It was a pleasure to sit down with Matt and talk about how these new laws make it illegal for journalists, undercover investigators, and community members like Amy to take photographs or video recordings of what happens on factory farms.
It was for an episode of his podcast, Bleeped, which is about censorship “and those who stand up to it.” It’s a great podcast, combining thoughtful research with an engaging, narrative-driven format.
I hope you’ll check out the episode, below, and subscribe as well.
And if you want to learn about ag-gag and the issues I raise in the show, my ag-gag page is a great place to start.
A small group of protesters brought a multinational corporation to financial ruin (multiple times) through a controversial, but nonviolent and lawful, protest campaign. The animal experimentation industry was so rattled by Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty that they united, internationally, and put pressure on the FBI to treat them as terrorists, on the Justice Department to send them to prison, and on Congress to pass new laws like the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, which go even further.
This documentary, “The Animal People,” has been a long time coming. Folks say that time and distance are supposed to make things easier to process. I think they’ve only made it harder. It’s tough to find words beyond that.
This story is more important than ever. This is the playbook, folks. This is how dissent becomes terrorism. I really hope having someone like Joaquin Phoenix on board helps get this the attention it deserves. Please seek this out and watch. Proud to be part of this.
Back in February, I was invited to deliver the keynote address at the Denver Law Review symposium. In addition to being one of the premier law schools in the United States, the Sturm College of Law is also on the cutting edge of both animal protection and constitutional law. [Previously, I worked with Denver Law’s […]
The official death toll of Hurricane Maria is up, again. And the news comes as we release a bold project from the University of Michigan, based on our on-the-ground investigation. I recently led a team from the University of Michigan to investigate the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. We conducted more than 30 interviews […]
For the past several months I’ve been working with a fantastic team of national experts and designers at University of Michigan on several new “teach-outs” about free speech on college campuses, in sports, and in journalism. For the “Free Speech on Campus” course, I interviewed President Mark Schlissel about the controversy of a potential campus […]
I’ll be delivering the Howard R. Marsh Lecture at the University of Michigan next week, about my work investigating the FBI’s surveillance of journalists throughout U.S. history. If you’re in the area, it’s free and open to the public! Here’s more about it: President Trump has waged a public campaign against journalism as “fake news” […]
I was featured in Reuters for this article about the rise in neo-Nazi, far-right violence. An excerpt: As recently as the 1990s, white nationalist groups held demonstrations in small towns that were spectacles but usually peaceful, said Will Potter, a University of Michigan fellow and journalist who tracks domestic terrorist groups and civil rights. More recently, […]
The online course I co-created at the University of Michigan is now available online for free at Coursera! Full details below. ___________________________________ We are excited to announce a new Teach-Out: Fake News, Facts, and Alternative Facts, which begins Monday, October 2, and we hope you will consider sharing this opportunity with your “Investigative Journalism, Spies, Traitors, Heroes” students. In […]
I’m honored to announce that I will be delivering a keynote address at a meeting co-hosted by the European Union and Council of Europe, speaking about the rise of authoritarianism in the United States, and the threat it poses for civil liberties and democracy. I leave for Paris shortly, where I will be speaking before […]
The University of Michigan has an exciting new “teach out” program, where faculty experts are creating mini courses that will available to thousands of people for free, online. It’s modeled after the “teach ins” that began at the university during the 1960s, but with a modern twist. We have the potential to reach a much […]
