Mother Jones
This story was originally published by Atlas Obscura and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. On a hillside in Utah’s Fishlake National Forest is a tree, and if you listen very carefully, this aspen is talking to us. This one plant actually looks like a forest of 47,000 genetically identical trees, which are effectively branches […]
Mother JonesThe Center for American Progress has now said the word that the Biden administration and most Democrats in Congress have been most unwilling to utter since Israel began to bomb Gaza: ceasefire. In a significant development, CAP—perhaps the most influential think tank within the Democratic establishment—published an article on Friday asking the Biden administration and Congress to “urge an […]
Mother JonesIn the fables of environmentalism, lawyers are heroes. They invented the legal theories and mustered the facts to stop countless dams, mines, timber sales, and other harmful projects. But somewhere along the line, environmentalists stopped treating litigation as a tool and started behaving as if it’s an end in itself—an end to be preserved even […]
Mother JonesIn 2019, when Tracy Droz Tragos started filming Plan C, her new documentary about a network of activists and medical providers helping Americans access abortion pills—which are approved by the FDA but restricted in some states—she knew some people might see it as a touchy subject. But she didn’t expect she’d have to fight to […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. When data scientist Xaio Wu arrived at Stanford University for his postdoctoral fellowship, California was coming off a record-breaking wildfire season. In 2020, nearly 9,900 fires had burned more than 4.3 million acres of land in the state, killing dozens of people […]
Mother JonesThe tweet that got Michael Eisen fired as editor-in-chief of a prestigious science journal seems less provocative with each passing day. On October 13, less than a week after Hamas’ cold-blooded rampage near the Gaza-Israel border, satirical news outlet the Onion posted a brief article on X, headlined, “Dying Gazans Criticized For Not Using Last Words to Condemn […]
Mother JonesThe United Auto Workers union, in a closely watched vote, has officially ratified its deal with General Motors, bringing the months-long saga of history-making strikes to a close. On Thursday, the union posted the final results, showing that approximately 55 percent of the 36,000 GM union members voted in favor of the deal, according to Forbes. […]
Mother JonesOn Thursday, Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) became the first Jewish congressperson to join the congressional call for a ceasefire in the war in Gaza. A first-term representative, Balint made history last year as the first woman and LGBTQ person to represent Vermont in Congress. Her call for a ceasefire comes one week after activists from […]
Mother JonesI watch the news for a living and come across moments of political dysfunction at a regular clip. So, I was not shocked to learn that Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who until last month was second in the presidential line of succession, shoved a congressman in a “clean shot to the kidneys.” Nor was I […]
Mother JonesThe bizarre saga of George Santos as a member of the US House of Representatives is heading toward its finale. One way or another. On Thursday morning, the New York Republican and champion liar announced that he will not seek reelection. This came after the release of a humiliating House Ethics Committee report—which itself might […]
Mother JonesFive years ago, Mother Jones broke a wild story: A mysterious Scotland-based shell company had paid a GOP-linked American lobbyist to help a presidential candidate in Albania court support from the Trump administration—and the money was apparently tied to Russia. Now a new piece of the puzzle has materialized. In 2017, Nick Muzin—a former aide […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The state oil company of the United Arab Emirates, whose CEO will preside over imminent UN climate negotiations, has the largest net-zero-busting expansion plans of any company in the world, according to new data. Sultan Al Jaber is the chief executive […]
Mother JonesAllie Phillips, a 28-year-old running as a Democrat for the Tennessee House of Representatives in District 75, has told her abortion story countless times. She has explained it to her followers on TikTok, to the lawyers helping her sue her state over restrictions to reproductive care, and to the lawmakers who failed her. In November 2022, Phillips […]
Mother JonesAllie Phillips, a 28-year-old running as a Democrat for the Tennessee House of Representatives in District 75, has told her abortion story countless times. She has explained it to her followers on TikTok, to the lawyers helping her sue her state over restrictions to reproductive care, and to the lawmakers who failed her. In November 2022, Phillips […]
Mother JonesMore than 130 former Obama campaign staffers have sent the ex-president a letter demanding he “leverage” his influence with President Joe Biden and other elected officials to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and broker the return of hostages, the Intercept reported Tuesday. “You always called on us to be courageous in reaching our […]
