Mother Jones
On a Saturday in early October, Rasheem Carter, a 25-year-old Black man visiting rural Taylorsville, Mississippi, for work, called his mother in a panic. Some white guys were following him in three trucks, he said, and yelling racial slurs. He feared they would hurt him. His mother, Tiffany Carter, who lived two hours away in […]
Mother JonesGuo Wengui, an erratic Chinese exile who has a close relationship with Steve Bannon, was arrested Wednesday and charged with running a massive scheme to defraud an international coterie of online fans out of more than $1 billion. According to a federal indictment unsealed this morning, Guo, who also uses the names Miles Guo and […]
Mother JonesGianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, is a 52-year-old Swiss-Italian with dark eyebrows and an intensely round, perfectly bald head, like a soccer ball that had a dream of becoming an accountant. He splits his time between Zurich, Doha, and anywhere in the world that wants him—a stadium ribbon-cutting in Mauritania; a second-division match in […]
Mother JonesWhen I visited my cousin Beija in Munich last summer, her boyfriend, Julius, told me he was in his second year of surgery residency, and I was surprised by how well rested he looked. He and Beija had just returned from a boozy wedding over a long weekend, and as we watched soccer, ate schnitzel […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Joe Biden continues to confound on the climate crisis. Hailed as America’s first “climate president,” Biden signed sweeping, landmark legislation to tackle global heating last year and has warned that rising temperatures are an “existential threat to humanity.” And yet, on […]
Mother JonesFor weeks, abortion rights advocates have been waiting for a potential bombshell: A conservative federal judge in Texas is expected to effectively outlaw the most popular method of abortion nationwide. Now, the day may finally be here. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Donald Trump appointee affiliated with the religious right, scheduled a hearing in the lawsuit challenging […]
Mother JonesIn late 2021, parental rights candidate Glenn Youngkin secured his stay at Virginia’s Executive Mansion with a push from devoted “mama bears”—a group of, yes, mothers, who were angry about a perceived threat of government overreach and ideological indoctrination in schools. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis counts on his army of Moms for Liberty to propel his […]
Mother JonesThe state of Ohio is suing Norfolk Southern over the company’s train derailment in East Palestine last month, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Tuesday. “This derailment was entirely avoidable,” Yost said at a press briefing Tuesday, “and I’m concerned that Norfolk Southern may be putting profits for their own company above the health and safety […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Our planet faces “phosphogeddon,” scientists have warned. They fear our misuse of phosphorus could lead to deadly shortages of fertilizers that would disrupt global food production. At the same time, phosphate fertilizer washed from fields—together with sewage inputs into rivers, lakes and […]
Mother JonesSince late January, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been loudly protesting an impending judicial overhaul by the nation’s new right-wing government. The most controversial part of proposal gives the Knesset, Israeli’s parliament, the power to overrule supreme court rulings with a simple majority vote. Which means the nation’s top court would be unable to […]
Mother JonesSilicon Valley Bank collapsed on Friday amid a bank run. The reasons are complex, even for those well-versed in the jargon of finance. (I am not.) The gist is that the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates in hopes of taming inflation. That requires banks to pay higher rates on their deposits. But since SVB’s […]
Mother JonesPresident Biden on Monday approved a massive oil drilling project in Alaska that environmentalists and Native American communities warn could pose significant climate and health risks. The Willow Project, a 30-year-long development, is predicted to pump 280 million metric tons of climate pollution, the equivalent of running 2.5 coal plants for the same amount of […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Wastewater treatment plants are typically overlooked when it comes to reducing greenhouse gasses, but new research from Princeton University reveals the plants emit twice as much methane as previously thought. Methane is a particularly potent greenhouse gas and the treatment plants […]
Mother JonesLast week, Donald Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he could have stopped the invasion of Ukraine by allowing Russia to “take over” parts of Ukraine. “I could have negotiated. I could’ve made a deal to take over something,” Trump said in a radio interview Monday. “There are certain areas that are Russian-speaking areas, […]
Mother JonesTonight, the Oscars and finally, I hope, the end of Tár—a movie I hated. It is nominated for six awards, including Best Picture. Before this is over, I want to say one last time: This movie is middlebrow crap. In this turgid, conservative (politically, yes, but aesthetically, truly a conservative film) our main character, Lydia […]
