Coronavirus Could Be the End of Alt-Weeklies
Drew Angerer/Getty Images It only took a week for the novel coronavirus to ravage the alt-weeklies. In Portland, Oregon the Portland Mercury announced on Saturday that it would be temporarily ceasing its print edition and laying off 10 staffers. Reno News & Review announced last week that it is suspending publication indefinitely. Seattle’s The Stranger was forced to…
We Shouldn’t Need to Explain Why Trump’s “Chinese Virus” Tweet Is Wrong. But Here We Are.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP As the coronavirus pandemic continues to grip the world, so does another contagion, this one spread by political profiteers, opportunists, and grandstanders cashing in on a familiar trade. Whenever a bodily virus hits, a cultural virus tags along: the impulse to scapegoat an entire race, ethnicity, or nationality. “They did it” is the…
This is What We’re Listening to All Stuck at Home
Timothy Allen/ZUMA Most of Mother Jones is working from home. The organization decided it would be best (and it is best) that we all make less contact with the outside world. And, while I can only speak for myself, it’s been quite the dream. (Editor’s note: It has been a nightmare.) The ability to work from home…
Trump’s Media Attacks Are Always Shameful. But in the Middle of the Coronavirus Crisis, They’re Dangerous.
Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP During an epidemic, a crucial function of leadership—governmental, scientific, and medical leadership—is to provide citizens with important and accurate information. Panic needs to be averted. Fears need to be addressed. Risks need to be assessed. And necessary action must be taken, collectively and individually, to save lives and prevent or…
SciFi Superstar William Gibson’s New Book Imagines a Trump-Free Alternate Reality
Ulf Andersen/Zuma/Mother Jones illustration There are many alternate futures. But what if there were also… alternate pasts? That’s the premise of William Gibson’s latest novel, Agency. Gibson is the pioneering science fiction writer who coined the word “cyberspace” and whose 1984 debut novel, The Neuromancer, inspired The Matrix. In, Agency, the second novel in Gibson’s…
10 Outrageous Dishes You Can Make From Old AOC Videos
Tom Williams/ZUMA So you have a few four-year-old videos of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lying around and it’s a Saturday and you need to cook up some traffic. What do you do? Thaw, chop, reheat, and repurpose them into 10 bite-sized stories, obviously. At least that’s how the New York Post spent its Saturday, pulling clips…