As the debate over regulating AI companies rages on, the artificial intelligence giant Anthropic has scaled up its Capitol Hill lobbying. And, as lawmakers propose ways to curb largely unregulated AI development, the company has started pitching its own draft bill to regulate the industry, Politico reported Friday. The draft legislation would allow the government […]

Tesla released videos on Thursday of a car that launched into the air, barrel-rolled over a lineup of cars and trucks, and landed on its wheels, apparently using thrusters and a fan system on the underside of the vehicle. The car did not have a human driver, reportedly because Musk didn’t want to “kill anyone.” […]

This story was originally published by Canary Media and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. A community solar project built for New Orleans’ oldest historically Black Catholic order of nuns. An all-electric affordable housing complex in Salt Lake City. A program offering low-income Maryland households inexpensive loans for rooftop solar and energy efficiency. These are just some of the recent projects […]

2026 would have been a reelection year for Rep. Cleo Fields, who represents the majority-Black 6th Congressional District in Louisiana. But in April, the US Supreme Court handed down a decision that led to the dismantling of his district. This was the second time that a district Fields served was taken out from under him. […]

Tennessee state Rep. Justin J. Pearson, a congressional candidate and high-profile opponent of local data center sprawl, filed suit Thursday against his hometown’s City Council after the council threw him, his brother, his mother, and other locals out of a meeting earlier this month for protesting delays to a vote on a data center moratorium—and […]

Election Day is less than three weeks away, and panic is setting in for the GOP. “We see Republican groups pulling money away from House incumbents,” says host David Corn on the latest episode of Stress Test. “They’re cutting them off. They’re saying, ‘So long, Charlie! We don’t think you’re going to survive this blue […]

“Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider. Katie, do you need this? I don’t think you need this.” Within minutes of President Trump telling reporters that he had effectively encouraged Katie Zacharia, his new press secretary, to step down amid widespread ridicule over her job performance after only five days on the job, the New […]

It is rarely an auspicious occasion when a White House press secretary becomes the subject of headlines. But, by attempting the simple act of uttering words that is exactly what unfolded when Katie Zacharia stepped up to the podium on October 13 for her very first briefing. The appearance by the former conservative political commentator […]

A version of the below article first appeared in David Corn’s newsletter, Our Land. The newsletter comes out twice a week (most of the time) and provides behind-the-scenes stories and articles about politics, media, and culture. Subscribing costs just $5 a month—but you can sign up for a free 30-day trial. Last month, when The New York Times published a news […]

Earlier this week, Bloomberg broke the news that the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, which helps regulate the securities market, was told to stop investigating an eye-popping case of potential insider trading. The direction came from a top adviser to the agency’s Trump-appointed chairman, who ordered investigators to retract a referral to the agency’s lawyers surrounding […]

In late September, a Los Angeles Times poll of that city’s mayoral race showed the upstart candidate, LA city councilmember Nithya Raman, up 11 points over incumbent mayor Karen Bass. It was a shocker. But what was really interesting was Bass’ response. Asked about the poll, Bass touted the more than 10,000 units of affordable […]

For all the despicable acts Elizabeth Holmes carried out as the CEO of Theranos, that long list of criminal behavior somehow manages to feel small under Nathan Fielder’s analytical masterpiece, You Can See Everything. Which is not to say they are treated trivially; Holmes’ dramatic fall from entrepreneurial wunderkind to convicted fraudster, along with her […]

Two months after swimming across the breakwaters to Ceuta, Spain, Mohamed learned that his asylum claim was denied. In late July, at his home in Tangier, Mohamed didn’t hesitate when he received a social media alert that the border crossing between Morocco and the Spanish enclave had opened. He hopped in a friend’s car, drove […]

This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The US Securities and Exchange Commission issued an unusual warning this week to the country’s largest asset managers and a climate-focused investor group over their roles in a 2021 campaign that replaced board directors at ExxonMobil. The commission published […]

During the Republican Party’s “midterm convention” last month, GOP leaders argued that a Democratic victory in November would cause a Marxist takeover of America. “It’s going to be a communist country if they win,” President Donald Trump said from the stage—one of more than 60 reported references to the red menace made by speakers at […]

On Wednesday evening, conservative businesspeople, digital influencers, and US government officials flocked to the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC, for the Latino Wall Street-organized inaugural Hispanic Heritage Gala. The event’s guest of honor was Javier Milei, the far-right president of Argentina, who has been described as “Trump’s doppelgänger” and a “proxy” for the […]

