When Humanitarianism Prolongs the Inhumane
"A future of bloodless global discipline is a chilling thing."
Book Reviews
The Reactionary Tradition Out To Annihilate American Liberty
A World After Liberalism details the rise of a young right that finds reactionary ideas relevant and appealing.
The History and Politics of Public Radio
James T. Bennett's libertarian critique argues that noncommercial radio can be detached from the state—and that it's better that way.
A Flawed Case Against Black Self-Defense
In the face of state failure, neglect, and overt hostility, black Americans need the right to bear arms.
What Technology Can Learn From Biology
Can humans design products that assemble (and disassemble) themselves?
A Scientific Life on the Edge
Stanton Peele's memoir of his "lonely quest to change how we see addiction" contradicts the prejudices that still dominate the drug policy debate.
Foucault in the Panopticon
How Michel Foucault's encounters in Poland's heavily policed gay community informed his ideas
Terrorwashing a Genocide
How the war on terror facilitated Communist China's repression of Uyghurs
The Best of Cold War Culture
Books, films, and more related to the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Lockdowns' High Costs and Murky Benefits
Cato economist Ryan Bourne's new book is a much-needed rejoinder to the obtuse economic reasoning of many pandemic-era policy makers.
The Family Firm
Context, tradeoffs, and preferences matter—both in parenting and outside of it.
Stealthily Wielding Caesar's Sword
Sohrab Ahmari's case for tradition conceals an authoritarian agenda.
Project Hail Mary
In the new sci-fi novel, humanity manages to save itself not with social revolution but through reason, technology, and innovation.
Undoing Drugs
Harm reduction invites a radical reconsideration of the way the government deals with politically disfavored intoxicants.
A Clear and Present Lack of Danger
We can stop obsessing about Islamic terrorists crossing the Southern border.
The Unsinkable City
A new book explores how New York has transformed itself since the crises of the 1970s.
America's Cross-Partisan Dalliance With Eugenics
A new book pulls the curtain back—but only partway.
Autonomous Mexico
What happened when some indigenous people took their lands back from the state
Robin DiAngelo Is Very Disappointed in the White People Making Her Rich
Nice Racism—and the "anti-racism" consulting business—rakes in the bucks while losing hearts and minds.
When Kidnappings Were All the Rage
With panic in the air, federal law enforcement seized the moment.
City Building and Black Power
That time a civil rights activist teamed up with Richard Nixon to build a black-run town in rural North Carolina
Autopsy of a Crime Lab
The book argues that judges should take their responsibility as gatekeepers of scientific and technical evidence more seriously.
Tacky's Revolt
Historian Vincent Brown's new book examines the 18th-century slave insurrection, arguing it was really four different wars at once.
Rethinking the Power To Take a Life
America's approach to capital punishment changed in the 1970s. It's time for another look.
Wanted: A Better Way To Think About Health Care
If social insurance plans had been designed by libertarian-leaning policy mechanics, what might they have produced?
Want Me
In her new memoir, journalist Tracy Clark-Flory weaves in a quarter-century of cultural advice, warnings, and gripes about the sex lives of millennials.
The Third Temptation
To Austin Rogers, the trio of temptations presented to Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew has key political implications.
The Myth of Antonio Salazar
The integralist right's foolish crush on the man who once ruled Portugal
A Declassified Case Against Torture
Retired FBI agent Ali Soufan argues that the agency's thirst for torture made it harder to protect Americans.
Tomorrow, the World
As France fell to Nazi Germany, America's elites glanced nervously eastward and began to envision the U.S. as the new defender of global order.
Let Me Tell You What I Mean
Didion reminds us that while youth culture and political leaders may change, our underlying drives and delusions seldom do.
Why We (Still) Shouldn't Censor Misinformation
It strains credulity to believe random tweets can lead otherwise normal people to drive across the country and stage an insurrection.
Wollstonecraft
A new book aims to reveal the rest of Mary Wollstonecraft's worldview beyond her support for women's rights
A Radical History of Tennis?
Despite some interesting tidbits, a new history of the game falls short.
Was the Reagan Revolution Really Reagan's?
While we're at it, was it really a revolution?
Miracles and Magic
The desire to know one's fortune seems to be an instinctive human urge.
Neutron Gun Reloaded
Gerry Reith's raw, paranoid, apocalyptic fables were shot through with distrust for just about every institution around.
Meddling in the Ballot Box
As long as there have been American elections, foreign powers have sought to influence them.
Americans and Their Foreign Entanglements
Nothing in U.S. history suggests that ordinary Americans are isolationists—but nothing suggests they've embraced international adventurism either.