The hottest Policy Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top U.S. Politics Topics

Banning natural gas exports

Slow Boring • 4697 implied HN points • 29 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy
  1. Banning natural gas exports may have complex effects on global emissions and energy use.
  2. The decision to block LNG exports seems to be made without clear analysis of its net impact on emissions.
  3. Climate advocacy should focus on sustainable decarbonization through jobs, growth, and innovation.

What I Told RFK's Team at the Department of Health and Human Services

Rob Henderson's Newsletter • 6629 implied HN points • 21 May 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy
  1. Teaching the 'success sequence' can help reduce poverty. Kids who finish school, get a job, and marry before having kids are much less likely to be in poverty.
  2. Society needs clear and strong norms around work and family. When rich people don't talk about these norms, it confuses those in lower-income communities.
  3. Family stability is important for children's success. Kids from married parents tend to do better in school and have better chances of going to college.

Commentator

Castalia • 579 implied HN points • 22 Jul 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy
  1. If Donald Trump had been shot and hadn't reacted, it could have changed politics a lot, making the Republican party scramble for a new leader. It might have led to violence, but it also could have been calmer than expected.
  2. The Democrats seemed resigned to losing the upcoming elections, with many believing Biden needed to step down. Their response has been quiet, as some leaders were preparing a plan to encourage Biden to leave gracefully.
  3. Now that Biden is out and Kamala Harris is the nominee, she needs to lead a strong campaign against Trump. Harris must highlight Trump's threats to democracy while showing she's capable, even though people often view her as insincere.

Backlash: Seek Truth from Facts

Bet On It • 155 implied HN points • 10 Feb 26
🌍 World Politics Policy
  1. The idea that higher immigration inevitably triggers a political backlash that sharply reduces future immigration is speculative and often overstated; real-world outcomes can surprise predictions.
  2. People are overconfident about both the direction and size of political effects: populist victories can happen without high immigration, and when they happen they don’t always lead to big cuts in immigration.
  3. If you truly support open immigration, treat it as a core moral and practical priority and demand strong empirical evidence of massive political blowback before changing course, because many nominal supporters are easily swayed by minor events.
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Top Links 970 Worrying about the US labour market. Adorno on sociology & the genocidal logic of permanent security.

Chartbook • 500 implied HN points • 02 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy
  1. Growing worry about the US labour market means politics may shift to caring more about jobs than about prices.
  2. Sociological critique warns that a drive for “permanent security” can create a logic that justifies extreme, even genocidal, measures.
  3. A curated collection of links, images, and readings pulls together analysis and evidence to explore these economic and sociological debates.

A Covid Nasal Vaccine Update

Ground Truths • 10148 implied HN points • 14 Feb 25
🏥 Health Politics Policy
  1. There are now 6 different nasal vaccines in clinical trials in the US aimed at preventing COVID-19 and blocking its transmission. These vaccines are promising because they might work better than traditional shots.
  2. Two major challenges facing these new vaccines are the low current levels of the virus, which make it harder to gather data from trials, and the uncertainty about ongoing government support for these projects.
  3. Successful nasal vaccines could provide a convenient way to protect people from COVID-19, but it will take time to find out if they really work well in humans.

Why Politicians Should Stay Inside the Overton Window (Even When the Cause Is Just)

Bet On It • 105 implied HN points • 17 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy
  1. Politicians who push views far outside what most voters accept can make it harder to achieve real reforms, because opponents can caricature them and coalitions can break down.
  2. There’s a division of labor: writers and activists expand what people can imagine, while elected politicians need to court public opinion and build coalitions to turn ideas into law.
  3. History shows moral urgency matters, but practical, moderate political strategies are often needed to win elections and pass durable reforms.

⚡ America's electrostate inevitability

Faster, Please! • 365 implied HN points • 22 Jan 26
🌞 Climate & Environment Policy
  1. The energy system is moving from burning carbon molecules to using electrons, and that shift is now driven by economics and industry rather than ideology.
  2. The change is unavoidable and will reshape economic and industrial power—whoever builds the electric infrastructure first will gain a major advantage.
  3. Because past American strength came from hydrocarbons, the US needs to invest and industrialize around electrification now to maintain its lead.

Tourism is good, actually

Slow Boring • 4127 implied HN points • 07 Feb 24
🏝 Travel Policy
  1. Despite being cringe and annoying, tourists play a role in bad policy commentary.
  2. There is a negative perception of tourism being harmful due to aesthetic considerations.
  3. Efforts to limit tourism, such as curbing AirBNB, often have underlying reasons beyond just tourism impact.

