Reviews
Politics & Rights, Reviews
Free Speech: A Global History from Socrates to Social Media by Jacob Mchangama
Michael Dahlen January 25, 2023
Recently, a growing chorus of voices has become increasingly hostile to free speech. Certain speech, we are told, must be suppressed in order to combat “hate speech,” stop misinformation, and “protect democracy.” But, as Jacob Mchangama explains in his book, Free Speech: A Global History from Socrates to Social Media, these arguments are not new.
Arts & Culture, Reviews
This Afterlife: Selected Poems by A. E. Stallings
Timothy Sandefur December 3, 2022
A. E. Stallings’s distinctive poetry succeeds because it merges a conscientious focus on meaningful content—saying relevant and powerful things about human experiences—with a painstaking attention to formal design. The results are masterpieces of integration.
Good Living, Reviews
Soul Celebrations and Spiritual Snacks by Alexandra York
Andrew Bernstein November 21, 2022
In Soul Celebrations and Spiritual Snacks, York draws our attention to two areas where many could benefit from focusing more and more regularly: the deep need for ongoing spiritual renewal—and numerous specific means by which to attain it.
Arts & Culture, Reviews
Hocus Pocus 2, Directed by Anne Fletcher
Angelica Walker-Werth November 4, 2022
Unfortunately, Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) features only the trappings of the original, with watered-down characters, a weak plot, and no moral message.
Ayn Rand & Objectivism, History, Reviews
What Went Right? An Objectivist Theory of History by Robert Tracinski
Jon Hersey September 8, 2022
“Who sets the tone of a culture?,” asked Ayn Rand. “A small handful of men: the philosophers.” According to Robert Tracinski, many of Rand’s followers have taken this to mean that efforts toward a better future should focus on university humanities departments. But, in his latest book, Tracinski argues that this is only part of the story.
Politics & Rights, Reviews
The Fifth Act: America’s End in Afghanistan by Elliot Ackerman
Timothy Sandefur September 6, 2022
Elliot Ackerman’s The Fifth Act may be the first great book about the Afghanistan war. It uses the nauseating surrender of the United States to the Taliban in 2021 as a point of departure for a series of reflections on the irrationality with which the war was waged and the consequences of that irrationality for American culture.
Politics & Rights, Reviews, Science & Technology
Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas—Not Less by Alex Epstein
Molly Sechrest August 19, 2022
As a philosopher and energy expert, Epstein evaluates the methods employed by today’s opponents of fossil fuels, identifies their unstated assumptions, and penetrates to the core of this vital issue.
History, Politics & Rights, Reviews
Notes on the State of Virginia: An Annotated Edition, by Robert Pierce Forbes
Timothy Sandefur August 19, 2022
Robert Pierce Forbes’s painstaking research into the writing and revision of Notes on the State of Virginia is impressive and valuable. But his conjectures about Thomas Jefferson’s goals in writing those portions of the book that still stain the great man’s reputation only perpetuate the mysteries.
Reviews
Brazen: From Long Sleeves to Lingerie by Julia Haart
Angelica Walker-Werth August 10, 2022
Brazen, the story of how Julia Haart became an independent-minded, life-loving woman, is a welcome reminder of how rich and beautiful the world is—and why everyone should be free to enjoy it.
Arts & Culture, Politics & Rights, Reviews
Classified: The Untold Story of Racial Classification in America by David E. Bernstein
Timothy Sandefur July 15, 2022
Racism is premised on the false and immoral idea that people’s minds are functions of their ancestry and, consequently, that a person’s accomplishments are less morally relevant than the color of his skin. But George Mason University law professor David E. Bernstein shows in Classified that racism contains still another layer of incoherence.