Mother JonesRep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) became Speaker of the House less than a month ago. Since then, a national audience has become aware of a slew of questionable remarks, associations, and policy positions: The congressman has been criticized for blaming school shootings on no-fault divorces; he has been critiqued for working hand-in-hand with legislators like Rep. Marjorie […]
Mother JonesFacebook, under the premise of so-called free speech, has long allowed politicians to lie on its platforms. But after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, the company appeared to issue somewhat of a mea culpa. Perhaps, as my colleague Pema Levy wrote at the time, Meta executives were finally willing to recognize that […]
Mother JonesBack in mid-2021, when it was clear that conservatives were mobilizing against the Covid vaccines, I remember asking a prominent doctors’ group if they were worried that their attacks on the new shots would undermine confidence in routine childhood vaccinations—the kind that prevents potentially deadly, contagious childhood diseases like measles, polio, and whooping cough. They […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. China and the US have pledged to work together more closely to fight global heating, declaring the climate crisis “one of the greatest challenges of our time,” hours before a key meeting in San Francisco between Joe Biden and […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. For the last 20 years, Walter Ritte has been working to restore a massive, human-made lagoon along the south shore of the island of Molokai. Before Hawaiʻi become a state, before the United States overthrew the Hawaiian Kingdom, this 55-acre pond was […]
Mother JonesA little over a month after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, tens of thousands of protesters gathered on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on Tuesday to show support for Israel, call for the release of hundreds of hostages, and condemn a rise in antisemitism. The march, organized by the Jewish Federations of […]
Mother JonesAs tens of thousands of Americans were heading toward the National Mall in Washington, DC, on Tuesday to attend a rally professing support of Israel, a controversy erupted over the appearance of a particular speaker: John Hagee, the pastor of an evangelical megachurch in Texas. The head of an influential group called Christians United for […]
Mother JonesHe claimed God sent Hitler to create Israel. And on Tuesday, he is prominently featured in one of the country’s biggest pro-Israel demonstrations since the conflict began on October 7. John Hagee, a mainstay in right-wing politics for decades, is reportedly invited to speak on Tuesday at the March for Israel event alongside Sen. Chuck Schumer […]
Mother JonesAs House Speaker Mike Johnson makes progress in his first test to avoid a government shutdown, his predecessor, the historically humiliating Kevin McCarthy, is being accused of shoving a fellow congressman in a “clean shot to the kidneys.” The alleged altercation, as witnessed by an NPR reporter, sparked a chaotic chase down the halls of […]
Mother JonesFederal agents on Monday raided the Los Angeles-area home of an FBI whistleblower who has alleged that bureau higher-ups thwarted an investigation of Rudy Giuliani, two sources said. The whistleblower, FBI agent Jonathan Buma, has said that Giuliani “may have been compromised” by Russian intelligence while working as a lawyer for Donald Trump. Scott Horton, […]
Mother JonesMore than 400 federal officials sent President Joe Biden a letter today protesting his support for Israel and demanding he call for an immediate ceasefire, according to a report in the New York Times. The letter, obtained by the Times, was anonymously signed by officials of various faith backgrounds representing 40 government agencies, including the National […]
Mother JonesThis story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Just a week after Texas voters approved billions of dollars to build new gas-fired power plants, the state’s education board will decide if it wants schools using science textbooks that acknowledge that burning fossil fuels warms the planet. The Texas […]
Mother JonesThe Supreme Court on Monday announced that it will adopt a first-ever code of ethics, bowing to intense public pressure to do so amid multiple reports of disclosure failures and justices receiving improper gifts. But the move, which appeared to characterize the scandals at the high court as “misunderstandings,” does not include an independent means […]
Mother JonesLike many students in the fall of 2020, the pandemic threw a wrench into LC Newman’s university plans—not just socially, but physically. After a Covid infection, Newman, then a college sophomore in Tucson, Arizona, never got better. Her symptoms were wide-ranging: her heart felt like it was pounding out of her chest; she developed heat […]
Mother JonesDonald Trump is once again comparing his political enemies to animals on the campaign trail—and scholars are sounding the alarm about the fascist roots of his rhetoric. At a Veterans Day rally in Claremont, New Hampshire on Saturday, Trump used the word “vermin” to refer to the left, pledging to take down his perceived political enemies […]