Review: A Sci-Fi Exploration of a Shadowy Government
The deeply weird Southern Reach Series reminds us that human institutions can turn people into something unrecognizable.
Reviews
Review: A Novel About Walls, Both Literal and Figurative
Author Haruki Murakami offers a potent reminder of the value of free movement.
When COVID Authoritarianism Met Border Authoritarianism
All 194 countries in the World Health Organization imposed COVID travel restrictions. The authors of When the World Closed Its Doors argue it was a failure.
Review: Netflix's Biggest Heist Ever Documentary Takes Bitcoin Seriously
The film exemplifies the new age of mainstream respectability the token has entered.
Review: Armored MMA Is Like UFC but With Medieval Weapons
A bizarre new sport is reaching audiences online, a testament to the value of social media.
The Strange Case of The Immortality Key
Many people depicted in a supposedly "groundbreaking" book on psychedelics and religion are now speaking out against it.
Review: Gladiator II Is a Historical Epic About the Dangers of Political Power
Director Ridley Scott explores what happens when people from the fringes of society rise to power.
Review: Wicked Is a Letdown for Fans of the Books
The movie musical fails to deliver on the more interesting antiauthoritarian themes of its source material.
Review: A Podcast Exploring the History of Immigrant Sanctuaries
The sanctuary movement challenges state power, argue the hosts of Sanctuary: On the Border Between Church and State.
Rise of the 'Constitutional Sheriffs'
Two new books dissect the "constitutional sheriffs" movement, which seeks to nullify laws adherents see as unconstitutional.
Review: HBO's Chimpanzee Murder Mystery
What happened to Tonka the chimp? The Chimp Crazy series investigates.
Review: Laura Marling Mixes Songs With Snippets of Life as a Mom
The album Patterns in Repeat portrays motherhood in an almost exclusively positive light.
Review: Cabaret's Broadway Revival
It's a story about vulnerable people, powerless against the rise of a sweeping authoritarian regime, each seeking a way to cope with the unprecedented times in which they live.
Review: The Radicals Who Tried To Kill Gerald Ford
The Rip Current podcast is a good reminder that political division and even violence are not new in America.
Review: Drug Prohibition Leads to Violence in The Penguin
An HBO series set in the Batman universe reminds us that when a substance is outlawed, the market will provide one way or another.
Review: UFO 50 Pays Homage to '80s Video Games
Playing this digital collection of new retro-style games is like rediscovering a box of old cartridges.
Review: Why Are Federal Buildings So Ugly?
Our capital's brutalist architecture is on display at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
Review: Watching Megalopolis Through a Randian Lens
Francis Ford Coppola's new film has traces of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.
Review: Are Teen Girls Suffering From Hysteria?
A new podcast explores a mysterious case of teens developing Tourette syndrome–like tics and other cases of suspected mass psychogenic illness.
Are Humans Abandoning the Physical World in Favor of Smartphones?
The Extinction of Experience condemns digital technology but the book is full of contradictions and cherry-picked examples.
Review: A True Crime Podcast About a Massacre in Iraq
Season three of the In the Dark podcast divulges new details about U.S. Marines' killings of 24 Iraqis in 2005.
Review: Like Friday Night Lights, But For High School Mariachi
A documentary on Netflix follows a team of young musicians vying for competition wins in Texas.
Review: A New York Times Reporter Explores Psychedelic Therapy
Trippy author Ernesto Londoño points out that supposedly ancient psychedelic rituals don't always lead to great outcomes.
Review: Evil on Trial Seeks To Reach A Younger Audience
WWII correspondent William L. Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich comes to life in this Netflix docuseries.
Review: An Action Movie About Civil Asset Forfeiture
Netflix's Rebel Ridge is a thrilling tale about an ordinary man wronged by an unjust system.
Review: A Rap Trio Fights the Power In Gaelic
Kneecap is a semi-dramatized biopic of the Belfast music group of the same name.
Review: In Ren Faire a Tyrant King Tries To Find a Successor
George Coulam didn't just create the Texas Renaissance Festival. He built a utopia and crowned himself king.
Review: A Medieval Black Comedy With No Monarch
The state is almost completely absent in 'The Decameron. The characters don't exactly handle this responsibility well.
Review: Bullet Vending Machines Debut in U.S. Grocery Stores
The company claims its machines are more effective than store shelves at preventing shoplifters or underage purchases.
Review: House of the Dragon Imagines Dragon Combat and It's Awesome
Much like in nuclear war, there’s no way to win when both sides have dragons.
Review: Choose Your Own Deal With the Devil at the Theater
The show Life And Trust is an immersive performance that unfolds over three hours across six floors inside what was once a Wall Street office building.
Review: A Monopoly-Style Game About the January 6
The hosts of the popular TrueAnon podcast made a board game that doesn't take the presidential transition crisis too seriously.
Review: Inside the Southern Baptist Sexual Assault Crisis
Author Christa Brown shares her story of abuse and exposes the hypocrisy inherent in the Southern Baptist Convention's cover-up.
Review: Hacks Explores the Comedy of Cancel Culture
An aging comedian wrestles with woke campus culture in the new season of the Max series.
Review: A Satirical How-To Guide for Imperialists
Freedom "requires you to curtail freedom of speech and freedom of the press," the book declares.
Alien: Romulus Is a Slick, Empty Franchise Pastiche
The taut, grisly new entry plays like a greatest-hits reel.
Review: A Former Foster Child Lambasts the 'Luxury Beliefs' of Wealthy Elites
Rob Henderson's new book documents his journey from a troubled adoption to Yale and Cambridge.
Review: A South Korean Film Explores Nativism and Authoritarianism After a Disaster
Concrete Utopia is a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked power under any circumstances.
Review: James Retells Huckleberry Finn From Jim's Perspective
Author Percival Everett reimagines Mark Twain's novel from the enslaved character's point of view.
Review: The Women Entrepreneurs of Impoverished Countries
She Rises Up manages to be inspirational without being sappy, like so many documentaries are.
Review: Is Fallout Actually a Good Game-to-TV Crossover?
Staying true to the game, producers of the Amazon show even leave room for side quests and open-ended exploration.
Review: A Drug Reformer Makes the Case for Harm Reduction
The Harm Reduction Gap argues for individual autonomy and meeting drug users where they're at.
Review: Blowback Podcast Exhumes the Seeds of the Afghan Conflict
Hosts Noah Kulwin and Brendan James explain how proxy war fighters can become America's enemies.
Review: Documenting Julian Assange's Legal Battles
Kym Staton's documentary also tries to debunk several accusations against the WikiLeaks founder.
A Brief, Biased History of the Culture Wars
Kliph Nesteroff's book Outrageous turns into a screed against conservatives.
Review: An Arkansas Jail Unlocked the Cells. Did it Work?
A new Netflix documentary series shows what happened when inmates were free to roam the cellblock with no guards in sight.
The Dark Side of Alexander Hamilton
The first treasury secretary's plans would have created cartels that mainly benefited the wealthy at the expense of small competitors.
Review: Charles Fort's Underrated Influence
The eccentric writer cast a long shadow, leaving a mark not only on the world of Bigfoot hunters and UFO buffs but in literature and radical politics.
