A special issue on the politics and corruption of the COVID-19 crisis, featuring stories by David Corn, Kevin Drum, Tim Murphy, Ari Berman, Dave Gilson, Esther Honig, Ted Genoways, and Rowan Jacobsen.

Donald Trump promised revenge. Among his many targets are immigrants, whistleblowers, journalists, civil servants, trans people, Democrats, and independent-minded Republicans. In this issue, we explore how they’re fighting back. We also tell the story of Taylor Cadle, who stood up to her abusive adoptive father and to the law enforcement officers who didn't believe her. We report on how the legal industry’s monopoly on advice ensures that few people can afford a lawyer—but how an unlikely coalition is fighting to change that. Plus, while many programs try to reduce recidivism, journalist Adam Hochschild visits one that appears to work.

In the aftermath of the presidential election, we explore what to expect from a lawless president who can get away with anything. Mother Jones national correspondent Tim Murphy reports that billionaires have long meddled in American politics, but never like this. What will this mean for our democracy? "Women are not okay. We’re furious," writes Editor-In-Chief Clara Jeffery. And, Washington Bureau Chief David Corn reveals how Trump could turn the federal government into an instrument of repression. Elsewhere, we report on the secret plan to strike down US gun laws. And, the devastating cost of Utah’s thriving adoption industry.

Mother Jones reporter Kiera Butler reveals how Christian nationalists plan to take over government at all levels, and investigates the online preachers who want to repeal the 19th Amendment, restore public flogging, and make America white again. In his eye-opening insider account, "Losing Faith," the Reverend Rob Schenck explains how he ran a secretive influence operation to get the Supreme Court to adopt an evangelical agenda. Unfortunately, he says, it worked. Reporter Isabela Dias spotlights a bureaucrat who could make Trump’s authoritarian dreams come true. Plus, Ari Berman, Mother Jones' national voting rights correspondent, shows how ballot measures could be democracy’s last line of defense. And reporter Pema Levy explores how the 5th Circuit is driving America to the right.

A Mother Jones special investigation reveals how the Border Patrol has grown far bigger—and crueler—since its founding 100 years ago. And if given the chance, Trump would take the gloves all the way off. National correspondent Tim Murphy writes that the Border Patrol is an engine of crisis—and has been since the beginning. Isabela Dias reports on how Donald Trump’s plan to remove 11 million undocumented immigrants would be a disaster. Erin Siegal McIntyre shows how the Border Patrol’s culture of impunity not only enables bad behavior, but shields that behavior from public view. Murphy also exposes how the biggest battle in Arizona won’t be over the presidency but over reality itself. Abby Vesoulis investigates how the Republican Party has launched a legal onslaught to undermine the 2024 election before a single vote has been cast. And Maddie Oatman delves into the scientific race to understand—and profit from—period blood.

A decade after Elliot Rodger’s horrific massacre, his mother is on a quest to help threat assessment experts—and other parents—prevent the next tragedy. The story is written by Mark Follman, who has incisively reported on gun violence in America for more than 10 years. Also in this issue, we compiled Reconstruction-era documents to identify Black Americans given land as reparations only to have it returned to their enslavers. Among the discoveries is that, on Skidaway Island, in Georgia, the formerly enslaved briefly formed a self-governed paradise in the making, but today that land is a wealthy white enclave. We also report on technology and genealogy making the case for reparations specific—and undeniable. Journalist Madison Pauly, with Henry Carnell, reports that the counselors once discredited for “ex-gay” theories have rebranded and are coming after trans kids. Plus, a feature revealing how Donald Trump’s pugilistic spokesman takes campaigning to a whole new low.

Three-Ring Circus: In this issue, Mother Jones gives you everything you need to know about the history—and the stakes—of candidates who challenge our two-party system. In “Spoiler Alert,” Washington Bureau Chief David Corn writes that third-party candidates never win national elections but can decide the future. A visual timeline lays out the history of righteous outrage and electoral opportunism. Readers sound off on the perils and promise of third parties. And national correspondent Tim Murphy tracks how Trump’s rise gave the Libertarian Party unprecedented success—before the fallout. Lest you fear that all is hopeless, our package notes how America can dare to upgrade how we choose our leaders. Voting rights correspondent Ari Berman reports on how the Founding Fathers lit the fuse on the crisis tearing the nation apart. Reporter Abby Vesoulis details how Ruben Gallego’s battle against Kari Lake in Arizona could decide the fate of the Senate—and democracy itself. And writer Carrie Arnold reveals how dialysis clinics are making a killing off deathly ill patients.

