Your Tribalism Is Dumb
We don't just crave being on a team; we also crave a rival. We want to be in a club, and we want a nemesis to motivate us.
May 2025
The New Prohibitionists
The campaign to make America dry is as dubious as the campaign for the food pyramid.
Features
Not Guilty but Punished Anyway
Sentencing defendants based on acquitted conduct violates basic notions of justice.
The Anarchist and the Republican
How John McClaughry and Karl Hess fought to decentralize power—one from inside the system, one ever further from it
Editor's Note
In Defense of 'Luxury Beliefs'
Historically, many ideas that once seemed to be elite fixations eventually became mainstream.
Topics
Photo: Migrants Sent to Guantanamo
Donald Trump isn't the first president to send detained migrants to the U.S. detention center in Cuba.
Postnatal Drug Tests Turn Mothers Into Felons
A Mississippi mom was charged with a felony years after she gave birth for drug use early in her pregnancy.
Trump Is Wrong About McKinley's Tariff Legacy
Did the 25th president really make America "very rich through tariffs"? William McKinley might have told you otherwise.
Researchers Accidentally Discovered an Ancient Megacity in a Mexican Jungle
Lidar technology is revealing that the Mayan civilization was more complex and interconnected than previously thought.
The FBI Wrongly Raided a Georgia Family's Home. Now Their Case Is Going to the Supreme Court.
A federal court ruled Trina Martin could not sue the government after agents burst into her home and held an innocent man at gunpoint.
Seattle Schools Surveyed Students on Mental Health. Then Parents Discovered the Data Weren't Secure.
Schools across the country are gathering personal information and putting students' privacy at risk.
America Is Losing Trump's Trade War to Itself
If tariffs are so great, why has Trump shown a willingness to back down from his threats if other countries agree to certain conditions?
Virtual Fencing Can Help Buffalo Roam and Antelope Play
Hundreds of thousands of miles of fences ensnare and sometimes kill wild animals. GPS technology offers an alternative.
The Eggdex: Price of Eggs Up More Than 100 Percent in the Past 5 Years
Tracking the price of eggs, beef, chicken, and more
How Far Will the Trump Administration Go Against Mexican Drug Cartels?
Using the military to wage the drug war in Mexico raises practical and constitutional issues.
Culture
Can America Get Out of the Gerontocracy Trap?
If voters so overwhelmingly prefer younger candidates, why are they underrepresented in politics?
Books
In Praise of Zeppo and Shemp
Two new biographies tell the stories of the unsung members of the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges.
6 Cases That Paved the Road to Mass Incarceration
In Justice Abandoned, a law professor argues that the Court got these key decisions wrong.
Reviews
Review: The Whole Story Tells the Story of Whole Foods Market
Company co-founder John Mackey weaves together lessons from his business, spiritual, and personal journeys.
Review: How Video Games Can Connect Us to the World
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, a documentary on Netflix, explains how a terminally ill boy found freedom in World of Warcraft.
Review: Is the New Captain America Movie an Allegory for Donald Trump?
Brave New World was shot long before the new Trump term, but the parallels are hard to overlook.
Review: Authoritarianism Backfires in the Latest Dune Installment
In Max's Dune: Prophecy, even the power to predict others' actions can't tame the chaos of free will.
Review: The Christian Case for Free Markets
Mere Economics makes a religious argument for private property and free exchange.
Review: Flow Is a Beautiful Low-Budget Animated Feature
The Latvian Oscar winner was rendered on a free and open-source 3D graphic engine.
Review: Netflix's Mo Captures the Absurdity of the U.S. Immigration System
A stateless protagonist dodges the federal government in comedic fashion.
Crossword
ETC.
Rand Paul on China, Free Speech, and Banning TikTok
"I said now that they're banning it, I want to join, just because they're telling me I can't," the Kentucky senator tells Reason.
Brickbats: May 2025
News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world.
Archives: May 2025
Excerpts from Reason's vaults
