The Abundance Agenda Promises Everything to Everyone All at Once
Some progressives want to remove bureaucratic obstacles to growth—in the service of Democrats and big government.
December 2023
The Endangered Species Act at 50
Why have so few species been taken off the endangered species list?
Features
Dobbs Is Reshaping American Politics
A wave of ballot measures reminds us most Americans are moderate on abortion.
How To Yell 'Fire' in a Crowded Theater
Aside from narrowly defined exceptions, false speech is protected by the First Amendment.
Interview
Shane Mauss: Is the End of the Drug War Inevitable?
Comedian Shane Mauss on the democratization of mushrooms, LSD, cannabis, DMT, and ketamine
Editor's Note
Is Chaos the Natural State of Congress?
The federal budgeting process was broken long before Matt Gaetz and Kevin McCarthy's recent spat.
Topics
Photo: Ready for RoboCop?
New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently showed off the autonomous security robot the city is piloting.
Essentials for Van Life
How do you build a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a workspace in a van?
He Was Strip-Searched and Jailed for Criticizing Cops. Now He's Fighting Back in Court.
In an apparent case of retaliation by humiliation, Jerry Rogers Jr. was arrested for speaking out about a stalled murder investigation.
L.A. Wants To Commandeer Vacant Hotel Rooms as Homeless Housing
Los Angeles voters will decide in March whether to force hotels to report empty rooms to the city and accept vouchers from homeless people.
Goodbye to Detroit's Asset Forfeiture Racket
Wayne County was seizing cars and using its less-fortunate residents as piggy banks.
New Mosquitos Can Help Beat Malaria
Malaria is making a comeback in the United States. Mosquitos might be part of the solution.
How To Prepare Your College-Bound Kids for a Successful Launch
An excursion into Facebook groups for empty nesters shows many of them could use a hobby, a job, or even a straitjacket.
2024 GOP Candidates Are Competing To Restrict Immigration
Formerly fringe immigration policies have gone mainstream in the Republican Party.
An Administrative Court Scandal at the SEC
Why did the SEC suddenly dismiss dozens of cases?
Ideas Have Consequences Turns 75
Richard M. Weaver seemed to question whether liberal order was compatible with human flourishing. By the end of his life, he saw individual liberty as more than incidental to the good society.
Culture
Why Frozen Pizza Is the Best Pizza
The best pizza isn't made in New York, Chicago, or New Haven. It's made on assembly lines.
Books
Milton Friedman Was No Conservative
A new Friedman biography ably explores the economist's ideas but sidesteps the libertarian movement he was central to.
The Good Samaritans Who Saved Syrian Refugees
When government relief efforts fail, individuals step up.
Reviews
Review: Ahsoka Rejects Star Wars' Good-vs.-Evil Binary
George Lucas divided his universe into light and dark. Dave Filoni is dissolving that worldview.
Review: Inside New York's 20th Century Psychotherapeutic Cult
The Sullivan Institute trapped members and broke up families.
Review: When a Fentanyl Thief Slipped Through the Cracks, Women Suffered
A New York Times podcast tells a story about both the drug war and institutional incompetence.
Review: A Podcast With Lighthearted Takes on Grim Historical Events
In The Rest Is History, two historians strike a pleasing balance between fact-dense narratives and witty banter.
Review: How To Live to 100
It's not as easy as Netflix's Secrets of the Blue Zones makes it seem.
Review: Painkiller Falls for Drug War Misconceptions
The series foregrounds cases of OxyContin addiction, despite their rarity.
Review: Blind Plea Only Scratches the Surface of Plea Bargains
Host Liz Flock delivers a compelling narrative but misses chances to interrogate the justice system.
ETC.
This Rape Victim Wants To End the Sex Offender Registry
"A lot of people on the registry are on there for consensual behavior, things I think many people agree shouldn’t be crimes," says Meaghan Ybos, the president of Women Against Registry.
Brickbats: December 2023
News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world.
