Who Am I?

I’m Claire Potter, history professor emeritus at The New School for Social Research and a contributing editor to Public Seminar. I have made it my business to write about politics for a general audience since I started my first blog, Tenured Radical, in 2006. You can find me at the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The New Republic, Politico, The Yale Review, National Memo, AlterNet, Dissent, Eurozine, The Village Voice, Inside Higher Education, and Jacobin.

Currently, I am writing a biography of radical feminist Susan Brownmiller.

You can read more about me here.

I Read Everything You Don’t Have Time to Keep Up With

I am obsessed with politics—I’ll admit it. I read political news widely, including newsletters written by journalists based in state capitols across the country. So I’ll bring things to you—books, ideas, conversations—that you mostly won’t see in the mainstream press; analysis on topics in the news; and in my “Short Takes” section, links to articles you might not otherwise see.

Should I pay or subscribe for free?

That’s up to you: I love you anyway, whatever you decide. There are usually three posts a week: an essay, a podcast with an author, and a video chat with my collaborator, Neil J. Young. Paying subscribers get everything (including a transcription of the podcast, because many of you prefer to read) and free subscribers get the podcast and an essay.

So, I hope this newsletter will be so worth it to you that you want to pay: your dollars helps support the work that goes into this newsletter. For $5/month you can try a paid subscription, and cancel any time. New annual subscribers ($50/year) receive a free copy of my new book, Political Junkies: From Talk Radio to Twitter, How Alternative Media Hooked Us on Politics and Broke Our Democracy (Basic Books, 2020), or—if you subscribe on podcast day—you can choose a copy of the book that is featured that week.