I have a new op/ed for the Oregonian up this week on the unexpected success of the Black Lives Matter protests shifting public opinion and the failure of anti-“big government” conservatives to contend with police brutality:

Despite some progress on the right, Republicans still lag far behind other groups in support for Black Lives Matter, the Pew survey notes. This is a conspicuous failing for a party that styles itself in opposition to “big government.” The videos of police brutality that have flooded social media document big government in action. No-knock warrants of the type that led to the killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, part of a drug war that, according to the Drug Policy Alliance, costs the United States nearly $50 billion every year, are big government in action. The predatory policing of Ferguson, where the police department treated black residents as a source of revenue rather than as equal citizens, is big government in action. The left-leaning politics of Black Lives Matter is no excuse for conservatives to avert their eyes from these flagrant abuses.

From the June print issue of Reason, now online, I review the new Dr. Oz-endorsed book Quit Vaping, which doubles as a look at how the media skews perceptions of e-cigarettes:

One shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but in this case the text lives up to expectations. The opening section, “Lies and Facts,” offers a preponderance of the former. Initially I attempted to keep track of misleading statements and critical omissions by marking them with Post-its. By page 30, such a thicket had accumulated that I gave up. Adequately critiquing Lamm’s selective reading of the scientific literature would be like trying to perform a live fact-check of a Trump campaign rally; the torrent of error is too much for any one person to handle. This section is a greatest hits collection of anti-vaping stories, recounting every possible danger and dismissing every possible benefit. In that sense, it provides a useful look at how coverage of the topic has become increasingly fear-based.

I also have a couple of recent lifestyle pieces for Inside Hook. First up, the case for making your own tortillas at home:

Baking sourdough bread has become the de rigueur culinary endeavor for food lovers stuck at home during the coronavirus shutdown. Perhaps you’re tempted to join in on the activity, but there are a few obstacles. The spike in demand has made flour a scarce commodity. More importantly, making sourdough looks hard.

 If, like me, you’d like to take on a slightly less daunting but nonetheless immensely satisfying cooking project, I suggest switching grains from wheat to corn, and making your own tortillas.

And next, an article about Irish Coffee, both how to make it the classic way and how to change things up:

As a coffee purist, I generally don’t like adding anything to my coffee — not even booze, despite my career in cocktails. My routine is typically several cups of black coffee throughout the day, spirits and cocktails at night, and never the twain shall meet. But I can’t deny that coffee cocktails do have their place, and as coronavirus shutdowns and social distancing have thrown schedules into disarray, I’ve been enjoying them more often.

Lastly, I’m continuing to send out my semi-weekly Substack newsletter. It’s free to subscribe and features my own writing, links to topical stories, and tips for making social distancing more bearable (i.e. cocktail recipes). Subscribe here.