Culture
Supreme Court Hears Arguments Over Whether Religious Agencies Can Reject Gay Foster Parents
New Justice Amy Coney Barrett expresses concerns about wider implications of antidiscrimination policies.
Why this Religious Freedom Case is Different From the Others [updated with an important qualification]
In Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a key case currently before the Supreme Court, there is a strong reason to rule for the government that doesn't apply in most other religious-liberty disputes.
The Nationalism-ists
The members of Steve Bannon's international circle share an outlandish spiritual-historic vision, but their threat to liberty is more mundane.
How To Tell If You're Being Canceled
Kindly Inquisitors author Jonathan Rauch on the never-ending battle to defend free speech
Food Issues That Should've Been Front and Center in the 2020 Presidential Election
Food industry workers and wonks make their case for agricultural and food industry reforms.
The Weird Beauty of Suburbia
How can a place that we're intimately familiar with—more than half of America lives in the suburbs—be so unknowable?
Glenn Greenwald Resigns from The Intercept, Citing 'Pathologies, Illiberalism, Repressive Mentality' of Pro-Biden Newsroom
The progressive outlet's co-founder claims he was prevented from publishing an article because it was critical of Joe Biden.
Meat Bills Are on the Menu in Congress
America's meat supply has been hammered by COVID-19 outbreaks at many of the nation's largest meat processing plants, but Congress can solve this by reducing onerous regulations.
A Look at America's Most Corrupt Police
A new book shows how the Baltimore Police Department let dirty cops flourish right under its nose.
Welfare for the Rich
The book details how the wealthy use the power of the state to snatch your money for their farms, stadiums, banks, real estate developments, and more.
Don't Be Fooled By Our Media Wars: Everybody Hates Free Speech
Treating free expression like an instrument of power means that the fight is more about who gets punished most when politicians write new restrictions.
The Rudy Giuliani Scene In the New Borat Movie Isn't What You Think
Trump’s lawyer was caught on camera in a hotel room...tucking in his shirt.
The Games Must Go On
COVID-19 upended the NBA, the NFL, the NHL, and MLB. How the professional sports leagues responded offers a glimpse into our future.
Pope Francis Declares Support for Civil Unions for Gay Couples
His statement doesn’t change Catholic Church teachings, but it’s an indicator of big cultural shifts.
Colorado Coronavirus Response Unconstitutionally Restricted Religious Institutions, Holds Federal Judge
Houses of worship, which the Colorado order labels "critical" institutions, must be treated at least as well as other critical institutions.
What Should Have Happened at the Amy Coney Barrett Hearings
"This is probably not about persuading each other unless something really dramatic happens," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R–S.C.)
Salvaging Secession
The Founders understood union as a strategic necessity, not a moral imperative.
Milo Yiannopoulos Defends Basic Traditions of Journalism
A federal judge makes it clear: "the consumption of alcohol at a party does not vitiate journalistic intent"; hard-drinking reporters are as covered by the journalist's privilege as the abstemious. Other journalistic traditions that aren't disqualifying: bias, and bearing grudges.
Reviews: Love and Monsters and J.R. 'Bob' Dobbs and the Church of the SubGenius
A good teens-and-creatures movie, and a deep dive into a glorious fake cult
Guns and Control
San Francisco writer Guy Smith finds little evidence that the availability of firearms explains differences in suicide and homicide rates.
Twitter Blocking a New York Post Article Was Dumb—but Not Illegal, Censorship, or Election Interference
Plus: 898,000 new jobless claims, and more...
San Francisco Will Pay Artists $1,000 a Month in Universal Basic Income
The pilot program intended to assist the city's arts community during the pandemic is drawing both interest and criticism from proponents of unconditional cash transfers.
The Long, Dark History of Family Separations
How politicians used the drug war and the welfare state to break up black and Native American families
New York Times Union Hits Times Columnist Bret Stephens for Daring To Criticize the 1619 Project
"It says a lot about an organization when it breaks it's [sic] own rules and goes after one of it's [sic] own," the union tweeted. "The act, like the article, reeks."
Federal Court Accepts Church's Challenge to D.C.'s 100-Person Limit on Outdoor Religious Services
The court applied the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was enacted in 1993 by a nearly unanimous Congress.
Which is it? 1619 or 1776?
Bret Stephens, in what may be his last NYT column, tracks the foundational rewriting of the 1619 Project.
Berkeley Bans So-Called Junk Food from Checkout Aisles
These kinds of interventions don't work, but they do force retailers to waste money.
Couple Barred from Fostering Their 1-Year-Old Great-Granddaughter Because of They Oppose Homosexuality and Gender Transitioning
The Washington Department of Child, Youth, and Families reached this decision based on the purely hypothetical possibility that maybe the 1-year-old might eventually be attracted to girls, or might want to transition to being a boy; but a federal judge just held in the great-grandparents’ favor.
Apocalypse Never
The book argues that rising prosperity and increasing technological prowess will ameliorate or reverse most deleterious environmental trends.
Trump Administration on Wrong Side of Important Religious Freedom Case Before the Supreme Court
The Administration claims money damages are never "appropriate" under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act - even when they are the only possible means of redressing rights violations.
Orthodox Jews Say They're Being Targeted by New NYC Lockdowns
The newest lockdown, which explicitly targets religious gatherings, seems likely to further skepticism of public health directives.
Trump Takes Credit for Food Aid in Letter to Needy Families. Sound Familiar?
The president has been criticized for politicizing aid as the election draws closer.
Eddie Van Halen, Melting-Pot Virtuoso
We don't normally talk about how rock's late, great lead guitarist was an immigrant success story and inspiration to early hip hop, but that's only because he (and America!) were too busy getting rad.
Review: Possessor: Uncut
Director Brandon Cronenberg finds a terrible beauty in this terrific sci-fi horror film.
Prison by Any Other Name
State involvement in people's lives—even "for their own good"—ends up becoming a backdoor way of policing and control.
Publishing Registered Sex Offenders' Home Addresses Before Halloween Is Gratuitous, Unethical, and Reckless
A petition urges Patch and other news outlets to reconsider the practice.
Seeing Like an Anarchist
How former slaves built an autonomous, self-sufficient, and nearly stateless society in the mountains of Haiti, and how they lost it
