An Interview With Adam Smith No, not that Adam Smith.

On the occasion of his 300th birthday, Adam Smith—the Scottish Enlightenment luminary and so-called father of capitalism— was not available for comment, despite attempts to contact him via Ouija board and seance.

Don't Tread on Pride Flags

What do Gadsden flags and Pride flags have in common?

THEY ARE COMING FOR YOUR GAS STOVE

IN MAY, THE Democrat-controlled New York State Legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul inked a $229 billion state budget agreement that included a ban on residential gas stoves. By 2029, only electric ranges will be allowed in new residences

COVID'S MISSING STUDENTS

DURING THE FIRST few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, a staggering number of students went “missing.” Kindergarten enrollment rates dropped, and students already enrolled in classes failed to log in for online learning

WHEN TRADE WAR THREATENS REAL WAR

BIDEN IS BLURRING THE LINES BETWEEN ECONOMIC POLICY AND MILITARY ACTION

GET YOUR POLITICS OUT OF MY PICKLEBALL

FAULT LINES EMERGE AS GOVERNMENT GETS INVOLVED IN AMERICA’S WEIRDEST, FASTEST-GROWING SPORT

'Excited Delirium' is No Excuse for Police Abuse

A small change in wording by medical examiners could have a big impact on how deaths in police custody are reported. In March, the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) said “excited delirium” should not be cited as a cause of death.

IS ENCOURAGING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION PROTECTED BY THE CONSTITUTION?

FEDERAL LAW PROHIBITS encouraging or inducing unlawful immigration for private financial gain. In March, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case, United States v. Hansen, that asks whether that law unconstitutionally abridges freedom of speech.

TRUMP'S NEW YORK INDICTMENT IS JUST THE BEGINNING

WHEN FORMER PRESIDENT Donald Trump arrived at a Manhattan courthouse on April 4, crowds of people and rows of TV cameras were there to witness an unprecedented moment: the first-ever arraignment of a former U.S. president. How quickly can something this important be relegated to the footnotes of American presidential history? We may be about to find out.

BOMBING MEXICAN CARTELS WON'T STOP FENTANYL

AMERICANS CONTINUE TO overdose on illicit fentanyl despite increased seizures of the drug coming north from Mexico.

THE GREAT EGG SHOCK

AS INFLATION RAISED prices on all manner of goods throughout 2022, eggs earned special attention. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the average price of a dozen eggs in urban areas rose from $1.92 in January 2022 to $4.82 in January 2023.

Flo Crivello Says A.I. Will Be Bigger Than the Internet

Flo Crivello is the founder and CEO of Lindy, a software company that has created an executive assistant powered by artificial intelligence (A.I.). Lindy can take care of your calendar, perform basic email correspondence, book travel, and take notes during meetings. The long-run goal is to automate as much work as possible and free up time for tasks that only humans can do.

Who Owns Your Brain Data?

WE ARE RAPIDLY heading toward a world of brain transparency, in which scientists, doctors, governments, and companies may peer into our brains and minds at will,” Duke University bioethicist Nita A. Farahany declares in The Battle for Your Brain. As a defense against this neuro surveillance, her timely book argues for a right to cognitive liberty that includes “mental privacy, freedom of thought, and self-determination”—a right that allows us to track and hack our own brains but bars us from trespassing on other minds.

MARC ANDREESSEN ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE FUTURE

Is the A.I. breakthrough for real this time?

ZEROT AMERICA

SECRECY IS THE DEGRADED CURRENCY OF THE SHADOW GOVERNMENT.

Storks Don't Take Orders From the State

FALLING BIRTHRATES, PRO-NATALIST POLICIES, AND THE LIMITS OF POPULATION CONTROL

THE EXPENSIVE SEDUCTIVE NOSTALGIA OF FIELD OF DREAMS

WHY ARE SO MANY FILMGOERS AND POLITICIANS EAGER TO PROP UP BASEBALL'S BOONDOGGLES?

PUBLIC UNIONS VS.THE PUBLIC GOOD

ELECTED LEADERS COME AND GO, BUT PUBLIC UNIONS JUST SAY NO.

PROPOSITION: BE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE WORLD

AFFIRMATIVE: Optimism Is the Rational Approach

PROPOSITION: THE U.S. SHOULD INCREASE FUNDING FOR THE DEFENSE OF UKRAINE

AFFIRMATIVE: Ukraine's Liberal Democracy Deserves Our Aid

PROPOSITION: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SHOULD BE REGULATED

AFFIRMATIVE: Don't Trust Governments With A.I. Facial Recognition Technology

DEBATE IS FOR THE COOL KIDS

\"STUDIES SHOW THAT debate is good for you\" is exactly the sort of thing you'd expect someone in an ill-fitting blazer and awkward shoes to say at a high school debate competition.

SHODDY RESEARCH REINFORCES ANTI-VAPING NARRATIVE

Three years later, the World Journal of Oncology published a study that claimed vapers face about the same cancer risk as smokers. The authors said “prospective studies should be planned to mitigate the risk.”

THE ZONING THEORY OF EVERYTHING

LAND USE POLICIES EXPLAIN THE BATTLES OVER EVERYTHING FROM RECESSION TO ABORTION TO DONALD TRUMP.

Don't Underestimate Clarence Thomas

Critics of the enigmatic Supreme Court Justice have overlooked his influence for too long.

How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex

As someone who covers the intersection of sex and technology, I was primed to love Samantha Cole's How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex. A great book could be written on this topic-but this is not it.

Bodies Against the State

In China, crowds of people line the streets. They are holding blank sheets of paper. There's nothing special about the paper; it's ordinary A4 letter size. The police nonetheless know what they mean. The leaders of the Chinese Communist Party know what they mean. The world knows what they mean.

Biden's 'Marijuana Reform' Leaves Prohibition Untouched

According to the New York Times, the "marijuana reform" that President Joe Biden announced in October represented "a fundamental change in America's response to a drug that has been at the center of a clash between culture and policing for more than a half-century." If only.

What Women Want

Maybe it’s to be treated as individuals?

In Defense of Algorithms

They’re good for us. They might even be good for democracy.