Over the last several weeks, Popular Information has exposed an extraordinary assault on academic freedom in Florida. Here is a selection of our work:
We reported how a man in Clay County, Florida, Bruce Friedman, has single-handedly removed over 100 books from school libraries — and is seeking to remove thousands more. Friedman called The Girl From The Sea, an award-winning graphic novel about a 15-year-old girl who develops romantic feelings for another girl, a book for "slightly post-pubescent little lesbians." Friedman told Popular Information that if anyone interferes with his efforts to remove books, he will "run over them like a dead body."
We reported that an English teacher in Escambia County, Florida, Vicki Baggett, is trying to ban 150 books from school libraries. The books challenged by Baggett included When Wilma Rudolph Played Basketball, a story about a legendary sprinter who overcame racial prejudice to win three Olympic gold medals. Baggett said the purpose of the book was "race-baiting." In a follow-up report, Baggett's current and former students said that Baggett openly promoted racist and homophobic beliefs in class. During a 10th-grade English class, Baggett allegedly said she opposed interracial marriage because she "wanted to preserve cultures."
We broke the news that Florida schools are using the "Don't Say Gay" law to justify the erasure of LGBTQ people. According to public records obtained by Popular Information, several Florida schools have already removed books with LGBTQ characters from their libraries, citing the law. Previously, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) insisted the scope of the law was limited and only prohibits "sexual instruction" directed at young students.
Most recently, we revealed that teachers in Manatee County, Florida, are being told to make their classroom libraries inaccessible to students, or risk felony prosecution. "My heart is broken for Florida students today as I am forced to pack up my classroom library," one Manatee teacher wrote on Facebook. The policy is part of an effort to comply with new laws and regulations championed by DeSantis, which are based on the premise that teachers are using books to "groom" students or indoctrinate them with leftist ideologies.
Today, however, I want to hear from you. What's on your mind? What topics should be on Popular Information's radar? You can leave your thoughts in the discussion thread linked below, starting now. I’ll be dropping by later today to respond to as many people as I can.
This work is made possible by our paid subscribers. If you haven't done so already, please consider supporting this work by upgrading to a paid subscription.
Keep up the great work Judd! This is REAL journalism. Truth and sunlight is the greatest threat to budding fascism in America. I encourage everyone to subscribe
I can’t stop thinking about the complete failure of absolutely everyone to vet George Santos. What is the point of journalism if no one is bothering to unearth these kinds of details until after an election? The whole story seemed like low hanging fruit given the breadth and volume of his lies and yet he managed to con his way into elected office, now with 2 committee assignments.
DeSantis is an autocrat and seeks to have the government involved and controlling all aspects of our lives. What we read, what we say, who we love, whether we want to have children. This is not freedom, this is fascism and the people of Florida support it. He will likely be the GOP pick. Is this America or Russia?
I think DeSatan is Hitler reincarnated and his actions terrify me. I am planning to leave Florida as fast as I can sell my home and clear the border. He is a monster and what he is doing to public education is designed to create a generation of automatons who only believe the lies being fed to them by a fascist, authoritarian party.
Why doesn't the US just apply the 2nd Amendment fully and make everyone with a gun serve a minimum 2 years in our well regulated militia? Older gunners would do clerical and maintenance work. Cheaters get prison time. Bullets are also regulated.
DeSantis was elected by voter suppression and intimidation, a big issue that needs more coverage. His election police are his personal gestapo. Governors in other states such as Texas have used these same tactics for years. The DOJ has done nothing about this at all. Any legal action has been heroically under taken by Marc Elias and his firm Elias Law Group: https://www.elias.law/team
I highly recommend subscribing to Marc’s newsletter, Democracy Docket. He also has an excellent podcast, Defending Democracy, weekly on Fridays. Last Friday he was joined by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. The main subject was the Federalist Society, Leonard Leo, and dark money in politics. What I learned was truly very alarming, frightening actually.
If your area of concern and coverage is Florida consider climate change as a topic. It won't be too long before southern Florida will submerged under a rising sea. The time to stop speculative investment in this doomed area is now. High tide in Miami is already a problem. When will it become a very expensive problem?
Ron DeSantis seems determined to further dumb-down the country's most ignorant populations. That he is the Florida governor says that state may be beyond salvation. It's disappearance under the waves might be a good thing. In the meantime thanks for exposing his fascist tendencies to the rest of us.
