Will Potter

Will Potter discusses his new book

Little Red Barns: Hiding the Truth, from Farm to Fable

Published by City Lights Books

Behind the little red barns dotting the landscape and decorating so many of the products we consume is a dangerous threat. This groundbreaking investigation exposes the powerful forces at work to hide the harms of industrial agriculture, its outsize role in the climate crisis, and its links to the global rise of fascism.

Little Red Barns is the record of a harrowing journey that took investigative journalist Will Potter from factory farms to international climate summits, from Congressional hearings to neo-Nazi fascist groups. As Potter uncovers the frightening truth about animal agriculture’s role in accelerating climate collapse, he shows how the authoritarian measures being taken to maintain control over this key aspect of the global food supply chain are directly linked to the proliferation and empowerment of far-right militias. Confronting a maelstrom of disturbing information, he asks searching questions about a journalist’s role in the 21st century and the impact of bearing witness in a world in which we are bombarded with “news,” both real and faked.

Will Potter is a thought leader and award-winning investigative journalist who focuses on social justice and environmental movements, and attacks on civil liberties post-9/11. He was the first investigative journalist to be named a TED Senior Fellow and has been invited to address governmental bodies about his reporting, including the U.S. Congress, Australian Parliament, and Council of Europe. Will's first book, Green Is the New Red: An Insider's Account of a Social Movement Under Siege, exposed the criminalization of nonviolent protest groups by the FBI, and was awarded a Kirkus Star for "remarkable merit."

Critical Praise

“We are in a fight for our lives against a rising authoritarian tide, and this clear-eyed, compelling, clarion call of a book has a message everyone needs to hear.”—Astra Taylor, author of Democracy May Not Exist, but We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone

"Will Potter's Little Red Barns is an impassioned and thoroughly researched examination of factory farming and how it harms animals, the planet and us."–Lydia Millet, The Washington Post

"Potter is an expert on the crumbling of civil liberties in the name of national security.Little Red Barns affirms the important role of investigative journalism in our society."–Alta Magazine

"The financial forces behind factory farming have grown powerful enough to silence industry whistleblowers, investigative journalists, and even federal inspectors, according to this troubling account. . . . a fascinating, swirling meditation on law enforcement, rising authoritarianism, misinformation, climate change, and the global spread of ag-gag laws."–Publishers Weekly, Starred Review *

"Little Red Barns blends investigative journalism with memoir to unveil the cruelty and corruption of American factory farms. . . . a sharp eye-opening exposé of industrial agriculture and the forces of oppression converging to obfuscate the truth."–Hannah Pearson, Foreword Reviews

"A decent rule of thumb is, if they badly don't want you to see something, it's because it's very bad indeed. Many thanks to Will Potter and all his accomplices for showing us what they–and sometimes we–don't want us to know about our dinner."–Bill McKibben, author of Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization

"Though the family farm has vanished from the land, devoured by agribusiness, it continues to lead a spectral existence . . . Will Potter gives us a comprehensive account of how this epochal development took place."–J.M. Coetzee, Nobel Laureate, 2003

"Will Potter is a fearless advocate of your right to know where your food comes from. In Little Red Barns, he tells the truth about the vast ongoing atrocity that provides Americans with their meat, eggs and dairy products. If you consume them, you need to read this book."–Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation Now

"Will Potter tells stories and shares information in a way that will keep you reading. He focuses on the impacts of factory farming on animals, workers and the environment, and explores the global spread of legislation to silence animal welfare activism. His voice is thoughtful, the book is well researched, and it invites the reader into an important conversation."–Cynthia Kaufman, author of The Sea is Rising and So Are We: A Climate Justice Handbook

"In Little Red Barns, Will Potter ventures into territory that goes well beyond previous indictments of industrial animal farming. He tells a gripping personal story of how he immersed himself (sometimes literally) for years in the gut-wrenching realities of factory farming in America. . . . Potter deftly works these many grim realities into a suspenseful page-turner."–Stan Cox, author of The Path to a Livable Future: A New Politics to Fight Climate Change, Racism, and the Next Pandemic

Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation