The hottest Politics Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top News Topics

It’s a Fascist! It’s a Communist! No, It’s Superman!

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1052 implied HN points • 14 Jul 25
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. The new Superman movie has sparked a big debate, with people on the right calling it 'superwoke' because of its themes. It shows how even a superhero film can get caught up in political arguments.
  2. Director James Gunn emphasized that Superman is an immigrant, which some people on the right found very controversial. This added fuel to the fire of political opinions about the film.
  3. Not everyone on the left is happy about the film either, indicating that opinions about Superman are divided among both sides of the political spectrum.

Politics and Sports Attention Surplus Syndrome

donaldjeffries • 1120 implied HN points • 23 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Politics
  1. The author's life has been strongly influenced by politics, sports, and the bond with their father through shared interests.
  2. They have a deep passion and knowledge for baseball history, sports, and politics, which shaped their childhood and adult life.
  3. Their voting history reflects a transition from die-hard Democrat to independent thinker, aligning with various Third Party candidates and ultimately expressing skepticism towards traditional politics.

10 Things I Learned From the Epstein Files

The Corbett Report • 38 implied HN points • 07 Feb 26
📰 News Politics
  1. Jeffrey Epstein had deep ties to intelligence services, wealthy elites, and global institutions, appearing to act as an operative, fixer and broker between governments, businesses and security actors.
  2. The released files show troubling links across finance, technology and internet culture — from coded "pizza" communications and 4chan connections to funding in bitcoin and gaming — suggesting a broad network of influence and possible abuse, though many items are suggestive rather than definitive.
  3. The DOJ release is partial and heavily redacted, exposed survivors, and left major questions unanswered about his death and who else was involved, prompting calls for more documents and accountability.

Addendum: The Most Banned Book

Anarchonomicon • 1218 implied HN points • 09 Jan 24
🚌 Education Politics
  1. Finding banned works online may be easier than expected, even controversial ones.
  2. The memoirs of Augusto Pinochet are extremely difficult to find, despite the numerous works written about him.
  3. Pinochet's own memoirs are virtually non-existent in libraries, showing efforts to hide his perspective.

2025 Is Finally Over—But Not Soon Enough

Slack Tide by Matt Labash • 154 implied HN points • 30 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. Conservative media is cannibalizing itself. Influencers often attack one another because they won’t challenge their leader, and politics has largely turned into entertainment rather than a real contest of ideas.
  2. Pop culture feels stuck and fragmented — the old monoculture is gone, nostalgia is everywhere, and streaming plus AI are devouring and hollowing out the internet; still, you can find unexpected gems if you bother to hunt for them.
  3. Keep writing and creating even when you feel malaise, because it helps clarify thought and can be its own reward; small humane acts and humor in hard times also give real inspiration and steadiness.
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Why Is New York So Big?

Uncharted Territories • 1945 implied HN points • 30 Jul 23
💾 History Politics
  1. Cities like New York became big connectors due to their strategic location
  2. Geographical barriers like the Appalachians influenced city growth and development
  3. Investments in transportation infrastructure, like the Erie Canal, played a significant role in the expansion of cities

Culture Crush

Disaffected Newsletter • 399 implied HN points • 11 May 24
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. The event includes discussions around controversial topics related to culture and discrimination. It's important to stay informed about diverse perspectives in society.
  2. There are specific criticisms aimed at certain groups and their actions, showcasing a sense of dissatisfaction with current social issues. Engaging with varying viewpoints can help understand these critiques.
  3. The content is presented in a podcast format, which can be an engaging way to absorb complex issues. Listening to podcasts can provide insights and spark important conversations.

The coolest medieval woman you've never heard of

weird medieval guys • 1926 implied HN points • 06 Apr 23
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. Christine de Pizan was one of Europe's first professional female writers and a French nationalist.
  2. Her most famous work, _The Book of the City of Ladies_, is considered one of the earliest feminist writings.
  3. _The Book of the City of Ladies_ critiques misogyny, redefines female characters from history, and calls for gender equality.

What Movie Are We In?

Daniel Pinchbeck’s Newsletter • 9 implied HN points • 28 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. The country is portrayed as a dystopian spectacle where powerful elites are consolidating control and everyday life keeps going despite a deeper, worsening political decay.
  2. Media and tech consolidation is turning major outlets toward state-friendly propaganda, and there's a growing push to weaponize AI for surveillance and warfare.
  3. The Epstein saga and the removal of investigative files suggest deep corruption and possible cover-ups that protect the powerful and silence victims.