I am a teacher in Florida and my students and I have been directly impacted by the new laws. I really appreciate your reporting and believe that it will make a difference. I would love to hear more about efforts (especially effective ones) to counter the attacks on students and teachers. Thanks for all the work you do!
I have read that the Far Right is doing all they can to take over school boards and change school policies to suit their cause. It would be interesting to learn more about these efforts. We have seen some scary candidates run here in DE and so far have been able to rally and defeat them. School board elections notoriously have low voter turnout which makes it easier for an extreme candidate to win.
ICYMI, Ron DeSantis was honored at the Union League in Philadelphia last night with the Union League's Gold Medal--the highest award it can give, first given to Abraham Lincoln, for exceptional service to the country. Many of the Union League members objected to this--met with silence and inaction by the board--as were the protests outside the event by the Philadelphia NAACP and many others.
You overlooked the planned transformation of New College with the recent Board of Trustees appointed by DeSantis. Would love to see more on that and spread that story to others.
A very under reported aspect of the economy is the extremely important role undocumented immigrants/migrants play. Major sectors such as, food processing, construction, hospitality, could not function without this labor force. That being said as a group these works have no legal protections, and are routinely abused both physically and economically.
I think the real victims are the children in that they bear the brunt of limited education; it will likely limit their ability to think and reason and will certainly limit their access to most professions and better-paying jobs.
Florida really has kind of become "Ground Zero" for this reactionary, performative BS. So, ask yourself (if you're among those who think that Ron DeSantis is more "normal" than his Orange mentor) whether you want that for the country as a whole?
Because, that appears to be exactly where we as a country are heading.................
Please continue to focus on these topics in Florida as much as you can insofar as it doesn't detract from your other work. As a queer person and a Jew who cares deeply about Black liberation and the education of our future leaders, these things (along with whatever else Ron Desantis is doing) need to be exposed. Thank you very much for everything you and your team are doing.
Please keep up reporting on the most fraudulent state in America. Florida! No one seems to be worried about the governor becoming president but let me tell you I have the very same feeling about him that I did with trump in 2015/2016. He will be so much worse then trump.
The truth about the southern border. I see that a record number of stops have been made by a record number of Immigration oficers but need context. How do number of stops equate to increases in number of crossings? It would seem that if we are stopping a record number of people from then that is good? Are there polices that were ended that encouraged people to come to the US at a faster rate? It seems as though the whole story is being told by bomb throwers so it is very difficult to grasp what actually is happening.
Excellent coverage on this important topic. An important topic that would benefit from your attention is the Farm Bureau. Corporate farming is hiding behind the Farm Bureau's false narrative that it is "Feeding the world." The conflicting goals of environmental protection and corporate farming is too often unreported. Looking at nitrates polluting the rivers and streams in Iowa is just one example of the conflict. Laws regarding confinement operations is another.
Perhaps you can write an expose of DeSantis' takeover of The New College of Florida. He placed several radical right Board members who vow to turn the school into the Hillsdale College of the south. This would establish a foothold in every level of public education in FL for the indoctrination of students in an anti-woke white supremacy ideology.
I love that you constantly are asking your subscribers what you should be covering. The truth is that I love reading whatever you put out. It's so upsetting that DeSantis is doing what he's doing. Religion is ruining the world. I don't care if you practice it, but don't try and force your own beliefs on the masses. Let people be themselves and do what they want. If it's not directly affecting you and your life, you shouldn't have a problem or be bothered by what someone else is doing. Keep up the excellent work Judd.
I’m continually concerned about DoJ inaction to prosecute the planners of the insurrection: Trump, Stone, Bannon, Flynn, Alexander for starters. I called my Democratic House representative to voice these concerns and was told by an aide, it’s in the hands of DoJ and there’s nothing we can do, we have faith DoJ is carrying out their mission. I asked what do you know that causes you to have faith? You need to tell us because many of us have lost faith in our institutions, you have a duty to protect the American people.
You know you’ve got issues when your go-to analogy for something you are willing to do without hesitation isn’t something like, “brush my teeth,” or, “eat breakfast,” but “run over you like a dead body”.
Youngkin is stirring the culture war waters with his attorney general’s investigation into allegations that Northern Virginia school districts failed to share national merit scholar commendations with students in a timely manner. WAPO helped this idea along by posting an op-ed by Hugh Hewitt that seemed long on outrage and short on facts. I’d really like to understand the truth, and expose the folks who are pushing the culture war narratives to - I think - help set up Youngkin for a presidential campaign.
