Why Are the British Obsessed with Sheds?

To me—and probably to most Americans—sheds are little crappy booths some people store firewood or tools in. But in the UK, they have a Shed Week and a Shed of the Year contest and fans of sheds, who go around calling themselves "sheddies." I wanted to know more, so I investigated. Full story

Hiding Your Calls and Texts from Big Brother

The Encryption Start-Up Silent Circle Says It Can Restore Your Privacy

Silent Circle is a company that offers a way for individuals and companies to protect their communications from everyone from the NSA to run-of-the-mill identity thieves. They say they don't store your data and that their system is so secure that even the FBI is a customer. Full story

America’s Not-So-Secret Paranoid Underbelly

Chatting with Jesse Walker About His New Book

Free-floating fear and half-baked ideas about what’s REALLY going on have been a more significant part of American history than is generally accepted, according to Jesse Walker’s thorough, meticulously researched book 'The United States of Paranoia.' I recently chatted with Jesse… Full story

Privacy’s Public, Government-Sponsored Death

The idea that there’s a private sphere and a public one and that the government rarely intrudes on the former is hopelessly outdated—the question we should be asking ourselves isn’t how do we stop surveillance; it’s how do we live with it. Full story

Rich Paul Is Appealing His 81-Year Prison Sentence for Selling Pot

A jury found Rich Paul guilty last month and sent him away for a long, long time for a nonviolent crime. But he's appealing—even though he admittedly sold weed to an FBI informant—on the grounds that that jury wasn't properly informed about their ability to acquit him. You can he… Full story

Juggalos Are OK, Cupid

Don’t Be a Tumblr Asshole to People Trying to Find Love

OkCupid Juggalos is a Tumblr devoted to pointing and laughing at people who get panic attacks, work at McDonald's, run possum adoption agencies, and happen to be Insane Clown Posse fans. Why are people cool with it? Full story

How Are We Supposed to Know What the Government Does?

The most important reason that the media exists is to tell the public what’s happening and what the people in power are doing about it. That’s increasingly difficult when the decisions that matter are shrouded in multiple levels of secrecy. Full story

Old People Hate Hipsters, Justin Bieber, and Kurt Cobain, Poll Shows

A Public Policy Polling survey of voters showed that Americans hate Bieber, haven't really heard of Skrillex, and have never downloaded any music illegally. In other news, the average American voter polled in these things is OLD. Full story

Are We There Yet? - The May/June Issue of 'Endtime Magazine'

You’d think it would be pretty fun to write for a magazine where you constantly get to talk about the end of the world. It’d be especially thrilling for you every time a new pope gets announced because, obviously, you get to ask, IS THIS POPE THE LAST, EVIL POPE WHO WILL USHER IN… Full story

The Americans Are Arresting a Lot of Children

The law-enforcement system isn’t designed for children—just about the only thing it can do is send people to jail, which in nearly every case is a horrific overreaction when it comes to kids being dumb. The police can be one of the most destructive forces in the lives of young pe… Full story