What’s on our minds this month? Rising illiberalism on the left and the right, crypto-fuelled political activism, prostitution decriminalization efforts in D.C. and New York, Democratic presidential candidates, Chelsea Manning’s ongoing incarceration, threats to free speech on the internet, Juneteenth celebrations, appalling conditions in migrant detention centers, occupational licensing for “eyelash technicians,” whether Ted Cruz and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are actually serious about over-the-counter birth control, and more…
Top Picks for June
• MUST READ: “America’s Other Independence Day“: Zuri Davis reflects on the meaning—historically and today—of Juneteeth.
• THREAD: Evan Greer on the continuing plight of political prisoner Chelsea Manning
• WATCH: “The War on Backpage.com Is a War on Sex Workers“: a new short documentary from Paul Dietrich and Reason TV, featuring Backpage founders James Larkin and Michael Lacey, sex worker rights activist Siouxsie Q, child sex trafficking victims advocate Dr. Lois Lee, and Feminists for Liberty’s Elizabeth Nolan Brown.
• LISTEN: Robby Soave (associate editor, Reason), Jane Coaston (senior politics reporter, Vox), and Greg Lukianoff (president and CEO, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education talk to Cato’s Jason Kuznicki about free speech on college campuses and Soave’s new book, Panic Attack: Young Radicals In the Age of Trump. Audio here.
Photo of the Month
More Libertarian Feminist News & Commentary
• A new moral panic targets moms. The Appeal has details.
• Everything you need to know about Tulsi Gabbard, via Kerry Howley and New York magazine.
• Everything you need to know about Kamala Harris, via Elizabeth Nolan Brown and Reason magazine.
• “Having completed a PhD in economics, Sallie James went from advising the Australian government to working for an American libertarian think-tank. She shares her views on female role models, making mistakes and changing the conversation around motherhood” with British magazine The Fold.
• Consenting to be paid for sex is still consenting, explains Maggie McNeill.