After a brand-new police force chased a Crow boy to his death, it vanished—leaving the tribe without answers...again, writes senior reporter Samantha Michaels. Also in this issue, can sexual abuse survivors trust the independent investigators who promise accountability? And, are the years of the Venus flytrap as a plant in the wild numbered? What’s more, 10 years ago, Ferguson launched Rep. Cori Bush’s and Wesley Bell’s careers. Today, Israel’s war in Gaza has them facing off. Plus, three photographers show us the latest generation of union organizers who are out to reverse decades of decline.

Thanks to an accrual of personal wealth not seen since the Gilded Age, America’s billionaires are tightening their grip on our democracy and shaping practically every facet of our lives. Senior reporter Tim Murphy kicks off this special Mother Jones issue with a feature that makes the case that America’s plutocrats—emboldened to use the nation and its resources and people as their play toys—are starting to resemble their more infamous counterpart: Russian oligarchs. Casey Michel, author of “American Kleptocracy,” reports on how the United States has become a haven for the world’s shady cash through anonymous shell companies, secret trusts, and money-laundering enablers. Senior editor Michael Mechanic, author of “Jackpot: How the Super-Rich Really Live and How Their Wealth Harms Us All,” sheds light on how philanthropy in America is broken—and we’re all paying the price. Politics reporter Abby Vesoulis reveals how Elon Musk is transforming the Lone Star State into a company town. And Washington bureau chief David Corn writes that Donald Trump doesn’t just want to be an oligarch; he wants to rule them.

In this issue we take an urgent look at how we’re squandering the water supply of 40 million Americans in the West. Writer Scott Carrier explains why the only way to save the Colorado River is to take on some sacred cows. Washington bureau reporter Stephanie Mencimer reveals a peril facing the Great Salt Lake so catastrophic, that even Republican Utah state officials are finally mobilizing to save it. In addition, Mencimer takes us to the Uinta Basin, which happens to be the home of rare birds, endangered fish, meandering rivers, gorgeous views—and, perilously, a fossil fuel drilling boom. Also in this issue, we expose how bad incentives and weak oversight allowed a nursing home mogul to pull oﬀ the biggest, wildest Medicare fraud in history.

Dating apps promise romance. But they can deliver con artists, rapists, and murderers, writes Abby Vesoulis. In other stories, Noah Lanard reports on how radicals took over the Michigan GOP—but, even still, they can’t stop losing. Also, Connecticut ended fees for prison phone calls. Will the rest of the country follow suit? Plus, we share a first-person account of one author’s battle against right-wing censorship. And, we examine why the most vital doctors earn the least money.

Ron DeSantis’ Florida is where democracy goes to die, writes our DC bureau reporter Pema Levy. Fellow reporter Isabela Dias introduces us to Chris Rufo, the man helping DeSantis turn back the clock on social progress. In other stories, reporter Samantha Michaels writes how survivors of police abuse protect and help one another heal. Hannah Levintova tells us the story of Jessica Madison, who was a pioneer of the student loan cancellation movement. But, sadly, Jessica didn’t live to see relief become a possibility for millions of Americans. Also, we learn the story of women in the Merchant Marine who are ﬁnally speaking out after years of isolation and abuse.

In this issue, we make the case for how America needs to lead the charge for decarbonization if we really wish to save life on Earth as we know it. Noted environmentalist Bill McKibben writes that it's time for progressives to embrace a green building boom. In addition, we show how Big Box stores can be part of the solution and how California NIMBYS have failed us. And, writer Lois Parshley tells us about how a blue-collar Latino community, tired of being at the mercy of a regional utility company, built its own microgrid. Also in this issue, we explore Ron DeSantis’ war on Florida educators, and how a far-right former bounty hunter popularized a Covid conspiracy theory.

