Work With Will.
We can’t make a better world if we’re only talking to like-minded people. Will’s work pushes traditional media boundaries to “meet people where they stand”—from elite universities to community churches, conservative radio to punk records. Learn more about how Will is making an impact by communicating complex stories for diverse audiences.
Speaking
Will has presented his work at more than 200 universities and international forums, ranging from the European Union to Sundance Film Festival and community churches and punk shows.
He has presented his work at more than 300
universities and international forums, including:
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“Students, from all over the political spectrum, appreciate the viewpoint and approach that Potter uses to examine these topics.”
-Northern Arizona University
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“My favorite part of your lecture was when you said we shouldn't be afraid, and the importance of bravery... Your talk inspired me to live every day of my life with this in mind—to stand up to fear.”
-University of Michigan
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“Amazing presentation today! I received universally positive feedback from the students in attendance.”
-Harvard Law School
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“Will was awesome! Everyone in my department has been gushing about his lecture and personality."
-University of Tennessee
Media
Featured in the world's top media publications
Print and Online
Reuters
Far-right protests leave U.S. cities scrambling to balance safety, free speech
HuffPost
Environmentalists Say They’re Averting Climate Disaster. Conservatives Say It’s Terrorism.
Washington Post
As Eco-terrorism Wanes, Governments still Target Activist Groups
Inverse
The FBI Only Has Itself to Blame for Creating a Will Potter
New Republic
What Big Food Doesn’t Want You to Know
Salon
Facebook’s latest data breach reveals Silicon Valley’s fortunes are built on pilfering privacy
TV
History Channel
America’s Secret Prisons
TED Live
Standing Rock Protests
Democracy Now
Sea World Employee Infiltrated Animal Rights Group
TED Live
How to Protect Your Data
Pivot
A Journalist Is Exposing How the FBI Targets Animal Activists as ‘Terrorists
Al Jazeera
Terrorism: Used or Abused?
Radio & Podcasts
NPR On the Media
States Consider Ag-Gag Bills
Radio Islam
America’s Secret Prisons
Radio New Zealand
Global Surveillance
KALW
How Can We Protect Environmentalists From Being Killed?
NPR’s Radio West
Who Protects Farm Animals?
ABC National
Animal Rights Activism & The Law
A frequent media commentator
on critical topics.
The Power of Dissent
Lessons from the fringe movements who have achieved mainstream success
Storytelling
& Public Engagement
New possibilities for digital storytelling and communicating complex narratives for diverse audiences
Big Ag’s Dirty Secrets
Factory farming’s toll on animals, workers, and the environment
Privacy and security
Practical training for journalists, activists, and organizations
Manufacturing Terrorism
The FBI's surveillance, harassment, and production of domestic terrorists
Animal Enterprise Terrorism
How corporations and government worked to brand and prosecute non-violent protesters as terrorists
Moving Beyond Differences
How to individuals and organizations can find common ground for the public good
Criminalizing Activism
Political panic, from McCarthyism to “eco-terrorism,” and how we can stop repeating history
Writing
"Part history, part action thriller and courtroom drama, part memoir, Green is the New Red plunges us into the wild, unruly, and entirely inspirational world of extreme environmental activism. Will Potter, participant-observer and partisan-reporter, is the perfect guide, unpacking with wit and skill the most elusive concepts—his discussion of ‘terrorism’ as myth and symbol is the finest I’ve ever read. Green is the New Red is an indispensable book that will change the way we think about commitment, the limits of protest, and the possibility of radical change.”
- Bill Ayers
Will’s reporting and commentary have appeared in a wide range of publications, internationally
CNN
“Exposing Animal Cruelty Is Not a Crime”
TED
“The real divide in the US isn’t red vs. blue”
VICE
“Prisoner Sent to Solitary for Having "Copious Amounts of Anarchist Publications”
Foreign Policy
“When an Activist Falls in the Forest, Does it Make a Sound?”— Quote Source
WIRED
“Hold Factory Farms to Account, With Drones”
Denver Law Review
“Sentinel Species...civil liberties in Trump’s America”
Mother Jones
“Meet the Punk Rocker Who Can Liberate Your FBI File”— Quote Source
Mashable
“Why None of the NSA's Ideas Are Worth Spreading”— Quote Source
Awards and Honors
Society of Professional Journalists, Mark of Excellence Award
Project Censored awards for “outstanding investigative journalism”
First journalist to be selected a TED Fellow
Knight-Wallace Fellow in Law Reporting
Twice nominated for “Golden Apple” teaching award
First Senior Academic Innovation Fellow, University of Michigan
Press Action “blogger of the year”
Grants from Scripps Howard, Press Club of Dallas, and others