The hottest Identity politics Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top World Politics Topics

What's wrong with Pride

Disaffected Newsletter • 899 implied HN points • 12 Jul 24
🎭️ Culture Identity politics
  1. Pride started as a movement for legal rights, but it also involved a lot of partying and wild behavior among gay men.
  2. The gay community naturally had a mix of ideas that made it vulnerable to more extreme views from trans and queer groups.
  3. The changes in the Pride movement weren't forced from the outside; they were expected developments within the community.

how to tell if you are the problem

bad cattitude • 206 implied HN points • 03 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. Ask yourself one simple question: can you remain friends with someone who holds a significant political or social view you disagree with? If the answer is no, that’s a warning that your beliefs may have hardened into dogma that damages relationships and social cohesion.
  2. When a political faction gains unchecked power it often radicalizes and pushes ideology into institutions like schools, provoking backlash and deeper polarization; both left and right can do this and ideology-as-identity fuels censorship, purity tests, and broken ties.
  3. The cure is humility, honest questioning, and practical problem‑solving while preserving relationships across disagreement, but there are moral boundaries—people who advocate or seek to impose extreme harms (e.g., child slavery or forced child marriage) are rightly excluded and resisted.

Wokeness Is the Psychic Epidemic Carl Jung Warned About

Heterodox STEM • 362 implied HN points • 25 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Identity politics
  1. Wokeness is framed as a social-level mental health crisis that spreads like a psychic epidemic. It promotes reality-distorting beliefs, moral splitting, and scapegoating.
  2. Social media and institutional incentives amplify this dynamic by rewarding outrage and victimhood over calm, accurate thinking. That amplification helps explain rising anxiety and depression among young people.
  3. The proposed remedies are protecting free speech, encouraging personal responsibility, and rebuilding stabilizing communities or parallel institutions. These steps aim to anchor truth, reduce moral panic, and restore psychological resilience.

2025: A Jewish Perspective

In My Tribe • 622 implied HN points • 24 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. Israel wants peace but faces deep rejectionism from militant movements that refuse a Jewish state, so responsibility for many civilian deaths lies with groups like Hamas rather than Israel.
  2. Older right-leaning Jews welcome moves against campus antisemitism and DEI and appreciate strong US support for Israel, but they fear heavy-handed tactics could alienate allies and that American backing may not be durable.
  3. Rising antisemitism reflects a broader ideological crisis where Jews become scapegoats, and the suggested remedy is stronger security measures — more intelligence, strict law enforcement, and aggressive action against terrorists — rather than just education.

Harris is flanking Trump on white male outreach

Jeff Giesea • 738 implied HN points • 06 Aug 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. Kamala Harris's choice of Tim Walz as her running mate shows a strategy to appeal to straight white men. This move is seen as a way to reach a demographic that typically supports Trump.
  2. There is a belief that Walz's relatable personality and image could attract swing voters who might be on the fence about their political choices. Even small changes in voting patterns could have a big impact in the election.
  3. Harris could further connect with men by addressing their issues directly, which may help her campaign. Speaking on topics relevant to modern males could challenge the narrative and attract more support.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

L’affaire Dokoupil: Is Ta-Nehisi Coates deeply ignorant, a bigoted antisemite, or both?

Carolina Curmudgeon • 59 implied HN points • 12 Oct 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. Ta-Nehisi Coates faced criticism for his views on Israel in a recent book, which some believe are biased and factually incorrect.
  2. Tony Dokoupil, the CBS host who questioned Coates, was admonished by CBS News, sparking a debate about media standards and questioning important figures.
  3. The discussion around Coates' statements raises concerns about the portrayal of Israel, with some arguing that he presents a one-sided narrative that ignores broader context.

