CATEGORIES

Jason Isbell is finding his purpose

JASON ISBELL SAYS THE DESIRE TO BE HONEST AND FAIR is his compass. \"One day I decided: \"This is what I'm going to claim as the purpose for why I'm here,\" he says. \"I think it's to leave the place a little bit better than I found it, and to experience all the things that I can experience.\"

Burned

How a small-town auto mechanic peddling a solar-energy breakthrough swindled Wall Street investors, Warren Buffett, and the U.S. Treasury out of $1 billion

Pollen Proliferation

You're not imagining it. Your seasonal allergies ARE getting worse. Blame climate change

Ke Huy Quan

FRESH OFF HIS OSCAR WIN FOR EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, Ke Huy Quan isn't wasting time

Pop Culture Goes to War

Since Putin's invasion, the songs have gotten more serious, the comedy has gotten grimmer and any sense of kinship with Russia has died

Balancing An Intricate Act

BHUTAN'S PRIME MINISTER DISCUSSES HOW THE CARBON-NEGATIVE KINGDOM DEALS WITH CLIMATE CHANGE AND A GROWING RIVALRY BETWEEN NEIGHBORS INDIA AND CHINA

THE NEW RIGHT ISN'T SO NEW

IN THE CLOSING weeks of 1969, a debate broke out in the pages of National Review about how American conservatives should respond to the threat posed by the New Left—the expanded universe of socialists, civil rights activists, anti-war protesters, feminists, environmentalists, and other lefty radicals then making political waves. Fifteen months earlier, police and demonstrators had met in a bloody clash outside the Democratic National Convention.

Adam Smith's Quiet Christianity

THE SCOTTISH THINKER’S FAMOUS FRIENDSHIP WITH DAVID HUME DEMONSTRATES HIS LIBERALISM, NOT HIS ATHEISM.

Marketplaces Find a Way

THOUGH HISTORY HASN’T ALWAYS BEEN KIND, BUTCHERS, BREWERS, AND BAKERS STILL THRIVE AT URBAN MARKETS.

GADGETS AND GIZMOS THAT INSPIRED ADAM SMITH

MEDITATIONS ON THE DANGEROUS, ALLURING BEAUTY OF INTRICATE SYSTEMS

POPPY SEEDS TRIGGER CHILD NEGLECT INVESTIGATIONS

BEFORE KATE L. gave birth to a baby girl last September, a nurse at New Jersey’s Hackensack University Medical Center collected a urine sample from the soon-to-be mother.

DON'T 'PAUSE' A.I. RESEARCH

HUMAN BEINGS ARE terrible at foresight— especially apocalyptic foresight. The track record of previous doomsayers is worth recalling as we contemplate warnings from critics of artificial intelligence (A.I.) research.

Adam Smith's Sly American Proposal

SOMETIMES A PROPOSAL IS A LESSON IN DISGUISE.

Adam Smith Understood That We Need Each Other

THE THINKER’S VIEWS OF HUMAN SYMPATHY, BENEFICENCE, JUSTICE, AND THE DIVISION OF LABOR STILL RESONATE.

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.

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.

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.

'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.

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.

Surrender to Steely Dan

How the insufferably perfectionist duo captured the hearts of a new generation of listeners

Night at the Vatican

After the tourists go home, a museum's collection tells its own story

Writing in the Ruins

The German writer Jenny Erpenbeck cuts through dogma, fractures time, and preserves rubble

The Canadian Way of Death

The nation legalized assisted suicide-and exposed the limits of liberalism

Call of the Wild

The enduring appeal of watching human beings attempt to master the Alaskan backcountry

THE COUNTEROFFENSIVE

The future of the democratic world will be determined by whether the Ukrainian military can break a stalemate with Russia and drive the country backward-sperhaps even out of Crimea for good

PROPOSITION: TO PRESERVE INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY, GOVERNMENT MUST AFFIRMATIVELY INTERVENE IN THE CULTURE WAR

AFFIRMATIVE: You May Not Be Interested in the Culture War, But the Culture War Is Interested in You

PROPOSITION: DEMOCRACY IS THE WORST FORM OF GOVERNMENT EXCEPT FOR ALL THE OTHERS

AFFIRMATIVE:  When We Are Governed, Ballots Are Best

PROPOSITION: IT'S TIME FOR A NATIONAL DIVORCE

AFFIRMATIVE: A National Divorce Is an Opportunity for Peaceful Coexistence