Panic | Reason Archives (original) (raw)

Activism

Activists Profiting Off Panic Are Wrong. The World Is Getting Better.

But if they admitted that, they would be out of a job.

John Stossel | 10.30.2024 1:15 PM

Panic

The Panic Over an Imaginary Militia 'Hunting FEMA' Did More Damage Than the Actual Threat

Someone did allegedly threaten first responders, but the panic may have done more damage.

Matthew Petti | 10.25.2024 10:00 AM

War on Terror

The 'Day of Jihad' That Never Came

One year ago, political figures spread a false terrorism panic that made everyone less free—and incited violence against a child.

Matthew Petti | 10.7.2024 8:00 AM

Energy & Environment

How the Media Manufactured Panic Over Bees

About 20 years ago, many American bees did die. Then that steadily diminished—but hysteria in the press continued.

John Stossel | 5.22.2024 10:30 AM

Social Media

The Big Flaws in That Study Suggesting That China Manipulates TikTok Topics

The errors are so glaring that it's hard not to suspect an underlying agenda at work here.

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 1.8.2024 10:25 AM

Climate Change

The Media's Misleading Fearmongering Over Climate Change

"Over the last 20 years, because of temperature rises, we have seen about 116,000 more people die from heat. But 283,000 fewer people die from cold."

John Stossel | 12.13.2023 3:15 PM

Webathon

Help Fight Disinformation About Disinformation: Donate to Reason

Your support makes some of the "riskiest" journalism on the internet possible.

Katherine Mangu-Ward | 12.4.2023 8:00 AM

Pandemic

Don't Bring Back COVID Authoritarianism

People should be free to choose how cautious to be. Mask mandates, lockdowns, and closing schools won't stop the virus.

John Stossel | 8.30.2023 12:30 AM

Climate Change

This Scientist Used To Spread Climate Change Alarmism. Now She's Trying To Debunk It.

The doomsday consensus around climate change is "manufactured," says scientist Judith Curry.

John Stossel | 8.9.2023 12:30 AM

Federal Trade Commission

FTC Investigates OpenAI Over Inaccurate Information From ChatGPT

Plus: Few Americans support full abortion bans, a win for cryptocurrency in Ripple case, and more...

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 7.14.2023 9:46 AM

FDA

Chuck Schumer Panics Over Logan Paul's New Energy Drink

The new energy drink has about as much caffeine as a large Starbucks coffee.

Robby Soave | 7.11.2023 11:59 AM

Joe Biden

Biden Embraces the Fearmongering, Vows To Squash D.C.'s Mild Criminal Justice Reforms

In rebuking the legislation, the president showed that he may not know what's in it.

Billy Binion | 3.3.2023 5:45 PM

Panic

No, the World Is Not Heading Toward 'Mass Extinction'

Despite an apocalyptic media narrative, the modern era has brought much longer lives and the greatest decline in poverty ever.

John Stossel | 1.25.2023 12:30 AM

Cryptocurrencies

Elizabeth Warren's Crypto Bill Targets Financial Freedom, Not Fraud

Senator Warren wants to extend the financial surveillance state cooked up by drug warriors and anti-terrorism fearmongers to cryptocurrencies.

J.D. Tuccille | 12.16.2022 7:00 AM

War on Drugs

Don't Let Police, Media Mislead You About Fentanyl Exposure Overdoses

Another officer claims to have been laid out just by being close to the drug. That’s not how it works.

Scott Shackford | 12.15.2022 1:05 PM

Drugs

Undeterred by Past Failures, the Press Goes All in on 'Rainbow Fentanyl' Panic

Even though no one's trying to give your kid rainbow fentanyl this Halloween, it hasn't stopped journalists from repeating the myth.

Emma Camp | 10.6.2022 2:00 PM

Geoengineering

The Fight To Stop Research Into a Cheap, Effective Backup Plan for Climate Change

Why are activists trying to stop research into a promising backup plan to handle climate change?

Ronald Bailey | 9.25.2022 6:22 AM

Environmentalism

After 53 Earth Days, Society Still Hasn't Collapsed

The Limits to Growth is still “as wrongheaded as it is possible to be.”

Ronald Bailey | 4.22.2022 3:15 PM

Encryption

The U.K. Government's Latest Encryption Fearmongering Relies on Child Sex-Trafficking Panics

British police want greater surveillance powers and they’re willing to destroy everybody’s cybersecurity to get them.

Scott Shackford | 1.18.2022 2:10 PM

Social Media

People Have Been Panicking About New Media Since Before the Printing Press

Politicians and activists claim social media is turning us into zombies. But new technologies have been greeted with skepticism since the dawn of time.

Robby Soave | 9.29.2021 10:30 AM

Book Reviews

When Kidnappings Were All the Rage

With panic in the air, federal law enforcement seized the moment.

Katrina Gulliver | 6.26.2021 6:00 AM

Trans

Tennessee Orders Private Businesses To Warn About Possible Trans People in the Bathrooms

Fearmongering culture panic leads to a new dumb low.

Scott Shackford | 5.18.2021 12:00 PM

Brickbats

Brickbat: Not Feeling the Love Here

Charles Oliver | 2.23.2021 4:00 AM

Moral Panic

Be Skeptical of Stories About TikTok 'Benadryl Challenge' Overdoses

One very sketchy story about an Oklahoma City teen’s tragic death has gone viral.

Scott Shackford | 9.4.2020 4:50 PM

E-cigarettes

Scary Stories About Vaping Aren't Helping Anyone

Feel free to reject the advice of this terrible new book.

Jacob Grier | 5.30.2020 6:00 AM

China

There Is No China Crisis

Unless we cause one by overreacting to Asia's changing political and economic landscape

Daniel W. Drezner | 4.25.2020 6:00 AM

Science

The Vaping Panic Is a Major Setback for Public Health

"There's no question public health would benefit dramatically if everybody switched completely to e-cigarettes."

Jacob Sullum | 12.26.2019 6:00 AM

Reason Roundup

Everyone Is Confused About Trump's Executive Order on Judaism

Plus: the foundations bankrolling bad tech policy, they is the word of the year, and more...

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 12.11.2019 9:50 AM

Panic

Pessimists Archive Podcaster Jason Feifer Debunks Past Panics About Elevators, Novels, and Bicycles

Why do new things reliably freak us out?

Nick Gillespie | 10.27.2019 6:00 AM

Vaping

Vaping Panic Ignores How E-Cigarettes Save Lives

H.L. Mencken defined Puritanism as "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy." The rub against vaping, and other smokeless tobacco products, is that people enjoy it.

Steven Greenhut | 10.4.2019 8:00 AM