Mother Jones
Over the past few days, I’ve attempted to pinpoint the exact moment in my life where I had to be strong, some kind of milestone that demanded I step up in the face of hardship. But nothing specific ever emerged. As the eldest daughter in an immigrant family, a nebulous expectation to abandon my vulnerabilities […]
Mother JonesAs a reformed member of the Bob Dylan worship cult, I take no pleasure in reporting that the jig is up. A few years ago, I regarded Dylan with the deference usually reserved for a god. His 1960s run was miraculous, his lyrics Biblical. Everyone who has fallen under the Dylan spell says the same […]
Mother JonesIn March 2020 the writer, scholar, and activist Mike Davis—who passed away earlier this year from complications from Esophageal cancer—addressed the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, and what must be done to survive it, in an essay for Jacobin. It was titled “In a Plague Year.” As usual, he was prescient. He predicted nursing homes […]
Mother JonesOn Monday, the New York Times published an explosive story revealing that George Santos, a New York Republican elected last month to the House of Representatives, had made what appeared to be brazenly false statements about his background, including assorted claims about his business career. He had boasted of being an accomplished investor and financier […]
Mother JonesThe problem with men like British tabloid personality Jeremy Clarkson is that they exist solely to piss you off. How else to explain Clarkson’s stunning record of repeated on-air racism, his calls for striking workers to be shot and executed, or his claims that television is obsessed with hiring “Black Muslim lesbians?” So to condemn Clarkson for […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The same racketeering legislation used to bring down mob bosses, motorcycle gangs, football executives and international fraudsters is to be tested against oil and coal companies who are accused of conspiring to deceive the public over the climate crisis. […]
Mother JonesThe Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee voted Tuesday night to begin releasing information from former President Donald Trump’s tax returns. Two reports released by the committee immediately after the vote show, despite Trump’s claims he was under audit and couldn’t release his tax returns, that he actually wasn’t during much of his time in […]
Mother JonesIn another setback for immigrant rights groups, a Trump-era border policy that summarily expels migrants and asylum seekers has been given an afterlife. On Monday, Chief Justice John Roberts granted a request by 19 Republican attorneys general to block a lower court’s ruling that ordered the Biden administration to lift the border restrictions known as […]
Mother JonesOn October 16, Kanye West appeared on the popular hip-hop podcast Drink Champs. Hosted by the rapper N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN, Drink Champs is a free-flowing interview show—think of a more convivial version of The Joe Rogan Experience but for rappers and with more booze. At its best, you’ll hear a story from Ghostface Killah about […]
Mother JonesI’ve lost count of how many times I was asked the same perfectly appropriate question as the final game of the 2022 World Cup approached: Who are you rooting for? After all, I am a big soccer—I call it football, for what it’s worth—fan and closely followed the tournament. But, in my case, I imagine […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Only two countries in the world have not joined the UN Convention on Biological Diversity: the Vatican and the US. Few have missed the Holy See, but the US not joining the CBD 30 years ago has been described as the […]
Mother JonesIt used to be what paid for journalism in America. Car dealerships and movie theaters brought us local newspapers and TVs; clubs and restaurants underwrote the alternative weeklies where I got my start; classified ads were the reason there was a reporter at your local city council meeting or your state Capitol. Liquor, perfume, and […]
Mother JonesAfter 18 months of investigation and hearings, the House January 6 committee has confirmed the obvious: “The central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, who many others followed. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.” The committee cited this conclusion in a 161-page introduction to […]
Mother JonesThe House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on Congress voted Monday to ask the Justice Department to charge former President Donald Trump with crimes. The committee referred charges against Trump of conspiracy to make a false statement, conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an act of Congress, and inciting insurrection. The […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Scientists have discovered a record number of dead fir trees in Oregon, in a foreboding sign of how drought and the climate crisis are ravaging the American west. A recent aerial survey found that more than a million acres of forest […]