This past weekend two very informed women said that there’s a law being discussed in Florida to make it mandatory for young girls and teens to report when they have their menstrual periods. They understood the move to be against trans kids playing sports. How do we find out if this is true.
Also, they reported that while a masculine looking lesbian friend, here in FL was going through airport security that the pat down she received included grabbing and probing her crotch. It was humiliating and taken to have happened to intimidate a “trans” person, which she isn’t. She was afraid to report the assault for fear of being put on a no fly list and she needs to fly. A friend of the woman was in fact put in a no fly list for complaining about airport security.
My suggestion: How about writing an updated list of politicians who have taken money from the NRA or any gun manufacturer? Thank you for all your amazing uncovering.
When I was in 5th grade (1969-1970), my teacher had a daily reading time during which she read from books of her choosing. I vividly recall Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Hiroshima as two of her choices. I have been wondering if these show up on the banned book lists and, if not, when? given the appropriate degree of discomfort they cause. They were important to my moral development, and I am grateful to her.
Have public libraries begun limiting the books
on their shelves? Again, I spent my summers reading every Vonnegut book, as an example, and others which might have “dangerous” content. This banning of books is a terrible disregard for the individual person to encounter ideas and shape one’s own beliefs. It is the very essence of indoctrination.
I liked to know what the ACLU and the Democrats, any civil liberties group for that matter, in Florida are doing to expose and educate Floridians to the abuses of DeSantis. I appreciate your reporting, you have brought the many issues of/with DeSantis to the forefront, seems to me there is plenty to work with to at least temper DeSantis, if not shut him down
The filth and grift are overwhelming but you do a great service, Judd. I'd say, just keep hammerin' away at all the corruption, lies and BS we're being fed!
I’d love to see work on why and how no Wall Street investment banks had anyone go to jail after the 2008 collapse. I’d like to see a “top ten most wanted” story about who are the worst offenders - and I’d like you to explain how what they did impacts our economy (and all of us) to this day.
Judd, were you aware that the Minnesota Republican delegation is leading efforts to name a post office after deceased rep Jim Hagedorn, one of the many who voted to deny the results of the election? Seems like a bit of the Lost Cause coming to Minnesota. And just f'ing wrong!
By the way, I continue to rave about the great work you are doing. Keep it up!
The LOBBYING industry. You cover many subjects related to this obvious danger to our political well-being. Who is getting paid What and By Whom to do their bidding...rather than represent their constituents with integrity and vision?
Here’s another. The latest culture war grenade from Carlson regarding the M&M characters, and the response by Mars to remove them, was treated by media as a contrived dust up, but it has dark undertones. Right wing punditry has shown that it can cause corporations to make changes, and that’s not good. As your own research repeatedly demonstrates, corporations want to say one thing and do another. Mars will keep trying to straddle this fence. Let’s make that a hot space for them.
Your coverage of this issue has been outstanding. I wish the rest of the media were this good.
One thing I don't see widely covered is the ongoing strike against HarperCollins, which is the only major book publisher that's unionized. Its employees have been trying to get decent wages and better working conditions for some time. They walked off the job in November, and after being on strike for 55 days (as of today), management still hasn't come to the bargaining table.
Has a national database of the toll taken on girls and women by abortion restrictions already been created or is one needed? (I'm thinking of something along the lines of the database on police killings that the Washington Post now has and reports from.) I read pretty widely and see scattered reports, but I haven't seen anything that seems to be aggregating reports. Maybe you could organize collection and then periodically report.
keep up the reporting on these attacks on education and free speech which are the cornerstones of democracy. Ron Desantis is a danger to democracy and he needs to be constantly exposed for the cruel fascist that he is or legacy media will do the same thing they did for him, cover all his antics, respond with credulity to his and his vile spokespeoples lies/statements and legitimize his extremism with their false equivalency, bothsideism and horserace coverage-i cant even read WAPO anymore with all the former Politico reporters and right wingers they've hired to try to appear "fair and balanced" when all they're doing is legitimizing extremists.
Thank you for your reporting on Florida's attack on education in general, LGBTQ individuals, and eliminating Black history. As a retired FL teacher, my heart breaks AND I'm furious.
Great work. Hope to be able to upgrade to Paid this qtr.