What We Learned This Year

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 2805 implied HN points • 21 Dec 24
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. Tuning out distractions and staying focused on important work can lead to positive results, as shown by efforts to improve safety and create jobs.
  2. Apathy is a major threat to open societies, highlighting the need for active participation in institutions that shape our future.
  3. Vigilance and resilience are crucial. Protecting ourselves and recognizing threats is important for safety and freedom.

The Hostage Problem

David Friedman’s Substack • 323 implied HN points • 08 Nov 25
💾 History Politics
  1. Fenrir the wolf doesn't trust the gods, so he wants a guarantee before they bind him again. He offers to take a hostage, which he thinks will make the gods keep their promise.
  2. In everyday situations like buying and selling, people often find it hard to trust each other to keep contracts. This can lead to problems if one party changes their mind.
  3. Using hostages can be a way to make sure both sides stick to a deal. But if one side overestimates the value of the hostage, it can backfire and lead to broken agreements.

Dr. Morell and the Patient A

Global Inequality and More 3.0 • 739 implied HN points • 09 Aug 25
💾 History Politics
  1. Germany was a leader in the pharmaceutical industry before and after World War I, producing many important drugs that are still used today.
  2. Dr. Morell, Hitler's personal physician, used various drugs to manage Hitler's declining health, making him appear more capable than he actually was.
  3. While Dr. Morell's methods were questionable from a medical ethics standpoint, they were politically successful in maintaining Hitler's image and leadership during the war.

Job listing: Associate Editor

Silver Bulletin • 39 implied HN points • 09 Feb 26
📰 News Politics
  1. An associate editor position (initially part-time, with the potential to expand) will focus on editing others' work, commissioning and editing freelancers, shaping style and editorial planning, and doing quality control on data, charts, and models.
  2. Applicants need at least two years of editing experience, a strong interest in topics like electoral politics and sports, and a precise, statistics-savvy eye for data and factual accuracy.
  3. The job pays $45–55/hour for roughly 15–20 hours per week with a 50-hour minimum guarantee, requires US work eligibility and weekday availability, and has an application deadline of Feb 24 with interviews in early March.

What I Read This Week...

Chamath Palihapitiya • 1356 implied HN points • 08 Dec 23
📰 News Politics
  1. Grade inflation is a growing concern at Ivy League schools.
  2. The FDA approved new gene therapy treatments for sickle cell disease.
  3. The Biden Administration's plan to build EV chargers is facing delays.

Panic In Zanzibar: Nocturnal Sodomy & Demon-Bats

Grey Goose Chronicles • 1041 implied HN points • 19 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. In Zanzibar, a collective panic occurred in 1995 due to reports of attacks by a shape-shifting spirit called Popobawa, resulting in violence and fear among residents.
  2. The Popobawa legend is a complex mix of political tensions, taboo sexual elements, supernatural beliefs, and historical legacies, making it challenging to interpret.
  3. The phenomenon of the Popobawa offers insights into Zanzibar's history, culture, and divisions, reflecting how fears and stories can have real-world impacts on communities.

Meatball Gone

Discourse Blog • 1002 implied HN points • 22 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Politics
  1. Ron DeSantis endorsed Trump in a failed run for presidency
  2. DeSantis is characterized as a weak, desperate bully
  3. DeSantis may struggle to gain favor with the Trump-supporting electorate

Disaffected: Episode 159

Disaffected Newsletter • 819 implied HN points • 18 Feb 24
🎙 Podcasts Politics
  1. Shadow projection happens when people ignore their own flaws and blame others for them. This can be seen in various social issues where individuals deny their own problems.
  2. The show highlights ways society is changing, like how some commercials claim to promote Christian values while pushing different ideological messages. This shows a disconnect in what is being communicated versus the actual values being represented.
  3. There are concerning trends, like towns monitoring employees' personal social media and schools making decisions about kids' identities without informing parents. This raises questions about privacy and parental rights.

The Free Press, Tailored to You

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 2735 implied HN points • 17 Dec 24
📰 News Politics
  1. The website has a fresh new look that makes it easier to use. Now, you can quickly find what interests you most.
  2. You can listen to podcasts and watch videos more easily, thanks to dedicated sections on the site.
  3. You can customize what you receive in your inbox. This means you’ll get the stories you care about right when they're published.

My Views Were Cringe. But I Learned from Them.

Reality's Last Stand • 1788 implied HN points • 01 Mar 23
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. The author reflects on past views on gender ideology and the evolution of their perspective.
  2. Encountering differing opinions and content, like from Sam Harris and Douglas Murray, can lead to shifts in thinking.
  3. It's important to acknowledge personal growth and learning from past beliefs, even if they are cringe-worthy.

