Review: A Thorough Account of Socialism's History
On Origin Story, podcasters Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt cover everything from Karl Marx to the British Labour Party.
Entertainment
Joe Kent Defects, Robots, and Mad Men Sequel Ideas
Robby Soave and Christian Britschgi discuss political fallout from the Iran war, Tulsi Gabbard's pivot, and Rand Paul calling out Markwayne Mullin.
Review: This Podcast Details the Brutal Effects of the War on Drugs
Collateral Damage tells some of the many stories of drug enforcement gone wrong.
Social Media Panic Lands Joseph Gordon-Levitt a U.N. Gig
The actor previously pushed to repeal Section 230. Now, he is taking his advocacy to the global stage.
Review: Have Aliens Visited Earth? This Documentary Says Yes.
The Age of Disclosure makes bold claims but is frustratingly thin on specifics.
Review: A Period Drama About the Price of Progress in the American West
Train Dreams follows a logger in the Pacific Northwest during the age of westward expansion.
Tony Gilroy on Andor, the Force, and Authoritarianism
"The concept of the show was to talk about what happens when authoritarianism and fascism comes kicking down your door," the creator of the Disney+ series tells Reason.
Review: The Libertarianism of Stranger Things
The final season of the Netflix show delivers a message about moral responsibility.
Review: Resisting the Hive Mind Virus in PLUR1BUS
The protagonist in the Apple TV series does not want her consciousness absorbed into a collective human mind.
Bernie Sanders Is Lying About AI Data Centers
Robby Soave and Christian Britschgi discuss why AI data centers spark joy, their favorite Black Mirror episodes, and libertarian skepticism of the Epstein files release.
Review: The Outer Worlds 2 Is a Video Game About Unchecked Corporate Power
The video game's anti-corporate satire is so over the top that it undermines its point.
Review: South Park Is Somehow Still Good in the Age of Hyperpoliticization
"It's not that South Park suddenly quote got political. It's that politics became pop," co-creator Trey Parker said in a recent interview.
Ken Levine on BioShock, Ayn Rand, and Libertarianism
"What does completely, completely unregulated commerce look like?" Ken Levine's Bioshock will tell you.
Review: A Hit Country Song Made by AI
Should it matter whether a song was made by a human or a machine?
Review: D.C.'s $500 Million Shrine to Capitalism
The new Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream in Washington, D.C., sidesteps its founder's complicated history.
Review: Why You've Probably Never Heard of James Garfield's Assassin
The Death by Lightning miniseries dramatizes the assassination of a president who left little lasting impact on Americans' lives.
The John Galt of Comic Books
The co-creator of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange later created some failed Ayn Rand–inspired superheroes.
Andor Creator Tony Gilroy on Bureaucracy and the Surveillance State
Tony Gilroy examines how Andor portrays authoritarian power as a bureaucratic system, the moral compromises of life under surveillance, and the role ordinary people play in enforcing oppressive systems.
The Haters Are Wrong. Netflix's Glut of Christmas Movies Is Good, Actually.
The existence of options you don't personally enjoy is not a cultural failure; it's a luxury.
Was There a Woke War on White Millennial Men?
In Compact, Jacob Savage exhaustively documents discrimination in the name of equity.
Review: Tron: Ares Reminds Us That Artificial Intelligence Is Not the Enemy
It's the humans who develop and use AI for malicious ends, not the tech itself, who should worry us.
Review: The Sound of Music's Anti-Authoritarianism
The 65-year-old musical's depiction of an us-vs.-them mentality remains poignant.
Even Trump's Supporters Are Slamming His Post About Rob Reiner's Murder
The president failed a not particularly challenging moral test.
Review: Wayward Spotlights the Dark Secrets of Troubled-Teen Programs
Characters in the Netflix show undergo psychological torture, manipulation, and psychedelic treatment.
Ignore the Entertainment Companies
Plus: Lost Vegas, Gen Z listlessness, Kushner mystique, Nvidia goes to China, and more...
Ayn Rand Denounced the FCC's 'Public Interest' Censorship More Than 60 Years Ago
In her 1962 essay "Have Gun, Will Nudge," Rand foresaw how government officials would seek to silence people they don't like.
Warner Bros. Accepts Netflix's $83 Billion Bid, but Antitrust Threats Still Loom
If antitrust regulators allow the deal to go through, consumers stand to benefit from a less expensive Netflix–HBO Max bundle.
Review: The Paper Parodies Work Life at a Struggling Local Newspaper
The Office spin-off contrasts journalists' self-image as a pillar of democracy with what the job often entails.
Support Reason To Keep Your Favorite Podcast Going. Every Dollar You Give Is Matched!!
The Reason Roundtable is a gateway to libertarianism. Your donations make it possible.
Review: Quasi-Government Megacompanies Collide in Alien: Earth
The FX series is a direct prequel to the 1979 movie.
Trump's Tariffs Are Likely To Make Toys More Expensive This Christmas Shopping Season
In Trump's first term, he exempted many Chinese toys and household items from tariff hikes. This time, they're subject to a 30 percent import tax.
Review: Frank S. Meyer's Fusionism Melded Classical Liberalism With Traditional Religion
Biographer Daniel J. Flynn uncovered long forgotten documents in the conservative thinker's former home.
Review: Charting Jerry Garcia's Enormous Cultural Impact
Here Beside the Rising Tide tells the story of the Grateful Dead and the 1960s counterculture.
Review: 'The Greatest Songwriter of All Time' Finally Gets a Biography
Carole King became one of the most influential musicians in the '60s, '70s, and beyond.
Review: The Smithsonian's 'Futures in Space' Exhibit Is Surprisingly Backward-Looking
We're living in the future already. Why not focus on that instead?
No One Is Winning the YouTube TV Dispute With ESPN. It's Time for Both Sides To Call It Off.
Plus: Betting scandals come to baseball, and happy Veterans Day
Review: KPop Demon Hunters Teaches Us That Harmony Thwarts Evil
A girl group battles a demon boy band in the wildly popular Netflix musical.
Review: When the Government Sent a Photographer To Document Living Conditions in Coal Towns
Russell Lee's 1946 photographs shows the squalor coal miners and their families lived in before mechanization.
How the Punisher, a Murderous Anti-Hero, Became the Mascot for Increasingly Militarized Police Forces
“He is breaking the very laws…that cops are supposed to uphold.”
Review: Eddington Takes on the Chaotic 2020 Politics of COVID
The first half of the film comes off as libertarian but then it takes a weird turn.
Review: This Cat Gamed the Academic Publishing System and Earned High Marks on Google Scholar
Larry the cat's co-conspirators pulled a prank that highlighted a serious problem in scientific research.
Review: Lena Dunham's New Show Is a Rom-Com for the TikTok Era
The main character in Netflix's Too Much suffers from a fixation with online therapy culture.
Review: Dracula: A Love Tale Casts the Title Character as a Trad Religious Hero
Director Luc Besson delivers a conservative interpretation of Bram Stoker's classic vampire novel.
