The UnPopulist
Shikha Dalmia, Berny Belvedere, Jonathan Marks, Thomas D. Howes, Executive Watch, Landry Ayres, Lee Drutman, J. L. Wall, Kenneth Silber, Jacob Mchangama, Molly Rovinski, Matthew Cavedon, Mohammed Nosseir, Andy Craig, Nathan GoodmanDefending liberal democracy against authoritarianism in the U.S. and around the world.
| Platform |  | Pricing | Only free issues | Publishes | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issues | 850 | Founded | 5 years ago | Last Issue | 5 days ago |
| Active | |||||
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theunpopulist.netLatest Issues
Political Islam Is Rank Populism That Perverts a Fundamentally Liberal Faith
Kingmaya Studio, Shutterstock
A widespread and persistent mistake is the tendency, in much of Western public discourse, to conflate Islam with its most militant manifestations and to conceive of it as inherently violent. For its two billio...
The VRA Ruling Might Have Handed Republicans a Weapon to Attempt a Jan. 6-style Midterm Coup
Wikimedia Commons
Republicans have been throwing everything they can at the 2026 midterms: aggressive mid-decade gerrymanders, talk of ICE at polling places, executive orders and litigation aimed at state election administration. Most of t...
Trump’s War on the First Amendment Escalates as He Goes on Another Revenge Spree: An Executive Watch Roundup
We launched Executive Watch, a real-time tracker of presidential abuses of power, early in Trump’s second term. Since then, Executive Watch has been meticulously documenting the illicit actions emanating from the White House.
Below is our...
America's Immigration Prohibitionism, Not Undocumented Immigrants, Breeds Cartel Violence
A U.S. Border Patrol agent detains migrants who crossed the Rio Grande (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)
When the Mexican military killed New Generation Jalisco Cartel leader “El Mencho” on February 22, cartel violence swept across Mexi...
LibCon2026 Is Coming, July 16–17
Here is the moment that you have been waiting for!
Registration is now open for the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism’s (ISMA’s) third annual “Liberalism for the 21st Century” conference—LibCon2026—on July 16 and 17 at the...
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Authors
The writers behind this newsletter.
I'm the editor of The UnPopulist
Senior Editor of The UnPopulist. Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism (ISMA).
Jonathan Marks, a professor of politics at Ursinus College, is the author of Let’s Be Reasonable: A Conservative Case for Liberal Education
Many hats. Lecturer in Ethics and Politics. Editor of the Vital Center. Co-Author of Why Postliberalism Failed. Next book: Beyond Postliberalism.
A project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism and The UnPopulist
Managing Editor/Senior Producer at The UnPopulist. Finlandria on Youtube. You Only Guide Me by Surprise wherever you get podcasts.
Senior Fellow, New America // Author, Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop // Co-founder, Fix Our House // podcaster, Politics in Question // lecturer, Johns Hopkins University
Critic, poet, and teacher whose writing has appeared in Plough, First Things, Modern Age, University Bookman, Breaking Ground, Arc Digital, and The UnPopulist.
Kenneth Silber, based in New Jersey, is a contributor to Splice Today, editorial contractor for a major science magazine, and author of In DeWitt's Footsteps: Seeing History on the Erie Canal. His views represent no one else's. kensil.bsky.social
CEO of The Future of Free Speech, research professor at Vanderbilt University. Senior Fellow at FIRE. Author of "Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media", host of the podcast "Clear and Present Danger: A History of Free Speech".
Economics PhD Student at George Mason University & Hayek Fellow at the Mercatus Center
Director, Project on Criminal Justice, Cato Institute. Former Georgia public defender, clerked for U.S. district court and the Georgia Supreme Court. Taught courses at the Emory University School of Law and UGA School of Law.
I am an Egyptian liberal politician and writer, living in Cairo and advocating for political participation, economic freedom and liberal values.
Senior editor at The UnPopulist.
I'm an economist who studies border militarization, immigration, institutions, political economy, and defense and peace economics.
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