Culture
The Case for 50 Percent Open Borders
A call for restricting immigration in The Culture Transplant accidentally makes the case for radical liberalization.
New Oregon Wastewater Rules Threaten Portland's Food Cart Culture
Compliance could prove impossibly expensive for independent food sellers.
How Venture Capital Made the Future
Sebastian Mallaby's The Power Law explores how venture capital and public policy helped shape modern technology.
Review: Why Does the CIA Need a Podcast?
The director worries that the public doesn't trust his spy agency.
Review: D.C.'s Planet Word Museum Celebrates Language
Libertarians should recognize language as a quintessential example of spontaneous order.
A Top-Ranked High School Hid National Merit Recognition From Students for Years
Administrators at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology reportedly hid top academic awards from students to not "hurt" the feelings of their classmates.
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.
Psychiatrists Do Not Know What They Are Treating
The mysteries of the mind are harder to unravel than psychiatrists pretend.
Charity and Capitalism Are Better Than Government
When I was young, I assumed government would lift people out of poverty. But those policies often do more harm than good.
Top 10 Attacks on Free-Range Parenting in 2022
Overbearing CDC guidance, pointless calls to the police, and more.
Why Take Responsibility When You Can Blame Somebody Else?
The year’s highlights in buck passing feature petulant politicians, brazen bureaucrats, careless cops, loony lawyers, and junky journalists.
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.
5 New Studies That Challenge Conventional Wisdom About Kids and Tech
A slew of recent research suggests parents should relax a bit about screen time.
Stop Spazzing Out About 'Spaz'
Social media, streaming, and a new era of digital self-censorship
One Foot off the Grid, Where We Don't Have To Deal With the City Water Department
Living without government services isn't necessarily cheaper or easier, but it sure beats putting up with municipal bureaucracies.
Die Hard: 'Twas a Christmas Movie
Jake Tapper makes the definitive case to settle a longstanding debate.
New York City's Foie Gras Ban Once Again Deemed Illegal by New York State
The city has not yet announced whether it will fight the order in court.
5 Infuriating Ways People Got the First Amendment Wrong in 2022
As free speech becomes an increasingly important part of the culture war, people won't stop misinterpreting—and outright violating—the First Amendment.
Against Game of Thrones Christianity
To truly care about virtue is to recognize that it matters how you win: Ends don't justify means.
Crime Squad 4: Weather, Tires, Furniture, & Qualified Immunity
Enforcing all the laws, all the time.
Why Is Sesame Suddenly in Everything?
Plus: spending bill on its way to Biden, Don't Be a Feminist reviewed, lawsuit over Yesterday trailer can go forward, and more...
The Covert War on Christmas
Friday A/V Club: That time Orson Welles tried to assassinate St. Nick
A New Federal Press Shield Bill Falters Just Before the Finish Line in Congress
A law to protect people engaged in journalism from having to reveal sources gets blocked by Sen. Tom Cotton.
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.
Judge Agrees Consumers Can Sue Over Misleading Movie Trailers
The weird judge-invented "commercial speech" exception to our right to free expression breeds strange results in suit against distributors of the 2019 movie Yesterday.
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.
Martin Morse Wooster's Front Row Seat
RIP to a prolific and colorful Reason contributor and author.
The Tort of Seduction: Still a Thing in North Carolina
North Carolina precedents have defined tortious seduction as "intercourse induced by deception, enticement or other artifice."
Sen. Mike Lee Wants To Ban Porn by Redefining 'Obscene'
The IODA aims to edit the legal defintion of "obscenity" to allow for the regulation of most pornography. But even if it passes, a nationwide porn ban is unlikely to succeed.
In One Arizona County, Child Protective Services Will Eventually Investigate Two-Thirds of Black Children
A staggeringly high number of families are subject to child abuse and neglect investigations in Maricopa County, Arizona.
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
Phoenix and the NFL Are Censoring Small Business Owners' Signs
Property owners are required to get permission from the city, the NFL, and/or the private Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee before displaying temporary advertisements and signs.
Elon Musk Kicks Tech Journalists, Mastodon Off Twitter
Plus: Sen. Mike Lee wants to remove First Amendment protections for porn, IRS doxxes taxpayers, and more...
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.
Don't Let Police, Media Mislead You About Fentanyl Exposure Overdoses
Another officer claims to have been laid out just by being close to the drug. That’s not how it works.
James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water Is a Can-You-Believe-It Spectacle That Looks to the Future
Also, there are battle whales.
Why In the World Is the FTC Trying to Block Microsoft From Buying Call of Duty?
Antitrust regulators don't seem to understand how the video game industry works.
Morocco's Incredible World Cup Run Is a Victory for Open Borders
The first African team to make the World Cup semifinals wouldn't be there without help from foreign-born players.
The World Is Still Getting Less Free. A Distressing Number of People Think That's Fine.
Report: “Half of democratic governments around the world are in decline.”
Does Diversity Training Work? Does Anyone Know?
A Princeton phsychologist suggests there is little evidence that corporate DEI programs do much to enhance diversity or inclusion.
Biden Signs Respect for Marriage Act Into Law
Federal recognition of same-sex marriage is now officially on the books and no longer dependent on the Supreme Court.
The Government Hasn't Learned a Thing From the Baby Formula Shortage
With the FORMULA Act soon to expire, the U.S. baby formula market is about to return to the conditions that left it so vulnerable to a shortage in the first place.