If your instructor has told you that you can, or you must, include a popular or non-academic source in your project, check your assignment for details. They probably mean something that
- is not in a scholarly book or article
- was written or created for a general audience (not academics or researchers)
- is understandable to non-experts
This could be something from a newspaper, a magazine, social media, a personal or organizational website, a film, a television show, the kind of books you would see at a bookstore or a public library, or another source.
In this context, "popular" doesn't mean that lots of people like it, or even that lots of people know about it. It means that the source was created for everyday people, not specialized scholars.
You can use the websites and tools you use to find information in your everyday life to find popular sources.
If you have questions about whether a particular source is "academic" or "non-academic," ask your instructor or a librarian.