Kendrick Lamar: Talented Musician, Provocative Figure, Emperor of the Whites

Freddie deBoer • 10612 implied HN points • 12 Feb 25
🎭️ Culture Identity politics
  1. Kendrick Lamar has achieved great success and is highly praised, but his status as an 'underdog' feels ironic given his fame and accolades. It shows how people love to label even the most successful artists as outsiders.
  2. The way people view music is changing; taste is now tied to moral values and public opinions. It's hard for individuals to just enjoy music without it being linked to their identity or politics.
  3. Many white people embrace Kendrick Lamar's art to appear morally good, which can overshadow the true appreciation of his talent. This dynamic is complex and reflects a broader issue in how we celebrate Black artists.

"If a white person said that"

Disaffected Newsletter • 2557 implied HN points • 08 Apr 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. Some people say harsh things about white people that wouldn't be acceptable if said about others. This creates a double standard in society.
  2. Many white people agree with negative views about themselves, thinking it will make them seem better to others.
  3. The idea that white people hold all the power in society is outdated, and it's important to address current attitudes that accept harmful statements against them.

Judith Butler with a Pretty Damn Good Indictment of Identity Politics!

Freddie deBoer • 12623 implied HN points • 17 Dec 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. The election results suggest that identity politics didn't cost Democrats the vote. Voters were more concerned about issues like the economy and immigration.
  2. People get frustrated when they're talked down to, and this negativity can hurt political movements. It's important to engage people without making them feel judged.
  3. Criticism of identity politics isn't just from the right; many thinkers on the left have also raised valid concerns. There's a need for honest reflection on how these ideas have shaped recent political events.

The Jewish Parents Who Raised Mamdani Voters

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 677 implied HN points • 18 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. Zohran Mamdani won New York City's mayoral race, creating a historic and contentious political moment.
  2. His victory has deepened generational and ideological splits in families—especially Jewish households—where debates over Zionism and accusations of antisemitism have become personal.
  3. Young supporters feel triumphant and validated for their activism, even as many continue to clash with parents and relatives at the dinner table about politics.

The Intersectionality of Nick Fuentes

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 667 implied HN points • 10 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. He gives disaffected white men a clear sense of identity and purpose by promoting an explicit, militant white-centered ethos.
  2. He openly praises extremist leaders and actively seeks to organize whites as a political bloc, arguing that white political consciousness should be normalized.
  3. His ideology mixes elements from different political currents—borrowing race-focused ideas from the left—and has been amplified by mainstream media figures, increasing its reach.

no agency without responsibility

bad cattitude • 230 implied HN points • 16 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Identity politics
  1. These angry, victim-focused ideologies are best seen as symptoms of a memetic infection that flourished once society's cultural immune system weakened, not as the work of a single conspirator. They cluster because weakened norms let many similar bad ideas spread at once.
  2. The deeper root is a loss of individual agency and accountability that trains people to blame external systems and seek fixes or rewards from authorities instead of taking responsibility for actions and outcomes. This creates dependence, entitlement, and a politics of grievance.
  3. The cure is rebuilding agency by raising and educating children to be responsible, resilient, and autonomous—letting them take risks, fail, learn, and face real consequences. Restoring those habits of self-governance in families and schools will undermine the grievance economy and strengthen social resilience.

Political Psychology Links, 12/30/2025

In My Tribe • 349 implied HN points • 30 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. Social media use and a lack of historical grounding are pushing many young adults to treat politics as a form of self-expression, which helps explain growing attraction to extremist ideas.
  2. Centrist elites are reacting to populist pressure by adopting more authoritarian, technocratic measures to defend the status quo, sometimes at the cost of democratic norms.
  3. Politics is split between a universalist, creed-based outlook and a nationalist, particularist outlook, and resolving it requires honoring both individual dignity and cultural heritage; current elite status signaling (the “woke” model) should be replaced by a pro-social, work-focused status strategy, possibly involving major reforms in higher education.

Very Weird Ideas About What It Means to Respect Someone's Political Project

Freddie deBoer • 5754 implied HN points • 24 Feb 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. The term 'woke' often means caring about other people, but some feel this definition flattens complex ideas about social justice. It can sound condescending when simplified.
  2. Many people work hard to understand and advocate for social justice, and their efforts deserve more respect than just being labeled as 'nice.'
  3. Using praise that oversimplifies someone's political values can be frustrating for those deeply invested in their beliefs, making it feel dismissive rather than supportive.

Uh-Oh! Political Antisemitism Smears Have Stopped Working!

Caitlin’s Newsletter • 2887 implied HN points • 29 Jun 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. Antisemitism accusations seem to be losing their effectiveness in politics. This is seen with the recent success of a pro-Palestinian candidate in New York City.
  2. There is a noticeable increase in public anti-Muslim sentiment, which highlights a troubling shift in discourse. This can be linked to the political landscape and global events.
  3. Criticism of Israel is becoming more accepted in America. Some believe that pressing these issues may help prevent a potential conflict with Iran.

Canada the Theocracy: How a “Secular” Nation Adopted a State Religion

Heterodox STEM • 241 implied HN points • 11 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Identity politics
  1. Canada is portrayed as having turned social justice into a de facto state religion, with rituals, moral policing, and enforced orthodoxy that resemble the features of a theocracy.
  2. This ideological dominance is said to undermine meritocracy and institutions, harming education, hiring, and long-term prosperity — with examples like non-merit admissions, DEI hiring rules, weak growth projections, and housing shortages.
  3. The proposed remedy is to restore a genuinely secular state that confines government to core functions (safety, borders, institutions) and preserves space for diverse beliefs, debate, and merit-based decision making.

the low identity agitariat is the true enemy of liberty

bad cattitude • 241 implied HN points • 05 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. Many activists build their identity around slogans and group membership instead of their own beliefs, so they react emotionally and reject facts that threaten that identity.
  2. That externalized identity creates cult-like, collectivist dynamics that resist reason, justify harmful actions, and are easier to exploit through education and social systems.
  3. The way forward is to dismantle the institutions and practices that reinforce identity-based groupthink and rebuild schools and civic institutions that promote individual thinking, personal responsibility, and liberty.

The Battle for Britishness

Wrong Side of History • 579 implied HN points • 19 Nov 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. National identity can be complex and isn't just about where someone is born. It's important to consider cultural and ancestral backgrounds when discussing identity.
  2. In Britain, the idea of what it means to be 'British' has changed over time and is now something many people are debating. It's not as clear as it once was.
  3. Public discussions about nationality can be controversial, especially when they involve current issues like immigration and cultural integration. People's views on these topics can often lead to heated disagreements.

No One Tells You What It Costs to Climb Upward

Rob Henderson's Newsletter • 2272 implied HN points • 20 Jul 25
🎭️ Culture Identity politics
  1. Upward mobility can be tough and comes with hidden costs. People often don’t talk about the emotional and social challenges that come when you try to improve your circumstances.
  2. Childhood experiences, especially trauma, can have lasting effects on how people navigate adult life. Understanding this can help foster more empathy for those in difficult situations.
  3. Educational and social systems can sometimes create barriers rather than opportunities. Many talented individuals struggle due to circumstances beyond their control, and success often requires not just ability, but support and mentorship.

Republicans Are No Friends of the Jews

American Dreaming • 215 implied HN points • 12 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. Anti‑Semitism has become mainstream on the right, with high‑profile commentators and politicians normalizing conspiracies and hate. Polling shows large shares of Republican/Trump voters accept Holocaust denial and other antisemitic beliefs.
  2. Some Jewish voters moved toward Republicans because of rising anti‑Semitism on the left and dissatisfaction with Democrats' response, but that shift doesn't mean the GOP is a safe haven. The Republican movement contains widespread hostility and many unreliable allies.
  3. The problem looks generational and institutional: younger conservative voters show higher levels of antisemitic views, and party leaders often shrug off or enable extremism. That suggests the threat to Jewish Americans could worsen and become entrenched.

trying to replace the american dream

bad cattitude • 232 implied HN points • 03 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. Tolerance is a useful virtue in moderation. Taken too far it becomes self-destructive because it lets harmful behavior go unchecked and invites exploitation.
  2. Overeducated, entitlement-prone young elites can be drawn to collectivist promises of comfort and blame-shifting, trading individual liberty and responsibility for a cozy dependency.
  3. A way to weaken a high-trust society is to erode its will to resist—by teaching guilt about success, normalizing extreme tolerance, controlling public education, and importing voters—so protecting family, school choice, and individual rights is the defense.

