The first eight years and the next eight years of Popular Information

“To write the truth as I see it; to defend the weak against the strong; to fight for justice; and to seek, as best I can, to bring healing perspectives to bear on the terrible hates and fears of mankind…”

That is how investigative reporter I.F. Stone, who died in 1989, described his role as a journalist. Stone pursued these goals by publishing I.F. Stone’s Weekly, an independent newsletter, from 1953 to 1971. Stone, best known for his indefatigable scrutiny of government documents, is considered one of the top journalists of the 20th century.

Eight years ago, inspired by Stone’s legacy, I started Popular Information. Today, you are one of 540,000 people who receive Popular Information in your inbox. I am proud of what it has accomplished so far.

The reporting in this newsletter helped secure guaranteed sick leave for 170,000 restaurant workers, prompted dozens of major companies to cut off funding to Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election, and exposed a scheme to cripple Social Security, forcing the Trump administration to scrap its plans.

In 2026, this newsletter was honored with the David Nyhan Prize for Public Policy Journalism from the Harvard Shorenstein Center, which praised Popular Information’s work as “meticulous investigative reporting” that is “timely, fearless, and factual.” In 2023, Popular Information was featured in the Washington Post as one of a handful of “news outlets reimagining political journalism in smart ways“ and “addressing some of political journalism’s long-standing shortcomings.” In 2020, Popular Information won the Online Journalism Award for Excellence in Newsletters.

Stone was fiercely protective of his independence and, therefore, relied on readers — not corporations — to fund his work. Popular Information has taken the same approach. And for the next 24 hours, to mark our 8th anniversary, you can upgrade to a paid subscription for 28% off.

The truth is, only a small percentage of Popular Information’s readers are paid subscribers. Part of the reason is that we do not have a paywall. I believe that access to Popular Information’s reporting should not be determined by whether someone has disposable income.

But it is paid subscribers who have allowed me to hire two talented colleagues, Rebecca Crosby and Noel Simms, who make Popular Information’s most ambitious reporting possible. In the last month, paid subscribers enabled us to purchase a new tool that tracks political ads across the country — allowing us to follow the money with new precision.

If a few more people upgrade to a paid subscription, Popular Information could expose more lies, root out more corruption, and call out more hypocrites. So, if you can afford this discounted rate ($36/year or $4.32/month), please support this work.

There have been more than 1,500 editions of Popular Information since we launched. If you missed an issue or two, I understand. I’ve included some highlights from the last eight years below.

Please keep reading. And, as always, feel free to get in touch. You can reach me at judd@popular.info.

Here’s to another eight years!

With thanks,

Judd

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“Watershed moment for the restaurant industry.” As the pandemic began to take hold of the nation in early 2020, Popular Information reported that restaurant group Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Olive Garden, was not offering employees paid sick leave unless required by law. Popular Information spoke to several current and former Darden employees who shared stories of workers who came into work sick to avoid missing a shift. Ten hours after Popular Information published its reporting, Darden, which previously lobbied against paid sick leave legislation, announced that all employees would receive paid sick leave benefits, effective immediately.

“...After the journalist Judd Legum pointed out its long history of fighting sick-leave policies, Darden Restaurants, which runs several restaurant chains, including Olive Garden, said that its 170,000 hourly workers would now get paid sick leave,” wrote Opinion Columnist Farhad Manjoo in the New York Times. Business Insider described the move as a “watershed moment for the restaurant industry.” The story was picked up by the New York Times, The Financial Times, CNBC, and Fox.

Research published in August 2021 by Harvard professor Daniel Schneider and UCSF professor Kristen Harknett in the peer-reviewed journal Health Affairs looked at the impact of Popular Information’s report on working conditions at Olive Garden. According to the study, this reporting “was highly effective,” dramatically increasing “employee-reported access to paid sick leave.” Further, the change in sick leave policy significantly reduced the number of employees who came to work sick at Olive Garden. “We have shown that online investigatory journalism coupled with social media activity led to substantial changes in corporate practices,” the study concluded.

Exposing and preventing a plan to cripple Social Security. On March 17, 2025, Popular Information exclusively published an internal Social Security Administration (SSA) memo that revealed plans to significantly limit phone service beginning April 1. The memo said the plan would flood already overburdened field offices with millions of additional people, creating “service disruption,” “operational strain,” and “budget shortfalls.”

After the publication of Popular Information’s report, major national news outlets, including Axios, the Washington Post, CNN, USA Today, and Newsweek, picked up the story. Popular Information was featured on The Rachel Maddow Show and Democracy Now! to discuss the report. Millions of people read the story online. Powerful advocacy groups, including the AARP, blasted the proposal.

On March 26, however, the SSA announced it was delaying the implementation until April 14. Then, on April 8, the SSA announced that it was canceling its plans to limit phone service entirely.

“Corporations’ Political Reckoning Began With a Newsletter.” Following the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, Popular Information contacted 144 corporations and asked if they would continue to support members of Congress who voted to overturn the election. In response to Popular Information’s inquiry, three companies — Marriott, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, and Commerce Bank — announced that they were suspending their donations to the 147 Republicans who objected to the certification of the Electoral College.

The report had vast ripple effects in the corporate world and was picked up by The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, The Financial Times, Reuters, MarketWatch, Forbes, Business Insider, The Daily Beast, Axios, and other publications.

“One after another, major companies pledged this week to stop donating to politicians whose objections to America’s election results led to a riot at the U.S. Capitol. They were reacting to pressure that began with an article not in the New York Times or Washington Post, but a newsletter called Popular Information,” Bloomberg media reporter Gerry Smith wrote.

