World Cup: Rethinking Video Replays

This piece, which was originally intended for the Goal Post, has inadvertently confirmed one of the oldest stereotypes about The New Republic. As media critic Brendan Nyhan describes it, TNR has a tendency to elevate “the ‘surprising’ and ‘counter-intuitive’ article above all else.” Well, this was from the actual rejection email I got from a [...]

Read Full Post »

Shame on Harvard?

After spending more than three years in the English department at Harvard University, Adam Wheeler was found out. He had been expelled from my alma mater, Bowdoin College, in 2005 during his freshman year. Wheeler now, days before graduation, has been arrested for “20 indictments charging him with larceny, identity fraud and falsifying documents,” according [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

Golf-Loving, Ethically Challenged Rep. to Retire

A week of heat from the IRS was all it took for this corrupt GOP congressman to decided he wanted to spend more time with his family. And his lawyer, presumably. Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), who has recently come under fire for his shady charity, won’t seek reelection in the fall. In a statement released this afternoon, [...]

Read Full Post »

UBS: Bank Bailout Good Guy?

I’m working on a larger piece on the UBS whistleblower, Bradley Birkenfeld, so I’ve been following news of the bank rather closely. One exchange from the Congressional hearings on AIG regarding UBS caught my eye so I decided to put the piles of research I’ve done on it to good use. My editor liked the [...]

Read Full Post »

CIA Agent Reluctantly Recants Waterboarding Claims

This MoJo blog post was assigned by the bureau chief. It’s both amazing and depressing that the full story hasn’t been more widely told. UPDATE: The story got out: Kevin Drum, the most popular blogger on MotherJones.com, also featured the news on his blog after seeing it on Time magazine’s Swampland blog. UPDATE 2: My [...]

Read Full Post »

A Mulligan for Ethically Challenged GOP Rep?

I wrote this quick MoJo blog post while I was waiting to hear back from sources for another story. My editor liked it and immediately promoted it to the Must Read section. While I appreciate the praise, she did chop out both a fun golf reference–that’s about par for the course for the golf-loving congressman’s [...]

Read Full Post »

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 [...]

Read Full Post »

The Pentagon’s Latest Body Armor Debacle

This piece was originally intended for the top story box on MotherJones.com. However, after three drawn-out revisions, the news cycle had moved on. I decided to post it here anyway because it features original reporting that illuminates one example of how the military industrial complex operates–with or without the consent of Congress. A large purchase [...]

Read Full Post »

Senate Bill Would Allow “Mentally Incapacitated” