Journalism Is Imploding Just When We Need It Most
Mother Jones illustration One of the few bright spots this past year was supposed to be the revival of journalism. And to be sure, it’s been a great time for muckraking, with newsrooms bringing home scoop after scoop on the Trump administration. Subscriptions to everything from the New York Times to Mother Jones are up.…
My Quasi-Annual Black Friday Post
According to the retail industry, “Black Friday” is the day when retail profits for the year go from red to black. Are you skeptical that this is really the origin of the term? You should be. After all, the term Black ___day, in other contexts, has always signified something terrible, like a stock market crash…
2 Million Stunning Images of Earth’s Biodiversity Are Now Available for Free
This story was originally published by Slate and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. There are thought to be about 10 million distinct species of plants and animals on Earth. That number is incomprehensibly large, not least because most species are still undiscovered. But now the Biodiversity Heritage Library, an open-access repository for some of the most stunning…
You Can Be Most Helpful After a Natural Disaster When the World Has Stopped Paying Attention
U.S. Air Force Capt. Christopher Merian/U.S. Navy via AP After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico two months ago, we asked readers what they wanted to know about the crisis. Many of you asked about conditions on the ground, the status of electricity and clean water, and how aid was being allocated. But one of the most frequent questions was…
A Lot of “Ethical Consumers” Are Going to Make Really Unethical Shopping Choices
Patrick Semansky/Associated Press As a person living in the 21st century, it’s almost inevitable that you’ve had the seamless, fast, and hassle-free experience of shopping online: a few clicks and you’re done without ever needing to interact with anyone, and then your items can show up at your door in as little as a day. But as the holiday season ramps up,…
Republicans Are Sneaking Right-Wing Social Policies Into Their Corporate Tax Cut
Donald Trump with right-wing preacher Pat Robertson in Virginia during the 2016 campaign. Under the House tax bill, Robertson’s nonprofit could endorse political candidates for the first time since 1954.Steve Helber/AP Fetuses don’t file 1040s in April, but they still appear in both Republican tax bills. The reason is simple: giving corporations a massive tax cut…