Culture
The Best of Reason: Did Evolution Give Us Free Will?
Free Agents author Kevin J. Mitchell makes a neuroscientific case against determinism.
Rachel Maddow's Prequel Is a Deceptively Framed History of the Radical Right
The book blames foreign subversives for ideas long rooted in American life.
Bill Maher Attacks 'the Real Deep State' of Government Regulators, Administrators, and Zoning Officers
The comedian blames America's endless reams of regulatory red tape for slowing down new wind farms, housing, and public toilets.
Inside a 20-Year Effort To Clean Up the Oakland Police Department
The Riders Come Out at Night frames it as a hopeful sign that police reform is possible.
The Contradictions of 'Queers for Palestine'
Gay and transgender people—both in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank—face an extraordinary level of persecution.
In French Thriller Anatomy of a Fall, the Law Is No One's Friend
A tricky, excellent legal drama shows just how hard it can be to pin down the truth.
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.
Democrats Say They're Fighting Inequality. But Many of Their Policies Favor the Rich.
Over the last several years, they have worked nonstop to ease the tax burden of their high-income constituents.
Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott: The Canceling of the American Mind
“We've taught young people that any of their missteps or any of their heterodox opinions are grounds to tear them down. That's no way to grow up.”
Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott: The Canceling of the American Mind
“We've taught young people that any of their missteps or any of their heterodox opinions are grounds to tear them down. That's no way to grow up.”
Why Are College Kids Terrified?
Rikki Schlott and Greg Lukianoff discuss their new book, The Canceling of the American Mind.
The Best of Reason: True Crime Distorts the Truth About Crime
Popular podcasts and shows portray crime as salacious and sexy, failing ordinary victims in the process.
How To Yell 'Fire' in a Crowded Theater
Aside from narrowly defined exceptions, false speech is protected by the First Amendment.
Did Evolution Give Us Free Will?
Author Kevin J. Mitchell makes a neuroscientific case against determinism.
SAG-AFTRA's Halloween Costume Rules Are Super Annoying
The union wants you to throw your Barbie costume in the trash, scab.
Who Is—and Isn't—Ready To Change Their Minds About the Gaza Hospital Blast?
The limits of "we just don't believe you" as a news-consuming habit
In Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese Plumbs the Depths of American Depravity
A masterful epic from one of Hollywood's most important, most ambitious filmmakers.
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.
A Philadelphia Phillies Player's Family Is Getting Screwed by the Immigration System
If multimillionaire José Alvarado can't figure out how to get his family here, what hope do other Venezuelan migrants have?
Media Got the Hospital Story Wrong
Plus: Jim Jordan has no friends, an "antisemitic Burning Man festival" at Penn, Staten Island secession, and more...
Americans Learned a Lesson About Interest Rates. Washington Has Not.
Higher rates lead to more debt, and more debt begets higher rates, and on and on. Get the picture?
Shane Mauss: Finding the Humor in Psychedelics
The psychedelic comedian talks cognitive liberty and the mind-blowing pace of legalization efforts.
What Failed Products Teach Us About Capitalism
Being able to take risks and having the freedom to try out wild ideas is the only process that leads to successful innovation.
An 18-Year-Old Had Consensual Sex With a 16-Year-Old. He Went to Jail for 6 Years.
In her new book From Rage to Reason, Emily Horowitz explains what's wrong with the sex offense registry.
The Best of Reason: Take Nutrition Studies With a Grain of Salt
The epidemiology of food and drink is a mess.
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.
Matt Taibbi on the Twitter Files, Julian Assange, and Donald Trump
"After Trump, everybody's tolerance for exploring different points of view kind of dried up," says the star Substack writer.
Vivek Ramaswamy Is Right To Oppose the Blacklisting of Harvard Students
Being against cancel culture requires consistency.
Wisconsin Politicians Want To Spend $550 Million on Ballpark Subsidies the Public Opposes
Just 24 percent of self-identified Trump voters and 34 percent of self-identified Biden voters say they support a public handout for the Milwaukee Brewers' 22-year-old stadium.
Some Cancellations are Justified
Whether a person deserves to be "cancelled" for saying awful things depends on the nature of what they said and the nature of their job.
Take Nutrition Studies With a Grain of Salt
The epidemiology of food and drink is a mess.
Starfield Is a Vast, Sprawling Video Game About the Fragility of State Power
The latest RPG from Bethesda Studios chronicles the unexpected ways that private, non-governmental power steps in to fill the gaps and voids left by state actors.
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?
Alexandra Hudson: How Civility Can Save America—and the World
We don't need better manners, we need a commitment to mutual respect and tolerance, and space to live our lives as we see fit.
Performing Charity Is a First Amendment Right
Houston officials say they'll keep fining activists for feeding homeless people, calling it "a health and safety issue."
9-Year-Old Kidnapping Victim Charlotte Sena Recovered Safely
Let's celebrate her return without exaggerating the relevant dangers; stranger abductions are rare.
Comic: John Stuart Mill in 'Superliberal'
The English economist's unapologetic liberalism often drew the ire of other members of Parliament.
The Sindex: Price of Booze Away From Home Up 6.6 Percent Since 2022
The Reason Sindex tracks the price of vice: smoking, drinking, snacking, traveling, and more.
