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Headshot of Monica Potts
Monica Potts

Monica Potts is a staff writer at The New Republic. She is the author of The New York Times bestseller The Forgotten Girls: A Memoir of Friendship and Lost Promise in Rural America, about the lives of women in her hometown in rural Arkansas. She has written about poverty, class, and rural life for The New York Times, The Atlantic, FiveThirtyEight, The American Prospect and other outlets.

All Articles
October 23, 2026
Monica Potts
He Had the Know-How to Fix His Tesla. But Telsa Told Him He Couldn’t.
Car owners, tractor owners, and others are simply no longer allowed to buy parts and fix things on their own—and the right-to-repair movement is growing fast.
October 19, 2026
Monica Potts
They Retired Here for a Country Idyll. But Meta Had Other Plans.
Meet Jeff and Beverly Morris—and their brown water, and their one usable bathroom out of three. Life wasn’t like this until the data center came along.
October 14, 2026
Monica Potts
The Battle Lines Are Forming for the Democrats’ Next Big Fight
It’s not over trans athletes or the border. It’s about how hard to go after bad corporate actors and call them out by name—and there are definitely two camps.
October 6, 2026
Monica Potts
These Candidates Don’t Talk to Working People—They Are Working People
Several actual union members are running for Congress as Democrats. Can they win? And just as important, can they make the party do more than pay lip service to labor?
September 24, 2026
Monica Potts
Bashing Trump Isn’t the Best Way to Win These Fickle Voters
A new research survey reveals which messages are most persuasive in convincing low-motivation voters to support Democrats.
September 23, 2026
Monica Potts
Check Your Mail. JD Vance Might Have Canceled Your Health Insurance.
The vice president’s task force is recklessly canceling Obamacare enrollees over allegations of fraud. It will result in eligible people losing their insurance.
September 22, 2026
Monica Potts
The Return of the Farmer Politician
One of the under-sung trends of the political cycle is the way Trumpian disregard for farm country has inspired workers in the industry to run for office.
September 17, 2026
Monica Potts
The Term Working Class Is Useless
Too many political analysts and pollsters are relying on education to define the working class, and it’s leading us to the wrong conclusions.
September 11, 2026
Monica Potts
A New Report Reveals Why Robots Aren’t Taking Your Job Anytime Soon
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis has been researching the adoption of AI in the workplace—and found that the reality doesn’t match the industry’s puffery. For now.
September 4, 2026
Monica Potts
What Do the Centrists Stand For? Here’s the Uninspiring Answer.
Third Way took a break from bashing democratic socialism to release a platform that’s replete with half measures and outdated ideas.
August 3, 2026
Monica Potts
The Death of Middle-Class Tax Cuts as a Bulletproof Idea
Two Democratic senators with an eye on the White House probably thought they’d score political points with their tax-cut legislation. The overwhelming criticism suggests a sea change in the party.
July 17, 2026
Monica Potts
Maine’s New Senate Candidates Sound a Lot Like Graham Platner
At a debate on Thursday night, the eight Democratic candidates vying for the nomination all seemed to hold the same progressive policy positions that the disgraced ex-nominee did.
July 16, 2026
Monica Potts
We’re in a Wage Crisis Too
Affordability isn’t the only problem. People aren’t making enough money. Here’s what some progressives want to do about it.
July 10, 2026
Monica Potts
I Didn’t Realize How Much AI Chatbots Were Stealing My Work—Until Now
I have spent months of work on some stories, and all of my journalism is the result of years of labor. But large language models feed on it for free to make tech elites even richer.
July 7, 2026
Monica Potts
Graham Platner Got Way Too Many Passes
The Maine Senate candidate was rocked by one scandal after another, and yet he kept being forgiven by a progressive cohort that was enamored of his working-class cosplay.
July 1, 2026
Monica Potts
Americans Hate Junk Fees. Are the Democrats Listening?
A growing number of blue states are passing laws banning them. It’s time for the party’s leaders to follow suit.
June 25, 2026
Monica Potts
The Most Underappreciated Part of the Bipartisan Housing Bill
A lot of coverage has focused on reining in large investors from scooping up homes. But an important provision could help thousands of working-class people buy their first home.
June 23, 2026
Monica Potts
Democrats Are Missing a Huge Opportunity to Win Working-Class Voters
A new poll shows that these Americans are worried that AI will eliminate their jobs—and they want the government to do something about it.
June 12, 2026
Monica Potts
I Moved to New York to Pay More in Taxes—and I’m Glad I Did
I wasn’t getting the bang for my buck in my red-state redoubt. But if I hadn’t moved, I might never have found out how good it could get.
June 10, 2026
Monica Potts
What if Everything We Know About the Economy Is Dead Wrong?
Entrepreneur and anti-inequality warrior Nick Hanauer has a vision of a fairer, more humanist system. All it takes to get there is to throw out everything that came before it.

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