Here Comes Artificial Intelligence
Ray Kurzweil's new book imagines man-made minds.
Book Reviews
Living in Lovecraft's World
An illuminating book explores "the literary prehistory of virtual reality."
Homeland Security Meets Office Politics
The author of an infamous report on right-wing extremism tries to defend his work.
The Closing of the Centrist Mind
A self-proclaimed "sensible centrist" writes a sloppy attack on the academic left.
JK Rowling's Potter-Free Novel Fails to Impress
Take out the fantasy, and critics find The Casual Vacancy dull
The Death of Christopher Hitchens
The veteran journalist's last dispatch is from his deathbed.
Copyright-Enforcement Robots Mistakenly Interrupt Awards Broadcast
Ustream's crack squad of automated violation-detection technologies smothered a streaming feed of the Hugo Awards
Ray Bradbury Was Investigated by the FBI
He was suspected of Communist sympathies because he criticized government overreach
The FBI Investigated Ray Bradbury
The bureau had heard the science fiction writer might be a Communist.
Intelligence at Work
Neal Stephenson's new book explores science fiction, underseas cables, Hong Kong, and the art of storytelling.
Frederick Douglass, Classical Liberal
A fresh look at the political evolution of a great American
From Bootlegging to Pot Trafficking
The outlaws of Marion County, Kentucky, defy one Prohibition after another.
The Cure for Abject Poverty
A new book argues that inclusive institutions offer the best path to prosperity.
The Freaky Fetishes of Golden Age Hollywood
A tolerant new tell-all from Tinseltown's sexual fixer
From the Choom Gang to the White House
A new biography shows how Barack Obama the youthful pothead became Barack Obama the presidential drug warrior.
Two Americas, Growing Apart
Charles Murray offers a better way to think and talk about class.
The Technocratic Mind
A hagiography of the Obama administration's most powerful wonks reveals more than it intends.
Hunger Games Doesn't Fit TSA's Dystopian Vision
The coming American dystopia will probably look a lot less like The Hunger Games than it does like Idiocracy.
Science Fiction Faces Facts
NASA has fizzled, but Wernher von Braun's exuberant vision lives on.
