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.
Television
Review: Sunny Is a Techno-Satire About Violent Robots
Technology is neither inherently good or bad. Our friendbots—and our murderbots—are what we make of them.
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: 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: Hacks Explores the Comedy of Cancel Culture
An aging comedian wrestles with woke campus culture in the new season of the Max series.
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.
Saudi Arabia Reportedly Sentences Netflix Comedian to 13 Years
The creator of Masameer County was charged with promoting homosexuality and terrorism for his South Park-style satirical cartoon.
Reason Wins 7 Southern California Journalism Awards
First-place finishes include an investigative piece on egregious misconduct in federal prison, a documentary on homelessness, best magazine columnist, and more.
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.
Review: An Anime Murder Mystery With an AI Twist
In Netflix's Pluto, a serial killer targets the world’s most advanced robots.
Review: South Park's Take on ChatGPT
The long-running satirical show turns its animated sights on AI and ChatGPT.
How Free-Range Kids Became an Answer on Jeopardy!
It took a lot of work to clear this quiz show milestone.
No, Unions Aren't Having a Resurgence—and That's Good for Workers
Private unions have every right to exist, but that doesn't mean they're actually beneficial on net.
Review: Mrs. Davis Tests the Limits of Science and Faith
When does a sufficiently advanced algorithm start to mimic our conception of God?
Another Day, Another Doomed Plan To Defund NPR
We've seen this saga so many times before.
Review: An Anime Reboot About Japan's Transition From Feudalism
The protagonist's adversaries eventually embrace modernity.
Read the FCC's Crank Mail About Saturday Night Live
One viewer said it should be illegal to take the Lord's name in vain on TV—and that was one of the more coherent complaints.
A Magical World Where Government Discriminates Against the Nonmagical
The anime Mashle: Magic and Muscles offers an absurdist metaphor for politically driven discrimination.
The 3 Body Problem's Chilling Social Media Parallel
From struggle sessions to cancel culture, the story depicts the terrors of surveillance authoritarianism.
If Ronna McDaniel Is Beyond the Pale, NBC May Have Trouble Presenting 'Diverse Viewpoints'
The former RNC chair's concession that Biden won "fair and square" did not save her from internal outrage at her support for Trump's stolen-election fantasy.
New Georgia Law Limits Film Tax Credits. But Marvel Would Still Qualify.
While the state senate's bill would cap tax credits at 2.3 percent of the state's budget, any production filming at a big enough studio would be exempt.
Why Are NBC Anchors Throwing a Tantrum Over Ronna McDaniel?
They should keep in mind that Jen Psaki exists.
Patrick Swayze's Road House Defined the So-Bad-It's-Good Movie. The Remake? Not So Much.
A just-good-enough remake fails to live up to its predecessor.
Review: Fargo's Self-Identified Libertarian Is No Libertarian
Will Sheriff Roy Tillman replace Ron Swanson as TV's most notable libertarian character? Hopefully not.
Review: For All Mankind Offers an Alternate History of Moon Exploration
What if Russia had landed on the moon before the United States?
Review: HBO's Comedic Take on Pirate Life
The pirates in Our Flag Means Death end up more interested in skirting imperial powers than in plundering.
Review: Netflix's Real-Life Spinoff Can't Recreate Squid Game's Allure
In Squid Game: The Challenge, contestants don't really risk their lives.
Audit Finds New York's $700 Million Film Tax Credits Make Little Difference
The credit "is at best a break-even proposition and more likely a net cost" for the state.
Jon Stewart's Return to The Daily Show Was Actually Pretty Great
When he's on his game, he's still one of the best bullshit detectors in the media.
Review: Ken Burns Explains the Anti–Native American Plot To Kill Bison
The American Buffalo documentary charts the fall and rise of American bison.
Georgia Lawmakers Propose Modest Changes to State Film Tax Credits
The credits cost the state over $1.3 billion per year with a 19 percent return on investment. Lawmakers' proposals will do little to change that.
Review: Netflix Delivers a Surprisingly Balanced Take on Vaping
Big Vape presents differing views on the supposed youth vaping epidemic.
The Best of Reason: Comedy's Truthiness Problem
Hasan Minhaj’s stand-up tests the boundaries of fact and fiction.
Comedy's Truthiness Problem
Hasan Minhaj’s stand-up tests the boundaries of fact and fiction.
Review: Loki Reckons With the Peril of Power
In the second season of his eponymous Marvel series, Loki becomes both more human and more godlike.
Review: A Teen Dramedy on a Native American Reservation
The government abuse that precipitated Native American social woes is not directly discussed in Reservation Dogs.
How Emily Blunt Copes With Her Stutter
John Stossel and the English actress discuss their shared problem—and why they'd like to destigmatize stuttering.
Review: A Fitting End to Attack on Titan
Attack on Titan is ultimately an anime about what it means to be free.
Genre-Bending Anime Spy x Family Tackles Cold War Espionage
State power and oppressive surveillance serve as the backdrop for this animated spy comedy.
Georgia Taxpayers Lose $160,000 for Every Job Created by Film Tax Credits
The program generates just 19 cents for every dollar spent.
This Year's Libertarian Gift Guide: 23 Ideas for 2023
In today's innovative economy, there's no excuse for sending a gift card. The staff at Reason is here with some inspiration.
That Time Archie Bunker Endorsed Ted Kennedy
Friday A/V Club: He wasn't really the character created by the late Norman Lear. But the advertisers did all they could to obscure that.
Review: Craig Robinson's Extremely Florida Sitcom
Killing It mocks capitalism, but at least it's funny.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Slyly Remixes the Cult Film's View of Romance and Autonomy
What if Ramona Flowers bears some responsibility for creating her seven "evil exes" in the first place?
Review: Painkiller Falls for Drug War Misconceptions
The series foregrounds cases of OxyContin addiction, despite their rarity.
Review: Ahsoka Rejects Star Wars' Good-vs.-Evil Binary
George Lucas divided his universe into light and dark. Dave Filoni is dissolving that worldview.
