Does Donald Trump Know What a Dictator Looks Like?
He calls Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator,” but not Vladimir Putin.
October 2025
Why Europeans Have Less
It's no coincidence why Europeans don't have air conditioning, clothes dryers, or ice.
Features
America Educates the World's Best and Brightest—Then Shows Them the Door
As students grapple with an unfriendly immigration system and targeted crackdowns on campus, how long will the U.S. remain the world's top study destination?
Before Trump Had Elon Musk, Nixon Had Howard Phillips
Nixon's director of the Office of Economic Opportunity set out to shrink government, mostly failed, and was gone in less than a year. Sound familiar?
Interview
Richard Dawkins on New Threats to Science—From Religion to Relativism
The legendary atheist and evolutionary biologist argues that truth shouldn't bend to faith or fashionable politics.
Editor's Note
Don't Fear 'Frankenfood.' We're Already Living in the Lab-Grown Future.
Many people prefer naturally produced over man-made. But isn't there something just as compelling about the stuff that thousands of people collaborated to make?
Topics
Photo: Artificial Intelligence Tattoos Are Here
The makers of this AI-powered robot promise greater precision and less pain.
California's Tech Regulations Could Strangle AI Innovation for the Whole Country
Federalism works best when state-level policy experiments stay contained.
Trump Can Fire a Lot of People. What's Special About the Federal Reserve?
"The Federal Reserve is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity," the Supreme Court wrote in a ruling this year.
This Protein Powder Is Made Out of Air and Uses 600 Times Less Water Than Beef
The Finnish startup Solar Foods has received a "Generally Recognized as Safe" designation from the FDA.
Puerto Rican Prisons Allowed Inmates To Work for Themselves. It Was a Huge Success.
These self-employed prisoners earned more than inmates in traditional prison jobs and were more likely than other inmates to be rehabilitated.
She Wrote a Bad Check 17 Years Ago and Still Can't Own Guns. This Trump Order Could Help People Like Her.
The Justice Department has proposed a pathway to restore gun rights for millions of Americans.
AI Chatbots Might Already Be Better Than Humans at Debating
In a recent study, participants were paired with either a human or an AI debate opponent. The results confirm AI's power of persuasion.
Why Does Cairo Have So Many Unfinished Buildings? Blame Egyptian Property Tax.
At first, Cairo looks as if someone pressed pause on the city mid-construction.
Trump's 1 Percent Tax on Money Immigrants Send Home Is a Tax on the Global Poor
Analysts expect the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to reduce the number of remittance payments sent abroad.
The History of Minox Cameras, James Bond's Real-Life Spy Tool Used by the CIA
You can still get a secondhand Minox subminiature camera. Finding someone to process the film might be more difficult.
How Did Poland Get So Far Ahead of Hungary?
Fewer than 35 years after escaping the yoke of Soviet-style central planning, Poland has become a legitimate global powerhouse.
Mamdani's Fare-Free Buses Wouldn't Be NYC's First Wasteful Public Transit Boondoggle
A previous pilot program found free access slowed down buses in New York City, which already has the slowest buses in the nation.
Culture
Faerie Smut Is About More Than Bathtubs and Archery
Don't judge A Court of Thorns and Roses by its covers.
Books
Are Free Zones Really Free?
The Hidden Globe takes a skeptical but nuanced look at quasi-autonomous territories in the cracks of the map.
The Depopulation Bomb
What if the challenge for humanity’s future is not too many people on a crowded planet, but too few people to sustain the progress that the world needs?
Reviews
Review: Girl on Girl Explores the Dark Side of '90s Nostalgia
Author Sophie Gilbert's book dissects turn-of-the-century media and the role of women in it.
Review: Murderbot Is Part Frankenstein's Monster and Part C-3PO
The title character in this Apple TV+ series is both a menace and a friend.
Review: Ologies Podcast Explores Everything From Witches to Algae
How Alie Ward's interviews with a wide range of experts subtly make the case for liberalism and pluralism.
Review: Did We Really Need Another Squid Game?
The third season of the Netflix series lacks the moral nuance that made the original so compelling.
Review: In Defense of Spotify
Liz Pelly's Mood Machine book bemoans the music giant but overlooks how useful it is for listeners.
Review: A Documentary Portrait of Inmates Who Quilt
Netflix's The Quilters goes inside a maximum security prison where men sew quilts for foster children.
Review: The Historical Art You've Probably Never Seen
A newly renovated wing at the Met showcases culture and history from Africa, the Americas, and Oceania.
Crossword
ETC.
Susannah Cahalan on the Psychedelic Pioneer Rosemary Woodruff Leary
"She was a behind-the-scenes character who was propping up [Timothy] Leary," says the author of The Acid Queen.
Brickbats: October 2025
News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world
