Review: Tripping on Utopia Complicates the History of Psychedelics
Mind-altering drugs have long been seen as tools for both liberation and control.
Culture
Miami Beach's Breakup With Spring Breakers May Fare Poorly for the City
Efforts to revamp the tourist hot spot ignore the reality for local business owners.
Oklahoma Autopsy Finds That a Bullied Nonbinary Student Committed Suicide
After blaming the state's bathroom law, The New York Times says "it has never been clear" whether gender identity figured in the fight that preceded Nex Benedict's death.
Review of Dune: Part 2
It's a powerful film that lives up to the promise of Part 1. But there are a few flaws.
Cheering From the Press Box
Also: Oppenheimer and Godzilla win at the Oscars, Virginia state lawmakers nuke plans for taxpayer-funded arena, and more...
Guernica Cancels an Inconvenient Essay (UPDATED)
An "uncompromising" journal cancels an essay for failing to say the right things.
Oscar-Nominated Robot Dreams Is a Gentle Animated Love Story About Dogs, Robots, and 1980s New York
A charming story of love, friendship, and impersonal urban bureaucracy.
The Truth About 'Rural Rage'
Our research was cited in a new book on “white rural rage.” But the authors got the research wrong.
National Guardsman Gets 16 Years for Leaking Pentagon Docs Over Discord
Jack Teixeira shared documents on the war in Ukraine to a gamer group on Discord.
Milei Closes State News Agency Télam for 'Spreading Propaganda'
"It is immoral that in a poor country like ours," the Argentine president said, "the government spends the people's money to buy the will of journalists."
Milei's Free Market Reforms Can Reshape Argentine Cinema
Decades of protectionism have led to the film industry’s decline, but a free market can make it bloom.
Record Low Turnout in Iran as Voters Lose Faith in Elections
Iran’s leaders wanted to show the world a high voter turnout. Instead, people stayed home for the "sham" elections.
Of Course Special Interests Shaped California's New Minimum Wage Law
Gov. Gavin Newsom's response to allegations of favoritism only serve to underline how the entire fast food minimum wage law was a giveaway to his buddies.
Town Says Burger Joint's Mural Can't Show Any Burgers
Salina, Kansas, restaurant owner Steve Howard argues in a new lawsuit that the city's sign regulations violate the First Amendment.
Dune: Part Two Is a Glorious Sci-Fi Spectacle
The sequel is about ecology, politics, economics, imperialism, and much more. But mostly it's about worms.
Review: Is Saltburn an Eat-the-Rich Comedy? Not Quite.
Critics are misreading the movie. The wealthy are not the villains in this story.
Why Is Panera Exempted From California's New Minimum Wage Law?
Probably because Greg Flynn, who operates 24 of the bakery cafes in California, is a longtime friend of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Congress Continues To Make the Tax Code Ridiculously Hard To Understand
I shouldn't have to spend so much money on an accountant every year. But I don't really have a choice.
The Spy in Your Pocket
Byron Tau's Means of Control documents how the private sector helps government agencies keep tabs on American citizens.
States Try To Strip Sex From Literature in Libraries, Schools
These aren't outright bans. But they still can chill free speech and academic freedom.
Feds Target Journalist Tim Burke With Law Intended for Hackers
An escalation in the war between people who publish secrets and those who seek to keep them.
A History of Taxpayer Revolts
Linda Upham-Bornstein's "Mr. Taxpayer versus Mr. Tax Spender" delivers an evenhanded view of American tax resistance movements.
Drive-Away Dolls Is an Underwhelming Lesbian Noir
A shaggy roadtrip comedy set against the backdrop of late 1990s right-wing family values politics fails to come together.
Review: Cyberpunk 2077 Explores Another Lawless Dystopia
In the game's Phantom Liberty expansion, those who make the laws rarely follow them.
The New York Times Implausibly Implicates Oklahoma's Bathroom Law in the Death of a Nonbinary Student
Don’t let culture war politics overwhelm a commitment to the facts.
Expanding the Child Tax Credit Would Perpetuate Systemic Poverty
The policy is a true budget buster and is ineffective in the long term.
The Biden Administration Is Bent on Setting an Alarming Precedent by Prosecuting Julian Assange
The WikiLeaks founder already has spent as much time in a London prison as DOJ lawyers say he is likely to serve if convicted in the U.S.
U.S. Begins To Talk Ceasefire
Plus: Catholic funeral for transgender activist, Donald Trump's props, deep tech in El Segundo, and more...
Is the Human Brain a Prediction Machine?
In The Experience Machine, philosopher and scientist Andy Clark offers an updated theory of mind.
Madame Web Is a Low Point for Superhero Movies
Listless and incoherent, it's a sign of the genre's struggles.
Review: Photographic Glimpses at 20th Century Roots Music
Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz's photos document blues, country, and Cajun music.
Audit Finds New York's $700 Million Film Tax Credits Make Little Difference
The credit "is at best a break-even proposition and more likely a net cost" for the state.
Shrinkflation Is Real—and It's Largely Biden's Fault
The president criticized companies for selling "smaller-than-usual products" whose "price stays the same." But it was his and his predecessor's spending policies that caused the underlying issue.
Jon Stewart's Return to The Daily Show Was Actually Pretty Great
When he's on his game, he's still one of the best bullshit detectors in the media.
Michigan Is Spending Millions Trying To Refurbish a Ski-Flying Hill. It's Not Working.
Copper Peak revitalization was pitched as an economic development project for the Upper Peninsula, which already has two working ski jumps.
PROTECT Act Could Require Removal of All Existing Porn Online
Sen. Mike Lee's "technological exploitation" bill also redefines consent.
Biden's Bizarre 'Shrinkflation' Nonsense
The White House should stop taking policy and messaging tips from Elizabeth Warren.
Robin DiAngelo Thinks The Creation of Adam Epitomizes White Supremacy
She also mistook the Adam in Michelangelo's famous painting for David.
Georgia Lawmakers Propose Modest Changes to State Film Tax Credits
The credits cost the state over $1.3 billion per year with a 19 percent return on investment. Lawmakers' proposals will do little to change that.
Tucker Carlson Is No 'Traitor' for Doing Journalism
Everybody has the right to speak and then take the heat.
Trump's Terrible, Popular Tariffs
Plus: A listener asks if it should become the norm for all news outlets to require journalists to disclose their voting records.
