Massacre at Flowertown
2.5 million dead bees, and an unlikely test of public health powers.
Features
How Anti-Smut Activists Made 'Louie, Louie' Famous
Censors wore out their welcome during the 20th century's indecency wars.
It's the End of the Neoliberal Era, and We Still Don't Know What Neoliberalism Is
Politics is filled with words that mean different things in different mouths, but "neoliberalism" is an especially tangled case.
Life Gets Better for Sports Bettors
But placing a wager on your favorite team is still illegal or too complicated in many states.
The Destruction of Detroit's Black Bottom
How the zeal for government project housing killed a prosperous black community in Detroit.
Gun Control Is Just as Racist as Drug Control
Both public safety strategies are rooted in bigotry and disproportionately harm African Americans.
What Progressives Get Wrong About Judicial Review
Without judicial review, liberals confronting a Republican-controlled legislature will have no opportunity to seek constitutional redress in federal court.
The Lockdown Showdown
Alarmed by unilateral COVID-19 restrictions, states are imposing new limits on executive authority.
Against Champagne Socialists
Why Bernie Sanders, Hasan Piker, and Elizabeth Warren should open their wallets before they open their mouths.
The Second Great Age of Political Correctness
The P.C. culture of the '80s and '90s didn't decline and fall. It just went underground. Now it's back.
Florida's Civil Asset Forfeiture Reforms Haven't Stopped the Shakedowns
Despite civil asset forfeiture reforms in Florida, police are still finding ways to take people's stuff.
Why Is It So Hard To Admit When You're Wrong?
When it comes to political polarization, it's confirmation bias all the way down.
Where's My Stuff?
Supply chains are struggling, but they're not as fragile as you think.
Lost in Transition
30 years after the Soviet collapse, what happened to the Russian dream of a free economy?
The Pope Who Helped Bring Down Communism
"I have no doubt," Polish President Lech Wałęsa once said, that without John Paul II "the birth of Solidarity would not have been possible."
The Anarchic Interlude
In 1990s Prague, wonderful things happened in the chaotic space between the end of communism and the rise of its replacement.
Red Markets
Sometimes communist countries had to tolerate a little economic liberty just to survive.
The Uses and Disadvantages of Soviet History for Life
It is hard to comprehend the scarcity and existential dread that was humanity's constant companion during the Cold War.
The PATRIOT Act's Poisoned Tree
Two decades after 9/11, the government's appetite for spying has only grown.
How Government Devastated Minor League Baseball
And why stopping the subsidies can help bring it back.
How the CDC Became America's Landlord
Pandemic bans on evictions were supposed to be a temporary measure, but politicians keep extending them.
People Have Been Panicking About New Media Since Before the Printing Press
Politicians and activists claim social media is turning us into zombies. But new technologies have been greeted with skepticism since the dawn of time.
Do We Really Need New Anti-Asian Hate Crime Laws?
A holistic look at the data shatters the narrative about bias-based violence.
Cashed Out
What happens when a community bail fund stops paying bail and starts trying to abolish it?
Everything Is Infrastructure Now
How spending got out of control and words lost their meaning.
How Mass Immigration Stopped American Socialism
Relatively open borders helped halt the early 20th century welfare state.
Postal Censorship and Surveillance: A Timeline
The government's long and shameful history of intercepting people's letters
The USPS' Semi-Secret Internet Surveillance Apparatus
The agency best known for delivering mail has a side hustle in online snooping.
The Post Office Pension Ponzi Scheme
The USPS has overpromised and undersaved for its employees' retirements—all while losing nearly $9.2 billion last year.
Post Apocalypse
Neither rain nor sleet nor snow will stop the U.S. Postal Service. But a pandemic on top of a political fiasco? That's a first-class problem.
Why Is It So Hard To Sue a Bad Cop?
"Redress for a federal officer's unconstitutional acts is either extremely limited or wholly nonexistent."
Why Didn't COVID-19 Kill the Constitution?
We can thank judges who were prepared to enforce constitutional limits on public health powers.
The $2 Drug Test Keeping Inmates in Solitary
Reason tried out the field test kits used to test for drugs in prison. They were unreliable and confusing.
The Conversion of Thomas Sowell
It wasn't until his thirties that the economist started to turn from Marxism.
Clarence Thomas Declares War on Big Tech
Like a number of other modern conservatives, Thomas seems to think that Twitter and other tech companies are effectively censoring right-of-center views.
The Bipartisan Antitrust Crusade Against Big Tech
How reactionary politicians are using monopoly concerns as cover to pursue pre-existing political agendas
When the Government Makes Wildfires Worse
Federal policies are subsidizing people's choices to build homes in harm's way.
The Era of Small Government Is Over
Is there any hope to check the growth of the state?
The Equity Mess
Despite their professed goals, Democrats' pandemic policies have widened disparities between races, classes, and genders.
Economic Lessons From COVID-19
What the pandemic has re-taught us about the perils of planning, the power of incentives, and the complexities of externalities.
The Overly Examined Life of Henry David Thoreau
Cartoonist Peter Bagge looks at Henry David Thoreau's life at Walden and beyond
