James West

"We were kidnapped" On Friday, more than 200 Venezuelans disappeared to a megaprison in El Salvador returned home. The horror stories are already emerging.

NEW: We spoke with the families of some of the men returned to Venezuela tonight after Trump disappeared to El Salvador in March. Horror stories are already emerging.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Today I asked protesters in New York City: "What are you worried America is turning into?" Their answers were poignant, and defiant. Watch the video I took (edited by masterful @peter-berger.bsky.social).

Some final NYC #NoKings photos for you from the protest today. Including one very beleaguered wet dog.

"That's why America is great": New York City protesters push back with love and defiance. "Keep fighting for what is right."

Here's my dispatch from the big "No Kings" demonstration clowns, singers, drummers, pets, long-time activists, protest neophytes—and an air of defiance, and yes, love.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

And a quasi clown troupe, because why not.

It was also massive, despite the persistent drizzle. Here's one vantage point on Fifth Ave.

Kaylyn Gibilterra, a 35-year-old made 3D-printed handheld cut-out heads of tech bosses—Zuckerberg, Bezos, Musk, and Gates. “It feels very much like we’ve gone back to like a Feudalist state regime,” she told me. “My goal is to hold them more accountable.”

Alexis Lazo, 23-year-old musical theater student was taking in his first protest. He used to be a self-described “centrist,” but as a child of immigrants, he felt like he could no longer stand on the sidelines. “I can’t just stand by anymore and just kind of like be ignorant."

Some voices from today:

When I met Monica Pierce, a 55-year-old from Texas with Colombian heritage, she was standing alone with a sign that simply said “NO,” surrounded by colorful string lights. “This means a lot to me,” she said, gazing out on the crowd. “My mom went through a lot to come here.”

Ellie Dunn is a 27-year-old social worker who is “worried for a country for a country that’s built from immigrants, this being a city that’s driven by immigrants. It’s worrying and unjust.”

Heading to the NYC #NoKings protest.

Nancy Wilks, a 64yo architect from Brooklyn:

“I’m worried we’re going to lose our rights. The constitution is being trampled on.”

It’s packed here.

How lovely. Which Garner book?

Here’s Trump’s secret roadmap for attacking health science, leaked to @motherjones.com’s @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social

Now there’s an idea!

Hi AJ!

Support Nonprofit Journalism - Donate to Mother Jones Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Journalism like this is hard and expensive. Journalism like this is also under attack. If you like this work, you might consider supporting it secure.motherjones.com/flex/mj/key/...

I should also add, I think I counted 55 individuals who worked on this project alongside the incredible core reporting team. And that doesn’t count everyone. Attached here are credits from the digital and audio endeavors alone.
I’d love to shout out them all individually!

40 Acres and a Lie

... but there were also six online features and essays; a novel artificial intelligence tool and search portal; promotional video; gorgeous art, in both a wonderfully designed online package and a beautiful edition of the magazine. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Here's the Pulitzer write up: pulitzer.org/finalists/22...

Pulitzer judges noted the use of “innovative technology, archival research and personal storytelling to reveal how land titles granted to formerly enslaved Black men and women in the wake of the Civil War were unjustly revoked.” It also recently picked up a duPont and a National Magazine Award.

40 Acres and a Lie News Podcast · It’s often thought of as a promise that was never kept. But “40 acres and a mule” was more than that. It was real. 40 Acres and a Lie tells the history of an often-misunderstood governm...

And this 3-part @revealnews.org series is total appointment listening—gripping, emotional, revelatory... podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/4...

40 Acres and a Lie

This was truly a massive triumph of reporting and production. Over a 2+ year investigation, the team deployed A.I. to analyze 1.8 million newly digitized records from the Reconstruction-era Freedmen’s Bureau. They then tracked down 41 living descendants and documented stories: 40acresandalie.com

Holy shit!!

We were just named Pulizer Prize finalists!

For "40 Acres and a Lie" a collaboration between The Center for Public Integrity, @motherjones.com @revealnews.org colleagues.

pulitzer.org/finalists/22...

Support Nonprofit Journalism - Donate to Mother Jones Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Thank you!! Yes please. secure.motherjones.com/flex/mj/key/...

The electorate keeps ignoring Murdoch's hard rightwing papers and broadcasters... it was already doing so when Sean reported this piece.

Australia fought back against Murdoch. Your turn, America. What's the future of the aging mogul's global empire? Look to the place where it all began.

Murdoch once enjoyed kingmaker status in Aussie politics. No longer.

As I watch Murdoch newscasters lose their shit, great to reread our 2024 piece by Sean Kelly about how the mogul's downunder empire is increasingly out of touch with... actual Australians.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Not great if you’re spending the final days fending this stuff off. (Though, we do know these Trump folks are prone, let’s say, to exaggeration.)

Trump campaign chief claims he visited Australia to advise Liberals at start of election campaign Exclusive: Chris LaCivita, Trump’s presidential campaign co-manager, tells undercover reporters he advised on ‘structural issues’ related to Peter Dutton; the Coalition denies LaCivita was involved in...

Undercover reporters caught Trump’s former campaign boss bragging about advising Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal party (he & Dutton deny it). On the eve of an election already somewhat shaped by Trump, quite the @australia.theguardian.com exclusive. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

40 Acres and a Lie

Here's the main vessel for all that reporting--an amazing data tool, a three-part audio documentary series, and beautiful art and writing: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Let's keep good news rolling: My @revealnews.org colleagues ALSO won a Webby People's Voice Award in "Podcasts Documentary", for their work with Center for Public Integrity reporters, as they proved that formerly enslaved people were given legal title to plantation land, only to have it taken back.🏆