Society

Why the Most Important Political Philosophy of the Last 300 Years Is the One Nobody Understands

Our systems are collapsing, let's design what comes next. Join our salon of utopian thinkers to reinvent governance, reimagine capitalism, and architect a better future. Click to read The Elysian, by Elle Griffin, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.

Political parties have locked the public out of parliament. Citizens' assemblies are keys we need to unlock democracy.

Some fine and welcomed news from the Pacific Northwest

Freedom, liberty and independence are human rights. But they depend on responsibility. Responsibility to others, to our future, to the community. Responsibility for our actions and our choices. The…

The strongest defense can be summed up in just two words.

Not-my-favorite-guy-in-the-world Matt Yglesias talking about what Republicans actually mean when they talk about cutting Medicaid: I think you could see there’s a mismatch in the way Mike Johnson characterizes this. He talks about: We’ve got all these able-bodied young men who are sitting on the couch all day

While the Professional Moderates Clutch Their Pearls

I see three levels at which we could try to fix cultural drift: specific cultural trends, cultural evolution process parameters, and meta mechanism/institutions.

As generative artificial intelligence tools continue to proliferate, pushback against the technology and its negative impacts grows stronger.

A repost from the Noahpinion archives, with a few updates.

We have to decide which story we believe in.

On this Fourth of July, we declare independence again

A couple weeks ago I linked to a conversation that discussed how social media services can make us think that everything is a 50/50 issue. It also gives us the impression that the angriest, mots extreme voices represent everyone on either side of every issue. This week, Hank Green

Everything else about it

How the Oligarchic Rejection of Noblesse Oblige Reveals the Battle for the Soul of Civilization

Here I go again, streaming my conscious self, and speaking to you in the form of my written confession. I am here to reveal myself. Or perhaps I am only thinking once more, out loud, and with no li…

President Trump’s decision to strike Iran has sparked debate in Congress over the executive branch’s ability to take military action without authorization. The strikes Trump ordered last week were in line with recent precedent. But some critics and supporters alike are calling for restrictions to his ability to take further action in Iran. House Speaker Mike Johnson called the debate ill-timed, and openly questioned the constitutionality of the War Powers Act. That act requires the president to seek Congressional approval before declarations of war. Is this another battleground in the fight over legislative checks and balances?Trump’s assistance with a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran led to a warm reception at a NATO security summit later in the week. The summit was planned to discuss the war in Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and Iran, and other alliance concerns. Much of the focus landed on the ceasefire and an agreement by members to commit 5% of their GDP to defense. The new spending mark was seen as a major concession to Trump, who had threatened since his first term to leave the alliance if it wasn’t met. But was the decision made more for self-preservation than appeasement?Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, won the Democratic primary in New York City’s mayoral race. Progressives are pointing to his victory as a beacon for Democrats nationwide to push further to the left. Does that ignore the fact that he ran against the scandal-ridden former governor Andrew Cuomo?

Back in the days, before child labor laws were introduced and before it became conventional wisdom that no young person could develop proper character

Above, Joe Rogan raises a point of contention about climate change, pretending to have read about a study in The Washington Post that, he says, raises questions about human caused climate change.In…

July 1, 2025

From supermarkets to cafés and public transportation, everyday payments are made using WeChat or Alipay, two apps that have become essential to daily life in the country.

In defense circles, “cutting” the Pentagon budget has once again become a topic of conversation.  Americans should not confuse that talk with reality.  Any cuts exacted will at most reduce the rate of growth.  The

In 2019, President Trump tweeted: "I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies." Today, the Trumps are all over crypto.There are memecoins for Trump and the first lady. They own a stablecoin, a bitcoin mining operation, and a crypto financial services company. And, at the Bitcoin 2025 conference, Trump's media group announced they're raising 2.5 billion dollars from investors to buy bitcoin.At that same conference, speakers included two White House advisors, two sons of the US president, the son of the U.S. Commerce Secretary, and a Trump appointee to the Securities and Exchange Commission. For a cryptocurrency built on independence from big government, this was a swerve.So, what happens when the President of the United States showers his love on the crypto community ... while also becoming a crypto entrepreneur himself? We follow along as Trump Inc.'s Ilya Marritz and Andrea Bernstein spend three days at the Las Vegas conference center where convicts are cheered, oversight and regulation are booed, and the separation of crypto and state no longer applies.Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Have you ever heard Sam Altman speak? I’m serious, have you ever heard this man say words from his mouth?  Here is but one of the trenchant insights from Sam Altman in his agonizing 37-minute-long podcast conversation with his brother Jack Altman from last week: “I think there will

The Uncontained Ego of the Titans of Tech

Today's main thing is about my recent trip to visit family in the suburbs of Atlanta. Did I manage to somehow shut the fuck up the whole time? Did I have an existential crisis in the airport? Well let's find out down below. I may have mentioned that my next