Who we are
JIM HIGHTOWER, America’s most popular populist, writes the Lowdown newsletter and commentaries. He is a best-selling author, public speaker, and political sparkplug who learned from his daddy, W. F. Hightower, that “Everybody does better when everybody does better.” Twice elected Texas Agriculture Commissioner (which put him square in the crosshairs of corporate agribusiness), he has long chronicled the ongoing democratic struggles by America’s ordinary people against rule by its plutocratic elites. You can read more about Jim at JimHightower.com.
TERRY J. ALLEN, our copy wiz, is a journalist and photographer based in Vermont. She is a columnist and senior editor at In These Times.
SAHU BARRON, our graphic designer, heads up the Lowdown Office in the Rest of the World. She’s been chief designer of the Lowdown since 2001.
CIRCMONSTER sounds scary and big, but really, they’re not. The Lowdown benefits greatly from their circulation advice and expertise. Look them up if your magazine or nonprofit needs help.
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BRIAN DUFFY is the Lowdown‘s illustrator. After twenty-five years at the Des Moines Register, Duffy joined his professional cartoonist colleagues in the land of the freelancer. His cartoons are syndicated by King Features Syndicate and appear in over 400 newspapers. He keeps close to his Iowa roots.
LAURA EHRLICH heads up Hightower’s sprawling research operation. She has a double-degree in Rhetoric and Public Policy from the University of Texas—hook ‘em, horns! She lives in Austin.
MELODY BYRD wears many hats. Her official title is Hightower’s executive assistant and acts as his gatekeeper. She also produces the weekly commentaries and assists with the production of the Lowdown newsletter. She lives in Manchaca, Texas (just south of Austin) with her husband and teenage son.
JAY HARRIS is the editor and publisher of the Lowdown. He attempts to herd the Lowdown’s globe-spanning cats from his perch in San Francisco’s fog. He is president of Public Intelligence, Inc., the Lowdown’s parent non-profit.
DEANNA ZANDT, our interweb emissary in Brooklyn, makes sure the Lowdown website, and our social media, too, looks pretty and runs like a champ. She keeps busy speaking, writing, and stirring many diverse and important pots—go check her out to find out more.
We’re “populists.” So what is populism?
Populism is a political doctrine rooted in the rebellious spirit and commitment to the common good of ordinary, grassroots Americans. Time and again throughout our country’s history, populist rebellions have been sparked when ordinary folks were being run over by abusive concentrations of power. And so it is today: hundreds of thousands of Americans—young and old, white and black and brown—are again speaking up and standing against the armed robbery of the people’s rights and the grand theft of the American Dream. [read more…]