Information has always been a valuable resource. For thousands of years, codemakers have struggled to hide secrets—and codebreakers have worked just as hard to find them. Codes have decided the results of wars and the fates of kings and queens, who historically relied on secret communication to keep sensitive messages out of the wrong hands. […]
The Two Faces of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince
In Saudi Arabia, crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud is expected to succeed his 86-year-old father, King Salman. (In practical terms, MBS is already in charge.) The West is watching as Joe Biden’s team negotiates with the Saudis about the terms of the leaders’ first talk, which is expected in the coming months. Over […]
The Conservative Manifesto
Marked by civil unrest and shaped by the Cold War, the 1960s was a tumultuous time in the United States. People often associate that decade with liberal counterculture, but it was also an important and formative time for American conservatives. Enter Barry Goldwater, a Republican Senator who decided that what his party needed was a […]
What’s Hidden on Hunter’s Hard Drive?
In 2020, deep in a depression after his brother’s death, Hunter Biden left his laptop at a repair shop and never came back. The contents of the device were shocking: thousands of emails, text messages, photos, and videos detailing Hunter’s drug use, love affairs, and dodgy business deals. The details were too juicy to keep […]
The Man Behind the Conspiracy Theories
Before he became the subject of all those strange conspiracy theories, George Soros was best known as an honest-to-goodness businessperson and international philanthropist. At age 91, he still has billions, but that’s not even the most interesting thing about him. He survived Nazi Germany before he ever became a student of economics. His early brush […]
Inside the House of War
According to Islamic religious law, the world is made up of two parts: the house of Islam and the house of war. This rule came in handy for non-Muslim rulers who lived in the time of the Ottoman Empire, which lasted for more than six centuries. As long as opponents accepted the Ottoman sultan as […]
Is it Fair to Judge the Past By Modern Standards?
Nearly 75 years after his death, Mohandas Gandhi remains one of the most influential figures in human history. Known for his philosophy of nonviolence and for liberating India from British colonial rule, Gandhi has been an inspiration to some of our most important civil rights luminaries, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But if you […]
The Dangers of Tracking Drug Lords
Mexican author and journalist Anabel Hernandez already knew that her government was corrupt. But a horrible family tragedy gave her the courage she needed to take her reporting to the next level. Outraged by authorities who told her that they would only investigate her father’s murder if her family paid a bribe, Hernandez redoubled her […]
The Human Cost of the Supply Chain
Three miles under the water’s surface, on the quiet bed of the Atlantic Ocean, an enormous American cargo ship came to its final resting point. El Faro sank to the bottom of the sea after it sailed straight into a hurricane in 2015. All 33 crew members died—one of the worst tragedies in modern maritime […]
Where the White House Went Wrong
Donald Trump’s White House endured a great deal of criticism for how it handled its response to the pandemic. Now one of Trump’s closest public health advisers, Dr. Scott Atlas, has come forward with a controversial rebuttal to those claims. When Atlas was brought on board the Coronavirus Task Force in July 2020, he was […]