Reporter Ali Breland reveals how live streamer Nick Fuentes and his white nationalist broadcasts summoned a new generation of GOP hate. Plus, an editor of Right Wing Watch on how Fuentes courts young men who describe themselves as incels. Also, take a harrowing look at the trolls who hounded people to kill themselves, as they created the online culture we have today. Julia Lurie tells us about a Native woman who fought for years to gain custody of her granddaughter. Now her case is before the Supreme Court—and could have consequences well beyond child welfare. And, the untold story of the private equity investors behind the abortion pill—and their escalating legal battle to cash in post-Dobbs.

While those who love democracy had good cause to celebrate much of the results of the November midterm elections, D.C.. bureau chief David Corn warns that the ongoing threat to American democracy will come from an unrepentant House, given that Republicans were able to eek out a slight majority in Congress. Relatedly, the battleground state of Wisconsin illustrates that the fight for fair representation is not nearly over. Also, Gabbriel Schivone writes about how when Officer Jervis Middleton was placed in an uncomfortable position where he had to make a choice between his community and his badge, it did not go well. And, David Alm reports on a website full of kids that became a magnet for predators. What does that mean for the future of tech?

Tim Murphy reveals how oligarchs, private equity, and petrostates have taken over the world’s greatest game: soccer. Kiera Butler reports on Moms for Liberty, and how the group is upending schools and radicalizing parents. It may even decide the midterms. Plus, from abortion to schools, the GOP is turning everyday citizens into culture war snitches. And, also read  about how the FDA is poised to approve the ﬁrst over-the-counter birth control. What took so long?

David Corn has some bad news for those who wish that today’s unhinged Republican Party would just return to normal. Noah Lanard writes about how right-wing tech mogul Peter Thiel has poured millions into the Senate campaign of protégé Blake Masters. Their goal? Disrupting democracy. Becca Andrews reports on how for 50 years, a Kansas abortion clinic has been at the center of “pro-life” attacks. Now, it is facing its biggest threat yet. And, also read how virtual learning programs are keeping the pandemic alive for preschoolers.

Having a baby is a joy for many families, but pregnancy is also a risky condition for women. With the Supreme Court’s conservative majority expected to overturn the constitutional right to abortion care, Mother Jones editors observe, in “The Right’s Way,” that Roe’s fall is just the beginning. Amy Littlefield profiles the man behind the Texas abortion ban who has an even more radical plan to reshape American law in “The Anti-Abortion Architect.” If abortion is illegal, will every pregnancy lost be a potential crime? This nightmare is explored in “Miscarriage of Justice” by Cecilia Nowell. Forced to give birth, prosecuted for miscarriages, then policed for raising kids? Researcher, Dorothy E. Roberts argues that child protective services needs to be abolished in “Torn Apart.” And Tom Philpott looks at a well-tested method for staving off world hunger. Read on to learn who is trapped inside an “echo chamber,” and discover the teenage novelist who used Oakland’s police sex trafficking scandal as inspiration.

Welcome to Private Equity City, where billionaires have gutted businesses and whole industries for profit. Reporters Hannah Levintova and Ian Gordon assemble an array of stories that reveal all in “Smash-and-Grab Economy,” and a local delivery co-op takes on Big Tech in “Door Dashed.” Can hopeful books tame climate anxiety? Jason Plautz answers it in “Once Upon a Planet” by exploring mental health research aimed at helping kids. In “Lessons Not Learned,” Mark Follman takes a page from his new book, “Trigger Points,” to explain how behavioral threat assessment can stop the next school massacre. The photography by Devin Yalkin heightens Jasper Craven’s investigation into the lives and traumas of cadets at Valley Forge Military Academy in “A Few Good Men,” discovering that the school gets its promise—to break down cadets and build them back better only half right. Kiera Butler takes the word “endemic” for a spin in “Mother Tongue,” explaining how the scientific label has been used to mask political choices. Read these stories and more in the latest issue and find more at MotherJones.com.

The January 6 insurrectionists failed to topple the 2020 election, but Ari Berman argues in “The Coming Coup” that the Republican legislators are seizing control of how—and if—votes are counted. Reporter Kara Voght investigates the other NRA, the restaurant lobby that protected major chains at the expense of the little guys during the pandemic, in “Table Scraps.” Dan Friedman’s “The Influencer” is a totally out-of-this-world tale of the fugitive Chinese tycoon who joined forces with Steve Bannon to blanket the web with far-right propaganda. And Kathryn Joyce writes about militant right-wing activists hellbent on remaking the Catholic Church in “Holy War.”

