August/September 2020
Cover Story
Coronavirus Cuisine
In the face of the greatest challenge in generations, America's chefs, bartenders, and restaurant owners are reinventing their food, their businesses, and themselves.
Features
Wait, Wasn't Peter Thiel a Libertarian?
The tech billionaire and his contrarian circle are developing new nationalist visions for America's future.
From Antifa to UFOs, One Joke Can Spawn a Thousand Conspiracies
What happens when a prank or spoof sparks a real belief?
Trump's Trade War Made the Pandemic Worse, and Nationalism Will Slow the Recovery
Protectionism is now infecting the GOP to a degree that may be difficult to eradicate when the Trump era ends.
I Don't Want To Be Anybody's Employee
The push to reclassify independent contractors is harming many of the workers it's supposed to help.
Interview
What It's Like To Be a Business Owner During COVID-19
Cheese shop owner Jill Erber on why she's keeping her store open to take care of her customers and her community
Topics
A Coronavirus Bailout Won't Save (or Fix) the USPS
The postal service stands to lose $13 billion this year. But this is an ongoing trend, not a new problem created by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Supreme Court, Livestreamed and Uncut
Just like millions of their fellow Americans, the justices would have to adjust to the strange new realities of social distancing and working from home.
The Weed Warriors Who Mistook Tea for Marijuana
The Hartes were the victims of a comically inept publicity stunt executed by cops who did not realize that hydroponic equipment could be used to grow tomatoes and did not know what loose-leaf tea looked like.
In Michigan, the Wrong Way To Govern During a Pandemic
As federal guidelines suggested classifying more industries as "essential" so that they could reopen, Gov. Whitmer arbitrarily did the opposite.
Congress Is Paying People a Lot of Money To Not Work
Though the unemployment insurance benefits boost eased the immediate pain of shuttering much of the economy, it made it harder to get things moving again.
Has the U.S. Government Finally Spent Too Much?
When COVID-19 arrived in America, Uncle Sam was already deep in debt.
COVID-19 Pulls Back the Mask on America's Prison System
This deadly and contagious disease has exposed problems with prison systems that have been ignored for decades.
Culture
Why Does Hollywood Hate Real Estate Developers?
The typecasting of builders as villains might help explain why NIMBYs so often win the policy battles over urban growth and development.
Books
Indians and Aliens
Human beings' disturbing capacity to manufacture history to serve our own ends
Reviews
Upload
Consumer culture continues into the afterlife in Amazon's sci-fi/mystery/romance/workplace comedy mashup.
Blocked and Reported
Hosts Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal dissect the latest in internet outrage, employing humor, nuance, and a healthy appreciation for absurdity.
COVID Concerts
As bans on mass gatherings persist, musicians are increasingly turning to livestreamed shows as a substitute for traditional performances.
Sweet Reason
Sweet Reason Beverage Co.'s marketing of the CBD content is so low-key as to make the chemical feel almost incidental.
Becoming
In the new film, Obama maintains that she's never liked politics, but you can't help but wonder whether she's seen the end of the campaign trail.
Mrs. America
The show smartly grasps that there will always be competing visions for the future of feminism.
ETC.
Jo Jorgensen Is the 2020 Libertarian Party Presidential Nominee
What can libertarianism offer America in the midst of the economic crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic?
Brickbats: August/September 2020
News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world