Pls. checkout FL. coastal condo Insurance rates causing huge assessments for middle class 55+ condo assocs. Condo's bought when housing was affordable. Forty yrs later new deSantis laws causing big increase in HOAs. Huge # forced to move because fixed income, med. drug costs. inflation etc. GOP did not fix Insurance problem in FL.
I’ve recently subscribed because of your work on academic freedom and The First Amendment.
As writers, 1A is our life blood. Don’t ever stop delving into issues encompassing 1A from the classroom to the chat room, our voices are under attack. From environmental studies to biological sciences, our academic freedoms are under attack, so keep it up!
The right to express ourselves encompasses multiple subjects. It would be great to see how oppression has effected our ability to tackle the climate crisis.
Thank you for your work. Is it possible to expose the stores still carrying all types of Round-Up, despite the ban on sales for residences that began January 1, 2023?
This one is likely too unwieldy and wide-ranging to adequately cover, but I still want to know how many republican reps, senators, congress persons and others in the employ of foriegn adversaries, are merely too venal to care about doing critical and perhaps permanent damage to their own country.
I cannot begin describe to you, the depths of my disdain and loathing for these corrupted and low examples of parasites on the greater body of humanity.
For a Demagogue like DeSantis who claims that Florida is the Bastion of Freedom, why does he think he and other can decide what I can or cannot read. I see the trademarks of fascism in everything he says or does.
Love your work; keep it up! Please do what you can to turn up the heat on DOJ to move forward in a timely manner on the Trump investigations that should lead to indictments.
Guns. Guns. Guns. We are all sitting ducks out here. I’d be out of my mind if I had kids of school age these days. But, hey, my grown kids - and young grandchild - could be massacred at the grocery store and a number of other places, too! Is there anything new that could be exposed about the gun industry, politicians, and/or mainstream media corruption on this issue that would light a fire under our elected officials to demand and get more, stronger gun laws? I doubt it, but that’s what’s on my mind.
I would like to hear more about the under-the-radar influence operations being carried out against young men online these days. Guys like Andrew Tate and such have a lot more influence than I think a lot of people realize, and there's definitely a grift going on here that should be exposed. I don't exactly know what the angle is that you would cover, but there's something to dig at there.
Heya. I've always wondered what the cost of Trump's North Korea folly has been to US taxpayers. I know that several fed depts started drafting plans for a potential reopening. Literally hundreds of people spent time and money developing plans for an imminent opening of trade, culture, etc. It was the only option a responsible government had at tht time. Contingency plans. It's what gov does. If I'm not mistaken, it was many of the Trump appointees that directed employees to drop what they were doing and prepare for new and emerging business in NK - even though they all pretty much knew it was a waste of time.
I'm very grateful for the in-depth, informative reporting. There are so many interesting topics currently. One that has caught my attention is the possible extradition of Julian Assange and the free press implications. I read/listen to opinions along the spectrum; I'd appreciate your journalistic insights.
Spill it
Keep up the great work Judd! This is REAL journalism. Truth and sunlight is the greatest threat to budding fascism in America. I encourage everyone to subscribe
I can’t stop thinking about the complete failure of absolutely everyone to vet George Santos. What is the point of journalism if no one is bothering to unearth these kinds of details until after an election? The whole story seemed like low hanging fruit given the breadth and volume of his lies and yet he managed to con his way into elected office, now with 2 committee assignments.
DeSantis is an autocrat and seeks to have the government involved and controlling all aspects of our lives. What we read, what we say, who we love, whether we want to have children. This is not freedom, this is fascism and the people of Florida support it. He will likely be the GOP pick. Is this America or Russia?
I think DeSatan is Hitler reincarnated and his actions terrify me. I am planning to leave Florida as fast as I can sell my home and clear the border. He is a monster and what he is doing to public education is designed to create a generation of automatons who only believe the lies being fed to them by a fascist, authoritarian party.
Why doesn't the US just apply the 2nd Amendment fully and make everyone with a gun serve a minimum 2 years in our well regulated militia? Older gunners would do clerical and maintenance work. Cheaters get prison time. Bullets are also regulated.
