All Hail the New Flesh

For all its decorative asides about predatory male sexuality, ‘The Substance’ is most coherently understood as a morality tale about the folly of feminist illusions.

Charlotte Allen

1 Nov 2024 · 11 min read

Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle in The Substance (Coralie Fargeat, 2024)

Watching writer-director Coralie Fargeat’s new film The Substance, I couldn’t decide whether it was supposed to be a body-horror movie or a deliciously funny All About Eve catfight about an ageing star named Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) who is outraged to discover that she is being replaced by a younger and lovelier version of herself named Sue (Margaret Qualley). What makes the film such fun is that it manages to be both.

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Religion: A Bad Prescription for America

Though faith may provide comfort to some, it cannot produce reliable facts about nature that can be used to repair a divided populace.

Jerry A. Coyne

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Saving the Animals

Assuring the long-term future of Earth’s wildlife requires more economic and technological development, not less.

Saul Zimet

13 Mar 2025 · 13 min read

Peter Welsh, an older man in a suit, faces demonstrators who are holding a banner reading, "Put US back to work."

The Political Foundations of the DOGE Scam

The Trump/Musk administration’s approach to cutting costs makes good political sense in the short-run. But from a longer-run governing perspective, it is a recipe for disaster.

R. Shep Melnick

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Young woman in keffiyeh shouts into megaphone.

Hamas and Feminist Dissonance

Forced to choose between believing the claims of Israeli women and maintaining solidarity with Palestinians, Western academic feminists chose the latter.

Sonya Michel

11 Mar 2025 · 20 min read

Group photo of professors in front of an AAUP banne

An Unsettling Approach to Academic Freedom

The American Association of University Professors once defended heterodox thinkers. It now supports mandatory DEI statements and calls rival organisations right-wing stooges.