A Car Hit and Killed Their 7-Year-Old Son. Now They're Being Charged for Letting Him Walk to the Store.
Letting children walk alone isn’t a crime. But in North Carolina, prosecutors are treating it like one.
Culture
Mountainhead Is a Shallow Satire of Tech Billionaires
A zippy script can't make up for a lack of insight.
A First Amendment Right To Preach Orgasm?
As the prosecution rests in the OneTaste case, the defense lays out the free speech implications if the government succeeds.
Texas Legislature Bans LGBT Student Clubs in K-12 Schools, Violating the Constitution and Federal Law
Signaling legislative contempt, one sponsor called the student groups "sex clubs." But in targeting the content of student speech the bill probably infringes First Amendment free speech rights and tramples the Equal Access Act of 1984
Female Nude Spa in Washington Can't Bar Transgender Clients With Male Genitalia, Federal Court Rules
Olympus Spa had sued on First Amendment grounds.
The Taliban Banned Chess
Since retaking power, the Taliban has banned certain music, barred women from parks, and now outlawed chess. Authoritarians don’t just crush dissent—they criminalize joy.
The SEC (the Sports One) Is Acting Like It's Invincible
Plus: Sports teams are writing it off, motorsports documentaries, and the NBA and Stanley Cup finals.
Did Bill Buckley Really Lead a Successful Revolution?
You can hear echoes of Buckley's early career in more than one MAGA crusader's rhetoric today. That's not a sign of a man who won.
Nevada Becomes the 21st State To Strengthen Donor Privacy Protections
A new law prohibits the state from requiring nonprofits to disclose the personal information of their supporters, protecting Americans’ First Amendment right to free association.
Texas Ten Commandments Bill Is the Latest Example of Forcing Religious Texts In Public Schools
The Lone Star State's bill is already facing legal challenges.
Wait, Lilo & Stitch Is About Medicaid and Family Separation?
A strange sort of policy logic powers the new Disney remake.
Review: The Wild Adventures of Women in Anthropology
Anthropology was once built around freewheeling interactions with alien peoples in far-flung lands.
Original Sin, the Biden Cover-Up Book, Is Better Late Than Never
Even readers who are profoundly distrustful of Jake Tapper should pick up a copy.
Is Buying OnlyFans Content Now Illegal in Sweden?
Swedish authorities voted to criminalize the purchase or procurement of online sex acts, in a move targeting customers of webcam platforms and sites like OnlyFans.
He Escaped North Korea—Twice. Now He Warns People About Socialism.
"Just go to North Korea for 10 days and you'll know how bad it is," says Charles Ryu.
An "Ugly Tax" in Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill"
Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby rightly decries the GOP's inclusion of a tax on remittances immigrant workers send to their families, in the "Big Beautiful Bill."
Can We End Racism by Ending the Idea of Race Itself?
Author Sheena Michele Mason offers an alternative vision for anti-racism.
A Split Supreme Court Says Oklahoma Can't Have a Religious Charter School
The deadlocked court doesn't provide much clarity to sticky questions about the limits of religious freedom.
Review: The Free Market Comes to The Sims 4
Even simulated entrepreneurs aren't free from the burdens of business registration fees.
Review: Was Charles Manson Carrying Out a CIA Experiment?
Errol Morris' new Netflix documentary explores alternative theories of the Manson cult's infamous 1969 murders.
Supreme Court Orders Maine Legislator Censured for Social Media Post Must Get Voting Rights Back
On Monday, the court granted an emergency injunction allowing Rep. Laurel Libby to resume voting and speaking after she was censured for a post criticizing trans women in women's sports.
Pope Leo's Childhood Home Faces Eminent Domain as He Relocates to a More Eminent Domain
The last Pope Leo denounced state seizures of private property as "emphatically unjust."
ICE Helps Round Up Sex Workers in Florida
In Operation Fool Around and Find Out, 244 "human trafficking" arrests, but no human trafficking.
New Article on Eugene Volokh's Amicus Briefs Regarding Compelled Speech and Antidiscrimination Law
Volokh's view gave breathing room for individuals' speech interests while leaving plenty of space for government to protect people from discrimination
Brian Brushwood: Why We Fall for Scams
Magician and podcaster Brian Brushwood talks about deception and skepticism while exploring historical hoaxes, the psychology of magic, the libertarian dystopia of Epcot, and the story behind World’s Greatest Con.
In Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, Tom Cruise Does What the U.S. Government Can't
To protect America, maybe what we really need to fund is more Tom Cruise.
Judge Rules in Favor of New Hampshire Bakery in Fight Over Donut Mural
Conway, New Hampshire's attempt to force a local bakery to take down the mural "does not withstand any level of constitutional scrutiny," a judge ruled this week.
How To Kill Draft Lotteries Without Encouraging Tanking
Plus: the tush push, Pete Rose, and Eddie Vedder.
Americans, Especially Women, Feel Less Free. They're Not Wrong.
Unfortunately, the data supports Americans’ take on the state of freedom in the world.
Are the News Media in Their Onion Era?
The lessons "America's Finest News Source" could offer the rest of the press.
Alton Brown on Cultural Appropriation, Ozempic, and the USDA
"If a Greek family starts a pizzeria, if a Chinese family straight from Beijing opens a hot dog shop, are they appropriating or are they just smart?" says the Food for Thought author and former Good Eats host.
What Happens to Your Kids if We Abolish the Department of Education?
The Department of Education doesn’t handle teaching, set curricula, or pay teacher salaries.
Robert Rosenkranz: How To Use Stoicism To Build a Meaningful Life
The billionaire philanthropist explores how stoic philosophy shaped his views on capitalism, politics, and philanthropy, arguing for rational optimism, individual responsibility, and civil public discourse as foundations for life.
Andor Is a Star Wars Show About the Brutality of Bureaucracy
Tony Gilroy's series reminds us that an empire doesn't need dark magic to be evil.
Review: The Rise of the 'Divorce Memoir'
"There is no typical divorce," writes No Fault author Haley Mlotek.
At 'Orgasmic Meditation' Trial, Feds Can't Find a Clitoris—or Evidence of Forced Labor
The government has been putting sexuality, sexual labor, and unorthodox ideas about sex on trial.
Trump Declares the 'Neocon' Era Over
The president’s speech in Saudi Arabia promised a new course for U.S. policy in the Middle East. Can he deliver?
Richard Dawkins: Why Atheism Is Winning
The evolutionary biologist challenges modern dogmas, defends scientific objectivity, and warns against the rise of ideological orthodoxy in society.
Reason Nominated for 17 Southern California Journalism Awards
Nominees include stories on inflation breaking brains, America's first drug war, Afghans the U.S. left behind, Javier Milei, and much more.
Free Pete Rose
There is no question that Rose defiantly broke the rules, but we love our baseball characters, warts and all.
Airport Human-Trafficking Posters Are Overstating the Risks to Young People
"That guy isn't being trafficked by anyone," says sociologist Emily Horowitz.
Draft Lotteries Suck for Die-Hard Fans
Plus: Yetis, The Seat, and a political letter that will make your eyes roll.
Republicans Want To Redefine Obscenity
A new bill would ban sharing visual content that might "arouse" or "titillate."
