Popular Information $6 / month

Popular Information is an independent accountability journalism platform focusing on political and social issues in the U.S. It uncovers underreported stories, critiques media coverage, and provides fact-checks, with recurring themes including racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, political corruption, media analysis, and the influence of corporations and wealthy individuals in politics.

Accountability Journalism Political Corruption Racial Justice LGBTQ+ Rights Media Critique Corporate Influence Fact-Checking Wealth and Politics

The hottest Substack posts of Popular Information

And their main takeaways

Pressed by Moms for Liberty, Florida school district adds clothing to illustrations in classic children's books

12854 implied HN points • 01 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Literature Censorship Children's Books Education Parenting
  1. Florida school district adds clothing to illustrations in classic children's books due to challenges from Moms for Liberty
  2. Challenges included concerns about nudity and obscenity in books like 'In The Night Kitchen'
  3. Alterations to books in libraries raise questions about censorship and the rights of readers
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Top Republican, flush with corporate cash, embraces racist conspiracy theory

9670 implied HN points • 08 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Conspiracy theory Corporate Influence Racism Political Donations
  1. Proponents of the great replacement theory believe in a racist myth about white Americans and non-white immigrants.
  2. The great replacement theory has inspired violent attacks, showing the dangerous consequences of this conspiracy.
  3. Some corporations publicly support a path to citizenship for Dreamers while donating to politicians who endorse racist conspiracy theories.

Congressman urging Texas to ignore the Supreme Court is backed by major law firms

11203 implied HN points • 31 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Government Law Elections Policy Campaign Finance
  1. Congressman Chip Roy is urging Texas to ignore the Supreme Court due to a specific ruling he opposes
  2. Major law firms and corporations are financially supporting Roy's re-election campaign
  3. Other Republican politicians like Oklahoma Governor Stitt and Congressman Higgins have also challenged the authority of the Supreme Court

Florida school district removes dictionaries from libraries, citing law championed by DeSantis

15704 implied HN points • 10 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Education First Amendment Book Bans
  1. Florida school district removes dictionaries from libraries due to a law by DeSantis
  2. Over 2800 books including dictionaries and biographies have been removed from Escambia County school libraries
  3. Authors, parents, and organizations are fighting back against the book removals, alleging violations of the First Amendment

Musk uses megaphone to promote misleading claims about voting, push for severe restrictions

13994 implied HN points • 11 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Voting Misinformation
  1. Elon Musk has been spreading false and misleading claims about voting, advocating for severe restrictions like eliminating early voting and mail-in ballots.
  2. Musk's opinions on non-citizen voting and mail-in ballots are not supported by facts or studies on election fraud and security.
  3. Claims by Musk promoting Voter ID requirements as a way to enhance election security overlook the barriers such requirements pose, especially for marginalized communities.

Republican officials threaten to remove Biden from the ballot

13915 implied HN points • 08 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Elections Immigration Constitution Media Democracy
  1. Republican officials are threatening to remove President Biden from the ballot due to his immigration policies.
  2. The threat is based on a white nationalist conspiracy theory and applying the 14th Amendment to disqualify Trump from the ballot.
  3. Media outlets are discussing the implications of removing Trump from the ballot and the constitutional requirements for presidential candidates.

The least we can do

9139 implied HN points • 24 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Tax policy Social programs Legislation Bipartisanship Opinion Pieces
  1. The Child Tax Credit was expanded in 2021, leading to a significant drop in child poverty.
  2. There are efforts to extend and expand the Child Tax Credit again, but face opposition from corporate lobbyists.
  3. The proposed expansion of the Child Tax Credit is tied to extensions of business tax cuts, which are critiqued for benefiting profitable companies.

Getting serious about wage theft

6918 implied HN points • 07 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy Legislation Labor Rights
  1. Over $203 million in wages were stolen from workers in New York between 2017 and 2021, with the most theft happening in industries like restaurants, health care, and construction.
  2. New York lawmakers are introducing bills to combat wage theft by suspending licenses, certificates, and issuing stop-work orders for businesses that violate wage laws.
  3. States like California and Colorado are also taking action against wage theft by holding accountable large companies and subcontractors who exploit workers by stealing wages.

Moms for Liberty activists starting taxpayer-funded charter school

10082 implied HN points • 16 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Education Conservatism Activism Political Influence
  1. Moms for Liberty activists are starting a taxpayer-funded charter school with close ties to a right-wing curriculum
  2. The charter school avoids state oversight, raising concerns about accountability and quality of education
  3. Erskine College sponsoring multiple charter schools, including the Moms for Liberty founded academy, for financial support

The fleecing of America's hourly workers

10947 implied HN points • 09 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Labor Rights Enforcement
  1. More than 200,000 hourly workers in the US are owed $163.3 million in back pay due to wage theft violations.
  2. Industries with high instances of wage theft include food services, health care, and construction.
  3. Many workers cannot recover their lost wages due to binding arbitration agreements that prevent them from filing claims or participating in class action lawsuits.