Mother JonesMike Pence is fighting to avoid testifying before a grand jury investigating January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. He blew off the congressional committee that looked into the matter, too. But the former vice president was willing to talk about the attack Saturday night at a white-tie dinner for politicians and journalists in Washington. “President Trump […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Wired and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The biodiversity crisis is a math problem. Unlike most math problems, however, this is one where getting hung up on the precise numbers can lead you astray. Maybe 1 million species are at risk of extinction. Or if you’re going by […]
Mother JonesOn Friday, regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank, one of the most prominent banks in Silicon Valley’s venture capital and startup hub. The bank’s collapse, the largest such failure since the 2008 financial crisis, has roiled the tech industry, in part because many venture capitalists and startups had millions in the bank coffers. The fate of […]
Mother JonesIt’s another week in Washington, which for Rep. George Santos, means another week contending with new claims of wrongdoing and criminal activity. “I’m innocent,” Santos said, rejecting the latest allegations on Friday. “I never did anything of criminal activity and I’m no mastermind of anything.” So what is Santos vehemently denying this time? Could it be […]
Mother JonesA federal judge on Friday said that the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood tape recording of Donald Trump bragging that his celebrity allows him to “grab” women by the “pussy” can be used in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit against the former president. Judge Lewis Kaplan also rejected Trump’s request to block two other women […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Last month, Eugene became the first city in Oregon to pass an ordinance requiring new residential buildings to be fossil fuel-free. But the policy may never go into effect—not if the natural gas industry gets its way. Ever since the electrification ordinance passed, […]
Mother JonesWhat if there is nothing to panic about? This week, three conservative school board members in a rural Colorado district threatened to resign because of critical race theory. Not because they fear it. But, instead, because they’re sick of the fear-mongering about it. The three board members in Elizabeth, Colorado (population: 1,675), say that critical […]
Mother JonesOn Thursday, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin appeared on CNN for an education-themed town hall with Jake Tapper, where concerned citizens directly asked the Republican, a likely contender for the party’s presidential nomination, questions on everything from the state’s gun laws to artificial intelligence in classrooms. In typical Youngkin fashion, he tap danced around most of […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by High Country News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The Chinese surveillance balloon seen over Montana in January riled up state legislatures and got them asking the question: How much control should foreign countries have over US land and natural resources? Senate Republicans in Texas answered, “None […]
Mother JonesJoe Biden’s latest budget, not surprisingly, is pretty pie-in-the-sky. Presidential budgets are wish lists, after all, statements of priorities that throw down the gauntlet for the other side. In this case, Biden is daring congressional Republicans—who only seem to be concerned about deficits when a Democrat is in power—to oppose higher taxes on rich families […]
Mother JonesAt a hearing before the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee on Thursday, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw insisted that he was “deeply sorry” for last month’s train derailment that spilled toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio. But throughout the hearing, he seemed hesitant to commit to measures that could begin to make it right. […]
Mother JonesHow much would it take for you to publicly pledge allegiance to a man you privately loathe? Not just once, but night after night, in a pair of stale khaki pants? Really think about it: How much would it take for you to sell out, knowing full well your own lies convince others to live […]
Mother JonesThe mother of a close friend, probably around the time I was 16, once told me to never put anything in writing. The way she saw it, the permanence of emails, handwritten notes, and text messages always posed a threat: Something could get yanked out of context to hurt you. I found her warning mildly […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Slate and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. If the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, last month had slid off the tracks seven minutes later, it would have been on Dave Anderson’s farm. Echo Valley Farm, where Anderson lives with his wife and six of […]
Mother JonesFor someone who claims not to be anti-union, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) certainly seems to have it out for the president of the Teamsters. On Wednesday, at a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing, Mullin prefaced a diatribe by averring: “I want to make it very clear, I’m not against unions. I’m not […]