American workers did not just quit their jobs, they quit mostly low-paid jobs or terrible conditions, bolstered by the greatest workplace leverage they’ve felt in 40 years. In “The Big Quit,” Jacob Rosenberg and Noah Lanard share many first-person stories of the bad bosses who pushed workers over the edge. Tim Murphy in “Better Call Ken” profiles Ken Paxton and the radical legal strategies the Texas attorney general used in his attempt to overturn the election that he is now using to gut Roe v. Wade. In “The Purity Trap,” Becca Andrews writes of her yearlong investigation of the school administrators who blamed and shamed female students for the assaults they encountered at a Bible college. Lori Teresa Yearwood writes of her escape from homelessness in “I am Not Your Project” only to find herself in a new battle with the debilitating projections from the system meant to “help” her.

The climate crisis, racial injustice, immigrants’ rights, and corporate malfeasance are cornerstones of Mother Jones reporting and this issue has them all. Clive Thompson unpacks proposals to pull carbon out of the sky in “Suck It Up.” “Uprooted” by Lauren Markham highlights the researchers studying trees’ urgent migration to outrun climate catastrophe. In “Healing Requires Truth,” Samantha Michaels writes about Margaret Burnham, a Northeastern professor whose civil rights project reexamines hundreds of Jim Crow–era murders to help families move forward. Virginia’s Justice High School is the focus of “Distant Learning,” about  immigrant students’ school struggles during the pandemic. And photographer Matt Black traveled 100,000 miles documenting poverty in America. His epic work is showcased in “Geography Class” by Mark Murrmann.

Our “Rage in the USA” issue tells a trio of origin stories: “Mad as Hell” roots out the rise of political fury, by Kevin Drum; “Ammon’s Army” traces Bundy’s ascension, by Stephanie Mencimer; and “Forbidden Knowledge” unpacks the panic over critical race theory, by Anthony Conwright. An asylum-seeking family’s breathtaking journey is charted by Fernanda Echavarri. And powerful photographers Russel Albert Daniels, Sylvia Jarrus, Stacy Kranitz, and Benjamin Rasmussen share stunning images that provide dimension and context.

In “Facing Down Jim Crow, Again,” Ari Berman writes about the 1866 election in Georgia, where 33 Black lawmakers won state offices only to be expelled by the white-dominated legislature. In Georgia today, another generation of Black lawmakers is battling that familiar enemy. Rebecca Leber warns in “Gaslit” that the fossil fuel industry has worked hard to get Americans to love their gas stoves. Desperate to reopen and loaded with stimulus cash, schools are spending millions on high-tech air purifiers, but Madison Pauly in “Caution to the Wind” says they may not be safe. And Tim Murphy profiles Kyrsten Sinema, the former Green Party rabble-rouser, in “Shape Shifter” as she rises to become a Senate power broker. It’s a political fairy tale, or nightmare.

In “The 'Machine That Eats Up Black Farmland,’” USDA leaders claim they’ve moved past the department’s legacy of discrimination, but our reporting says otherwise. After a century of dispossession, Tom Philpott writes in “Black Land Matters,” young Black farmers are restoring their rightful place in agriculture, and in “The Truth About Reconciliation,” Peter Keating and Shaun Assael look into the reckoning after the 1979 Greensboro Massacre for lessons on how America might heal itself. Kara Voght reflects on Jon Meacham in “Biden’s Muse” and the influence this Pulitzer-winning biographer had on Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. Two feuding tea party leaders are featured in “Stars and Strife” by Stephanie Mencimer, who looks at how these recession-era conservative women helped lay the groundwork for the January 6 insurrection. Julia Lurie and Maddie Oatman report from San Francisco in “Moving the Needle” about a grassroots campaign to protect the Latino community—and the city—from a deadly virus, with photography by Mike Kai Chen.

