Review: Blind Plea Only Scratches the Surface of Plea Bargains
Host Liz Flock delivers a compelling narrative but misses chances to interrogate the justice system.
Entertainment
Review: Ahsoka Rejects Star Wars' Good-vs.-Evil Binary
George Lucas divided his universe into light and dark. Dave Filoni is dissolving that worldview.
David Fincher's The Killer Is a Subtly Funny Movie About a Loser Assassin
Despite Fincher's reputation as a gloom-monger, his movies are often quite bleakly funny, and his lonely, agitated male loser characters are frequently the targets of the jokes.
Review: When a Fentanyl Thief Slipped Through the Cracks, Women Suffered
A New York Times podcast tells a story about both the drug war and institutional incompetence.
Review: A Podcast With Lighthearted Takes on Grim Historical Events
In The Rest Is History, two historians strike a pleasing balance between fact-dense narratives and witty banter.
Review: Netflix Offers a Too-Lighthearted Take on Becoming a Cult Leader
Narrator Peter Dinklage takes viewers through a step-by-step process for becoming the next Jim Jones.
Review: A Vampire Mockumentary Takes on Local Politics
“It’s really no surprise, the amount of energy vampires in politics," says a fictional candidate for Staten Island comptroller.
SAG-AFTRA's Halloween Costume Rules Are Super Annoying
The union wants you to throw your Barbie costume in the trash, scab.
Review: Slow Burn Steps Inside the House at the Center of Clarence Thomas Controversy
A podcast about a man everyone already has an opinion about.
Is It Time To Trust-Bust Taylor Swift?
The pop singer's new concert film inadvertently makes the case for big businesses with sweeping market power.
Review: They Cloned Tyrone Draws on Old CIA Conspiracy Theories
The political commentary in Netflix's sci-fi comedy isn't exactly subtle.
Review: Who Really Wrote Little House on the Prairie?
Did Laura Ingalls Wilder's libertarian daughter have an outsize role in crafting the beloved children's series?
Review: Silo Shows the Perils of Authoritarian Hierarchies
Leaders depicted in the Apple TV+ series outlaw "relics" of the past, even including PEZ dispensers.
Review: Shiny Happy People Charts the Downfall of the Duggar Family
The Amazon miniseries examines the Institute in Basic Life Principles, focusing on the Duggar family and its multiple sex abuse scandals.
Taylor Swift, Junk Fees, and the 'Happy Meal Fallacy'
Thank Swifties, not Joe Biden, for Ticketmaster's consumer-friendly pricing policy.
Review: White House Plumbers Delivers an Amusing Take on Watergate
This retelling of the Nixon scandal is more in the style of Leslie Nielsen than Robert Redford.
The Best of Reason: The Pirate Preservationists
When keeping cultural archives safe means stepping outside the law.
Review: In The Bear, a Restaurateur Battles Government Bureaucracy
A Chicago sandwich shop's survival depends on cutting through red tape.
Review: Alphabet Boys Explores Federal Cops' Manufactured Crimes
A new podcast asks whether federal agents are catching bad guys or creating them.
The Pirate Preservationists
When keeping cultural archives safe means stepping outside the law
Review: Unstable Is a Futurist Comedy
A biotech lab led by a lightly fictionalized alternate version of Rob Lowe works to save the world.
Fun, Silly Anti-Tax Ballad 'Rich Men North of Richmond' Goes Viral for Some Online Reasons
If you don't take Oliver Anthony's surprise hit song too seriously, it's a lot of fun. Regrettably, a lot of people are taking the song much too seriously indeed.
Barbie Girls Now Live in a Much Wealthier Barbie World
The average working woman in 2023 earns enough money to buy a Barbie doll every 33 minutes. In 1959, it took nearly two hours.
Rob Long: Welcome to the Age of Blunder in Public Health, Foreign Policy, and…Hollywood
The former Cheers producer explains why the studios are failing, the writers and actors are missing the big picture, and creators fear their audience.
Review: The Peculiar Politics of Killer Mike
The rapper is a Bernie Sanders supporter who speaks out about gun rights and free speech.
Hollywood Must Change—But How?
Join Reason on YouTube Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern for a discussion about the Hollywood strikes with television writer and political commentator Rob Long.
Review: Did the Waco Siege Inspire More Violence? Showtime Series Explores the Question
The assault on Mount Carmel was meant to bolster the ATF's reputation. It failed.
Review: In Baby J, John Mulaney Contends With His Post-Rehab Image
What happens when a "wife guy" divorces his wife?
Is YouTube Bad for Us?
Join Reason on YouTube and Facebook at 1 p.m. Eastern this Thursday for a discussion with director Alex Winter about his new documentary The YouTube Effect.
When the Hollywood Strike Is Over, What Will be Left?
Between A.I. and TikTok, the actors and writers will be returning to a changed industry.
Review: Jury Duty Offers a (Fake) Look Inside the Justice System
A supposedly sacred duty devolves into much ado about ordering lunch.
Review: Choose Your Own Adventure in American Futures
The author, whose libertarian leanings are evident, makes readers consider the impact of the choices they make in the voting booth.
Barbie Banned in Vietnam!
The glitter-filled movie got involved in authoritarian geopolitics by allegedly displaying Chinese propaganda.
Review: Ithaka Chronicles the Fight To Save Julian Assange
"If he goes down, so will journalism," Assange's father John Shipton says in the documentary.
Review: How Tetris Escaped the Iron Curtain
The Apple TV+ film tells the story of an entrepreneur who helped bring a Soviet designer's game to the world.
Drag Is Protected Speech, Federal Judge Rules
It should be obvious that drag performances are protected by the First Amendment, but that hasn't kept government officials from trying to ban them.
The Flash Makes the Case Against the Multiverse
A listless, cynical wrap-up to a decade of chaotic superhero storytelling.
