None of the millions of people who witnessed the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986 will ever forget the wave of shock and grief that swept over the United States, and the world, on that day. To read Adam Higginbotham’s new account of the Challenger heroes is to be overwhelmed by a powerful sense of awe and astonishment.

Granting governments the ability to violate intellectual freedom by banning books from schools doesn’t help or protect anyone. It is an obscene way of stunting developing minds at a crucial juncture of life and handing the state yet another tool for controlling us.

Welcome to the Fall 2024 issue of The Objective Standard, featuring articles on defending Western civilization, the music of Antonin Dvořák, the achievements of John Quincy Adams, and the injustice of cryptocurrency regulation.

Western civilization is the most life-giving culture of history. All human beings who care about human life on Earth—regardless of their race or gender—morally must celebrate this life-advancing civilization.

Antonin Dvořák managed to capture a beautifully American sense of life: the moment of dawning opportunity, the first glimpse of the potential for triumph, of the chance to prevail that has always been the New World’s greatest gift.

John Quincy Adams was a fount of moral courage who helped his country establish a noninterventionist foreign policy, end the War of 1812, defeat the “slaveocracy’s” gag rule, secure freedom for the Amistad captives, and give national prominence to the abolitionist cause.

The government’s illegal de-bankings, unprecedented sanctions, unwarranted prosecutions, and endless, indiscriminate enforcement actions have sent a clear message to crypto innovators: You are not welcome here. Rather than allow a young, burgeoning industry to develop, the government aims to crush it.

Sometimes when I talk and write about the importance of science, technology, and entrepreneurship to human opportunity and living standards, people ask me why I seem so obsessed with progress. There is a simple reason: I did not use to believe in it.

In her new memoir, On the Warpath, Elizabeth Weiss reveals how anthropology is slowly being sacrificed for the sake of that toxically irrational sludge of ideologies collectively known as “wokeness.”

Some say that you should reach for the Moon, because if you miss, you’ll land among the stars. Unfortunately, despite its starpower, Fly Me to the Moon fails even to get off the ground.

Six Hundred Thousand Despots offers us a fresh view on slavery by one who not only experienced it, but evinced extraordinary heroism in escaping from bondage.

Star Trek: Discovery's great potential and interesting story concepts are hampered by poor character development and ham-fisted treatment of moral questions. Nonetheless, it provides some quality sci-fi stories and it deserves recognition for setting up the successful, more benevolent Strange New Worlds.

The Mark Twain Project’s authoritative edition of Pudd’nhead Wilson is an important scholarly resource, a delightful read for Twain devotees, and an opportunity for readers at large to gain more insight into the author’s sincere, if imperfect, efforts to attack the scourge of racial prejudice.

The theme of the first Objective Standard conference was “Philosophy for Freedom and Flourishing.” The tagline was: “Sharpen your mind. Fuel your soul. Excel in life. Fight for liberty.” These have been the theme and aim of our conferences ever since—and with good reason.

Welcome to the Summer 2024 issue of The Objective Standard.