Eric Shear

When Anne Duke flipped her cards after calling Phil Hellmuth in the 2004 World Series of Poker, the world discovered what she already knew—she was about to win the $2 million championship.

“It is not possible to experiment with a society and just drop the experiment whenever we choose. The experiment enters into the life of the society and never can be got out again.” —William Graham Sumner, Laissez-Faire

In 1942, the Los Angeles Times took to its editorial page to argue for the imprisonment of American citizens who looked a certain way. A racist editor hadn’t suddenly taken over the paper, and it wasn’t a commentary on crime or law and order. The remains of Pearl Harbor were still smoldering and anyone who looked Japanese was a suspect.

In politics, ambition is like water: you need some to survive, but too much and you’ll drown.

Used to be, when Detroit flexed its muscle, we all got stronger.

If you really want to get ahead in politics, you need a heroic story.

When Peter Douglas, longtime chair of the California Coastal Commission (CCC), died in 2012, the accolades flowed like wine. Though a state-level official, he was prestigious enough to land a New York Times obituary lauding him as a “sentry of California’s coast.” The same obit quoted a colleague who dubbed Douglas “the world’s greatest bureaucratic street fighter.” That was intended as a compliment, but the description also suggested something less savory about Douglas’ approach: Like a street fighter, he was willing to fight dirty if he thought it was the way to win.

There is a growing chorus of academics, politicians, and activists around the world today espousing the belief that, while capitalism and individual liberty have made the world richer, wealth has come at the expense of equality, compassion, civility, and morality.

There aren't many positive depictions of property rights in our culture.

Hongkong is boiling.

Kanye West is one of the most famous hip hop artists and fashion designers in the world.

When I was a child, my home was my courtroom.