A Rally Without Reason

In case it’s not clear in my review of the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, I did enjoy it. The event’s crowd control was nonexistent and the AV was inadequate, so my group opted to watch it from the cozy confines of Elephant & Castle on nearby Pennsylvania Avenue.  The pub had all of [...]

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How the Tea Party Utilized Digital Media to Gain Power

This piece, which I wanted to call “The Digitally Driven Rise of the Tea Party,” was originally about how the right was using new media to oppose climate protection regulations. The idea for the piece grew out of earlier conversations I’d had with climate activists about what made their organizations different from right wing groups. [...]

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How Climate Activists Are Warming to Social Media

350.org is an influential newcomer to the environmental movement. I was curious to hear how they got their start so I used this social media piece as an excuse to talk with some interesting people. An abridged version of this story focused exclusively on 350.org ran on the front page of the Huffington Post’s Green [...]

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Where Have All The Whistleblowers Gone?

I started working on this article during my last month at Mother Jones. Although it took longer than I had hoped to get it published–and required a revised lede–I’m happy this bit of reporting finally made it into the top story box. (Unlike, say, my body armor piece.) Clocking in at some 1300 words, this article [...]

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American Hikers to Face Trial in Iran

For some reason the editors-in-chief, who have been closely following this case because Bauer last wrote for Mother Jones, wanted me to chop the last two paragraphs. I’ve included that upbeat bit added-value reporting to this version of the post. (The Daily Show segment I link to at the end is funny, fascinating, and highly [...]

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We’re Number 37: Singing for Health Care Reform

Singer/songwritter Paul Hipp has put out a little YouTube ditty in mock-celebration of the US’ thirty-seventh place ranking in the World Health Organization’s most recent ranking of health care systems around the world. Like the best Dylan tracks, this one is more about the message than the music (i.e., Hipp’s got a terrible voice). Give [...]

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Pelosi’s Progressive(ly Less Believable) Promises

Yesterday Campus Progress, the youth-oriented project of the sprawling Center for American Progress empire, concluded a two-day series of events on activism and the media. The Center for American Progress (CAP) was founded in 2003 by John Podesta, Bill Clinton’s former chief of staff, and like the Heritage Foundation during Reagan’s presidency, the young organization has quickly become [...]

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The Climate Changes, Politics Stay the Same

Originally this was a screed against the complacent US political class with “Politicians” in the place of “Politics” in the title.  My editor sent the heavily redacted piece with the comment “your time at the Nation is certainly showing. I reined you in a bit.” Really, it wasn’t The Nation or any magazine in particular.  [...]

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Act Now! “Kill the FFEL”

This was a Take Action idea I floated to Associate Publisher Peter Rothberg about a month ago.  I researched and wrote up the issue and, as it worked out, it perfectly coincided with this week’s lead editorial.  Going forward, the editors are going to try and create more synergies like this between the  Take Action letters and its related Act Now! blog.  [...]

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How should the US respond to the convictions of Ling and Lee?

Click here to vote or here to learn more about the kidnapped journalists–I did the (uncredited) research for the April report referenced in the “Act Now!” post.   Picture credit: Steve Rhodes (via Flickr)

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