The twice-impeached president is out of office, but the next generation of Republicans
has moved in to fill the void. In “The Apprentice,” Tim Murphy reports that Josh Hawley
might still have a clear future despite having raised a fist in solidarity with the Capitol
insurrectionists. Voters in Alabama may have helped Democrats gain control of the
Senate, but in “Tyranny of the Minority,” Ari Berman shows how the fight for democracy
remains. And Silicon Valley has released its own poison on democracy: “How Facebook
Broke Us” by Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery outlines the social network’s
deliberate use of its monopolistic power to benefit conservative publishers and
consistently guide users to extremist groups. Will tech help us really understand each
other? Sinduja Rangarajan has her doubts in “Lost in Translation,” writing of her family’s
struggle to get their digital assistant to understand more accents that don’t sound like
stereotypes of white Americans.

What now? asks David Corn in “Back From the Brink” after President Trump brought the
nation to the threshold of autocracy. Nathalie Baptiste helps address that question too,
in “The Racist Next Time,” writing that to fend off tyranny we must conquer bigotry.
Russ Choma looks at the many trials ahead for the outgoing president in “Lock Him
Up?” And in “To Depose a President,” Madison Pauly wonders if the women accusing
Trump of sexual assault will ever have their day in court. Becca Andrews looks at the
contest in Georgia in “Keeping the Faith,” and Jamilah King profiles a formidable new
leader in Congress in “March to Washington.” President Biden will inherit a financial
mess, but we have Kara Voght’s insightful piece “Wonks Progress Administration,” on
the key economists who have been advising Biden on how to fix it.

With the election fast approaching, our “Make It Stop” issue dives deep into this high-
stakes moment with Pema Levy’s feature “The Social Network,” highlighting an effective
campaign method that showed results even before the pandemic upended traditional
mobilization efforts. Adam Hochschild looks at the transformative movement to break
the cycle of punitive justice in “Break It Up,” and Edwin Rios goes inside the decades-
long effort to get police out of Oakland’s schools in “Cop Out.” Also on the school front,
Daniel C. Vock asks whether GreatSchools, the go-to source for information on local
schools, may be making segregation worse. And learn about the history of the Negro
Leagues; the photographers who unwillingly joined the Shot in the Eye Club; and the
reasons Susan Collins’ brand is growing old with seniors.

From policing to the presidency, our September+October issue tackles two of the most consequential topics in America, including investigations of properties run by the Trump Organization, and police unions that function as shields to accountability. Reporter Samantha Michaels tells the inside story of how so many violent officers escape discipline, in her feature “The Shield.” She also spent the last year reporting on an alternative policing program in Oakland, California, that attempts to increase social services and reduce officers’ use of force, in “Whose Streets?” Contributor Zach Everson paints a vivid portrait of Trump’s Washington, DC, hotel, formerly the Old Post Office, where cronies, lobbyists, and special interests have boosted revenue. And reporter Russ Choma takes us behind the scenes of Trump’s Scottish golf resort in Choma’s feature “In the Rough” (illustrated by Jan Feindt), tracing how lawmakers in Edinburgh want to know where the hundreds of millions of dollars came from that have poured into the struggling property.

In our cover story, “Purged,” Ari Berman uncovers the continuing assault on voter rights in many swing states where, by design, voters will find they can’t cast a ballot. And like the coronavirus, viral misinformation relies on quick transmission to do its damage, a theme explored by Monika Bauerlein in “Building a Social Immune System,” which calls on news organizations and all of us to help slow the spread of harmful falsehoods. Meat processing is not a pretty business, but in Huron, South Dakota, immigrant workers have transformed the town into a haven for refugees in the heart of Trump country, as Noah Lanard reports in “We Are Huron.”

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Mother Jones is a nonprofit news outlet that delivers bold and original award-winning reporting on the urgent issues of our day, from politics and climate change to education and the food we eat. We investigate stories that are in the public and the nation's interest. From revelatory scoops to deep-dive investigations, Mother Jones journalism is storytelling that informs and inspires  9 million monthly readers. 

We are headquartered in San Francisco and have bureaus in Washington, DC, and New York City.  Mother Jones has been nominated for more than 30 National Magazine Awards and has won seven times, including for General Excellence in 2001, 2008, and 2010. In addition, Mother Jones has been recognized repeatedly with top industry honors, including two National Press Club Awards, three Online News Association Awards, and the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award two years in a row. Mother Jones has also been named a finalist for eight Data Journalism Awards.

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