The Dirty Business of Clean Blood

BIG by Matt Stoller • 32315 implied HN points • 03 Feb 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Policy
  1. Dialysis industry is controlled by two powerful corporations - DaVita and Fresenius - impacting over half a million lives. Non-compete agreements could potentially change this monopoly.
  2. Dialysis is a critical treatment provided under universal healthcare for end-stage renal disease patients, but monopolistic control has led to issues like patient coercion and quality concerns.
  3. The lack of competition and consolidation in the dialysis market has led to lower survival rates in the US compared to other countries. Eliminating non-compete agreements for healthcare professionals could foster innovation and improve patient care.

Funding science is actually a badass thing to do

Experimental History • 9269 implied HN points • 18 Feb 25
🔬 Science Policy
  1. Funding science is essential because it helps us gain knowledge, which is the key to improving our lives. Every advancement we've made comes from learning and understanding more about the world.
  2. We need to be careful not to fall into traps of thinking we can solve problems by reducing knowledge. Instead, we should focus on increasing our understanding to overcome challenges.
  3. Fixing the science funding system could be simple. For example, by avoiding payments to for-profit publishers and reducing unnecessary grant application processes, we can make better use of our resources and support innovative research.

The signal and the noise

Comment is Freed • 94 implied HN points • 21 Feb 26
📰 News Policy
  1. You can’t fix unclear strategy or a bad product just by improving communications; if leaders aren’t clear about what they want, better messaging won’t change outcomes.
  2. The media environment has fragmented so much that traditional channels no longer reliably deliver attention or credit for policies, and voters often don’t notice or associate actions with the government.
  3. Politicians need to rethink how they reach people instead of simply adding a few social posts to old tactics — new formats and strategies are required to cut through short attention spans and platform limits.

THB Insider #28 - Thanksgiving Reading

The Honest Broker Newsletter • 922 implied HN points • 27 Nov 25
📰 News Policy
  1. Thanksgiving is a time for family, food, football, and simple traditions like putting the turkey in at sunrise.
  2. The community prizes intellectual hospitality and genuine debate, valuing collegiality, diverse views, and mutual support.
  3. The newsletter curates recommended readings for the long weekend and some content is available only to paid subscribers.

White House Webpage on the Origins of the Virus

Who is Robert Malone • 15 implied HN points • 12 Mar 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy
  1. The White House webpage is praised as a step toward accountability but is criticized for omitting the alleged Ralph Baric connection and UC Davis’s role in funding and coordination.
  2. The piece says the webpage effectively rejects the Natural Origins theory and presents images and documents to support that stance.
  3. It urges moving from finger‑pointing to real investigations and possible prosecutions of figures like Andrew Cuomo, Ralph Baric, and UC Davis staff, and accuses public health officials of censoring speech while criticizing the Supreme Court for avoiding the issue on "lack of standing."

Government Stupidity Is By Design

BIG by Matt Stoller • 41024 implied HN points • 24 Aug 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy
  1. Unwinding booby trapped bureaucracies takes time, but changes are happening.
  2. Antitrust enforcers are causing a stir by making big corporations disclose more information during mergers.
  3. The government is improving merger review processes by requiring more transparency and data disclosure.

Bill Clinton’s Epstein Problem—and America’s. Plus. . .

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 607 implied HN points • 22 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy
  1. The DOJ's release of Epstein-related photos and documents has renewed intense scrutiny of powerful figures, especially Bill Clinton. It highlights how public pressure and politics can drive disclosure even when no criminal charges are filed.
  2. A major lawsuit claims social media companies knowingly helped create a youth mental-health crisis, likening their behavior to Big Tobacco and using internal documents as evidence. If the case succeeds, it could trigger big legal and regulatory changes for platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat.
  3. Beyond those headlines, the news reflects wider cultural and policy shifts—from critiques of institutional failures after the Brown University shooting to debates about identity and fast-moving changes like federal marijuana rescheduling. These stories show growing tensions over public safety, social norms, and political priorities.

Neurologist Speaks Out

Injecting Freedom • 69 implied HN points • 26 Feb 26
🎙 Podcasts Policy
  1. A double-board-certified neurologist says he has seen acute vaccine adverse events firsthand that are quietly acknowledged but rarely reported.
  2. He argues there is deep cognitive dissonance in medicine, with flawed vaccine surveillance systems and many neurologists staying silent about suspected vaccine harms.
  3. He calls for more transparency, better reporting, recognition of genetic susceptibility, and stronger informed consent and parental choice around vaccinations.

