The Reason Prison Essay Experiment
It's time to reexamine our assumptions about prisons and punishment.
October 2026
The American Prison Experiment: A 250-Year History of Good Intentions and Bad Results
A strange trip through the U.S. prison system's never-ending cycle of failure and reform
Editor's Note
Topics
European Cars Are Spying on Their Drivers. The Same Tech Could Be Coming to the U.S.
New cars in the E.U. must now have cameras that track drivers' eyes and flag distractions.
Trump Said He Would Rid the Kennedy Center of 'Woke.' He Injected His Own Politics Instead.
This is what happens when you give the government control over artistic institutions.
RIP Lou Koller, a Hardcore Punk Hero and Free Speech Champion
Remembering the lead singer for the iconic band Sick of It All
Do You Have the Right To Possess an AR-15? The Supreme Court Will Soon Decide.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a pair of cases involving rifle restrictions imposed by Connecticut and Cook County, Illinois.
Cancer Vaccines, Anti-Aging Treatments, and 5 Other Exciting Biomedical Advances
Getting older makes you more prone to all kinds of maladies. So why not become younger?
Federal Courts Are Running a Surplus Charging for Public Records
The Public Access to Court Electronic Records system rakes in about $145 million per year but only costs a fraction of that to operate.
Photo: AI Unfurls an Ancient Scroll
The Vesuvius Challenge awards money to researchers who use AI to decipher ancient scrolls.
Who Owns California's Gold?
The Gold Rush was not only a scramble for wealth. It was also a scramble for property rights.
Moving Soon? Here Are 10 Modern Conveniences That Will Make It Easier.
How Wayfair, Taskrabbit, and Instacart simplify your transition to a new house or apartment
AI Companies Promise Humanoid Assistants. How Will the Robots Know What To Do?
Developers are using videos of real-life work to train the new generation of robots.
The Iraq War Cheerleaders Were Wrong. They're Wrong About Iran Too.
Hawkish pundits predicted both wars would be swift and successful. That's not how it turned out.
Books
The Conservative Anarchism of Dwight Macdonald
A new collection features the caustic critic at his best.
Reading: The Quietest Way To Disobey
Today's anxieties about digital culture are prefigured in the long and wobbly history of books.
Reviews
Review: The Women Behind the American Revolution
Obstinate Daughters leaves readers wanting more about the women it chronicles.
Review: An Idealistic Young Attorney in Stalin's Soviet Union
In Sergei Loznitsa's film Two Prosecutors, even a Bolshevik can believe a version of "Good czar, bad boyars."
Review: An Alternate History of Soviet Space Exploration
Star City considers a world where KGB paranoia dictates space development.
Review: What To Burn, What To Carry Tells the Stories of People Confronted With Disaster
This podcast appeals to both history dads and true-crime girlies.
Review: Outsider Art on Display at a New York City Museum
The American Folk Art Museum curates works by self-taught artists.
Review: Jeremy Clarkson vs. British Bureaucracy
On Clarkson's Farm, the Top Gear star runs afoul of local government.
Review: Ben Franklin, Frankenstein, and the Wonders of Electricity
Minnesota's Bakken Museum celebrates the spark of imagination that brings new ideas to life.
Crossword
Behind Bars: October 2026 Puzzle
"Section of the Bill of Rights that forbids cruel and unusual punishment"
ETC.
Marjorie Taylor Greene on MAGA, Congress, and the Two-Party System
"I spent five years of my life the most pissed off I could ever be because I hated all of it," the former congresswoman tells Reason's Robby Soave.
Brickbats: October 2026
News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world
Archives: October 2026
Excerpts from Reason's vaults
Quotes
'I Would Be the Greatest Communist in HIstory'
President Donald Trump's joking tone belies his very real moves to take government ownership of private companies.