The Trump administration has desperately searched for evidence that Rep. Ilhan Omar committed fraud, alleging she or her late father are liars for changing her age from 18 to 17 years old on her citizenship application. According to what US officials and other people with knowledge of the federal government’s investigation told the Wall Street […]

President Donald Trump said Thursday morning that the government will no longer livestream the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan. The firing squad killing, scheduled for December 3, will be the first such execution carried out by the military since 1945. “I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent […]

Throughout his campaign for Florida governor, Rep. Byron Donalds has been unapologetically enthusiastic about data centers. The Republican candidate vying to replace Gov. Ron DeSantis told a group of Miami businesses last spring that Florida was “wide open” for development. “We have actual land in our state that is still pristine, available to use,” he […]

When Jillian Crochet, a disabled power wheelchair user and artist in Oakland, California, waits to take the bus, she already faces delays that many other riders don’t. People are invariably blocking the wheelchair spot, even if it’s not too crowded, and she can end up waiting 20 minutes longer for a new bus. That wait […]

This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. A four-hour legislative committee hearing in June, punctuated by applause and anger, offered a window into the growing backlash against data centers. The prospect of unchecked development has galvanized a cross-section of Ohioans, urban and rural, Democrat and Republican, […]

As our tech overlords continue pumping more resources into AI development and innovation—responsibly, of course—they’re facing a massive trust gap: the people they want to use the tech keep asking who the technology is actually for. Is it for those who clamor for a surveillance state? Is it meant to help us compete with other […]

Christian nationalism—the idea that strict adherence to Christian theology should govern American political life, separation of church and state be damned—has been on the rise in America for years. Some vanguard elements of this revolutionary movement believe adherents are called to wage a spiritual battle for control of the United States, seeking command of schools, […]

Americans who live near data centers—specifically, within a mile or so—have become more likely than others to vote for Democrats this cycle, a new YouGov/Economist survey suggests. Since May alone, the share of people living near data centers who plan to vote Democratic has risen from 54 percent to 61 percent, according to the poll, […]

A few months ago, as Mother Jones prepared to publish an investigation about allegations of physical abuse against three women by Ohio Republican Rep. Max Miller, his crisis communications adviser warned me that Miller has “many defamation lawyers.” When I asked the spokesperson, Chris Vlasto, if that was a threat, he demurred. But the possible […]

“Every time they want to try and get me, they say affordability,” President Donald Trump said in a voice mocking his critics during a midterms campaign rally speech in Wasilla, Alaska, on Tuesday night. Then he claimed to have actually reduced prices “very substantially” for Americans. He’s wrong, and Democrats smell weakness. On Wednesday, the […]

Last week, less than a month after rolling back power plant pollution standards, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin addressed an audience of oil and gas executives at the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association’s annual meeting in Santa Fe. The environmental agency was “within days,” he told them, of releasing the draft reconsideration of […]

One of the defining issues heading into this year’s midterms is how redistricting has rapidly reshaped electoral maps across the country. When the Supreme Court gutted much of the Voting Rights Act earlier this year, a number of states redrew maps eliminating majority-Black districts, weakening Black political power potentially for years to come. Subscribe to […]

Seven people detained previously by ICE filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the agency, accusing it of illegally refusing to return their personal documents and belongings months after they were released from custody. Items allegedly withheld include Social Security cards, employment authorization documents, and phones, which the seven individuals allege is a violation of the […]

In March, two Mother Jones videographers and I stood outside the Space Center Houston and watched Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, order abortion pills online. We were shadowing Hawkins through Texas for a profile, documentary, and radio story about her role overseeing one of the anti-abortion movement’s most influential organizations, which now claims […]

All parties and other social events held in fraternity houses on the campus of Cornell University will be cancelled for the remainder of the 2026-27 school year as the university’s administration contends with a lawsuit alleging a horrific 2024 gang rape in the Chi Phi fraternity house, which has sparked weeks of protest on and […]

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that a Ukrainian bombing strike on Yandex’s data centers, a large Russian technology company, had led to a sudden decrease in bot activity online. “When our strikes reached Yandex’s data centers, it suddenly became a little easier to breathe on many social media platforms,” Zelenskyy declared, speaking at the opening […]

Kimberly Guilfoyle, the embattled US ambassador to Greece, resigned from her post Tuesday amid multiple alleged instances of corruption. “These allegations are false, and I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity,” Guilfoyle wrote in her resignation announcement. “I have dedicated my professional life to fighting for justice, standing up for […]