Decarbonization and climate change hysteria died this winter

Unreported Truths • 57 implied HN points • 03 Mar 26
🌞 Climate & Environment Policy
  1. The EPA's endangerment finding was revoked, removing a key legal basis for aggressive U.S. decarbonization, and this policy reversal drew surprisingly little public protest.
  2. Many decarbonization policies depended on expensive subsidies and immature technologies like intermittent wind and solar without cheap storage, and Europe’s energy crisis plus China’s rising coal use undermined those efforts.
  3. Political and cultural momentum for radical climate action has faded: voters rejected big green subsidy programs in 2024, legal fights over regulation will likely shift decisions to Congress, and climate activism no longer mobilizes mass protests.

Some changes to Sustainability by Numbers in the new year

Sustainability by numbers • 615 implied HN points • 22 Dec 25
🌞 Climate & Environment Policy
  1. The newsletter will broaden its focus beyond environmental topics to include demographics, technology, global health, and development while keeping a data-led approach to analyze problems and solutions.
  2. The newsletter is being renamed to "By the Numbers" to reflect the wider scope, and the change will happen automatically; some subscribers may leave, but the aim is to reach a broader set of global issues.
  3. The publication will remain free and unpaid, produced in spare time to keep it enjoyable, with plans to continue publishing data-driven posts into 2026.

A (highly visual) follow-up to yesterday's piece on the death of climate change hysteria

Unreported Truths • 52 implied HN points • 04 Mar 26
🌞 Climate & Environment Policy
  1. Global carbon dioxide emissions have risen about 60% since 2000, so the world is emitting more CO2 now than ever.
  2. The US, EU, and Japan cut emissions roughly 25% and now make up only about one-fifth of global emissions, while China emits far more and is rapidly adding coal-fired power plants.
  3. Emphasizing Western cuts while ignoring booming emissions elsewhere weakens climate messaging and breeds skepticism, and clear charts or examples of elite hypocrisy can be persuasive to doubtful audiences.

The pandemic's lesson on teacher licensure

Slow Boring • 4048 implied HN points • 17 Jan 24
🚌 Education Policy
  1. Consider reevaluating teacher licensing requirements to improve access to quality educators.
  2. During the pandemic, emergency measures allowed flexibility and potentially revealed unnecessary licensing barriers.
  3. Evaluating and potentially removing certain licensing requirements can save time and money while increasing the pool of potential teachers.

Reading List 12/21/2024

Construction Physics • 10230 implied HN points • 21 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Policy
  1. Commercial fusion energy is making progress with a new reactor that could generate power for many homes and create jobs.
  2. Boom Technology secured $100 million to develop a supersonic airliner, but its future remains uncertain due to challenges in airplane engine development.
  3. There's growing interest in using airships for cargo transport, as they can be more efficient than ships and planes for certain distances.

DeSantis' Drag Show Fiasco, Hate Crimes on Rise, Lauren Boebert Encourages Teen Sex, Idaho Doctors Flee State, James Paterson Banned, Stephen King vs Ted Cruz, Hungry People Don't Exist, More

kareem • 6918 implied HN points • 23 Mar 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy
  1. We must back up opinions with factual evidence, not just claim superiority based on the right to express our views.
  2. In heated discussions, we can't just 'agree to disagree' and walk away; we need to use reason to address complex issues.
  3. GOP priorities seem misplaced when focusing on banning harmless activities like drag shows instead of addressing critical national concerns.

Open Thread 393

Astral Codex Ten • 3097 implied HN points • 04 Aug 25
🕹 Technology Policy
  1. The Horizon Fellowship is a great opportunity for those interested in AI and biotech. You can apply for a full-time policy position in Washington, and no prior experience is needed.
  2. Inkhaven is a blogging bootcamp for those who want to write more. If you're selected, you'll write a blog post every day for a month, but be ready for some tough love if you miss a day!
  3. There's a cost to attend Inkhaven, but some financial help is available. It's a cool experiment to see if living in a community can boost your motivation to write.

