This Year's Libertarian Gift Guide: 23 Ideas for 2023
In today's innovative economy, there's no excuse for sending a gift card. The staff at Reason is here with some inspiration.
Music
Review: The Album That Helped Make Florida the Epicenter of Death Metal
Death's 1990 Spiritual Healing paints a right-wing culture warrior’s nightmare vision of America.
Prosecutors Use Lyrics, Diary Entries as Evidence in Georgia RICO Cases
In separate criminal racketeering cases, prosecutors are using rap lyrics and the personal diary of a protester shot and killed by police as evidence.
Priscilla Is an Elvis Movie That Isn't About Elvis
Sophia Coppola's superb drama tackles an age-gap romance with nuance.
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.
Remy: Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor Swift Looting Parody)
Stop enabling thieves by owning stuff.
Taylor Swift, Junk Fees, and the 'Happy Meal Fallacy'
Thank Swifties, not Joe Biden, for Ticketmaster's consumer-friendly pricing policy.
The Best of Reason: The Pirate Preservationists
When keeping cultural archives safe means stepping outside the law.
The Pirate Preservationists
When keeping cultural archives safe means stepping outside the law
How Rage Against the Machine Used Capitalism To Sell Communism
A calculated corporate deal propelled these radical rockers all the way to the Hall of Fame.
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.
Review: The Peculiar Politics of Killer Mike
The rapper is a Bernie Sanders supporter who speaks out about gun rights and free speech.
German Police Investigate Roger Waters Over Concert Wardrobe
Laws against displaying Nazi-esque iconography are well-intended, but they pose a threat to free speech and the principles of a free society.
Supreme Court: Andy Warhol's Prince Prints Not 'Transformative' Enough for Fair Use
The case could have long-term implications for how broadly fair use can be applied.
Review: Everything I Need I Get from You Gives a Fangirl's View of the Internet
Author Kaitlyn Tiffany offers a history of fandoms.
Stefan Sagmeister: An Artist Who Believes 'Now Is Better'
The legendary graphic designer juxtaposes 18th- and 19th-century paintings with visualizations of how much life has improved over the centuries.
A Fake Drake Song Shows the Potential for A.I.'s Future
Meanwhile, content creators and corporations want copyright regulations for artificial intelligence.
Farewell to the Motherland: A Song of Departure
"Flattery is toxic to love / So why, tell me, do you drink poison?"
Ohio Cops Sue Afroman for Using Video of Them Raiding His House in Music Videos
Seven sheriff's deputies say the rapper subjected them to "embarrassment, ridicule, emotional distress, humiliation, and loss of reputation" after a drug bust on his house came up empty.
Ayn Rand Would Hate the New Spotify Video Feed
Turning every streaming service into TikTok is bad for the internet. It'll be disastrous for music.
Meet the Students Pushing Back Against Socialism
"It's very easy for politicians to legislate freedom away," says Northwood University's Kristin Tokarev. "But it's incredibly hard to get back."
Remy: Learn To Fly (Foo Fighters Parody)
Asian adversaries aerially admire American angst and apathy.
Kat Rosenfield: Why It's Important for Novelists To Speak Freely
The mystery writer and cultural critic is an outspoken defender of free thinking and cultural appropriation.
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.
Concert Organizer Bows to Politicians' Demands, Cancels Pantera Show
The Vienna Green Party had demanded a scheduled performance of the reunited heavy metal band be canceled because of a 2016 incident in which singer Phil Anselmo threw out a Nazi salute.
Ticketmaster's Taylor Swift Glitch Doesn't Require a Congressional Hearing
The site crashed because Swift is very popular, not because antitrust enforcement is too weak.
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.
Beyoncé, Lizzo, and Taylor Swift Give In To the Speech Police
"It's stories and songs and films cut apart and written over, leaving no trace and no remnant of whatever used to be," writes novelist and cultural critic Kat Rosenfield.
Stop Spazzing Out About 'Spaz'
Social media, streaming, and a new era of digital self-censorship
Conservative Cancel Culture Comes to Kurdistan
Religious Kurds used social media to shut down a rap concert—and they're swinging their weight around politics, too.
The Best Ever Libertarian Gift Guide
Until next year's, because capitalism is always making things better.
Should Rap Lyrics Qualify as Evidence in Criminal Trials?
The music industry objects to the use of rap lyrics by prosecutors.
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.
BTS's Military Conscription Is a Reminder That Mandatory 'Service' Is Servitude
The South Korean government brings the country's greatest cultural export to heel.
"Face to Face": Dave Stewart's, Boris Grebenshchikov's, Serhii Babkin's, and Stevie Nicks's Ukraine War Song
Stewart (of the Eurythmics), Grebenshchikov (a Russian singer-songwriter, and one of “the ‘founding fathers’ of Russian rock music”), and Babkin (a Ukrainian singer-songwriter) put out a trilingual song, with harmonies by Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac).
