Trump Doubled Down on Authoritarianism by Selecting J.D. Vance
The Ohio senator doesn't want to limit government power. He wants to use it against his political enemies.
October 2024
'Only the Best People'
Trump promised to hire "only the best people," yet his presidential plans were repeatedly thwarted by his staff. Will a second term be different?
Features
How Inflation Breaks Our Brains
From salt riots to toilet paper runs, history shows that rising prices make consumers—and voters—grumpy and irrational.
Should We Blame Fauci for the COVID Pandemic?
America's COVID celebrity is facing scrutiny for funding risky research that may have sparked the pandemic—and for allegedly covering it up.
Can This Psychedelic Help Cure Opioid Addiction?
This Kentucky Republican won't stop until he finds a state willing to make legal room for ibogaine, a drug he calls "God's medicine."
These Pro-Lifers Don't Love Abortion Bans
Reason talked with pro-life Americans who are uncomfortable with the post–Roe v. Wade abortion policy landscape.
Editor's Note
Hanlon's Razor Is Getting Rusty in the 2024 Election
Don't attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
Topics
Photo: When the City Says Your Boat Needs a Fence
The city of Seaside, California, ordered a man to cover the boat parked in his driveway. He offered a lesson in malicious compliance.
When Biden's 'Bubble Wrap' Burst
Will the liars and hacks who covered up Biden's cognitive decline face any consequences?
States Are Banning This DIY Rape Kit
This company made a product to serve victims who don't want to go to police right after a sexual assault. Some politicians want to ban it.
The Government Monopoly on Donated Kidneys Is Killing Americans
Organ donations in the U.S. are controlled by a network of federally sanctioned nonprofits, and many of them are failing.
Donald Trump and Hunter Biden Are Both Felons. But What Does Felon Really Mean?
For hundreds of years, a felony has been defined not by the action itself but by how we punish it.
States Are Trying To Force the Bible Into the Classroom
“The separation of church and state appears nowhere in the Declaration of Independence or Constitution," a top Oklahoma education official said in defense of the state's Ten Commandments decree.
Kids Should Be Blindfolded and Dropped in the Woods at Night
In the Netherlands, kids grow up with more independence than in the United States.
A Czech Clock's Forgotten Pasts
The Olomouc clock's changing design reflects history's victors and their legacies.
A Setback for MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy
An FDA advisory committee concluded that MDMA's benefits had not been shown to outweigh its risks.
The Supreme Court Reined in Federal Regulators. What Happens Now?
The Court this year reversed Chevron, a decades-old precedent giving bureaucrats deference over judges when the law is ambiguous.
A Prosecutor Allegedly Told a Witness To Destroy Evidence. He Can't Be Sued for It.
Absolute immunity protects prosecutors even when they commit serious misconduct on the job.
How Reliable Is America's Electrical Grid?
Coal and natural gas are more reliable but they can't compete with massively subsidized wind and solar. That's a problem.
Republican Voters Got More Socially Liberal Under Trump
Liberals spent the last decade moving leftward on questions of race and sexual orientation—and so did conservatives.
Culture
The Libertarian Pioneer Who Wrote for America's Biggest Black Newspaper
To Rose Wilder Lane, African Americans' achievements were all the more amazing given their disadvantaged starting point.
Books
When Leftists Were Free Traders
In Pax Economica, historian Marc-William Palen chronicles the left-wing history of free trade.
Empires Thrive on Pluralism, Not Brutality
Empires with more room for cultural difference were more successful, anthropologist Thomas Barfield argues.
Reviews
Review: A Monopoly-Style Game About the January 6
The hosts of the popular TrueAnon podcast made a board game that doesn't take the presidential transition crisis too seriously.
Review: House of the Dragon Imagines Dragon Combat and It's Awesome
Much like in nuclear war, there’s no way to win when both sides have dragons.
Review: Inside the Southern Baptist Sexual Assault Crisis
Author Christa Brown shares her story of abuse and exposes the hypocrisy inherent in the Southern Baptist Convention's cover-up.
Review: Hacks Explores the Comedy of Cancel Culture
An aging comedian wrestles with woke campus culture in the new season of the Max series.
Review: A Radical Libertarian Lawyer Charts His Evolution
Randy Barnett developed an influential form of constitutional originalism.
Review: Choose Your Own Deal With the Devil at the Theater
The show Life And Trust is an immersive performance that unfolds over three hours across six floors inside what was once a Wall Street office building.
Review: A Fun, Chaotic Moon Landing Conspiracy
Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum star in a movie about government incompetence.
ETC.
Mike Rowe on Patriotism, Paul Harvey, and American Progress
"We're never going to be finished. Our country is a work in progress," says the producer of the new Something to Stand For documentary.
Brickbats: October 2024
News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world.