Any remaining skepticism of America’s literacy crisis vanished Tuesday morning, when Katie Zacharia, a former TV political commentator, stepped up to the White House podium for her first briefing as President Trump’s new press secretary. It is from this esteemed perch that Zacharia appeared physically strained as she struggled to deliver prepared remarks, as if […]

As the Cornell rape allegations continue to roil beyond college campuses and into the homes of families across the country, a familiar question has played out: How do we educate our sons? Specifically, how do we raise boys who grow up to be men who will not rape women and who will stand up to […]

“I have been outspoken on wanting public executions for over a decade.” So said Palmer Luckey, the co-founder of Anduril Industries, a military technology company that sells autonomous drones and software to the Defense Department, Customs and Border Protection, and militaries abroad in a vocal defense of “public and brutal” executions in general, and Defense […]

The world’s richest man has a vision of the universe’s future with little role for humanity—and is rushing ahead to have his AI company build it. Elon Musk said in an X post on Sunday that a huge semiconductor factory planned by Tesla and SpaceX in Texas will have an output of at least $1 […]

Over the weekend, a poorly constructed and very obviously fake claim about Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico sprang up on X only to almost instantly fall apart. The claim was that Talarico had been absent from the campaign trail not because he had the flu, as he and his campaign have said, but because […]

This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. A new report paints a dark picture of the state of global wildlife—but also highlights flickers of light where some populations are on the upswing. Over the past half-century, populations of thousands of vertebrate species across the globe have […]

Federal officers raided Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home early Monday morning, reportedly related to an investigation into the lawmaker’s immigration paperwork, filed by a relative when Omar was a child. The search was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security that manages criminal investigations, and, according to a […]

On Friday, I hosted a Reddit AMA, prompting the Internet to ask me anything about my coverage of anti-abortion activist Kristan Hawkins and the movement she represents. I spent months following and getting to know Kristan. I watched her debate students who were victims of sexual assault, order medication abortion pills online in a state […]

President Donald Trump keeps pointing the finger at everyone for surging fuel prices but himself. Over the weekend, he once again blamed Ukraine, asserting that the country’s retaliatory airstrikes on Russia’s oil refineries were causing prices to spike. Now Trump is urging Ukraine to scrap its leader. “I suggest they get a new leader who […]

Are Kimberly Guilfoyle’s days as the US ambassador to Greece numbered? Amid multiple reports alleging outright corruption, on-the-record quotes from Greek officials who seem to detest her grifting behavior, and my personal favorite, the criminal use of “honey” in casual conversation, it appears that Guilfoyle’s ambassadorship could be in peril. The increasingly precarious standing follows […]

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Matthew Mayich stepped onto the field of Sun Angel Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, at about 7 a.m. on August 20. It was the standout hockey player’s first official practice with his new team, and temperatures were already in the mid-80s. He and […]

The ICE shooting of a 28-year-old in the Bronx Thursday has provoked an uproar among New Yorkers, who rushed to the streets in protest the night of the shooting, clashing with the New York Police Department. At least five protesters were arrested. And though members of the NYPD were not involved in the shooting, they […]

Flock Safety, the AI-powered traffic camera company that has everyone from Josh Hawley to Bernie Sanders angry, might be feeling the heat financially: Reuters reported Friday that the company is planning to cut roughly 18 percent of its staff, or 270 workers. Flock, which operates a network of 120,000 cameras nationwide, is the largest maker […]

This story was originally published by Canada’s National Observer and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Elijah Washington pushes through wet ferns and branches left by logging, crossing the mossy forest floor on Haida Gwaii. He kneels beside a massive western red cedar stump. The cedar was felled decades ago during the industrial logging boom […]

When the FBI showed up at a warehouse in Fulton County, Georgia, to seize hundreds of boxes of 2020 election records this past January, County Commissioner Dana Barrett thought it looked less like a criminal investigation and more like political theater. Subscribe to Mother Jones podcasts on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app. It’s […]

In June 2025, as the 2026 midterm elections were starting to heat up, a newly formed company named Arizona Land Reserve made a huge donation to the Nevada Republican Party. Its $50,000 contribution instantly made it one of the state GOP’s largest benefactors. Early the next year, the upstart company—which was seeking to build “fly-in […]

Big money has long dominated American politics, with wealthy donors, corporations, and special interests dumping tons of cash into presidential and congressional elections. This year is no exception. But what’s different is that the quid pro quo of campaign money for preferential government treatment is more brazen than ever before and has become part of […]