How My Struggle With Wittgenstein Can Make You Happier
Using big ideas in small doses is a great way to realize the benefits of philosophy.
January 6ers Got Out of Prison—And Came to My Neighborhood
The strange new reality after Trump’s pardons
Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid
It’s not just a phase.
In This Horror Movie, You Can Look, But Not Touch
Presence locks its monster—and the viewer—behind the camera.
The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books
To read a book in college, it helps to have read a book in high school.
David Lynch, My Neighbor
The late director made beguiling movies about Los Angeles; he also loved his Scion xB.
The Oscars Have Left the Mainstream Moviegoer Behind
The Academy found its nominees on the international film-festival circuit, not at the movie theater.
Who Will Stop the Militias Now?
By granting blanket clemency to the January 6 insurrectionists, the president has unleashed violent, and loyal, paramilitaries.
The Army of God Comes Out of the Shadows
Tens of millions of American Christians are embracing a charismatic movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation, which seeks to destroy the secular state.
Capitulation Is Contagious
When fear spreads in a society, powerful people who know better are often the first to show their weakness.
You’ll Never Get Off the Dinner Treadmill
There’s no such thing as an easy weeknight meal.
Trump: ‘I Need the Kind of Generals That Hitler Had’
The Republican nominee’s preoccupation with dictators, and his disdain for the American military, is deepening.
DNA Tests Are Uncovering the True Prevalence of Incest
People are discovering the truth about their biological parents with DNA—and learning that incest is far more common than many think.
Did He Actually Do That?
Elon Musk either had a slipped-mask moment or is supremely awkward.
Don’t Give Up on the Truth
Striking out against injustice is always right; it always matters.
How America Got Mean
In a culture devoid of moral education, generations are growing up in a morally inarticulate, self-referential world.
Reimagining the Meal
Dinner is whatever you want it to be, and that fact can be overwhelming or freeing.
Be Like Sisyphus
How to embrace hopeful pessimism in a moment of despair
Trump’s First Shot in His War on the ‘Deep State’
The president is punishing a group of former officials for expressing an opinion he didn’t like.
Dred Scott — A Century After
“The Dred Scott case of 1857 is the most famous — or notorious — in all of our judicial history.”