The Battlefields of Cable
How cable TV transformed politics—and how politics transformed cable TV
Book Reviews
'Private Tyranny' Is Less Private Than You Think
Sohrab Ahmari inadvertently gives even more reasons to reduce the power of the state.
No Such Thing As a Free Lunch: Puzzle #2
"Subject of a 500-year-old purity law in Germany"
We Don't Need a War on Screen Time
Unwired makes an unconvincing argument for heavy-handed tech regulation.
The Chicago Boys' Deal With the Devil
The Chile Project surveys neoliberalism's most polarizing experiment.
The Return of MDMA
Some doctors are itching to prescribe ecstasy again. How do we avoid the regulatory mistakes of the '80s?
How Chris Rufo Became the Thing He Hates
His panicked manifesto contains a strong case against CRT activism, but he ultimately falls into the same trap as his enemies.
Thank Dutch Merchants, Not a Strong State, for Capitalism
Pioneers of Capitalism chronicles centuries of bottom-up economic evolution in the Netherlands.
How Pirates in Madagascar Spread Enlightenment Ideas
Pirate Enlightenment documents an interracial experiment in stateless self-governance.
Review: Henry George's Many Children
The 19th century reformer's influence on 20th century progressives, conservatives, and libertarians
Oppression in the South Was Not an Expression of Freedom
Freedom's Dominion argues Southern history was animated by "racialized radical anti-statism." The case is lacking.
The Left-Right Spectrum Is Mostly Meaningless
The political landscape doesn’t fit on a simple map.
Review: Everything I Need I Get from You Gives a Fangirl's View of the Internet
Author Kaitlyn Tiffany offers a history of fandoms.
Beware the 'Christian Prince'
The Case for Christian Nationalism advocates for an ethnically uniform nation ruled by a "Christian prince."
Review: The Man Who Hacked the World Captures the Chaos of John McAfee
Author Alex Cody Foster went deep with McAfee for months in an ill-fated attempt to ghostwrite his memoir.
Review: Imperfect Victims Documents Women Who Are Prosecuted for Defending Themselves
Author Leigh Goodmark's end goals of abolishing prisons and defunding police are hard to swallow.
Interesting New Book on Unenumerated Rights in State Constitutions
Baby Ninth Amendments, by Anthony Sanders
An Anarchist's Guide to War
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's most controversial book has finally been fully translated into English.
Review: Egg Is a Theory of Everything
The book's 12 thematic chapters are dense and rich—like flan, but good.
E.E. Cummings Celebrated Libertarian Utopia
His most popular book, The Enormous Room, was recently reprinted for its 100th anniversary.
Capitalism, Socialism, and Fan Complaints About the Role of Giant Eagles in "The Lord of the Rings"
Economist Bryan Caplan explains how standard socialist complaints about free markets are similar to longstanding fan claims that Tolkien's Giant Eagles didn't do enough in the war against Sauron.
Who Owns Your Brain Data?
Nita A. Farahany's The Battle for Your Brain shows how neurotech can help, or hurt, human liberty.
Review: The Progressive Backlash Against Influencer Moms
Momfluenced bemoans unrealistic expectations set on American mothers but then establishes new ones.
The Politics of "The Last of Us"
The message of the hit new series cuts across conventional ideological lines - and features a highly skeptical view of government.
Oscar-Winning Everything Everywhere All At Once Celebrates Individualism, Free Will
In a chaotic universe full of infinite realities where all choices are relative, individualism still matters.
The Mandalorian, Troops, and the Fan-Filmification of Star Wars
Today's Star Wars fulfills the promise of the late '90s internet.
Review: Are Memes Upending Democracy?
In Meme Wars, so-called "disinformation" experts call for the suppression of more ideas and speakers to protect democracy.
Waco Offers New Insights From ATF Agents
Historian Jeff Guinn's account focuses on the ATF's oft-overlooked fiasco in the 1993 affair rather than the FBI's widely reported involvement.
The Big Myth Is Full of Recycled Anti-Capitalist Cheap Shots
A new entrant in the anti-neoliberalism genre fails to land any blows.
The Militant Pacifists of World War II
War by Other Means tells the story of those conscientious objectors who did not cooperate with the government's alternative-service schemes.
Libertarian History/Philosophy
The Founding Mothers of Libertarianism
Freedom's Furies tells how three women offered their own unique defenses of individual liberty and how their disagreements anticipated the differences among libertarians and classical liberals today.
Review: 'How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex'
Samantha Cole's book is marred by vague animosity toward tech companies.
How the Fed Redistributed Wealth and Encouraged Reckless Corporate Behavior
The Lords of Easy Money argues that the Fed created an economy with nearly irresistible incentives for foolish choices.
Review: Time Meddling Becomes Altruism in Amazon's The Peripheral
It's the story of a distant future where rich denizens meddle in the affairs of the past.
Is There a Future for the City of Tomorrow?
The consequences of our obsession with urban dystopias and utopias
The Case for 50 Percent Open Borders
A call for restricting immigration in The Culture Transplant accidentally makes the case for radical liberalization.
How Venture Capital Made the Future
Sebastian Mallaby's The Power Law explores how venture capital and public policy helped shape modern technology.
Psychiatrists Do Not Know What They Are Treating
The mysteries of the mind are harder to unravel than psychiatrists pretend.
Review: Buckminster Fuller Helped Inspire Our Future
The new book Inventor of the Future prefers to show him as a credit hog.
Hayek Was a True Liberal
A new biography tells the story of the economist’s early life and career.
The Case for 50 Percent Open Borders
A call for restricting immigration accidentally makes the case for radical liberalization.
Comic: Robert A. Heinlein in The Moon Is a Hot Babe
An aeronautical engineer considers writing a novel about a new start on the moon.
Andy Weir Is Looking Forward to the Space Boom
Weir's books take seriously the limits of human knowledge and planning when it comes to space travel.
The End of Astronauts: Should We Send Robots to Space Instead?
Robots don't get cabin fever, develop cancer from cosmic radiation, miss their families, or go insane.
What We Owe the Future Is Liberalism
What does "longtermism" offer those of us who favor limited government and free markets?