A Belated Vindication for School Reopeners
The Stolen Year acknowledges the public schools' COVID failures but refuses to hold anyone responsible.
Book Reviews
The Missing Cryptoqueen Details the Rise and Fall of Ruja Ignatova's OneCoin Con
Jamie Bartlett's gripping look at the schematics and psychology of a scam
The Progressive Imperialism of Smedley Butler
The Marine turned anti-imperialist had two very different legacies, but both clearly emerged from the same man.
A New History of the Old Right
On the American right, populism has always been lurking in the shadows.
The Quest for a Libertarian Island Paradise
Raymond B. Craib's new book recounts how Michael Oliver repeatedly tried to create a new country with a government funded entirely by voluntary contributions.
Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Era of Cultural Stagflation
On streaming and the big screen, we're paying more for less, even as new ideas seem few and far between.
In The Listeners, Brian Hochman Details History of Eavesdropping
Wiretapping and eavesdropping used to be the norm. Perhaps privacy was always an illusion after all.
Review: Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System
M. Chris Fabricant's new book details how flawed techniques have led to numerous wrongful convictions.
Former New York Times Reporter Denies in New Book That Hugo Chávez Was a Socialist
A new book vividly portrays human beings coping with daily existence in a disintegrating society but offers an incoherent analysis of what went wrong.
David Cronenberg's Crimes of the Future Is a Gross-Out Sci-Fi Film About Bodily Autonomy
Disturbing, eerie, and strangely relevant, it's a return to form for the Canadian horror master.
Secret City Recounts the Gay History of D.C.
In his new book, James Kirchick focuses on homosexuals' relationship with national politics during a time when gays were banned from working for the federal government.
Book Review: The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
Early cities' concentrated populations and burgeoning scale didn't spontaneously summon pharaonic god-kings or bureaucrats.
Civilization Runs on Ammonia, Plastic, Steel, and Cement—for Now
Vaclav Smil’s How the World Really Works offers hope and despair for techno-optimists.
Review: The Second Shooter
Despite caricaturing (some) gun owners, Nick Mamatas' conspiracy-fueled science fiction novel avoids moralizing in favor of dark humor.
Romance and Sci-Fi Tangle in The Time Traveler's Wife
The latest attempt to adapt the novel comes as an HBO miniseries.
Review: The Nineties: A Book
Culture critic Chuck Klosterman's latest covers Nirvana, the first Iraq war, American Beauty, Waco, VCRs, and Ross Perot.
Review: Justice Is…
Preet Bharara's new children's book, Justice Is... purports to be "a guide for young truth seekers."
Was Censorship the Greatest COVID Threat to Freedom?
It wasn't just autocrats who were frequently tempted to address "fake news" about the pandemic through state pressure and coercion.
Happy Star Wars Day!
In honor of this major holiday, I post a round-up of my writings, interviews, and talks about one of the world's most popular science fiction franchises.
Labor Econ Versus the World
Bryan Caplan's latest book covers the hypocrisy of unpaid collegiate internships and a defense of the professoriate against the charges of laziness.
A New History of the Old Right
In the American right, populism has always been lurking in the shadows.
![book1 | Photo: Uncle Sam rounding up men labeled “Spy,” “Traitor,” “IWW,” “Germ[an] money,” and “Sinn Fein,” with the United States Capitol in the background](https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/c331x186-w331-q60/uploads/2022/03/book1-331x186.jpg)
Speaking Freely Through the Ages
As long as there have been laws, there have been attempts to silence people.
Are We Always on the Verge of Civil War?
All that Civil War II talk is overblown—but that isn't the only sort of political violence to worry about.
The Fuzzy Moral Line Between Drinkers and Bartenders
Were liquor suppliers across the world guilty of outrageous abuses that explain the prohibitionist response?
First World Problems
Asian-American communities are full of stark divisions—including splits over whether to see themselves as "Asian Americans" in the first place.
Dangerous Visions and New Worlds
An anthology looks back at science fiction's New Wave.
Expanding Our Understanding of the Revolution
Despite all the controversy it has courted, Woody Holton's newest book doesn't stray very far from other scholarly interpretations of the American Revolution.
Once a Bitcoin Miner
Crypto was a scene where people without proper credentials and connections in the world of high finance could strike it swiftly rich.
When Humanitarianism Prolongs the Inhumane
"A future of bloodless global discipline is a chilling thing."
The Reactionary Tradition Out To Annihilate American Liberty
A World After Liberalism details the rise of a young right that finds reactionary ideas relevant and appealing.
The History and Politics of Public Radio
James T. Bennett's libertarian critique argues that noncommercial radio can be detached from the state—and that it's better that way.
Foundation
The TV adaptation of Isaac Asimov's classic trilogy is still fundamentally about the ways in which politics and objective truth inevitably clash.
The Matrix Resurrections Is Less a Sequel and More a Bizarre Thinkpiece About The Matrix's Legacy
It's the strangest, most meta sequel of the year.
A Flawed Case Against Black Self-Defense
In the face of state failure, neglect, and overt hostility, black Americans need the right to bear arms.
What Technology Can Learn From Biology
Can humans design products that assemble (and disassemble) themselves?
A Scientific Life on the Edge
Stanton Peele's memoir of his "lonely quest to change how we see addiction" contradicts the prejudices that still dominate the drug policy debate.
Foucault in the Panopticon
How Michel Foucault's encounters in Poland's heavily policed gay community informed his ideas
Terrorwashing a Genocide
How the war on terror facilitated Communist China's repression of Uyghurs
Neal Stephenson's Termination Shock Is a Glorious Sci-Fi Vision of How To Respond to Global Warming, One Geoengineering Problem at a Time
In Stephenson's near-future novel, innovation, not legislation, is the best response to a changing climate.
Sean Wilentz Reviews Noah Feldman's New Lincoln Book, "The Broken Constitution"
"Feldman contends that [Jefferson] Davis was right and Lincoln was wrong."
The Best of Cold War Culture
Books, films, and more related to the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Diversity Can't Save Eternals. It's a Cosmic Disaster.
Marvel's latest superhero epic is a boring movie about boring people.
Review of the New Dune Movie
It's by far the best cinematic version of Frank Herbert's classic science fiction novel.
