“The Road From Raqqa” Is a Story of Two Brothers That Will Resonate With Anyone Who Has Left Home
Mother Jones illustration For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.Back in 2015, Jordan Ritter Conn went to Turkey to report on a rebel Syrian soccer team for Grantland. There was one big problem: The reporter spoke no Arabic. He got a tip to go to a small restaurant north of…
Could Trump Have Another Reason for Banning TikTok?
David Talukdar, Zuma For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.The latest target in the Trump administration’s escalating tensions with China is TikTok, the wildly popular music-video app with 2 billion downloads worldwide and a 165 million in the United States. “As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning…
Megha Majumdar Has Written a Thriller for the Least Summery Summer Ever
Mother Jones illustration; Elena Seibert For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.In the opening pages of Megha Majumdar’s new novel, A Burning, Jivan witnesses a terrorist attack at a train station in Kolkata, India. Scrolling through Facebook later, she sees a clip of a woman wailing that nearby…
How Talking to Novelist Rebecca Makkai Helped Me Better Process Our Collective Grief
Mother Jones illustration; Philippe Matsas For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.Several of my colleagues have spent the past few weeks writing what we’re calling “Plague Comforts,” sharing what they’re doing to get them through this very weird moment. Some have been sweet and very personal. Others, a little more off…
The 1918 Flu Pandemic Changed Literature More Than You Think
27th February 1919: A woman wearing a flu mask during the flu epidemic. Topical Press Agency/Getty For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.When my mom was ill with the pancreatic cancer that would take her life, she was frustrated with all the rhetoric describing cancer as a battle.…
Disney Princesses, Ranked by Social Justice Warriors
Anna and Elsa with their mom.Disney Since Frozen II was released a few days before Thanksgiving, the snowy family franchise has raked in more than a billion dollars globally—and inspired hordes of 3-to-8-year-olds to put on glittery blue gowns and go to the theater to watch their beloved ice queen Elsa. Frozen II breaks many…