Tennessee's Anti-Drag Bill Is a Gaudy Public Performance
It’s already illegal to expose minors to obscenity, so what is this bill really for?
Entertainment
Review: The Army of the Potomac Trilogy Brings Together Bruce Catton's 3 Civil War Chronicles
These superb books recount events from the viewpoints of both soldier and statesman, providing a greater understanding of the why and how of the Civil War.
Review: Mastodon Decentralizes Social Media
Elon Musk’s shambolic takeover may not have been great for Twitter, but it was fantastic for Mastodon.
Review: Raising the Bar Brings the Cocktail Revolution Home
Jacob Grier and Brett Adams help aspiring home bartenders build a bar via a carefully sequenced collection of about two dozen bottles.
To See the Country, Road Trips Are the Only Way to Go
When you meet folks in their natural environment, it's easier to appreciate their differences.
Review: Mother Country Radicals Spotlights the Weather Underground
Perhaps unintentionally, this podcast holds up a mirror to the social justice movements of today.
Review: Gangsters vs. Nazis Greenlights Meeting Speech With Violence
Praising violence as a response to speech we don't like is a hallmark not of admirable Americanism but of oppressive regimes like Hitler’s.
Florida's War on Drag Targets Theater's Liquor License
Apparently, parents’ rights don’t extend to letting their kids listen to naughty Christmas lyrics.
Homeland Security Wants To Protect Us From Foreign Bands
A new proposal to more than triple visa entry fees for performers will harm American audiences and culture.
Review: Knock at the Cabin and To Leslie
Shyamalan’s latest twist and a most unexpected Oscar nom.
Review: The Crown Pits British Tradition Against Reform
The lightly fictionalized historical drama shows that it’s hard for staid institutions to grow and change with the times, especially when they aren’t forced to.
Review: Inside Job Reinvents the Workplace Comedy
The Netflix show ostensibly satirizes government control, but it is not made for anyone truly suspicious of government power.
Review: 'How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex'
Samantha Cole's book is marred by vague animosity toward tech companies.
Review: Naomi Novik's Magic Math Actually Makes Sense
The Golden Enclaves is the third installment of Novik's best-selling Scholomance trilogy.
Why Schools Suck in the Movies and in Real Life
Why are educational institutions in real life more like the one in Carrie than the one in Harry Potter?
Review: Even in Tolkien's Middle Earth, You Can't Escape Immigration Restrictions
Elves need not apply.
Review: 'Me So Horny' and 59 Other Songs That Explain the '90s
Podcaster and music critic Rob Harvilla reminds us of the debts we owe to the tunes of that often cringeworthy decade.
Don't Let Disney Monopolize A.I.-Generated Art
The indie artists suing Stable Diffusion may not realize it, but they're doing the Mouse's dirty work.
Review: Time Meddling Becomes Altruism in Amazon's The Peripheral
It's the story of a distant future where rich denizens meddle in the affairs of the past.
Review: God Forbid Chronicles Jerry Falwell Jr.'s Fall From Grace
Falwell and his wife engaged in extramarital trysts with a younger man and introduced him to powerful friends, such as future president Donald Trump.
Review: Why Does the CIA Need a Podcast?
The director worries that the public doesn't trust his spy agency.
The Fight Over Kids at Drag Shows Is a Classic Moral Panic
Florida threatens a venue for letting minors attend a sexualized holiday cabaret performance with their parents.
Review: In Defense of Cultural Appropriation on The Great British Baking Show
For the first time, The Great British Baking Show's three best bakers are immigrants to the U.K.
Review: When Americans Turned Their Backs on Holocaust Refugees
The U.S. and the Holocaust condemns anti-refugee policies of the World War II era.
The War on Christmas Comes for the Drag Queens
Some conservatives toss “parents’ rights” out the window in a holiday culture war against kids at live shows.
Canada Threatens Free Speech in the Guise of Nationalistic Obsessions
Demands by lawmakers and government officials for locally produced content may lead to online censorship.
John Cleese on How Wokeness Smothers Creativity
The Monty Python legend on giving offense and getting laughs
Review: Is Andor the Most Political Live-Action Star Wars Release?
Star Wars remains an epic tale of good vs. evil, but underneath the myth are ordinary human motivations.
New Movie Lists Honor Jeanne Dielman and 2001, Snub TikTok
Friday A/V Club: Sight and Sound revises the film canon again.
The Best Ever Libertarian Gift Guide
Until next year's, because capitalism is always making things better.
United States of America Pageants Has First Amendment Right To Exclude Transgender Women, Court Says
Plus: The emptiness of Democrats' pro-democracy rhetoric, the real reason Social Security checks are getting bigger, and more...
Review: Better Call Saul Could Only Happen Under Drug Prohibition
The black market for drugs empowers bad actors while imposing serious burdens on innocents.
Review: Corporate Rock Sucks Covers the Slow Decline of Punk's Most Important Label
Perhaps boutique businesses with hip tastes can be as bad for bands as the biggest corporation.
Review: Halloween Ends and The Banshees of Inisherin
Return of the Big Figure, and Colin Farrell at a new peak.
Review: The Sandman and the Joys of Being Human
The series deals with themes of fate, freedom, and choice.
Should Tucker Carlson Have Protected Ye From Himself?
Plus: Supreme Court won't consider right of fetus to bring lawsuit, Biden's bid to reclassify gig workers, and more...
Review: The AnCap Revolution Goes to Mexico in The Anarchists
Activists were divided about whether to professionalize the political community or keep it ideologically pure. Sound familiar?
The Woman King Rewrites History for a Feminist Twist on the Slave Trade
Hollywood often takes liberties. But there's a distinction to be made between poetic license and historical revisionism.
In Netflix's Dahmer, Incompetent Police Fail To Catch a Serial Killer
The show depicts the killer's gruesome crimes but lays some of the blame on the Milwaukee police who failed for so long to catch him.
