Elizabeth Nolan Brown

2 days ago | aol.com | Elizabeth Nolan Brown

The velvet worm, a squishy little predator that looks like the stretch-limo version of a caterpillar, has a whimsical MO: it administers death by Silly String. In the leaf litter of tropical and temperate forests around the world, velvet worms stalk the night on dozens of stubby legs. The pocket-size predator—whose species range from less than half an inch to eight inches long—can barely see, so it bumbles around, hoping to literally bump into an edible bug such as a cricket or a woodlouse.

3 days ago | reason.com | Elizabeth Nolan Brown

Yes, some people feared leaving OneTaste, defense lawyer Jennifer Bonjean admitted on Monday. "There was fear of being kicked out of the group chat." Bonjean's client, Nicole Daedone, is co-founder of the sexual and spiritual wellness company OneTaste. Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz, OneTaste's former head of sales, are on trial for an alleged conspiracy to commit forced labor.

5 days ago | reason.com | Elizabeth Nolan Brown

When people complain about Big Tech, they tend to mean companies like Meta, Google, and X—entities providing free tools and platforms that we can choose whether to use. Much less attention is directed at the tech companies helping the federal government consolidate and analyze data on all of us. Companies like the data analytics firm Palantir, created by Paypal co-founder and Donald Trump supporter Peter Thiel. Palantir has long been connected to government surveillance.

1 week ago | reason.com | Elizabeth Nolan Brown

Swedish authorities have voted to criminalize the purchase of remote sexual services—things like paying someone for pictures and videos through platforms such as OnlyFans or paying someone for a live erotic webcam show. "Sweden says this model 'decriminalises the seller.' But when you criminalise the buyer, you destroy the income, safety, and autonomy of the person selling," the European Sex Workers Rights' Alliance (ESWA) posted on X. "The same thing happens online.

2 weeks ago | reason.com | Elizabeth Nolan Brown

A recent "human trafficking enforcement operation" in Polk County, Florida, led to 244 arrests—albeit none for human trafficking. If this sounds familiar, it's because Polk County is far from alone in rounding up sex workers and their customers under the auspices of stopping human trafficking. And as is so frequently the case, the federal government had a hand in this operation, which authorities dubbed Fool Around and Find Out.