The Weight

Letters from Fiddler's Greene • 1729 implied HN points • 16 Sep 23
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. In a 'Zombie World', humans are divided into zombies, resistors, and skeptics in a political dynamic.
  2. The decline in traditional family structures and values contributes to social issues and cultural conflicts.
  3. Facing a changing world, it's important to focus on real work, hard conversations, and securing what is good.

Our Titanic Juneteenth Pride

donaldjeffries • 1729 implied HN points • 24 Jun 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Politics
  1. The submersible used in the recent deep sea exploration resembled ramshackle Apollo spacecrafts, raising questions about safety and testing procedures.
  2. The failure of a military rescue mission near the Titanic wreckage highlighted the limitations and shortcomings of government agencies.
  3. The author expresses skepticism towards the significance and celebrations of Juneteenth and Pride Month, questioning the motives behind these commemorations.

The Naked Potential of 2024: Democracy, Chaos and Creativity

rebelwisdom • 1002 implied HN points • 12 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. 2024 is a year with significant democratic elections worldwide, highlighting a growing apathy and distrust in the democratic process.
  2. The tension between centralized control and decentralized, regenerative movements is intensifying, leading to a clash of ideologies and perspectives in society.
  3. There is a growing movement towards seeking new ways of being and thinking, challenging existing structures and norms in society.

Power to the People

Comment is Freed • 76 implied HN points • 18 Jan 26
📰 News Politics
  1. Labour is shifting toward a communitarian approach with Pride in Place, aiming to rebuild local civic life instead of just delivering top-down, technocratic fixes.
  2. Evidence from Big Local shows long-term, flexible, community-led funding that protects local space, follows local instincts, and helps projects spread can grow social capital, improve outcomes, and attract more investment even with modest per-person spending.
  3. Top-down managerial programmes can upgrade buildings and services but struggle to create lasting community power or emotional buy-in, so Pride in Place should avoid reverting to technocracy and prioritise methods that build pride, agency and momentum.

When Statues Get Mobbed

Londonist: Time Machine • 279 implied HN points • 29 May 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Politics
  1. London has a long history of attacks on statues, often driven by political, iconoclastic, or drunken motivations.
  2. Statues in London have been subjected to various forms of vandalism over the years, such as tar and feathering, paint, or even physical damage.
  3. Incidents of statue vandalism range from attacks on well-known figures like Queen Anne and Peter Pan, to more controversial figures like Lenin and Winston Churchill.

How AI will reshape society

Kvetch • 62 implied HN points • 22 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Politics
  1. AI will concentrate massive power in the hands of giant firms and a few high-leverage individuals while many people and middling institutions shrink, creating a new divide between decision-makers and delegators.
  2. AI will globalize culture even as it personalizes truth, producing a shared platformed world but thousands of private reality bubbles that weaken common institutions and boost niche leaders and new movements.
  3. Daily life will see lost privacy, more leisure and passive consumption, and rising competition for scarce status goods, yet basic human needs like intimacy, parenting, and embodied experience will remain essential.

What Do We Know Now, About the Airline Crash in DC?

Breaking the News • 2052 implied HN points • 30 Jan 25
📰 News Politics
  1. A regional jet and a military helicopter collided near DC National airport, raising many questions about what went wrong during the incident.
  2. Air traffic controllers attempted to manage the situation but communication with the helicopter crew will be scrutinized to see if there were errors in judgment.
  3. Helicopter pilots are expected to fly below 200 feet in that area, but it’s unclear if they adhered to this rule, which could have played a role in the crash.

Cranking back the years

Brands Mean a Lot • 44 implied HN points • 26 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. Entertainment is leaning heavily on older work instead of new ideas. Big streaming shares and top box office hits now come from catalog tracks, sequels, or established franchises.
  2. Politics is showing a similar pull toward the past, with movements and policies that aim to restore earlier versions of the country and even echo old-style land grabs and authoritarian practices.
  3. These cultural and political retro trends feed each other, encouraging isolationism and slower change that makes ego-driven actions more plausible, even as many people continue to find comfort in older art.

Levantine Travels

Gideon's Substack • 35 implied HN points • 09 Feb 26
🏝 Travel Politics
  1. The security crisis has sharply reduced tourism and strained Israel's economy even as construction and population growth continue to drive a long-term building boom.
  2. Political life feels deeply polarized and pessimistic: many fear postponed elections, see no clear alternative leadership, and view protests and Arab-party realignments as potentially transformative but also risky.
  3. Jordan is poorer but notably stable, with Aqaba boosted by foreign investment that brings both growth and local resentment, and the region overall faces governance challenges as fragmentation and outside influence complicate democratic development.

