:47 – How the original language helps you understand scripture 35:19 – Learning other biblical languages
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This week on Meeting of Minds with Jerry Bowyer, I talk with Christian scholar Gary DeMar, founder of American Vision (Home - The American Vision), which is publishing the presuppositional apologetics trilogy from Dr. David Bahnsen. Gary talks about the presuppositional approach to Christian apologetics, which avoids skirting around the edges and penetrates to the fundamental questions, exposing the myth of neutrality and showing that secularism has its own fundamental articles of faith and that they are an inadequate basis for any thinking at all. Not only can secularism not end the argument; it can't even get started.
Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 1:14 – Printing the work of Greg Bahnsen 5:11 – The Great Debate between Bahnsen and Gordon Stein 8:38 – What presuppositionalists argue 14:03 – Presuppositions behind the abortion debate 18:10 – Getting to the heart of the issue
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David Bahnsen is one of America’s most successful financial advisors and also one of our most prominent economic thought leaders. The combination of deep intellectual knowledge and practical skin-in-the-game experience as a portfolio manager places him in an unusual category of thinkers, those who think about big ideas but also live with the consequences of their ideas. In this episode of Meeting of Minds we see Bahnsen at his best, going deep into the Bible and applying those deep insights to economics. Bahnsen’s newest book ( https://www.nofreeluncheconomics.com/) is accessible to neophytes, but still contains insights which those who are already well advanced in the knowledge of markets will welcome.
Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 1:18 – Genesis 1 versus the labor theory of value 7:20 – Origins of Marxist and Keynesian economics 13:39 – Christianity and economic freedom 17:56 – Marx’s biggest mistake 21:53 – Utopian education 27:10 – Creational theology 32:48 – Sound money and credit
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Acclaimed stage actor Max McLean talks about how the pandemic shut down his theater business, and how that adversity caused him to pivot and turn his popular stage play about C.S. Lewis into a film, a film which is seeing record success. McLean has read so much Lewis, and played him on stage so many hundreds of times, and internalized his ideas to such an extent, that in some sense, talking to him is like talking to C.S. Lewis himself. To join the conversation listen in to our all-too-brief conversation and make sure to see the film yourself. To find a location near you, go to www.cslewismovie.com.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro 1:07 – Pivoting to film under lockdown 6:56 – Distribution in theaters 9:56 – Being faithful to Lewis’s work 16:13 – On prayer and authenticity 20:52 – “Lewis is a bottomless well” 27:19 – Tolkien and Lewis’s conversion 33:18 – Lewis is ahead of us, not behind 36:04 – Discussion guide and Lewis’s journey 41:10 – Other movies in the future
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In honor of Banned Books week, Tom Spence, president of the conservative publishing house Regnery, talks about his own experience getting banned by one of the sponsors of Banned Books week, and the fact that none of the books on the list were actually banned and none of the books that were banned are actually on the list.
Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 5:12 – Seething over Abigail Shrier 11:29 – Censorship unites us – Target censors Abigail Schreier 15:52 – Pros and Cons of Amazon for conservative books 21:17 – Elizabeth Warren and big tech 27:50 – Regnery giving refuge to honest liberals 33:00 – No neutrality in modern politics
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Professor Deirdre McCloskey is one of the most interesting thinkers in economics today. In this interview, conducted at FreedomFest 2021 in Rapid City South Dakota, near Deadwood, we push past a number of frontiers and traverse an open range of topics. That’s McCloskey in a nutshell – ignore the artificial fences between academic specializations and let the conversation go where it goes. In this case it goes through such territories as: the astonishing rise in standards of living since the rise of capitalism; why capitalism shouldn’t be called capitalism; what it should be called; why Bourgeois values have enriched us (and in more ways than economically); what the difference is between virtues and values; what Christianity had to do (and didn’t have to do) with the rise of modern human betterment; why theoretical economics has been wrong to obsess over “Maximum Utility” (a sociopathic form of economic modeling); the cult of statistical significance and its addiction to the p-value, and an upcoming book on Christianity and economics. Enjoy!
Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 9:40 – Why “virtues” rather than “values”? 14:09 – The meaning of Jesus being born in Bethlehem 18:54 – Eurocentric economics, why some minorities are successful 27:07 – Free speech and the rich young ruler 32:11 – A party of Liberty, politics for adults 40:16 – How art can affect politics 43:35 – Bettering Humanomics 47:48 – The new atheists 50:16 – God in Mammon 59:17 – The Bible on slavery
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Rick Graber is the CEO of the Bradley Foundation and Chairman of the Philanthropy Roundtable. He discusses a fascinating article he recently penned for RealClearMarkets and the Daily Signal (Woke Foundations, Beneficiaries of Capitalism, Undermine Free Market (dailysignal.com)) about how large financial institutions, both for-profit and non-profit, are turning their backs on the system which made their wealth possible in the first place.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro 1:17 – Catching up with corporate engagement 4:11 – Early days of board room activism 10:55 – Why foundations go leftist 13:55 – Philanthropy roundtable versus the feeder system 18:05 – New Yorker hit piece on the Bradley Foundation 22:02 – How to earn the Bradley Prize 25:11 – Alternatives to government programs, school choice 28:21 – Freedom in eastern Europe 32:38 – Importance of donor privacy
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George Gilder was Reagan’s favorite living source of quotes about the economy. He was also the most prescient visionary about the microchip, then the internet, and (now) blockchain. He explains why the global COVID shutdown in the name of “science” was unscientific, why artificial Intelligence will not replace the human mind, why blockchain is a truth system which will replace the Google model of the world, and why you should be attending the www.cosm.technology conference to understand what’s coming next.
Recorded at the FreedomFest 2021 conference in Rapid City South Dakota. http://2021.freedomfest.com/
Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 3:43 – The channel and the signal, replacing oil 7:13 – Socialized energy risks shortage 9:34 – The “system of the world”, Life After Google 12:50 – The forgotten “Asian flu”, Coronavirus and Galilee 22:18 – The new system of the world and learning curves 28:28 – Bitcoin and Monetarism, Milton Friedman in China 32:19 – Crypto Currencies and gold 38:58 – Tyranny and blockchain 47:22 – Mapping the human brain 52:08 – Faith precedes knowledge
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N.T. Wright may well be the most influential New Testament scholar of our generation, and is certainly the most influential evangelical in that category. He sat down with Jerry to discuss his fresh-off-the-press commentary on Galatians (https://www.eerdmans.com/Products/2560/galatians.aspx). Wright restores Paul’s writing to its original historical and political context, showing that Galatians addresses a time very much like our own, in which Christians were tempted to distort their theology and practice out of fear of persecution, and also a time when clashes over ethnic identity threatened to destroy both Church and society. Galatians, the epistle, points to the true solution. Galatians, the commentary, will help you understand how.
Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 1:06 – Wright’s new commentary on Galatians 5:31 – How Galatians can answer racial conflict 9:04 – Neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free 13:53 – The role of the old law 16:43 – Are all distinctions done away with? 20:51 – Galatians and Abolitionism 25:20 – The autobiography of Paul, and the Jewish exemption 33:37 – The Messiah and his people 39:06 – How the Messiah bears the curse of Torah 49:30 – A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 51:57 – Applying Galatians to ethnic conflict 56:00 – A third race
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Rob Arnott is founder and Chairman of Research Affiliates, which is the advisor on more than 150 Billion (with a B) dollars’ worth of investment assets. He talks about politics (and the surrender of both parties to fiscal and monetary irresponsibility,) economics (especially monetary economics and inflation, the issue of our time) and investment (including where he is putting his own money.) To hear one of the most sophisticated pioneers in quantitative investment analysis speak candidly and intelligently for 55 minutes as he shares his latest thinking, listen here.
Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 2:00 – The base case of our economic future 6:17 – The future of the Republican party 12:16 – Investing for collapse, how politics affects markets 16:52 – The significance of qualifying for the S&P 24:25 – Trading value and growth 26:46 – Reports of Value’s death have been greatly exaggerated 30:05 – Emerging markets vs. US stock 36:51 – Zero returns on US investment 39:56 – How risky are emerging markets? 43:10 – Why big tech panders to the left 48:12 – Preparing for economic crisis in the US 52:32 - Environmental, Social, and Governance investing
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Dr. Skousen, the creator of the Gross Output measurement, explains how it measures the whole economy, not just the slice measured by GDP, and why the economy is driven by business, not consumption. Also, why GO is a better predictor than GDP. He also talks about FreedomFest, the most successful conference for intellectually curious people who are interested in expanding freedom.
Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 1:59 – Where does FreedomFest come from? 5:20 – The Anthem Film Festival 8:15 – Why FreedomFest goes to Las Vegas and South Dakota 11:23 – Bringing intellectual speakers to FreedomFest 15:15 – FreedomFest Debates 18:49 – Signing up for FreedomFest 19:31 – A festival for attendees, not donors. 20:23 – The Structure of Production 22:00 – The Economics of Profit and Loss 24:03 – Say’s law 29:00 – What Seattle’s success says about Say’s law. 33:35 – Consumer spending and gross output. 45:17 – Gross Output versus GDP 48:09 – Inaccuracies of consumer confidence 51:38 - Predicting GO
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A Civic Sermon Delivered at Historic Trinity Cathedral
The Great Seal of the United States was commissioned by Congress in order to represent in visual form the foundational principles of the American Republic. In this presentation which I gave in the historic Trinity Cathedral in downtown Pittsburgh for a group of CEOs hosted by the Young President’s Organization, we unpack the meaning of the various images which can be found on the back on any U.S. Dollar Bill.
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Steve Forbes, Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Magazine, Chairman of the Board of its parent company, and former presidential candidate, joined Jerry to talk about the rising risk of inflation. Steve is the only person to win US Steel’s Crystal Owl award for economic forecasting. He untethers his inner owl for us this week on the question of inflation. Neither a perma-hawk nor a perma-dove, and certainly no Chicken Little, Steve is currently concerned about the inflation outlook and the value of the dollar.
Listen to his commentaries here: The Steve Forbes Podcast, “What’s Ahead”
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro 1:30 – The Fed doesn’t understand inflation 5:26 – What to learn from oil prices 7:40 – Inflation affects more than economics 10:16 – Inflation in Nazi Germany 13:50 – Small amounts of inflation can still do big damage 18:27 – Falling trust in the dollar abroad 21:11 – The pandemic and WWII 27:46 – Anti-Corporate Republicans and big tech 37:10 – Inflation as nationalization 43:28 – Self-governance versus big government
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Several years ago, I interviewed my friend Steve Forbes about his book Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy – and What We Can Do About It. In that interview he anticipated many of the problems that we see cropping up right now, so we’re pulling this interview out of the vault and publishing it for you here. We will also follow up shortly with a brand new interview with Steve to bring this discussion up to date and let him share what he’s seeing right now.
Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro 1:09 – Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy – and What We Can Do About It 4:15 – America after the 2008 Recession 7:30 – Can the US switch back to a gold standard? 13:22 – Asian currency crises were avoidable with better knowledge 20:44 – Different kinds of gold standard and the problem with the ones that didn’t work well 26:19 – Will we need a currency crisis to create the will to fix money? 28:15 – Nixon and Burns, why they ended gold standard, but didn’t need to 31:58 – WWI and the gold standard 36:09 – Gold price changes mean the dollar, not gold, instability 40:53 – Why the British gold standard didn’t work Churchill was overruled. 44:48 – How going off gold promoted income inequality.
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Nobel Prize winning economist and creator of experimental economics Vernon Smith joins this episode of Meeting of Minds with Jerry Bowyer. He talks about the necessity of faith, not just in religious matters but in science as well, and how the latest data in economics is reaffirming the insights of moral philosophy taught by Adam Smith over 200 years ago. Smith also talks about housing bubbles and how they happened.
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Can it be a normal thing for Christians to read the New Testament in the original Greek? Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Professor Rob Plummer’s Beginning with New Testament Greek book and short Daily Dose of Greek videos are proving that it can. He’s heard from thousands of Christians, from construction workers to retired engineers…and even some pastors…who tell him that they’re now reading the Bible in Greek. To hear from Professor Plummer about how you can do this too, please listen, and share.
