Inside an Abusive Anti-Porn Camp for Teens
Is sending kids into the wilderness really the best way to keep them off Pornhub?
August/September 2023
Get Your Politics Out of My Pickleball
Fault lines emerge as government gets involved in America's weirdest, fastest-growing sport.
Features
When Trade War Threatens Real War
Biden is blurring the lines between economic policy and military action.
Liberalism Isn't Rule by Elites
But Patrick Deneen’s “common-good conservatism” almost certainly would be.
After 50 Years, the DEA Is Still Losing the War on Drugs
For five decades, the agency has destroyed countless lives while targeting Americans for personal choices and peaceful transactions.
Be Like Pixar, Not NASA
Artificial intelligence poses the most risk when it is embedded in a centralized, tightly coupled organization. But it can facilitate decentralization too.
The Town Without Zoning
Can Caroline, New York, resist the imposition of its first-ever zoning code?
Interview
Ben Smith's One Neat Trick for Going Viral
The Semafor editor and former BuzzFeed News editor in chief on the online media explosion of the 2000s.
Topics
Is Debating Debt Policy Actually Terrorism?
The fight over the debt ceiling has foreshadowed how the policy debates of the presidential election cycle are likely to go.
Prohibition Gave Us Tranq-Laced Fentanyl
Mixing other drugs with xylazine is driven by the economics of prohibition.
Biden's Changes to Income-Based Student Loan Repayment Could Cost Billions
Biden plans to slash minimum monthly payments to just 5 percent of borrowers' income.
Why Can't You Renew Your Passport Online?
Applicants are currently waiting 10 to 13 weeks for routine processing.
Millions of Students Went 'Missing' From Classrooms During the Pandemic. Many Haven't Returned.
No one knows exactly how to get them back.
Yes, the Government Is Coming for Your Gas Stove
State and local governments are moving forward with bans on gas stoves in new residences.
Foster-Parent Red Tape Hurts Families and Taxpayers
Foster parents face state regulations that go far beyond preventing abuse and neglect.
Small-Town Life Is the Anti-Twitter
The era of the internet could use a little of the discipline, moderation, and tolerance imposed by a familiar, physical community.
A Decade After Bankruptcy, Is Detroit Better?
The 2013 bankruptcy filing didn't make the city more prosperous, more functional, or less corrupt.
Books
The Chicago Boys' Deal With the Devil
The Chile Project surveys neoliberalism's most polarizing experiment.
We Don't Need a War on Screen Time
Unwired makes an unconvincing argument for heavy-handed tech regulation.
Reviews
Review: Unstable Is a Futurist Comedy
A biotech lab led by a lightly fictionalized alternate version of Rob Lowe works to save the world.
Review: The Peculiar Politics of Killer Mike
The rapper is a Bernie Sanders supporter who speaks out about gun rights and free speech.
Review: In Baby J, John Mulaney Contends With His Post-Rehab Image
What happens when a "wife guy" divorces his wife?
Review: Jury Duty Offers a (Fake) Look Inside the Justice System
A supposedly sacred duty devolves into much ado about ordering lunch.
Review: The Covenant Dramatizes the Plight of Afghan Interpreters
Jake Gyllenhaal stars in a film that criticizes the U.S. immigration system.
Review: Did the Waco Siege Inspire More Violence? Showtime Series Explores the Question
The assault on Mount Carmel was meant to bolster the ATF's reputation. It failed.
Review: Choose Your Own Adventure in American Futures
The author, whose libertarian leanings are evident, makes readers consider the impact of the choices they make in the voting booth.
ETC.
Caitlin Long on Why Politics Should Stay Out of Banking
The founder of Custodia Bank discusses the future of bitcoin and banking.
Brickbats: August/September 2023
News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world.
