Book Reviews
The Global Environmental Apocalypse Has Been Canceled
"Environmental humanism will eventually triumph over apocalyptic environmentalism."
Indians and Aliens
Human beings' disturbing capacity to manufacture history to serve our own ends
The Invisible Dystopia
Friday A/V Club: When the post-apocalyptic world looks a lot like the pre-apocalyptic world
Writing an Academic Book, Part II: Choosing a Publisher
Second in a series of posts how how to write an academic book and get it published.
The Justice Department Is Trying To Stop the Publication of John Bolton's White House Tell-All
They’re not likely to succeed, but the real goal is to seize any money he makes.
Writing an Academic Book, Part I: How to Decide Whether You Should Write a Book in the First Place
Part I in a series of posts about how to write an academic book and get it published.
The Vast of Night Is the First Must-Watch Movie of the Coronavirus Era
Amazon Prime Video's latest feature is a smartly made indie sci-fi film from an incredibly promising first-time director.
No, Segregationists Weren't the Driving Force Behind School Choice
The anti-voucher polemic is augmented by historical half-truths and selective omissions of countervailing evidence.
Upload Builds an Amusing, Ethically Fraught World Around Virtual Heaven
Transcending consciousness is presented as a consumer good in a sharp new Amazon Prime series.
Sinking in the Swamp
An extended profile of the numerous, eclectic grifters surrounding President Donald Trump
Suffrage
From our modern vantage point, it's easy to scorn some decisions that suffrage movement leaders made. Suffrage adds context.
The Consequential Frontier
The "privatization" of space has already expanded the possibilities of the cosmos for all mankind far beyond what six decades of federal bureaucracy could.
Secondhand
Adam Minter's book reminds us that a lot of "value is created when less affluent people are given the opportunity to parse the goods of the wasteful affluent."
Vin Diesel's Bloodshot Is the Perfect Movie For the New Direct-to-Streaming Era
This occasionally competent sci-fi action film is best enjoyed from the comfort of a couch.
The Plot Against America Is Not About Trump, Even If Comparisons Are Inevitable
HBO's adaptation of Philip Roth's novel is much more interesting when viewed on its own merits.
A Kurdish Experiment in Decentralized Governance
The Kurds of Northern Syria are trying something different, for better or worse.
'Til Wrong Feels Right
Iggy Pop's new book documents the life of a great individualist who, even more than Sinatra, did things his way.
Sticking It to the Man
A new anthology explores how the counterculture of the '60s and '70s mixed with the mainstream.
Future Tense Fiction
"A good science fiction story can help re-sensitize us" to the peril and promise of the new.
Fault Lines
The relics of terrible segregationist government policies are still felt in East Austin, an area that's quickly gentrifying
American Dirt Author Cancels Book Tour, Claiming Safety Concerns
The tour may be canceled, but the book is benefiting from the controversy.
'Jane Jacobs Goals Through Robert Moses Tactics'
Community planners don't have all the answers.
Transgender Writer Forced to Retract Trans-Themed Science Fiction Story
Isabel Fall is canceled. It's the science fiction world's loss.
She Came To Slay
The deeply human Harriet Tubman who emerges in Dunbar's book was exhausted, frustrated—and heroic.
When Border Defense Becomes Border Offense
Militarized borders and military intervention are two sides of the same coin.
The Outlaw Ocean
Each chapter profiles those who live on the edge of maritime laws, in the gray areas that are so often unenforceable by land governments.
Borderlands 3
In Borderlands 3, you take on a murderous cult worshiping a cruel, vain deity who demands that her minions attack others, sacrifice themselves, and constantly sing her praises.
The Rise of Skywalker Shows It's Time for J.J. Abrams To Be Impeached From Star Wars
The final film in the Disney-era trilogy is a pointless, abysmal letdown that won't fully satisfy anyone.
The Feds Get Permission To Seize Edward Snowden's Book Profits
A judge rules whistleblower’s failure to subject Permanent Record to pre-publication review violates non-disclosure agreement.
Choose Your Own Impeachment Adventure: Rand Paul, Justin Amash, or Philip K. Dick?
A range of libertarian-world approaches to the impending trial of Donald Trump
The Myth of the 'Opium War'
The vast majority of opium users in China were not the desperate addicts portrayed by proponents of prohibition.
Golden Rice
Golden Rice has potential to help millions of people in developing countries, but government regulators, the UN, and anti-GMO activists have gotten in the way.
The Other '80s Blade Runner Movie
Friday A/V Club: Ridley Scott wasn't the only director who filmed a Blade Runner in the Reagan years.
