Mother Jones
This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Carolyn McGrath thought she was ready for her testimony in front of the New Jersey Department of Education. An art teacher, she had dressed in a jaunty polka-dot blouse and chunky green necklace, and had a written statement prepared in favor of […]
Mother JonesOn Thursday, the Supreme Court issued a landmark 7-2 ruling affecting millions of aging and disabled people: Providers of federally funded health services like Medicaid or Medicare, the court ruled—such as public and private nursing homes—can be sued by individuals for failures and lapses in care. Following the death of 85-year-old Gorgi “Jorgo” Talevski in October […]
Mother JonesAs the ramifications of Donald Trump’s historic federal indictment over his mishandling of classified documents rapidly unfold—and stunning details continue to emerge—I feel compelled to pause and turn your attention to page 12 of the 37-count criminal indictment against the former president to note: This is repulsive. Here you will set your eyes on a hideous Mar-a-Lago […]
Mother JonesThe federal indictment of Donald Trump and his valet Waltine Nauta on 38 counts of retaining and withholding national security information, conspiring to obstruct justice, and lying to the FBI that was unsealed today is historic…and wild. It shows Trump at his Trumpiest, scheming to cheat, evading responsibility and accountability, lying, and apparently breaking the […]
Mother JonesOn Wednesday, Donald Trump became the first former president to face a federal indictment. Today, federal prosecutors released a scathing indictment outlining charges stemming from Trump’s decision to bring classified documents with him to his Florida estate after his term as president ended. The 37 charges brought by a grand jury include conspiracy to obstruct […]
Mother JonesThe Supreme Court’s surprise ruling upholding the use of the Voting Rights Act in cases challenging political maps is likely to affect the 2024 elections and beyond—though how big the impact will be depends on how quickly courts across the country move in multiple cases challenging racial gerrymandering schemes. Thursday’s opinion in Allen v. Milligan came out […]
Mother JonesAs Donald Trump prepares to fight his second indictment in two months—the latest stemming from Department of Justice allegations that he mishandled classified documents after leaving office—he seems to be facing a major, self-inflicted problem. Multiple news outlets are now reporting that they have obtained the transcript of an audio recording that appears to capture […]
Mother JonesLike many households over the past year, Jose and his family were being squeezed by rising costs. “Everything is going up,” he said. “The food. The cost of day care.” To free up space in their budget, they turned to a company promoted by their apartment complex: Flex. A booming tech startup based in New […]
Mother JonesThis article originally appeared in The Globe and Mail. John Vaillant’s latest book is Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast. We weren’t a week into May before 30,000 people had been evacuated because of dozens of fast-moving wildfires in Alberta. Structure losses were mounting, and politicians were trotting out words like “unprecedented.” Unprecedented? Where were they in 2017, […]
Mother JonesFormer President Donald Trump wrote on his social media site today that he has been indicted for a second time, this time for taking classified documents with him to Florida when he left office in January 2021. The New York Times confirmed the indictment. It is the first federal indictment of a former president. “I have been […]
Mother JonesYesterday, I asked Mother Jones readers how they were handling the wildfire smoke that has blanketed the East Coast. Several readers mentioned that they had moved away from the West in recent years to escape the problem, only for poor air quality to visit them again in places like Virginia and Wisconsin. But what most stood out to […]
Mother JonesGeorge Santos, the lying and indicted GOP congressman from Queens, New York, has steadfastly refused to say where he was on January 6, 2021, while pro-Trump rioters were attacking the US Capitol to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory. He was filmed that day in the VIP section for the Donald Trump rally […]
Mother JonesLarge swaths of the United States are buried under a blanket of smoke, with some states facing the worst air pollution in decades. Virginia is no exception; state officials have warned that the air quality is too hazardous for public exposure. But while Virginians breathe in toxic wildfire smoke this week, state regulators appear more […]
Mother JonesOn April 21, during a panel discussion with the mayors of the US four largest cities organized by the African American Mayors Association, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, “The city is being destroyed by the migrant crisis…that’s going to undermine every agency in our city.” A couple of days earlier, Adams had complained during […]
Mother JonesIn a major and surprising victory for voting rights, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a redistricting map passed by Alabama lawmakers diluted the power of Black voters, affirming the constitutionality of a key remaining part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Alabama has a Black population of 27 percent, but just one […]
Mother JonesIn early 2023, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a “state of emergency” after multiple “atmospheric river systems” slammed the state. The storms flooded highways, caused mudslides, and toppled trees. Newsom’s declaration expedited the response. Police evacuated some senior citizens from parts of the East Bay. Counties and cities distributed sandbags. Crews erected walls to prevent […]
Mother JonesIn early 2023, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a “state of emergency” after multiple “atmospheric river systems” slammed the state. The storms flooded highways, caused mudslides, and toppled trees. Newsom’s declaration expedited the response. Police evacuated some senior citizens from parts of the East Bay. Counties and cities distributed sandbags. Crews erected walls to prevent […]
Mother JonesThe easiest way to understand what LIV Golf wanted to be was first to look at what it actually was. LIV, which was founded in 2021 with funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), pitched itself as “Golf but louder.” Golfers competed not just individually, but as part of 12 different teams, with names […]
Mother JonesMaybe you’ve noticed it: There’s been a Groundhog Day vibe in the news about media. Every day, it seems, Punxsutawney Phil pokes his head aboveground to find more newsrooms shutting down or laying journalists off. BuzzFeed News—the digital outlet that only a few years ago was winning all the prizes, hiring all the talent, and […]
Mother JonesOn Thursday, Butte, Montana became the first documented place to legally cancel an event because the speaker is trans. As NBC Montana reported a lawyer with Butte-Silver Bow County informed the local library that its LGBTQ history event with transgender speaker Adria Jawort would not be taking place. The reason given? House Bill 359, which limits public displays of […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Rising temperatures could transform plankton and other tiny aquatic organisms into a huge source of carbon emissions, a little-known—and potentially catastrophic—climate tipping point that could accelerate global warming. A study, published Thursday in Functional Ecology, found that rising temperatures cause a sudden […]
Mother JonesA federal judge in Florida told politicians and backers of a new law rolling back gender-affirming care in the state to “put up” facts or “shut up.” In a preliminary injunction filed from Tallahassee on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle blocked a state law that would that prohibit the prescription of puberty-blocking and other hormone-related […]
Mother JonesDonald Trump has a reason to gloat. “GREAT NEWS FROM LIV GOLF,” he crowed on his Truth Social platform, referring to the Saudi-backed golf league that will be merging with the PGA Tour. A BIG, BEAUTIFUL, AND GLAMOROUS DEAL FOR THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF GOLF. CONGRATS TO ALL!!!” For Trump, the blockbuster merger, announced Tuesday morning, […]
Mother Jones“I’m begging and pleading that you stand with the people of Atlanta.” “The wrong direction is Cop City and you can’t whitewash it away.” “We need to spend our money on public funds and not our destruction. Stop Cop City.” After more than thirteen hours of testimony from hundreds of protesters, Atlanta’s City Council on Tuesday […]
Mother JonesThis November, Mississippians will elect its next or re-elect the current governor, but new restrictions on absentee ballots may restrict some disabled people from being able to vote. On March 22, incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, approved Senate Bill 2358, under which only an election official, postal worker, family member or caregiver can return […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Reversing its own Trump-era proposal, the US Environmental Protection Agency has spurned a lobbying effort by the chemical industry to relax clean-air regulations on two types of chemical or “advanced” recycling of plastics. The decision, announced by the EPA […]
Mother JonesThis story is published in partnership with the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative reporting newsroom. Hundreds of anti-transgender bills proposed in state legislatures are sold as measures to protect minors—such as Idaho’s Vulnerable Child Protection Act and Montana’s Youth Health Protection Act—but advocacy groups and doctors warn that the effect is exactly the […]
Mother JonesNikki Haley is once again trying to have it both ways. In response to a question asking her to define “woke” during a CNN town hall on Sunday, the Republican presidential candidate suggested that transgender girls in sports can be blamed for a rise in suicide rates among teens. “How are we supposed to get […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The US is in negotiations with Turkmenistan over an agreement to plug the central Asian nation’s colossal methane leaks. Turkmenistan was responsible for 184 “super-emitter” events in which the powerful greenhouse gas was released in 2022, the highest number in the world. One caused […]
Mother JonesThe list of challengers to President Joe Biden’s bid for reelection keeps growing. On the right, we’ve got former president Donald Trump, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, a bunch of other long-shot candidates, and, in all likelihood, former vice president Mike Pence. On the left, there’s self-help author Marianne Williamson […]