Little Red Barns Exposes Big Ag's War on Press Freedom and Democracy

New Book by Award-Winning Investigative Reporter Will Potter Reveals How Industry Silencing of Journalists and Whistleblowers Fuels Rising Authoritarianism

SAN FRANCISCO, July 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, investigative journalist Will Potter released his new book Little Red Barns with City Lights Publishers, a stunning exposé of corporate agriculture's efforts to silence dissent and prevent the press from reporting on their abuses and contributions to accelerating climate change. As the nation roils with protests against authoritarianism, the book lays out corporate agriculture's role in developing the repressive playbook now being used by the government to silence reporters and activists alike.

In her review for The Washington Post, Lydia Millet calls the book "a lucid indictment of a food system whose normalization of cruelty on a staggering scale is rivaled only by the tightly controlled, government-sanctioned regime of non-transparency that enables it."

In a starred review, Publishers' Weekly calls it "a troubling account" that provides "a wealth of examples" of industry censorship. According to the review, "readers' brains will also be broken" by Potter's "fascinating, swirling meditation on law enforcement, rising authoritarianism, misinformation, climate change, and the global spread of ag-gag laws."

Potter's investigation uncovers the disturbing reality behind the pastoral imagery of "little red barns": a powerful merger of industry and government that can silence federal inspectors, prosecute journalists as domestic terrorists, and deploy tactics historically used against environmental activists to crush immigration protesters and the press covering them.

The book documents how "ag-gag" laws—now spreading globally—restrict reporting on factory farms and classify journalists and whistleblowers as domestic terrorists for sharing undercover videos. Potter reveals how a USDA inspector who reported illegal animal slaughter practices was "relieved of her duties, placed on close supervision, and assigned to another job."

Drawing on over two decades documenting government repression, Potter connects corporate agriculture's assault on transparency to broader authoritarian escalation threatening American democracy. His investigation reveals how measures to control the global food supply are directly linked to the proliferation of far-right militias.

"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," says Astra Taylor, author of Democracy May Not Exist, but We'll Miss It When It's Gone.

About Will Potter
Will Potter is an investigative journalist who has spent over two decades documenting government repression of social movements. His previous book, Green Is the New Red, exposed the FBI's targeting of environmental activists. His TED Talks on government repression have been viewed by millions.

Little Red Barns is available for purchase here.

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SOURCE City Lights Publishers