The Online Right Doesn’t Want White Women to Get PhDs

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 445 implied HN points • 08 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Identity politics
  1. Parts of the online right openly harass white women who pursue advanced degrees, saying they should be having children instead of careers.
  2. When Juliet Turner posted about earning her PhD, she was attacked on X and called a race traitor and shamed for not having kids.
  3. These attacks come from a rising white supremacist mindset online that treats white women mainly as reproducers and has escalated alongside broader far‑right harassment of minorities.

cultural consent and experiential inversion

bad cattitude • 268 implied HN points • 20 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Identity politics
  1. Some younger artists politicize culture and push for institutional enforcement of acceptance, turning what used to be optional into compulsory norms.
  2. That approach makes them feel like the new establishment instead of rebels, so older generations see them as coercive and undeserving of automatic respect.
  3. The older cultural norm valued voluntary, boundary-pushing expression where people could join or walk away; the current scene is seen as performative, risk-free, and stifling.

Savage's 'Lost Generation', or: Thoughts on the DEI scam and what happened after 2015

eugyppius: a plague chronicle • 283 implied HN points • 23 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Identity politics
  1. Starting around 2014–2015, aggressive DEI hiring in journalism, academia, and entertainment prioritized racial and gender targets over merit, and many white male millennials say they were shut out of the careers they trained for.
  2. Senior administrators protected themselves by enforcing these policies, which often led to hires chosen for demographic reasons rather than qualifications and made institutions more female‑skewed, worse to work in, and more politically radicalized.
  3. Those antiracist measures frequently backfired by amplifying racial optics and grievances, generating hypocrisy among progressives, and appearing likely to persist because meritocracy is weak and demographic preferences can be self‑perpetuating.

Progressives Against Progress

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1627 implied HN points • 15 Jul 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. Progressives used to focus on improving life for all people, but now they seem more concerned with the interests of wealthy urban professionals. This shift has made their original goals hard to recognize.
  2. Earlier progressivism centered on universal values, like fairness and equal access to opportunities for everyone, regardless of background. Now, those universal standards seem to have been replaced with more niche agendas.
  3. Many current progressive movements may not represent the average voter’s needs and concerns. This change is causing a disconnect between traditional progressive values and today’s political landscape.

Goblins

Disaffected Newsletter • 3617 implied HN points • 24 Aug 23
🎭️ Culture Identity politics
  1. There seems to be a growing visibility of individuals who challenge traditional gender norms and body sizes, leading to strong reactions from observers. This reflects a deep societal divide in understanding and acceptance.
  2. Some people feel a sense of distress when they see others who clearly struggle with their mental and physical health, leading to feelings of discomfort and resentment towards those individuals.
  3. The narrative suggests a belief that societal values around beauty and behavior are shifting, often leaving traditional views feeling out of place or invalidated in certain communities.

Time for a "Land Acknowledgement"!

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 307 implied HN points • 04 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. Substack’s shift toward social-media discoverability encourages clickbait and outrage-driven posts that undermine careful, reasoned discussion, and Matt Yglesias’s “Turtle Island” note is a clear example.
  2. Land acknowledgements can and should be done well: they can be living, positive celebrations that strengthen Indigenous communities and help people honestly confront uncomfortable history with good intentions.
  3. The United States already honors Indigenous warriors in many ways—like naming military helicopters after tribes—which shows that remembering and admiring Indigenous history can coexist with patriotism and liberal democratic values.

HOISTED FROM THE ARCHIVES: John Holbo on the Horrible Atrocity of Defending Good Causes Badly!

