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.
Television
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.
Review: Quasi-Government Megacompanies Collide in Alien: Earth
The FX series is a direct prequel to the 1979 movie.
A Reporter's Unwelcome Questions Provoke Yet Another Trump Threat To Yank Broadcast Licenses
The president thinks TV networks have a legal obligation to cover him the way he prefers. The FCC's chairman seems to agree.
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.
The End of the College Football Coach as King: How NIL and Boosters Changed Recruiting Forever
Plus: Formula 1’s bet on Apple TV, and the awkwardness of Chad Powers
Elizabeth Warren Says Companies That Settled With Trump May Have Committed Bribery
While the settlements likely don't meet the statutory definition of bribery, they're still inappropriate.
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.
Bari Weiss Is Powerful, Establishment Media Is Not
Media consolidations are not drying up the well of discourse; it's overflowing with takes.
FCC Threats Against Jimmy Kimmel Echo a Century of Speech Control
From the Fairness Doctrine to Nixon’s “raised eyebrow,” government licensing power has long chilled broadcast speech—proving the First Amendment should apply fully to the airwaves.
Trump's Vision of Broadcast Regulation Is a Threat to Conservatives
History suggests that Republicans will regret letting the FCC police TV programming.
Brendan Carr Says Networks Must Serve the 'Public Interest.' What Does That Mean?
Congress placed the term in the law but chose not to define it, leaving that task for future regulators.
The FCC's Involvement in Canceling Jimmy Kimmel Was 'Unbelievably Dangerous,' Ted Cruz Says
Rand Paul concurs that the threats preceding the comedian's suspension were "absolutely inappropriate" because the agency has "no business weighing in on this."
Brendan Carr Flagrantly Abused His Powers To Cancel Jimmy Kimmel
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," the FCC chairman said, threatening to punish broadcasters for airing the comedian's show.
Did You Ask the FCC If You Can Make That Joke?
Plus: America's cocaine habit, how Charlie Kirk handled South Park, and more...
Desi Arnaz's Revolution Was Televised
How a risk-taking immigrant helped invent the three-camera sitcom
Review: Murderbot Is Part Frankenstein's Monster and Part C-3PO
The title character in this Apple TV+ series is both a menace and a friend.
Review: Did We Really Need Another Squid Game?
The third season of the Netflix series lacks the moral nuance that made the original so compelling.
What If TikTok Therapists Are Making People Less Happy?
Lena Dunham's new show is a send-up of internet therapy culture.
South Park's Trump Takedown Joins a Proud American Tradition
The cartoon’s savage Season 27 premiere puts a tiny, naked Trump in bed with Satan—and lands squarely in the American tradition of using outrageous satire to hold the powerful accountable.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's Meddling in Broadcast Journalism Contradicts His Own Avowed Views
As a minority FCC member during the Bush administration, Carr condemned government interference with newsroom decisions.
The FCC's Paramount/Skydance Decision Aims To Reshape Broadcast Journalism by Bureaucratic Fiat
Chairman Brendan Carr thinks his agency should strive to ensure that news coverage is fair and balanced—a role precluded by the First Amendment.
Sports Absolutely Do Not Need Politicians More Involved
Plus: A case for gambling freedom, the NHL’s tax dilemma, and a soccer movie.
Why You Should Care About the Club World Cup (If Your Team or Rival Is In It)
Plus: a players union failure, immigration for the World Cup, and Welcome to Wrexham.
Review: There Are No Top-Down Solutions to the Problems Depicted in Adolescence
The limited-run Netflix series is fueling a real-life push for the British government to protect kids from online dangers.
Review: A Comic Book Villain Runs for Mayor of New York in the New Daredevil Series
Daredevil's nemesis Kingpin runs up against local government bureaucracy.
If Viewers Love PBS So Much, Let Them Pay for It
A new study on the trustworthiness of PBS fails to persuade.
Mountainhead Is a Shallow Satire of Tech Billionaires
A zippy script can't make up for a lack of insight.
Alton Brown on Cultural Appropriation, Ozempic, and the USDA
"If a Greek family starts a pizzeria, if a Chinese family straight from Beijing opens a hot dog shop, are they appropriating or are they just smart?" says the Food for Thought author and former Good Eats host.
Andor Is a Star Wars Show About the Brutality of Bureaucracy
Tony Gilroy's series reminds us that an empire doesn't need dark magic to be evil.
Review: A Doomsday Murder Mystery Set in an Underground Bunker
Even in a fictitious postapocalyptic world, the government can't be trusted to tell the truth.
Review: A Superhero Struggle About the Ethics of Violence
The animated Invincible series wrestles with the ethics of killing for the greater good.
Trump Tries To Defund NPR and PBS by Executive Order
A new executive order would keep the Corporation for Public Broadcasting alive while telling it to cut off the two biggest public broadcasting networks. Get ready for a legal fight.
How the NFL Draft Screws Over Players
Plus: a new NFL stadium, a Boston Marathon record, and Shoresy (huh?)
Are We Still Living in 1999?
A new book argues that late-20th-century lowbrow culture created the modern world.
Are Public Broadcasters About To Lose Their Subsidies?
Republicans often call for cutting off the funds but have never actually done the deed. Here's why this time might—might—be different.
Review: Authoritarianism Backfires in the Latest Dune Installment
In Max's Dune: Prophecy, even the power to predict others' actions can't tame the chaos of free will.
Review: Netflix's Mo Captures the Absurdity of the U.S. Immigration System
A stateless protagonist dodges the federal government in comedic fashion.
Review: Aging Millennials Confront Adult Problems on Screen
Apple TV+'s Shrinking is both cringeworthy and relatable.
Review: A TV Spy Thriller About Psychological Consequences of Going Undercover
The Agency depicts the cruelty and dehumanization involved in espionage work.
The Cold War Broadcasting Apparatus Should Shut Down
Dissidents resisting authoritarian regimes should be independent of the United States—and so should their media sources.
Alton Brown: A Culinary Legend Offers Food for Thought
The Good Eats host talks about the virtues of Cap'n Crunch, why fusion cooking isn't cultural appropriation, and how Martha Stewart's perfectionism ruined dinner parties.
Review: HBO's Chimpanzee Murder Mystery
What happened to Tonka the chimp? The Chimp Crazy series investigates.