UPDATE: Woman charged with homicide of Mika Westwolf 

19890 implied HN points • 24 Oct 23
📰 News Crime Justice Indigenous Investigation Media
  1. A woman has been charged with the homicide of Mika Westwolf after initially facing lesser charges
  2. Investigation into Mika Westwolf's death gained national attention after being under-resourced and misfocused initially
  3. Mika Westwolf's mother engaged in a campaign raising awareness about her daughter's case and other missing and murdered Indigenous women

Scholastic's "bigot button"

14151 implied HN points • 16 Oct 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Censorship Education Bias Diversity Legislation
  1. Scholastic faces criticism for potentially excluding books featuring people of color and LGBTQ characters from book fairs.
  2. Scholastic claims to segregate books due to pending legislation in U.S. states, risking exclusion for teachers and librarians.
  3. There is a backlash against Scholastic from publishers like Brave Books that promote different values and books for children.

UPDATE: The truth about Target 

11556 implied HN points • 31 Oct 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Legislation Retail Senators Statistics Crime
  1. Target closed stores due to theft, but data showed lower levels of theft in those locations.
  2. Retailers like Target may be using theft to cover up other issues affecting their businesses.
  3. The cost of organized retail crime is a small fraction of total retail losses, with operational errors and employee theft accounting for the majority of shrink.

UPDATE: A case study in unethical journalism

14406 implied HN points • 04 Oct 23
📰 News Journalism Media Ethics LGBTQ+ Education Credibility
  1. Popular Information reported on a school district in Florida instructing to remove books with LGBTQ characters.
  2. Social media played a role in spreading the report which was later confirmed by various media outlets.
  3. There was controversy surrounding a news report from certain TV stations presenting a different story and eventually taking down the report.

America's zombie "crime wave"

12166 implied HN points • 17 Oct 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Political Commentary
  1. Many people believe there is a crime wave in America, but data shows a different story.
  2. Violent crime rates have actually been decreasing, with some of the most significant drops in modern history.
  3. While property crime has increased, wage theft is a more extensive issue that often goes unnoticed.

North Carolina Republicans create "secret police force"

13718 implied HN points • 02 Oct 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Legislation Government oversight Transparency Accountability Partisanship
  1. North Carolina Republicans have created a 'secret police force' through a legislative committee with extraordinary investigative powers.
  2. The new rules by North Carolina Republicans could potentially compromise privacy, attorney-client privilege, and accountability.
  3. Changes in public records laws in North Carolina give lawmakers more authority over what documents are considered public, raising concerns about transparency and accountability.

No Labels makes its choice

13050 implied HN points • 03 Oct 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Election Campaign Finance Political parties Government regulations
  1. No Labels, a centrist organization, has been supporting Republicans and conservative Democrats for its potential 2024 presidential candidate.
  2. No Labels faced challenges in Arizona when two candidates filed declarations to run in their primary elections.
  3. No Labels has kept its donors secret and could face pressure to disclose them if forced to comply with state laws.

Charles Koch's audacious new $5 billion political scheme

11419 implied HN points • 11 Oct 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Campaign Finance
  1. Billionaire Charles Koch exploited a loophole to donate $5 billion for political advocacy without paying gift or capital gains taxes.
  2. Koch's rebranded image as non-partisan is contradicted by his continued extensive financial support for Republican candidates aligned with Trump.
  3. Another billionaire, Barre Seid, used a similar loophole to avoid taxes and donate $1.65 billion to a political advocacy group.

Bob Menendez, Al Franken, and the presumption of innocence

11419 implied HN points • 25 Sep 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Legal Ethics Corruption Scandal Government
  1. Bob Menendez is currently facing allegations of accepting bribes in exchange for official favors.
  2. Despite the presumption of innocence, Senate Democrats have called for Menendez to resign over the corruption allegations.
  3. In contrast, when faced with similar allegations, Senate Democrats swiftly called for the resignation of Al Franken.

Top North Carolina judge faces potential sanctions for talking about racial discrimination

12539 implied HN points • 31 Aug 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Judicial system Free speech Investigation Political Bias
  1. North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls is facing sanctions for speaking out about racial discrimination within the court system.
  2. Earls filed a lawsuit against the Judicial Standards Commission asserting her right to free speech as an elected Justice.
  3. There is a dispute over whether Earls' comments on systemic issues in the judiciary constitute protected political speech.