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 192 implied HN points • 28 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Identity politics
  1. Noticing microaggressions, using people’s chosen pronouns, and acknowledging white privilege aren’t just trendy buzzwords—these practices address real harms and deserve empathy and thought.
  2. Even when a cause is right, defending it badly or with clumsy arguments makes it look foolish or threatening, so critics should engage the actual context and stakes instead of caricaturing opponents.
  3. People’s life stories and career frustrations shape how they react to accusations of privilege, so calling someone ‘privileged’ without nuance can provoke resentment and shut down useful conversation.

Culture Links, 11/14/2025

In My Tribe • 379 implied HN points • 14 Nov 25
🎭️ Culture Identity politics
  1. Social media has made us feel like we're living in a village again, but without the warmth and kindness. Instead, it can often amplify negative behavior like cruelty and gossip.
  2. We need to rethink how we approach issues like diversity and inequality. It's important to question the basic beliefs behind these ideas and consider if differing views can be valid.
  3. There's a growing trend among some young people in politics that embraces white identity politics. This is concerning and shows a shift away from traditional conservatism.

NYT Essay, My Name

The Upheaval • 1844 implied HN points • 06 Jun 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. The author wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times explaining the managerial regime and why some people dislike it. They want to share their views with a broader audience.
  2. The author has chosen to publish under a pen name, N.S. Lyons, but revealed their real name, Nathan Levine, after feeling ignored by journalists and NGOs.
  3. They mentioned their own background, noting that although they have some Jewish ancestry, they identify as an Orthodox Christian, and they are aware of how this might attract attention online.

Defeat Racism by Heightening the Contradictions

Richard Hanania's Newsletter • 3706 implied HN points • 17 Jan 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. There are two types of people in white nationalist groups: some are smarter and focus on ideas, while others are just angry and uneducated. This creates a conflict in their beliefs.
  2. A lot of the smart people might avoid extremist groups because they don’t want to associate with those who have more basic racist views. They care about progress and quality.
  3. Talking about these contradictions can help people see that there are better ideas out there. Engaging with their views might not win over everyone, but it can show some there's no future in extreme identity politics.

It’s Time for the Government to Abolish ‘Race’

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 4219 implied HN points • 03 Dec 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. The government has been categorizing people into limited racial groups since 1977, which critics argue is outdated and arbitrary.
  2. Changes to these categories are coming, with the 2030 census set to have seven defined races instead of five, but these classifications are still seen as confusing and nonsensical.
  3. Some people believe that instead of having these set racial categories, the concept of race should be completely abolished in government practices.

Are the ‘Liberals’ of Today Really Liberals?

QTR’s Fringe Finance • 26 implied HN points • 23 Feb 26
🌍 World Politics Identity politics
  1. The word 'liberal' has shifted away from its original meaning of freedom and individual rights and now often describes people or policies that do the opposite.
  2. Many modern self‑styled liberals use controlling language and double standards—akin to Orwellian 'Newspeak' and 'doublethink'—to silence dissent and shape public opinion.
  3. Concrete examples—alleged election irregularities, opposition to voter ID despite public support, and policing of dissenting speech or prayer—show a gap between professed liberal values and actions.

On the open-borders insanity of the Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show

Unreported Truths • 56 implied HN points • 09 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show was overtly political, pushing a pro-immigration message and using deliberately provocative imagery that went farther than past NFL protests.
  2. Much of the mainstream media downplayed or mischaracterized the performance as simply joyful entertainment, failing to acknowledge its clear political content.
  3. The intentionally provocative nature of the show could alienate viewers and energize critics, potentially worsening public sentiment against open-borders advocates.

The Democrats have a flag problem

The Rubesletter by Matt Ruby (of Vooza) | Sent every Tuesday • 1354 implied HN points • 10 Jun 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Identity politics
  1. The left should embrace American patriotism instead of distancing itself from it. Showing support for America can help gain more allies in their cause.
  2. It's important for the left to focus on winning and stop acting like victims. Being more positive can attract voters.
  3. The left needs strong, confident leaders who can communicate their values effectively. Having a bold presence can resonate with people and gather support.