The Battlefields of Cable
How cable TV transformed politics—and how politics transformed cable TV
History
Tara Isabella Burton: Self-Made, From Da Vinci to the Kardashians
Since the Renaissance, we've been increasingly able to define who we are as individuals. But is that a false freedom?
Jean Twenge and Elizabeth Nolan Brown: What Do Millennials Want?
A boomer, a Gen Xer, and a Millennial discuss the causes and conflicts of today's generational gaps.
Get Your Culture War Out of Our Pension Funds
Plus: Should libertarians consider employing noble lies when pitching themselves to new potential voters?
Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer Is an Intimate Epic About the Man Who Built the Bomb
It's a portrait of a complex man, and a warning about the nuclear era he created.
Mike Rowe: The Missing 7.2 Million Male Workers
The Dirty Jobs host is freaked out by the number of men who have dropped out of the workplace.
A Strange Museum Takes a Strange Turn
Attempts to limit access to the Mütter Museum’s collection of medical oddities disrespect the living and the dead.
After 50 Years, the DEA Is Still Losing the War on Drugs
For five decades, the agency has destroyed countless lives while targeting Americans for personal choices and peaceful transactions.
I Asked an A.I. To Help Me Launch the American Revolution
Excerpts from a dialogue with ChatGPT
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Is a Dud
It might as well have been titled Indiana Jones and the Quest for Cash.
Adam Smith Said Colonists Should Join the British Union. Was He Serious?
Reading between the lines of The Wealth of Nations
An Interview With Adam Smith (No, Not That One)
The so-called father of capitalism was not available for comment, so we talked to another economist, Adam C. Smith.
Is TikTok Really To Blame for Titanic Conspiracy Theories?
The New York Times tries to blame social media for conspiracy theories that have been around for decades. Don't fall for it.
Restoring the Name of Fort Bragg is Nothing to Brag About
Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence are wrong to advocate naming a US Army base after an incompetent Confederate general who betrayed the United States to fight for slavery.
Juneteenth Celebrates a Great American Achievement
The emerging culture war over the holiday is misguided. In reality, Juneteenth celebrates one of the greatest triumphs of America and its founding principles.
Before There Was Christian Nationalism, There Was Christian Anarchism
Rejection of the state and the use of lethal force can be found in the founding documents of Christianity.
Thank Dutch Merchants, Not a Strong State, for Capitalism
Pioneers of Capitalism chronicles centuries of bottom-up economic evolution in the Netherlands.
The New Right Isn't So New
Left-wing totalitarianism and right-wing authoritarianism are not our only options.
Adam Smith's Quiet Christianity
The Scottish thinker's famous friendship with David Hume demonstrates his liberalism, not his atheism.
How Pirates in Madagascar Spread Enlightenment Ideas
Pirate Enlightenment documents an interracial experiment in stateless self-governance.
How Pat Robertson Shepherded His Flock Into Politics
Farewell to the senator's son who pioneered a TV genre, helped create the Christian right, ran for president, and earned the grudging respect of Abbie Hoffman
Review: Henry George's Many Children
The 19th century reformer's influence on 20th century progressives, conservatives, and libertarians
Adam Smith Has Something for Everyone
From the American Founders to communist meme creators, people have long claimed Smith's endorsement for their ideas.
What Do Gadsden Flags and Pride Flags Have in Common?
Sexual minorities aren't the only ones who love to wave identity flags.
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.
Do the Natcons Get Anything Right?
Plus: A listener asks if the Roundtable has given the arguments of those opposed to low-skilled immigration a fair hearing.
The Left-Right Spectrum Is Mostly Meaningless
The political landscape doesn’t fit on a simple map.
Elizabeth Nolan Brown and Scott Winship: Governments Can't Increase Birthrates. They Shouldn't Even Try.
The right and the left are pushing pro-natalist polices that have never worked and are deeply misguided.
Review: National Shrine Celebrates St. John Paul II as a Freedom Fighter
Too few remember the pope's opposition to Polish building regulation.
'Now Is Better,' Says Legendary Designer Stefan Sagmeister
His bold new exhibition draws on the work of Steven Pinker, Our World in Data, and Human Progress to document how much life has improved since the good old days.
I Worked for Hodding Carter III at a Small-Town Mississippi Newspaper
He didn't pay much, we fought a lot, and he was one of the best bosses I ever had.
Beware the 'Christian Prince'
The Case for Christian Nationalism advocates for an ethnically uniform nation ruled by a "Christian prince."
Biden's Industrial Policy Promises a Return to the 1970s
The hard lesson that free markets are better than state control may have to be relearned.
Matt Dallek: The John Birch Society's Deep Influence on Trump's GOP
The George Washington University historian argues that the group's paranoid mindset and obsessions are front and center in the modern GOP.
Connor Boyack and Corey DeAngelis: Why K-12 Education Sucks and How To Fix It
The authors of Mediocrity say it's well past time to end "factory schooling" and set kids free to learn.
Does The 1619 Project Have Anything To Teach Us?
Two historians go head-to-head on whether the controversial New York Times project has any value.
Does the 1619 Project Have Anything To Teach Us? A Soho Forum Debate
Two historians go head-to-head on whether the controversial New York Times project has any value.
Daniel Akst: The World War II Pacifists Who Changed America Forever
"Christian libertarians" Bayard Rustin and David Dellinger challenged state power and ended up leading the civil rights movement and anti-Vietnam War protests.
Review: Victoria 3 Lacks Spontaneous Order
The video game is a 100-year simulation of the Victorian era where the player has centralized control over the government of their chosen country.
Matt Zwolinski and John Tomasi: Who Owns Libertarianism?
The authors of The Individualists talk Rand, Friedman, Hayek, Rothbard, and the "struggle for the soul" of the libertarian movement.
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.
Agatha Christie Books Get Woke Makeover, Join Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming
Books by the acclaimed mystery author have been edited, ostensibly to comport with modern sensibilities.
E.E. Cummings Celebrated Libertarian Utopia
His most popular book, The Enormous Room, was recently reprinted for its 100th anniversary.
Charter School Principal "Forced to Resign" Allegedly Because 6th-Grade Students Were Shown Michelangelo's David
[UPDATE: I've added excerpts from a Slate interview with the school's Board Chair, who ended up commenting on the story after all; his view is that the firing stemmed only from the failure to alert parents to the upcoming material.]
This Just In: Conspiracy Theorists Not Quite as Kooky as Previously Reported
Greetings from the second International Conspiracy Theory Symposium, where one of the most cited findings in the field has been debunked.
Congress Hasn't Passed a Budget on Time in 27 Years
Congress' end-of-year rush to fund the federal government has become the norm.