The Audacious Round Up

The Audacity. • 766 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. The Audacious Book Club has selected 'Martyr!' by Kaveh Akbar, with an upcoming conversation event you can join on February 27th.
  2. Roxane Gay has launched an essay series called 'Roxane Gay Presents' with Everand and has upcoming events in NYC, including a book launch.
  3. Reading material highlights different topics like the situation in Gaza, job opportunities in various media outlets, and entertainment news like interviews and artist profiles.

What's Wrong with Stereotypes?

Fake Noûs • 702 implied HN points • 02 Aug 25
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. Stereotypes are often seen as bad, but they can actually be based on real observations about groups of people. This means that sometimes, they hold more truth than we think.
  2. Critics of stereotypes often argue they are oppressive, but studies suggest individual characteristics play a bigger role in how people are judged than stereotypes do.
  3. Stereotypes can help us make quick assumptions based on past experiences, and it's natural for humans to learn this way; denying this process is unrealistic.

Making the Sausage

Freddie deBoer • 11633 implied HN points • 22 Feb 23
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. The author received positive feedback for a piece about the 1990s and discusses the importance of conveying conflicting perspectives in writing.
  2. The author emphasizes the value of crafting well-written pieces that move and entertain readers.
  3. The author reflects on the challenges and rewards of maintaining individuality in writing while meeting reader expectations.

William Penn's Statue of Limitations

Society & Standpoint • 923 implied HN points • 08 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. Progressives want to remove William Penn's statue for not being inclusive enough, despite his past efforts towards tolerance.
  2. The concept of a 'statue of limitations' is coined to illustrate how progressives judge historical figures based on contemporary standards.
  3. Progressives view history as a forward arrow towards a utopia, leading them to constantly reassess and potentially tear down statues as standards change.

Escape from Los Angeles. Plus. . .

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 2114 implied HN points • 09 Jan 25
📰 News Politics
  1. Southern California is facing serious wildfires, leading to evacuations and deaths. Many structures, including famous schools and celebrity homes, have been destroyed.
  2. Women have been exposing the long-hidden issue of grooming gangs in Britain, which involved the exploitation of young girls for years. Their efforts are gaining attention after recent events sparked wider discussions.
  3. Many Indians on H-1B visas feel excluded from the American Dream. Some are experiencing challenges with the visa system and have chosen to return home instead.

What I Read This Week...

Chamath Palihapitiya • 1159 implied HN points • 02 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Politics
  1. Anduril's new autonomous fighter jet has significant advantages over legacy missile systems.
  2. Novo Nordisk paid U.S. doctors to promote its obesity drugs to tackle the global obesity epidemic.
  3. Huawei supports smaller companies in the semiconductor supply chain to build a self-sufficient chip network in China.

This Crash Is Bitcoin's Biggest Test Yet

QTR’s Fringe Finance • 36 implied HN points • 07 Feb 26
🔮 Crypto Politics
  1. Bitcoin just had a dramatic ~50% drawdown that feels like a real moment of truth, forcing both believers and skeptics to rethink what the asset actually is, not just its price,
  2. Mainstream adoption in the U.S. — ETFs, banks, retirement accounts, political support — means there may be fewer new buyers left domestically, which is the core bearish case about demand peaking,
  3. From here the paths split: it could slowly fade into a niche asset, enter a long sideways crypto winter, or rebound to new highs; either way, volatility remains Bitcoin’s defining feature.

My Stationary Bandit Podcast

Bet On It • 55 implied HN points • 21 Jan 26
🎙 Podcasts Politics
  1. The post highlights pioneering podcast episodes, noting an early show with Dwarkesh and a recent one with Isaac LaGrand.
  2. The latest conversation explores fresh, largely novel questions about state capacity, monoculture, and related topics.
  3. Listeners are invited to enjoy the episode, subscribe, and hope for more engaging conversations in the future.

Welcome to Striking 13

Striking 13 • 1457 implied HN points • 25 Sep 23
📰 News Politics
  1. Striking 13 is dedicated to providing good, clean, and honest journalism that is easy to understand and grounded in evidence and expertise.
  2. The newsletter prides itself on not providing impartial reporting like on TV, but instead offers coverage committed to values like reason, tolerance, truth, and empiricism.
  3. Readers can expect objective political coverage based on evidence, research, reliable sources, and interviews with specialists, even when it may not align with the author's own political biases.

Bari’s Picks of the Week: Hidden Figures

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 579 implied HN points • 15 Aug 25
🎭️ Culture Politics
  1. There are exciting developments in gene editing. Soon, it might be possible to design babies with specific traits, which raises a lot of ethical questions.
  2. Amanda Knox forgave the people who wrongfully convicted her, showing a remarkable ability to move past her past and share her story genuinely.
  3. Omeed Malik made a surprising shift from supporting Democrats to becoming a key supporter in the MAGA movement, blending his connections and business interests in interesting ways.