Eventually, dozens of the world’s most prominent corporations — including AT&T, Amazon, Intel, Disney, and Walmart — announced they were also suspending donations to Republican election objectors. An even larger group of companies said they were suspending all corporate PAC donations.

After our initial reporting, Popular Information tracked which corporations maintained their pledges — and which returned to business as usual.

Revealing how Trump’s Argentina bailout enriched one well-connected billionaire. On October 22, 2025, Popular Information revealed that the Trump administration’s $20 billion bailout of Argentina would benefit hedge fund billionaire Robert Citrone, a personal friend and former colleague of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Popular Information’s reporting became national news, with outlets like CNN, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and CNBC picking up the story. Our work was also cited in a letter from over 50 members of Congress demanding answers from Secretary Bessent about his ties to Citrone.

Accountability for right-wing billionaire Charles Koch. On March 14, 2022, Popular Information broke the news that Koch Industries, the conglomerate run by billionaire Charles Koch, was continuing business in Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The report was picked up by several major media outlets, including the New York Times, CBS News, Newsweek, Marketwatch, Salon, and The Daily Beast.

Two days later, Popular Information uncovered how a network of pundits and groups publicly arguing against the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia was receiving funding from Charles Koch’s nonprofit network. Koch Industries made its first public statement acknowledging its Russian operations on March 17. The company insisted that exiting Russia would “do more harm than good.”

On April 6, 2022, Popular Information obtained an internal email from Charles Koch’s umbrella non-profit, Stand Together, stating the group’s opposition to economic sanctions. It also explicitly linked this position to Koch Industries’ decision to maintain its operations in Russia. On April 18, a Popular Information report revealed that a foreign policy analyst funded by Stand Together was publicly casting doubt about whether Russian forces were attacking civilians in Ukraine. On April 21, under increasing pressure, Koch Industries announced that it was halting business operations in Russia.

Protecting democracy in North Carolina. On April 15, 2025, Popular Information reported that at least 29 people had their ballots in the 2024 general election wrongly invalidated by the North Carolina Supreme Court. The state’s highest court ruled that about 260 ballots must be tossed because they were cast by people who were “never residents” of the state. The ballots — and thousands of others — were challenged by Jefferson Griffin, a Republican candidate for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court who lost by 734 votes to Democrat Allison Riggs. On April 16, the North Carolina Board of Elections filed a notice in federal court, citing Popular Information’s reporting, stating that the votes of people who were wrongly identified would be restored. On May 5, in a decision that referenced Popular Information’s reporting, a federal court declared Riggs the winner and Griffin conceded.

Expanded sick leave at the nation’s largest supermarket chain. As COVID-19 cases began to soar in 2020, Popular Information reported extensively on Kroger’s inadequate sick leave policies. At the time, many employees told Popular Information that they were not receiving paid sick leave, which created an incentive to work while ill. Those who did have paid sick leave explained that it came with significant restrictions. Kroger proceeded to attack Popular Information, telling HuffPost that the newsletter “only serves to divide people at a time when we should all be pulling together to manage this public health crisis.”

Popular Information then reported on Publix’s much more expansive paid sick leave policy for COVID-19. The following weekend, Kroger announced a significantly expanded paid sick leave policy for COVID-19 that largely mirrored Publix’s policy. David Leonhardt of the New York Times credited Popular Information for pressuring Kroger to change its policies and expand leave. The story was also featured in Business Insider and the podcast On the Media.

Uncovering a multi-million dollar GOP dirty tricks operation. In May and June of 2026, Popular Information exposed that Lead Left, Real Change, and other purportedly “progressive” super PACs spending millions in Democratic primaries were actually part of a GOP dirty tricks operation connected to the House Republican super PAC. Within 24 hours of our initial report, Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to respond. The story was also featured on CNN.

Pulling back the curtain on the ideological agenda of a media giant. In July 2024, Popular Information revealed that the lead anchor of Sinclair’s national evening news broadcast, Eugene Ramirez, resigned over concerns about the accuracy and right-wing bias of the content he was required to present on air. The broadcast, known as The National Desk, appears on at least 70 local television affiliates owned by Sinclair. The report detailed how a small group of operatives embedded in Sinclair’s headquarters pushes right-wing propaganda dressed up as news to local outlets, where it is given the imprimatur of mainstream media brands, including NBC, ABC, and CBS. The story was covered in The Daily Beast, the Columbia Journalism Review, and NPR.

Exposing the consequences of Trump’s pardons. Jaime Davidson, a drug kingpin convicted in the murder of a federal law enforcement officer, had his life sentence commuted by Trump. In September 2024, Popular Information uncovered that Davidson, after being set free by Trump, was accused by authorities of strangling his wife during a 2023 dispute. Davidson was subsequently convicted by a jury of domestic violence, and sentenced to three months in jail. Our reporting was picked up by the New York Times, Newsweek, the New York Daily News, the Orlando Sentinel, the Syracuse Post-Standard, and other outlets.

A scandal in Tennessee, exposed. In April 2023, Popular Information broke the news that Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) secretly purchased a $600,000 home in Nashville. Our reporting forced Sexton to admit that his family lives in Nashville and raised serious questions about whether Sexton can legally represent a district two hours away. We also revealed that Sexton overcharged Tennessee taxpayers $78,000 by collecting per diem payments reserved for representatives who live more than 50 miles from Nashville.

The news generated a flurry of national and local media coverage, including a lengthy piece in the Tennessean, the state’s largest paper. A non-profit watchdog group called for state and federal criminal investigations into Sexton’s conduct. More than a dozen residents of Sexton’s district filed a civil complaint with the Tennessee Attorney General based on Popular Information’s reporting.