This Florida Drug Smuggler Escaped 7 Life Sentences—Twice
Dickie Lynn's story shows how the drug war warped the criminal justice system.
April 2021
Cover Story
Josh Hawley's Toxic Populism
Is the senator's authoritarian grandstanding the dark future of the GOP?
Features
The Alt-Currency Martyr
Before the feds feared bitcoin, they feared e-gold.
Bringing Earmarks Back Won't Fix Congress
Eliminating earmarks didn't make the government smaller. But reinstating them would facilitate legislative corruption.
Interview
What It's Like To Treat Opioid Addiction in Appalachia
Psychiatrist Sally Satel on her eye-opening year at a clinic in Ironton, Ohio
Topics
Africa Tries Free Trade
Liberal ideas are beginning to gain traction on the world's poorest continent.
Assange Avoids Extradition—For Now
Under the First Amendment, the question of whether Assange qualifies as a legitimate journalist is irrelevant.
A Health Care Haven No More
Despite its access to brainpower and financial backing, it had turned out to be harder than expected for Haven to disrupt the health care market.
New Hampshire Towns Turn Out Tiny-Home Dwellers
The regulatory pursuit of quality housing means some tiny-home residents actually end up with no housing.
COVID-19 Spotlights the Problems With Health Care 'Certificates of Need'
Mississippi's CON law means that physical therapist Charles "Butch" Slaughter (and others like him) can't adapt to the changing circumstances created by the pandemic.
The FDA Stole Your Bucatini
Instead of blocking food imports during a pandemic in which supply chains are strained, the FDA should allow consumers to choose food that will fill them up.
Biden Goes Big
Somehow, policy makers slid from "never waste a crisis" to "everything is a crisis," a development that is particularly irksome during an actual crisis.
Mexico and Israel Slowly Race To Legalize Pot
Uruguay legalized recreational marijuana in 2013, followed by Canada five years later. Two more countries will soon join their ranks.
Biden Should Nominate Judges Who Battled the Government in Court
More criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, and civil rights litigators may soon be appointed to the federal bench.
War Zone Washington?
More than 5,000 members of the National Guard descended on Washington, D.C., following the January 6 riot.
Culture
Will Feminists Please Stop Calling the Cops?
The women's liberation movement has gotten tied to mass incarceration. It needs to break free.
Books
Enchanted New York
A tale of religion in Manhattan in the 19th and 20th centuries
Reviews
Ava Antibody Explains
A timely new children's book on vaccines and antibodies
40 Years a Prisoner
The new HBO documentary looks at what happened before, during, and after the 1978 MOVE shootout in Philadelphia.
Townscraper
A new type of city-building game which will make you feel like you've been administered a digital Valium
History of Swear Words
The most interesting aspect of the series is how it unintentionally reveals our conflicted relationship with profanity.
Cyberpunk 2077
In Night City, everyone's out for themselves—including you.
Current Cassis
A new small-batch black currant liqueur from the Hudson Valley
Wollstonecraft
A new book aims to reveal the rest of Mary Wollstonecraft's worldview beyond her support for women's rights
ETC.
Brickbats: April 2021
News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world