Strikes and Bidenomics

BIG by Matt Stoller • 35524 implied HN points • 16 Sep 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy
  1. Public dissatisfaction with the economy despite positive statistics like low unemployment and consumer spending
  2. The Biden administration lacks coherence in its policy approach and struggles to address issues like inflation and housing costs
  3. Judicial appointments and internal disagreements within the administration contribute to the challenges faced by Bidenomics in governing effectively

🚀 FP! Week In Review, Briefly #18

Faster, Please! • 274 implied HN points • 24 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Policy
  1. Nuclear power is staging a renewed comeback and could become a lasting part of the energy mix.
  2. The United States appears to be on an inevitable path toward greater electrification, becoming more of an "electrostate" as infrastructure and systems shift to electricity.
  3. Democracy’s stability depends heavily on economic growth, implying that sustained growth is key to democratic resilience.

Weekly Top Picks #111: Davos Edition

The Algorithmic Bridge • 244 implied HN points • 26 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Policy
  1. The newsletter is back with a tighter format: news will be organized into seven fixed categories so each item becomes part of a clearer, ongoing story. The writer plans to keep some room for surprises but wants more order and relevance.
  2. AI is reshaping power and wealth because advanced models need massive compute and electricity, which creates winners and losers and fuels geopolitical fights over chips and access. Big product claims from companies (devices, robotaxis) are plentiful but deserve healthy skepticism.
  3. The social impacts of AI are urgent and mixed: there are real worries about job displacement, serious safety problems like models acting as suicide coaches, and cultural shifts as AI takes over work that’s centered on language.

Netanyahu Says It's Antisemitic For Israeli Soldiers To Describe Their Own Atrocities

Caitlin’s Newsletter • 3772 implied HN points • 28 Jun 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy
  1. Israeli leaders are saying it's antisemitic for soldiers to talk about the bad things they did in Gaza. This is a strong reaction to reports that claim Israeli soldiers were ordered to shoot at unarmed civilians.
  2. Soldiers shared their experiences of being told to use lethal force on people seeking humanitarian aid. They said there was no real danger, yet they were ordered to fire on unarmed crowds.
  3. The Israeli government is defending its military by calling these reports false and harmful. They argue that the claims aim to damage the reputation of the Israeli Defense Forces, which they consider very moral.

FDA refuses to review Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine application

Force of Infection • 153 implied HN points • 11 Feb 26
🏥 Health Politics Policy
  1. The FDA refused to start reviewing Moderna’s mRNA seasonal flu vaccine application, removing a potential new mRNA option for influenza.
  2. The agency said the trial used a comparator that didn’t reflect the best standard of care, and Moderna says that contradicts prior FDA guidance, meaning the application was dismissed for study-design reasons rather than safety or effectiveness.
  3. Regulatory unpredictability like this raises the financial risk of doing clinical trials, which can push companies away from R&D and ultimately reduce patient access to new vaccines.

How will the US political upheaval influence the Ukraine War?

Glenn’s Substack • 379 implied HN points • 27 Jul 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy
  1. Kamala Harris is expected to continue Joe Biden's foreign policies, even though she has less experience in this area. This means the current strategy in Ukraine might not change much.
  2. If Trump were to win, he might push for quicker peace talks regarding Ukraine. His focus is on getting allies to pay for protection and recognizing the costs of the ongoing conflict.
  3. The outcome of the U.S. political situation could impact how the Ukraine war is managed. Both sides may have different approaches that could lead to either continued conflict or negotiations.

Rwanda: We're in the endgame now

Striking 13 • 2435 implied HN points • 08 Mar 24
🌍 World Politics Policy
  1. The Lords are likely to pass the Rwanda bill soon due to Labour's lack of strong opposition.
  2. There is a strategic political dance happening over Rwanda that involves power dynamics and election strategies.
  3. It is crucial to draw a moral line and stand up against laws that are unjust and undermine fundamental principles of governance.

SB 1047: Our Side Of The Story

Astral Codex Ten • 12182 implied HN points • 10 Oct 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy
  1. SB 1047 was a California bill aimed at regulating AI to prevent catastrophic risks from AI technology. It gained support from various influencers and organizations but was eventually vetoed by Governor Newsom.
  2. The bill had strong public backing, with many Californians, including a significant portion of the legislature, in favor of AI regulation. Despite this support, some powerful opponents, including major AI companies and political figures, successfully pushed against it.
  3. The veto has sparked different strategies among supporters of the bill, with some suggesting a broader coalition to pursue future regulatory efforts. They believe that public concerns about AI can't be ignored and regulation is coming, albeit potentially in a more aggressive form.