Ray Nothstine, an associate editor at Acton, joins host Bud Hedinger on AM 540 WFLA in Orlando, Florida to discuss the unintended consequences of the federal government's decision to heavily promote and subsidize corn-based ethanol as an alternative to petroleum based fuels. As Mr. Nothstine predicted last year, the result of the diversion of a large portion of the corn crop into fuel production has resulted in rising prices for food, while at the same time fuel prices continue to rise. Mr. Nothstine and Bud Hedinger discuss possible solutions to this policy fiasco in this 13 minute interview.

Kishore Jayabalan worked for several years at the Holy See's Mission in the United Nations, before working at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at the Vatican. He is currently the director of the Acton Institute's Rome office, Istituto Acton. He gives us his impression of the Pope's speech at the United Nations. The pope, says Jayabalan, "very clearly laid out the terms of a religious understanding of 'the common good,' a common good that recognizes the role of the state, but also limits the roles of the state."

Quick Links:

• Benedict XVI's Message for the US
• Rev. Robert A. Sirico on Pope Benedict XVI's US Visit
• Pope Benedict XVI's Visit - Clinging to Religion

Rev. Robert A. Sirico, President of the Acton Institute, joins host Sandy Rios on WYLL in Chicago, Illinois to talk about his upcoming address on "The Rise (and Eventual Downfall) of the New Religious Left" at the University Club of Chicago. Rios and Sirico note that the goals of the new Religious Left are more political than religious, and note the propensity of the movement toward state solutions to social problems, and the relatively new adherence to more extreme environmental ideologies.