How to Track COVID-19 Without Mass Surveillance
Apple and Google's Bluetooth-based app would reportedly be voluntary and anonymous. Privacy advocates say we should accept nothing less.
Documentaries
Will New York Ever Recover From COVID-19?
Urbanist Joel Kotkin says the pandemic will accelerate America's urban decline. Richard Florida is "100 percent convinced" NYC will be just fine.
Snorkel Respirators, 3D-Printed Masks, and Other Grassroots Efforts To Fight COVID-19
People around the world are working together in unprecedented ways to help their neighbors and produce critical medical supplies.
How China Corrupted the World Health Organization's Response to COVID-19
Trump isn't absolved of his own failures in confronting the pandemic, but the WHO's response to the coronavirus destroyed much of its credibility and damaged the field of public health.
Hospital Technicians Ignore Copyright Law to Fight COVID-19
They trade tips and manuals through a decentralized information-sharing network. Biomedical technicians say it's the fastest and easiest way to get life-saving information.
Will Coronavirus Fears Lead to an Assault on Gun Rights?
Power-seeking public officials thrive on our fear.
How Coronavirus Is Kickstarting the 21st Century
A global pandemic has done what 30 years of internet manifestoes never accomplished: a mass migration into our screens.
Health Care Workers Need Masks (and the Rest of Us Need Them, Too)
DIY manufacturers scramble to reduce shortages, as public health officials send mixed messages about the efficacy of broader use.
The Coronavirus Testing Debacle Stems From Decades of Bad FDA Policy
The agency's emphasis on caution over speed led to needless suffering and loss of life long before the COVID-19 pandemic.
China's Censorship Helped Start a Pandemic. Can Free Speech End It?
The contagious spread of information is in a race against the contagious spread of coronavirus.
Impossible Foods: Capitalism Is the Most Powerful Lever To Fight Climate Change
Impossible Foods says that animal agriculture is a leading cause of climate change. Instead of trying to pass laws to ban meat, it's providing tasty, plant-based alternatives.
Coronavirus Is the Health of the State
The disease will leave behind a residue of laws, spending, and precedents for future government actions.
Trump's Tariffs Are Hiking the Price of Your Favorite Whisky
American whisky and wine drinkers are being punished for trying to amicably trade what they have for what they want.
Why Are Public Schools Fighting To Keep Home School Kids Off Their Teams?
In West Virginia, advocates have been fighting to pass the Tim Tebow Act since 2011. They're on the verge of scoring a partial legislative victory.
Density or Sprawl? How To Solve the Urban Housing Crisis
Land use regulation is making cities unaffordable. In an unfettered market, how would Americans choose to live?
Venezuelans Fleeing Socialism Find Community at a Miami Storage Facility
Raíces Venezolanas, or Venezuelan Roots, gives household items and a heavy dose of moral support to immigrant families showing up in South Florida.
Michael Bloomberg and the Imperious Presidency
Until we start denuding the Oval Office, we will continue getting the royals we deserve.
In California, Protecting Workers Means Outlawing Their Jobs
Assembly Bill 5 was designed to constrain the growth of the so-called gig economy. In practice, it's closing off opportunities
Inside the Campaign to Legalize Magic Mushrooms in California
A ballot measure would create a regulatory framework for recreational sales.
Whatever Happened to the Classroom of the Future?
Clayton Christensen, father of the theory of "disruptive innovation," predicted that half of high school classes would be delivered online by 2018. What went wrong?
Population Control Isn't the Answer to Climate Change. Capitalism Is.
Discredited 18th-century economist Thomas Malthus still haunts the environmental debate.
California Killed 1.2 Million Birds To Stop a Virus. Pet Owners Say They Were Terrorized.
The euthanasia campaign may be necessary to prevent the spread of the Newcastle disease, but bird owners say that it's being carried out in a cruel manner.
The 2010s: When the Media Lost Their Gatekeepers
Media theorist Marshall McLuhan's work best explains how the world changed in the 2010s—and what we can expect in the decade ahead.