DeSantis was elected by voter suppression and intimidation, a big issue that needs more coverage. His election police are his personal gestapo. Governors in other states such as Texas have used these same tactics for years. The DOJ has done nothing about this at all. Any legal action has been heroically under taken by Marc Elias and his firm Elias Law Group: https://www.elias.law/team
I highly recommend subscribing to Marc’s newsletter, Democracy Docket. He also has an excellent podcast, Defending Democracy, weekly on Fridays. Last Friday he was joined by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. The main subject was the Federalist Society, Leonard Leo, and dark money in politics. What I learned was truly very alarming, frightening actually.
If your area of concern and coverage is Florida consider climate change as a topic. It won't be too long before southern Florida will submerged under a rising sea. The time to stop speculative investment in this doomed area is now. High tide in Miami is already a problem. When will it become a very expensive problem?
Ron DeSantis seems determined to further dumb-down the country's most ignorant populations. That he is the Florida governor says that state may be beyond salvation. It's disappearance under the waves might be a good thing. In the meantime thanks for exposing his fascist tendencies to the rest of us.
I am a teacher in Florida and my students and I have been directly impacted by the new laws. I really appreciate your reporting and believe that it will make a difference. I would love to hear more about efforts (especially effective ones) to counter the attacks on students and teachers. Thanks for all the work you do!
I have read that the Far Right is doing all they can to take over school boards and change school policies to suit their cause. It would be interesting to learn more about these efforts. We have seen some scary candidates run here in DE and so far have been able to rally and defeat them. School board elections notoriously have low voter turnout which makes it easier for an extreme candidate to win.
ICYMI, Ron DeSantis was honored at the Union League in Philadelphia last night with the Union League's Gold Medal--the highest award it can give, first given to Abraham Lincoln, for exceptional service to the country. Many of the Union League members objected to this--met with silence and inaction by the board--as were the protests outside the event by the Philadelphia NAACP and many others.
You overlooked the planned transformation of New College with the recent Board of Trustees appointed by DeSantis. Would love to see more on that and spread that story to others.
A very under reported aspect of the economy is the extremely important role undocumented immigrants/migrants play. Major sectors such as, food processing, construction, hospitality, could not function without this labor force. That being said as a group these works have no legal protections, and are routinely abused both physically and economically.
I think the real victims are the children in that they bear the brunt of limited education; it will likely limit their ability to think and reason and will certainly limit their access to most professions and better-paying jobs.
Florida really has kind of become "Ground Zero" for this reactionary, performative BS. So, ask yourself (if you're among those who think that Ron DeSantis is more "normal" than his Orange mentor) whether you want that for the country as a whole?
Because, that appears to be exactly where we as a country are heading.................
Please continue to focus on these topics in Florida as much as you can insofar as it doesn't detract from your other work. As a queer person and a Jew who cares deeply about Black liberation and the education of our future leaders, these things (along with whatever else Ron Desantis is doing) need to be exposed. Thank you very much for everything you and your team are doing.
Please keep up reporting on the most fraudulent state in America. Florida! No one seems to be worried about the governor becoming president but let me tell you I have the very same feeling about him that I did with trump in 2015/2016. He will be so much worse then trump.
The truth about the southern border. I see that a record number of stops have been made by a record number of Immigration oficers but need context. How do number of stops equate to increases in number of crossings? It would seem that if we are stopping a record number of people from then that is good? Are there polices that were ended that encouraged people to come to the US at a faster rate? It seems as though the whole story is being told by bomb throwers so it is very difficult to grasp what actually is happening.
Excellent coverage on this important topic. An important topic that would benefit from your attention is the Farm Bureau. Corporate farming is hiding behind the Farm Bureau's false narrative that it is "Feeding the world." The conflicting goals of environmental protection and corporate farming is too often unreported. Looking at nitrates polluting the rivers and streams in Iowa is just one example of the conflict. Laws regarding confinement operations is another.
Perhaps you can write an expose of DeSantis' takeover of The New College of Florida. He placed several radical right Board members who vow to turn the school into the Hillsdale College of the south. This would establish a foothold in every level of public education in FL for the indoctrination of students in an anti-woke white supremacy ideology.
I love that you constantly are asking your subscribers what you should be covering. The truth is that I love reading whatever you put out. It's so upsetting that DeSantis is doing what he's doing. Religion is ruining the world. I don't care if you practice it, but don't try and force your own beliefs on the masses. Let people be themselves and do what they want. If it's not directly affecting you and your life, you shouldn't have a problem or be bothered by what someone else is doing. Keep up the excellent work Judd.
