Trusted Sources

In addition to traditional media – of which the Washington Post, New York Times, and The Guardian are the only papers I pay for – I consume news and commentary online from a wide range of independent sources. The handful listed below are among the most valuable.

In alphabetical order:

Anand Giridharadas
Author, journalist, and commentator, Giridharadas offers incisive political insights in his substack newsletter, The.Ink. Anand beautifully espouses an inspiring vision for the future, often elucidated via engaging interviews with other highly informed sociopolitical professionals, organizers, and writers.
The.Ink
Wikipedia page

Robert Hubbell
A retired lawyer, Hubbell closely follows all things political in his daily substack publication, Today’s Edition Newsletter. He is now laser focused on the 2024 election, offering well-informed and unstintingly optimistic advocacy for Democratic candidates and views.
Today’s Edition Newsletter

Josh Marshall
Marshall, who has a PhD in American history from Brown University, is the founder of the political publication Talking Points Memo, which I have been reading regularly since it launched in 2000. He is also prolific on Twitter, where he is more free-wheeling, frequently sarcastic, even acerbic at times (hey, it’s Twitter). I don’t always agree with Josh, of course, but I regard his knowledge, judgment and insights about American politics to be second to none. He’s been my go-to source for all things political for almost 25 years.
Talking Points Memo
Wikipedia page

Heather Cox Richardson
Richardson, a Professor of History at Boston College, has written seven books on history and politics. I find her daily newsletter, Letters from an American, which she has been writing since 2019, invaluable. Richardson’s commentary on the day’s news in the context of American history yields fascinating parallels and insights. A must-read every day.
Letters from an American
Wikipedia page

Timothy Snyder
Snyder is a Professor of History at Yale University, widely considered to be the pre-eminent western scholar on Eastern European history. His short (119 pages) 2017 book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, has been a New York Times best-seller. In his newsletter, Thinking about…, Snyder covers a lot of news in addition to American politics – most profoundly and prolifically on Ukraine, especially since the 2022 Russian invasion. As an expert on authoritarianism, his comments on politics, foreign and domestic, are always insightful.
Thinking about…
Wikipedia page

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Of course, I get information from many other reliable independent sources as well. But these are the ones I subscribe to on a paid basis. They all offer free versions of their publications as well, which are also worthwhile, though I believe you need to be a subscriber to participate in their comment sections.

Feel free to add your own trusted sources of news and opinion in the Comments section below.