Debate: It's Time for a National Divorce
Are political breakups really as American as apple pie?
May 2023
Cover Story
Introducing Reason's 2023 Debate Issue
Where libertarians debate democracy, open borders, cats and dogs, and more
Features
Debate: Artificial Intelligence Should Be Regulated
Is an A.I. "foom" even possible?
Debate: Democracy Is the Worst Form of Government Except for All the Others
What is your one vote worth?
Debate: To Preserve Individual Liberty, Government Must Affirmatively Intervene in the Culture War
What happens when anti-liberty zealots get the same powers?
Debate: The E.U. Was a Mistake
Are the plausible alternatives to continental governance any better?
Debate: The U.S. Should Increase Funding for the Defense of Ukraine
Does Ukraine face an existential risk? Does it matter?
Debate: Mentally Ill Homeless People Must Be Locked Up for Public Safety
Have we forgotten the era of mass institutionalization?
Debate: Despite the Welfare State, the U.S. Should Open Its Borders
Can Americans afford to welcome the huddled masses?
Debate: Make Housing Affordable by Abolishing Growth Boundaries, Not Ending Density Restrictions
Why not abolish both?
Debate: Bitcoin Is the Future of Free Exchange
Where am I supposed to spend my cryptocurrency?
Debate: Be Optimistic About the World
Can we relearn how to leave each other alone?
Debate: Cats Are More Libertarian Than Dogs
Do felines contribute more to human liberty?
Interview
Make Americans Debate Again
Intelligence Squared U.S. has a new name and ambitions to host presidential debates.
Topics
It's a Bird! It's a Plane! Is It the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade?
Days after an American F-22 shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, a second floating object was shot down over the Yukon.
Advocates Pressured an Ohio Town To Reverse Ban on 'Aiding and Abetting' Abortions
It's one small victory for free speech and due process, but similar battles continue to play out elsewhere.
Is Telling Someone To 'Die' on Facebook Protected by the First Amendment?
A Colorado man was convicted under an anti-stalking law for sending hostile messages online.
Federal Pot Possession Cases Plummet
The trend is driven by a huge drop in prosecutions in Arizona, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reports.
How To Fail at Zoning Reform
Even modest zoning reform is politically contentious.
Wealth Taxes Won't Work
It's neither a new idea nor a good one.
She Had $2,300 in Unpaid Taxes. The County Bilked Her for $25,000.
Geraldine Tyler's case is not unique; home equity theft is legal in Minnesota and 11 other states.
No Degree? That's No Problem for These Government Jobs
A bipartisan solution to degree inflation
The Morally Funky Math of Homeowner Handouts
The rich are getting richer under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Culture
Comic: Maria Montessori and the Freedom To Learn
Maria Montessori valued independence and experimentation in a time of authoritarianism.
The Expensive, Seductive Nostalgia of Field of Dreams
Why are so many filmgoers and politicians eager to prop up baseball's boondoggles?
Books
Public Unions vs. the Public Good
Elected leaders come and go, but public unions just say no.
The Big Myth Is Full of Recycled Anti-Capitalist Cheap Shots
A new entrant in the anti-neoliberalism genre fails to land any blows.
An Anarchist's Guide to War
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's most controversial book has finally been fully translated into English.
Reviews
Review: The Last of Us Humanizes Libertarian Survivalists
Human bonds transcend ideology in the HBO series.
Review: M3GAN Meets the Demand for Tech Panic
Predictably, the machine-learning robot starts killing.
Review: The Menu Is Another Movie Mocking Wealthy People
In this film, it's mean and funny enough to work.
Review: Egg Is a Theory of Everything
The book's 12 thematic chapters are dense and rich—like flan, but good.
Review: Endangered Documentary Exaggerates Threats to U.S. Journalists
The HBO movie muddies important distinctions.
Review: Victoria 3 Lacks Spontaneous Order
The video game is a 100-year simulation of the Victorian era where the player has centralized control over the government of their chosen country.
Review: Nothing, Forever Is Funny, but Not the Way Seinfeld Is Funny
In one sequence, the Jerry Seinfeld stand-in stood onstage at a comedy club for minutes without saying a word.
ETC.
Josie Duffy Rice Investigates Gruesome State Violence at an Alabama 'Reform School'
Her podcast Unreformed: The Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children delves into abuse at a state-run institution.
Brickbats: May 2023
News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world.