I’m continually concerned about DoJ inaction to prosecute the planners of the insurrection: Trump, Stone, Bannon, Flynn, Alexander for starters. I called my Democratic House representative to voice these concerns and was told by an aide, it’s in the hands of DoJ and there’s nothing we can do, we have faith DoJ is carrying out their mission. I asked what do you know that causes you to have faith? You need to tell us because many of us have lost faith in our institutions, you have a duty to protect the American people.
Thanks for your great work.
You know you’ve got issues when your go-to analogy for something you are willing to do without hesitation isn’t something like, “brush my teeth,” or, “eat breakfast,” but “run over you like a dead body”.
Youngkin is stirring the culture war waters with his attorney general’s investigation into allegations that Northern Virginia school districts failed to share national merit scholar commendations with students in a timely manner. WAPO helped this idea along by posting an op-ed by Hugh Hewitt that seemed long on outrage and short on facts. I’d really like to understand the truth, and expose the folks who are pushing the culture war narratives to - I think - help set up Youngkin for a presidential campaign.
This past weekend two very informed women said that there’s a law being discussed in Florida to make it mandatory for young girls and teens to report when they have their menstrual periods. They understood the move to be against trans kids playing sports. How do we find out if this is true.
Also, they reported that while a masculine looking lesbian friend, here in FL was going through airport security that the pat down she received included grabbing and probing her crotch. It was humiliating and taken to have happened to intimidate a “trans” person, which she isn’t. She was afraid to report the assault for fear of being put on a no fly list and she needs to fly. A friend of the woman was in fact put in a no fly list for complaining about airport security.
The Brown Shirts are here in Fl.
My suggestion: How about writing an updated list of politicians who have taken money from the NRA or any gun manufacturer? Thank you for all your amazing uncovering.
When I was in 5th grade (1969-1970), my teacher had a daily reading time during which she read from books of her choosing. I vividly recall Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Hiroshima as two of her choices. I have been wondering if these show up on the banned book lists and, if not, when? given the appropriate degree of discomfort they cause. They were important to my moral development, and I am grateful to her.
Have public libraries begun limiting the books
on their shelves? Again, I spent my summers reading every Vonnegut book, as an example, and others which might have “dangerous” content. This banning of books is a terrible disregard for the individual person to encounter ideas and shape one’s own beliefs. It is the very essence of indoctrination.
Keep up the work!
I liked to know what the ACLU and the Democrats, any civil liberties group for that matter, in Florida are doing to expose and educate Floridians to the abuses of DeSantis. I appreciate your reporting, you have brought the many issues of/with DeSantis to the forefront, seems to me there is plenty to work with to at least temper DeSantis, if not shut him down
The filth and grift are overwhelming but you do a great service, Judd. I'd say, just keep hammerin' away at all the corruption, lies and BS we're being fed!
I’d love to see work on why and how no Wall Street investment banks had anyone go to jail after the 2008 collapse. I’d like to see a “top ten most wanted” story about who are the worst offenders - and I’d like you to explain how what they did impacts our economy (and all of us) to this day.
Judd, were you aware that the Minnesota Republican delegation is leading efforts to name a post office after deceased rep Jim Hagedorn, one of the many who voted to deny the results of the election? Seems like a bit of the Lost Cause coming to Minnesota. And just f'ing wrong!
By the way, I continue to rave about the great work you are doing. Keep it up!
The LOBBYING industry. You cover many subjects related to this obvious danger to our political well-being. Who is getting paid What and By Whom to do their bidding...rather than represent their constituents with integrity and vision?
Here’s another. The latest culture war grenade from Carlson regarding the M&M characters, and the response by Mars to remove them, was treated by media as a contrived dust up, but it has dark undertones. Right wing punditry has shown that it can cause corporations to make changes, and that’s not good. As your own research repeatedly demonstrates, corporations want to say one thing and do another. Mars will keep trying to straddle this fence. Let’s make that a hot space for them.
Your coverage of this issue has been outstanding. I wish the rest of the media were this good.
One thing I don't see widely covered is the ongoing strike against HarperCollins, which is the only major book publisher that's unionized. Its employees have been trying to get decent wages and better working conditions for some time. They walked off the job in November, and after being on strike for 55 days (as of today), management still hasn't come to the bargaining table.