Mother JonesIt has been nearly two years since organized far-right extremist groups and others who believed the lie that the 2020 election was stolen went to the US Capitol and unleashed violence and destruction. On Monday, the bipartisan House committee investigating the January 6 catastrophe is expected to take action against its prime instigator, Donald Trump, […]
Mother JonesTwitter, which has been roiled by controversy ever since Elon Musk took over and appears to be hemorrhaging users, just made an announcement that probably won’t help its popularity. As legions of people continued to voice their frustration and anger over Musk’s actions and directed their followers to find them elsewhere, the company said on Sunday […]
Mother JonesIn 1986, Sen. Joe Biden drafted a crime bill that made punishments for possessing crack cocaine monumentally more severe than punishments for possessing powder cocaine, another form of the drug that was chemically the same but had been stereotypically associated with rich white people. This sentencing disparity—the subject of much debate in recent years—contributed to […]
Mother JonesArgentina won the World Cup on Sunday, defeating France in a dramatic 4-2 shootout after staving off a late-game French comeback that sent the match into overtime. Argentina star Lionel Messi, who scored one of the pivotal penalty kicks, pumped his arms triumphantly after the victory—his first World Cup win after five tournaments. At age […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Wired and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Billions of people now live in rapidly changing coastal areas that must develop plans to adapt to a future that includes rising seas, crumbling cliffs, and devastating hurricanes. Now they’ll have help from a dedicated satellite scanning the world’s water. Early Friday morning, NASA […]
Mother JonesIt’s the first day of December and I’m watching Succession alone in my apartment. This is not the way it’s supposed to be, or at least not the way it has been. Since I was a one-month-old baby in December 1997, my father and I have celebrated Christmas through tree lightings, Twelve Days of Christmas […]
Mother JonesRep. Kevin McCarthy’s quest to become Speaker of the House of Representatives appears to be increasingly threatened by a small but vocal group of conservative hardliners, raising the possibility that the Californian congressman could become the first nominee in a century to not win the position on a first-round vote. “We’re still continuing to talk, […]
Mother JonesOn Friday, a harrowing three-week search for a missing foster child came to a close: A five-year-old boy was flown back to Mt. Vernon, Washington, after he was allegedly kidnapped by his foster mother in late November and taken to Vietnam. The foster mother, Amanda Dinges, had recently learned that the boy, who goes by […]
Mother JonesThe January 6 committee investigating the Capitol attack will meet publicly on Monday to vote on a long-anticipated outcome of their deliberations: Whether to refer former president Donald Trump to the Department of Justice for criminal charges. The answer appears to be “yes”, and you don’t have to wait to learn what’s on the table. […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The ocean may cover 70 percent of the Earth’s surface and contain much of its animal life, but you might not get that impression from the UN discussions in Montreal to save global biodiversity, with some delegates fearing marine protections […]
Mother JonesIt’s the system to “save America,” to some experts. To Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, it’s a “scam.” The ever-so-eloquent wordsmith Donald Trump called it “crap voting” and a “total rigged deal.” Its backers see it as a path back to political diversity. So do its opponents. None of them are right. It’s ranked-choice voting, […]
Mother JonesIn what was likely her last official press conference on Thursday, outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi put the final nail in the coffin of negotiations over a dead-on-arrival bipartisan immigration deal. “There’s not going to be anything happening in this Congress as we go out,” Pelosi said when asked about the fate of the pandemic-era […]
Mother JonesA new report, published on Friday, finds that “more than two out of three workers who have been discharged received no reason or an unfair reason for the termination” this year. In a survey of workers, the National Employment Law Project (NELP) found that 69 percent of respondents told them they had been let go […]
Mother JonesI’m sure most of y’all had better things to do in the final weeks of 2022 than watch the demise of Twitter, like prepping for the holidays or spending time with your loved ones. And honestly, good for you. But, if you’re curious about what’s happening on the bird app, allow me, a chronically online person […]
Mother JonesEarlier this week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called for a grand jury to investigate “wrongdoing” on the part of pharmaceutical companies and government officials who promoted Covid-19 vaccines. DeSantis detailed his grand jury plans during a highly-publicized press conference—the kind that has become a trademark of his tenure as governor. During the conference, he also […]