DeSantis Returns To 'Too Online' Roots With Debate Comments About Trans Kids
While transgender issues dominated Wednesday's debate, polls suggest that the subject is far from the top of voters' minds.
Culture War
Florida Hotel Fined $5,000 for Allowing Minors To Attend Holiday Drag Show
While minors were required to be accompanied by an adult to attend the event, state regulators still went after the "not appropriate" drag performance.
Inside Ron DeSantis' Crackdown on Drag Shows
"Is there any way to stop this from happening tomorrow?" Ron DeSantis' former chief of staff asked about a Christmas-themed drag show on tour in Florida.
Minesweeper, Solitaire, and a '90s Moral Panic
When computers came to offices, bosses found a new way to worry that workers were wasting time.
Mike Pence Claims the Reagan Mantle. So Far, It Isn't Helping Him.
"Our party does face a time for choosing," said the former vice president last night.
The Things We Can't Say
As the culture war permeates American life, combatants set their sights on the ways we express ourselves.
Jessie Appleby and Bill Blanken: Do California Community Colleges 'Mandate Viewpoint Conformity'?
"Science should have no agenda other than a relentless pursuit of the truth.... With DEI, we're expected to search out racism within science curriculum, and it's just not there," says professor Bill Blanken.
Are California's New 'Woke' DEI College Standards Illegal?
Join Reason on YouTube at 1 p.m. Eastern for a discussion about a lawsuit against California Community Colleges' new DEI standards with FIRE attorney Jessie Appleby and the plaintiff
Should 'Sensitivity Training' Be Forced on Southwest Airlines?
A Texas judge ordered that the airline submit to training on the rights of religious believers after losing a religious discrimination lawsuit.
Ron DeSantis' Unconvincing Economic Reset
Though an improvement over his obsession with wokeness and culture wars, DeSantis can't seem to ditch the populist demagoguery.
Inside an Abusive Anti-Porn Camp for Teens
Is sending kids into the wilderness really the best way to keep them off Pornhub?
Get Your Culture War Out of Our Pension Funds
Plus: Should libertarians consider employing noble lies when pitching themselves to new potential voters?
Ron DeSantis Bullies Bud Light Like Elizabeth Warren Bullies Amazon
DeSantis talks a lot about freedom but increasingly only applies it to those who agree with him.
Confidence in Higher Education Reaches New Low
According to Gallup, those with a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in higher education has declined 21 points since 2015.
'Mamas for DeSantis' Is Proof: The DeSantis Campaign Is Too Online
Casey DeSantis' "Mamas for DeSantis" ad goes all in on the culture war instead of focusing on Ron DeSantis' strong record on school choice and COVID policy.
What Will 303 Creative Mean for Social Media Regulation?
If you can't force a web designer to serve a gay wedding, can you force a web platform to serve a politician?
Federal Judge Blocks Florida's Anti-Drag Law
The ruling is the latest in a series of legal defeats for anti-drag laws.
Don't Let Culture Wars Weaken the Financial System
In California, officials are pushing pension funds to divest from fossil fuels, firearms manufacturers, and tobacco companies. Red states are retaliating. This is madness.
Drag Is Protected Speech, Federal Judge Rules
It should be obvious that drag performances are protected by the First Amendment, but that hasn't kept government officials from trying to ban them.
Can a Florida School District Ban a Children's Book About Gay Penguins?
The answer's more complicated than you might think.
Restoring the Name of Fort Bragg is Nothing to Brag About
Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence are wrong to advocate naming a US Army base after an incompetent Confederate general who betrayed the United States to fight for slavery.
The New Right Isn't So New
Left-wing totalitarianism and right-wing authoritarianism are not our only options.
How School Choice Can Mitigate Harmful Culture War Policies in Public Education
Current culture wars are just one more manifestation of the reality that public education routinely devolves into indoctrination and imposition of majoritarian ideology on dissenters. But school choice can help mitigate that problem.
Should Libertarians Be Noncombatants in the Pride Wars?
Plus: A listener question considers the pros and cons of the libertarian focus on political processes rather than political results.
Ron DeSantis Dangerously Blurs the Line Between State and Private Action
Whether the putative target is the "biomedical security state," wokeness, "Big Tech censors," or Chinese Communists, the presidential candidate’s grandstanding poses a clear threat to individual rights.
Do the Natcons Get Anything Right?
Plus: A listener asks if the Roundtable has given the arguments of those opposed to low-skilled immigration a fair hearing.
The Post-Liberal Authoritarians Want You To Forget That Private Companies Have Rights
J.D. Vance and Co. are trying to give themselves permission to wield public power unconstitutionally.
Vivek Ramaswamy Thinks 'Wokeness Is a Cultural Cancer'
Why the businessman launched a long shot campaign for the presidency.
Debate: To Preserve Individual Liberty, Government Must Affirmatively Intervene in the Culture War
What happens when anti-liberty zealots get the same powers?
Brittney Griner's Russian Imprisonment Outraged the Country. So Should Vladimir Kara-Murza's.
The journalist and dissident, who was sentenced to 25 years in a penal colony for criticizing the Russian government, has not received the same attention.
College Debate Team Comes Out Against Debate
James Madison University's debate team says that "free speech should not extend to requiring us to platform or amplify ideas that are exclusionary, discriminatory, or hostile."
Agatha Christie Books Get Woke Makeover, Join Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming
Books by the acclaimed mystery author have been edited, ostensibly to comport with modern sensibilities.
This College President Knows the First Amendment Protects the Drag Show He Canceled. He Just Doesn't Care.
"I will not appear to condone the diminishment of any group at the expense of impertinent gestures toward another group for any reason, even when the law of the land appears to require it," he wrote.
Spoonies: The Culture of Staying Sick
Online communities have made their diagnoses their identity.
At CPAC, Trans Issues Dominated. But Do Voters Care?
While inflammatory comments about "gender ideology" abounded at CPAC, the issue is hardly a top priority for Americans in general.
Inside the Weird World of Niche Conservative Businesses
"The country is that divided," said one business owner. "We kind of want to be with our own people. We want to stick together."
Do Young Conservatives Still Care About the Free Market?
"It's not about money or jobs or fiscal conservatism," one CPAC attendee told Reason.
Tennessee's Anti-Drag Bill Is a Gaudy Public Performance
It’s already illegal to expose minors to obscenity, so what is this bill really for?
On Elections and Gender, Fox Hosts and New York Times Critics Gave Up on Persuasion
Erasing sincere disagreement doesn't make it go away.
'Patient Zero' Is Not Hate Speech
Reason talks with the transgender historian who used the term to describe a revolutionary gender-affirming treatment for teens.
Businesses See Political Advocacy As a No-Win Situation
Companies who embrace political agendas to please some of their employees or customers risk alienating others.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders' State of the Union Response Offers a Grim Glimpse of the GOP's Future
Biden's speech offered plenty of opportunity to present a counter-narrative to continued taxes and spending. Instead Sanders went a different direction.
Nikki Haley Is Running for President
Expect a lot of harsh positioning on immigration and China.
North Dakota Legislators Consider Bill To Ban 'Sexually Explicit' Material From Public Libraries
"If you don't like a book, don't read it. The First Amendment's guarantee of the freedom of speech and the right to access information has created a beautiful marketplace of ideas in our country," said one ACLU representative opposing the bill.
A Modern History of 'Groomer' Politics
The social changes that paved the way for gay and trans acceptance have made pedophile acceptance less likely, not more.
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.
Friendsgiving Is Cultural Flourishing, Not Cultural Decay
Found families may ultimately lead to new ones.