Has a national database of the toll taken on girls and women by abortion restrictions already been created or is one needed? (I'm thinking of something along the lines of the database on police killings that the Washington Post now has and reports from.) I read pretty widely and see scattered reports, but I haven't seen anything that seems to be aggregating reports. Maybe you could organize collection and then periodically report.
keep up the reporting on these attacks on education and free speech which are the cornerstones of democracy. Ron Desantis is a danger to democracy and he needs to be constantly exposed for the cruel fascist that he is or legacy media will do the same thing they did for him, cover all his antics, respond with credulity to his and his vile spokespeoples lies/statements and legitimize his extremism with their false equivalency, bothsideism and horserace coverage-i cant even read WAPO anymore with all the former Politico reporters and right wingers they've hired to try to appear "fair and balanced" when all they're doing is legitimizing extremists.
DARK MONEY! Power and Money! Politicians and the Supreme Court - Serving the wealthy and NOT the middle and the poor in America!
Stellar reporting Judd.
DeSantis and his bigotry, not to mention his lack of a moral compass, must be exposed.
Fla officials are denying it’s “book banning.”
We know it it, thank to you.
Thank you for your reporting on Florida's attack on education in general, LGBTQ individuals, and eliminating Black history. As a retired FL teacher, my heart breaks AND I'm furious.
Great work. Hope to be able to upgrade to Paid this qtr.
Pls. checkout FL. coastal condo Insurance rates causing huge assessments for middle class 55+ condo assocs. Condo's bought when housing was affordable. Forty yrs later new deSantis laws causing big increase in HOAs. Huge # forced to move because fixed income, med. drug costs. inflation etc. GOP did not fix Insurance problem in FL.
Greetings!
I’ve recently subscribed because of your work on academic freedom and The First Amendment.
As writers, 1A is our life blood. Don’t ever stop delving into issues encompassing 1A from the classroom to the chat room, our voices are under attack. From environmental studies to biological sciences, our academic freedoms are under attack, so keep it up!
The right to express ourselves encompasses multiple subjects. It would be great to see how oppression has effected our ability to tackle the climate crisis.
Thank you for your work. Is it possible to expose the stores still carrying all types of Round-Up, despite the ban on sales for residences that began January 1, 2023?
Kathleen
Michigan
Keep doing what you are doing particularly when you uncover business and political connections.
Welp, “slightly post-pubescent little lesbians” is exactly what we’ve got here at our house, so thanks for the book recommendation, Florida Man.
This one is likely too unwieldy and wide-ranging to adequately cover, but I still want to know how many republican reps, senators, congress persons and others in the employ of foriegn adversaries, are merely too venal to care about doing critical and perhaps permanent damage to their own country.
I cannot begin describe to you, the depths of my disdain and loathing for these corrupted and low examples of parasites on the greater body of humanity.
For a Demagogue like DeSantis who claims that Florida is the Bastion of Freedom, why does he think he and other can decide what I can or cannot read. I see the trademarks of fascism in everything he says or does.
Love your work; keep it up! Please do what you can to turn up the heat on DOJ to move forward in a timely manner on the Trump investigations that should lead to indictments.
Guns. Guns. Guns. We are all sitting ducks out here. I’d be out of my mind if I had kids of school age these days. But, hey, my grown kids - and young grandchild - could be massacred at the grocery store and a number of other places, too! Is there anything new that could be exposed about the gun industry, politicians, and/or mainstream media corruption on this issue that would light a fire under our elected officials to demand and get more, stronger gun laws? I doubt it, but that’s what’s on my mind.
I would like to hear more about the under-the-radar influence operations being carried out against young men online these days. Guys like Andrew Tate and such have a lot more influence than I think a lot of people realize, and there's definitely a grift going on here that should be exposed. I don't exactly know what the angle is that you would cover, but there's something to dig at there.
Heya. I've always wondered what the cost of Trump's North Korea folly has been to US taxpayers. I know that several fed depts started drafting plans for a potential reopening. Literally hundreds of people spent time and money developing plans for an imminent opening of trade, culture, etc. It was the only option a responsible government had at tht time. Contingency plans. It's what gov does. If I'm not mistaken, it was many of the Trump appointees that directed employees to drop what they were doing and prepare for new and emerging business in NK - even though they all pretty much knew it was a waste of time.
I'm very grateful for the in-depth, informative reporting. There are so many interesting topics currently. One that has caught my attention is the possible extradition of Julian Assange and the free press implications. I read/listen to opinions along the spectrum; I'd appreciate your journalistic insights.