Timestamps:
0:00 Introductions 0:43 Daily Dose of Greek/Hebrew is for the average Christian, not just seminary students 4:40 Learning Koine Greek can bring you closer to the apostles' original writing; what languages were used around Jesus and what did he actually speak? 13:07 3 minutes a day is enough to learn Greek or Hebrew; the tools you need to learn effectively, many of which are totally free 18:32 Get a study buddy; the modern miracle of educated laypeople around the world 25:04 What happened when the message of the bible stopped being mediated through institutions 28:52 Why Greek should be like underwear; the importance of graciousness and respecting English translations; the snowball effect of mistranslating a single phrase 37:21 You can be reading Greek in 1 year; the different approaches to learning Greek; 42:47 The pitfalls of over-reading some words; why contextual awareness is important 45:16 The treasures unlocked by reading the Gospels in Greek; reading in Koine Greek is a way to read passages again for the first time 53:40 Going Deeper with New Testament Greek is great for complete beginners, but it also contains state-of-the-art linguistic analysis 57:06 How ancient authors structured their writing without spacing or punctuation; the power of reading the original papyri; 1:04:09 How to start your journey into Koine Greek; you don't have to be a genius or have a lot of education to learn; 1:06:36 Final thoughts
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I recently had a discussion with English author and critic Os Guinness over the new addition to his first major work, The Dust of Death, as well as his new book, The Magna Carta of Humanity. As a decades-long reader of Os Guinness, I knew I had to discuss his work, both new and old, through the lens of our current political and cultural crises.
With his new addition of The Dust of Death, Guinness discovers the origins of America’s ruling class in the turbulent countercultural radicalism of the 1960s. Between the revolutionary ideas, riots, and political purges, the parallels are undeniable, and Guinness’ timeless book could not be any more pertinent. The solution to this political chaos, he concludes, is a Christian “third way” materializing in true leadership – “We need a Lincoln.”
But we don’t have a Lincoln. How can “our side” return to the biblical roots of America’s founding and rediscover the intellectual heritage of the Reformation? That’s exactly what Os Guinness’ new book, The Magna Carta of Humanity, offers, applying the revolutionary faith found in the book of Exodus to our own history. From Sinai, through the American founding, to our modern political trials, Guinness outlines the Christian alternative to the progressive mob.
Timestamps:
00:45 - Introducing the Magna Carta of Humanity. 01:05 - The Dust of Death and the "third way." 02:37 - How the 60s created on oligarchy. 08:42 - We need a Lincoln. 10:26 - We need Reformation. Why don't Christians have influence? 12:35 - On the work of Rene Girard 15:58 - The Madness of Crowds 17:30 - Putting the Protestant intellectual heritage to use. 20:00 - Cultural Marxism affecting Christianity. 25:33 - The "populist instinctive revolt" against the elite. 28:16 - Is there a danger from the right as well as the left? 32:14 - Cultural climate change. 33:24 - Who can lead us? 35:25 - Conservatism of blood and soil versus the conservatism of ideas. 38:42 - Patriotism versus Nationalism. 41:20 - "Generationalism." 42:58 - Returning to Hebraic roots. 47:10 - "A little less plato, and a little more moses." Helenic philosophy in Christianity. 49:00 - Covenental societies - How the Covenent sparked the Constitution. 51:09 - Christianity and social justice. Why we can't give up on Evangelicalism. 56:10 - Christianity is both conservative and progressive. 58:33 - It's no longer morning in America - Christians need to wake up.
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Peter Thiel, the highly successful tech entrepreneur and author, discusses his mentor Rene Girard; the Bible, how we read it, and how it reads us; Jesus’ death and resurrection; atheism; and the limitless escalation of violence towards apocalypse.
Timestamps:
0:43 The Bible reads us 2:02 Cain and Abel vs. Romulus and Remus 6:05 Cross vs Resurrection 7:26 The Gospels are different from Death of Socrates 9:04 The Bible is discontinuous from pagan classics 11:30 "The idea that victims exist comes from Judeo-Christianity and nowhere else." 14:54 Was Nietzsche somehow extremely close to the truth of Christianity? 17:18 Pagan Pharmakoi, the ancient sacrificial medicine 19:48 Fascism and Communism 23:00 Girard on the Woes against the Pharisees 26:02 The cycle that leads to apocalypse 31:11 Steven Pinker and the story of progress 32:19 Is an apocalypse, such as a nuclear war, inevitable? 35:10 Being too sanguine about apocalypse makes it more likely 42:08 Is there an off-ramp? What would it look like? If we don't know, shouldn't we at least try to figure it out?
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