More Impeachments! Dumping Bad Presidents Should Be No Big Deal
"Somehow we've decided that the one job in America that gets the most job protection is the one where you actually get nuclear weapons," says the Cato Institute's Gene Healy.
Activists vs. One Man's Skee-Ball Arcade: How Red Tape Is Ruining San Francisco
Joey Mucha wanted to convert his warehouse into a restaurant, bar, and arcade. Then community activists intervened.
Los Angeles Is Spending Over $1 Billion To House the Homeless. It's Failing.
Los Angeles County saw disease outbreaks and 1,000 homeless deaths last year.
Inside America's First Restaurant for Weed
West Hollywood's Lowell Farms Cafe serves food, drinks, and marijuana.
Why 'Free College' Is a Terrible Idea
A bachelor's degree isn't a prerequisite to a satisfying career—it's a costly way of signaling the fortitude to withstand suffering.
Silicon Valley Is Helping Expunge Marijuana Convictions
California is turning to tech solution to clear bureaucratic hurdles.
Hong Kong Protesters Combat the Surveillance State
Encryption, other privacy measures, and decentralization have made the protest movement possible.
Should the Government Regulate Deepfakes? We Asked People on Venice Beach
Deepfakes don't pose a novel threat, and they have many exciting applications that would be stymied by legal restrictions.
The Decentralized Web Is Coming
Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Twitter are in the federal government's crosshairs, but the technology necessary to undermine their dominance may already exist.
Hong Kong's Fight for Freedom Against China's Authoritarianism
"If we lose...we will lose a generation."
Abortion Bans Failed in the 19th Century. They'll Also Fail in the 21st.
History provides a window into how abortion bans will play out if re-instituted.
How the Drug War Destroyed a Hippie Paradise in Kathmandu
Nixon's pursuit of draft-dodgers and pot smokers fueled the communist ideology it was trying to contain
Aaron Sandusky Has Spent 7 Years in Prison for Selling Medical Marijuana
Obama denied him clemency. Will Trump set him free?
Ashton Kutcher Helped Promote a Bogus Sex Trafficking Claim. Will We Ever Shake It?
The claim that 100,000 to 300,000 underage people were being sex trafficked in the United States was used in effort to destroy Backpage.com's founders.
Why Elizabeth Warren's Wealth Tax Won't Work
Elizabeth Warren says her "ultra-millionaire tax" will raise $2.75 trillion. History says otherwise.
The War on Backpage.com Is a War on Sex Workers
The government's latest moral crusade shields traffickers, empowers pimps, and undermines free speech online.
These People Are Risking Prison To Help Philadelphia's Drug Users
"All we want to do is save some young people from dying needlessly," says former Gov. Ed Rendell, who's on the board of Safehouse, the nation's first supervised injection site to operate out in the open.
Why Bernie Sanders' Communist Misadventures Still Matter
Sanders no longer favors government takeover of "the major means of production." But his four-decade quest for political revolution continues.
This Environmentalist Says Only Nuclear Power Can Save Us Now
Michael Shellenberger believes the Green New Deal’s focus on wind and solar is a waste of time and money.
Denver Mushroom Decriminalization Appears to Have Passed [UPDATED]
"Whether you're using this plant for a medical reason, or a spiritual reason, or a recreational reason, you should not be going to jail or losing your children for it."
Terminal Patients Got Drugs Without FDA Approval. It Added Years to Their Lives.
The Right to Try movement, which recently became federal law, allows doctors to prescribe experimental treatments that haven't been approved for sale by regulators.
CBD Is Still Banned in States With Legal Weed
California Public Health officials confiscated $140,000 worth of cannabidiol-infused beverages from an LA warehouse.
Stossel: Enough Crony Capitalism!
How established businesses use government to limit competition.
Stossel: The Breakfast Myth
People claim breakfast is the "most important meal of the day." But it's not.
Why Do You Need a License To Blow Dry Hair? Arizona Gov. Ducey Fights the 'Bullies' in His State
When "somebody packs up that moving van in Chicago, Illinois, they don't lose their skills on the way to the state of Arizona," says Gov. Doug Ducey.
