We can vanquish Roger Stone together
Center the truth, serve the people
Welcome to another Monday night edition of Progress Report.
I’m going to ask you a few important questions below, so please keep reading.
A few hours ago, you should have received a hefty edition of this newsletter with a long reported story about the enormous political gender gap that has opened up, in part due to the sharp rightward turn taken by working class white men of all ages. It’s a topic I’ve prodded at before, and in tonight, I dove into data and interviewed a Michigan lawmaker who is at the nexus of these social and electoral phenomena.
It was a difficult piece to write, in the sense that it explored the dark corners of a conversation in which many progressives are reluctant to engage. But to build and sustain a real durable and left-populist coalition of voters in a country riven with demographic shifts and rising extremism, it’s imperative to understand where Democrats made mistakes and what well-intentioned activists can do to build trust with all voters in a democracy. It’s not about catering to those seduced by the far-right, just creating a politics that uplifts everyone who needs it.
Writing Progress Report allows me to explore these topics guided only by facts, instinct, and decency. I change my focus entirely from one edition to another — last week, I had an inside scoop on the Georgia Board of Elections fiasco, and before that, I posted exclusive video of a confrontation between unionized Amazon workers and management at JFK8. In between, I round up and report on election and policy news, following stories that you just won’t read much about elsewhere. (You can find links to the stories I just mentioned, plus other recent favorites, below.)
Without advertisers or sponsors, I’m accountable only to readers, subscribers, and donors. It’s the best kind of relationship, but Substack has changed considerably over the years, and the biggest political publications are funded by ultra-wealthy investors, corporate sponsors, and the platform itself, which has a history of wooing big names with big bonuses. That’s fine, but it has made it harder to build a broad audience and climb up the algorithm. I’m proud that I’ve managed to stay afloat enough to be locked in an ongoing rankings battle with Roger Stone, but it’s a tough way to construct the progressive media network we so desperately need.
Weird, right? We mythologize awful people, and Roger Stone is a uniquely horrible, uniquely American figure, a cockroach who has a long legacy of meddling in major world events and shaping significant turning points in our national history. That I can run neck-and-neck with him is somehow galvanizing. But I’d love to zoom past him and other awful right-wing disinformation trolls, so I’ll need your help.
My goal is to add 150 paid subscribers by Election Day, which will send me vaulting up the rankings beyond a lot of bad conservative hucksters, far-right zealots, and actual white nationalists. If you can spare $5 a month, you can become a paid subscriber and access — well, that’s sort of your call.
While I always want to provide what supporters want to read, right now it is even more imperative to supply as many people as possible with the sort of dependable information, insights, and reported stories that they won’t be getting on cable TV.
So I’m asking you to please subscribe or donate, and then tell me what you want to see most in paid issues. I’m still going to do a bit of everything, but I’ll make sure to emphasize the winner.
Thank you for the support and confidence. Let’s continue to build a media that centers the truth and serves the people.
Tonight’s story, on the cultural and demographic emergency that is laying waste to Democrats’ historic coalition:
I spoke with the lone Democrat on the Georgia Board of Elections and got an inside understanding of the board’s dynamics, the new rules passed by MAGA hijackers, how they work, and what comes next.
A hidden camera look at a labor action inside the US’s only union Amazon site:
An interview with a leading Arizona legislator about the issues roiling the nation’s most high stakes swing state:
A deep dive into the state of organized labor in the US, including its recent rise and the serious institutional threats it faces.
An interview with the executive director of LULAC on Texas AG Ken Paxton’s assault on Latino activists as well as a follow-up report:
A conversation with Dakota Adams, the estranged son of Oathkeepers founder Stewart Rhodes, about far-right cults and his run as a Democrat:
I'm subscribed but can't seem to get the poll to work. But...I mean honestly, I appreciate all of your work, so I don't really care what form that comes in. Just keep up the good work.
Can we assume that Roger Stone exists because for every reprehensible act and statement he receives a fat envelope from some billionaire?
I’m interested in following the money in his case.
Thanks for pointing out the competitive situation on Substack.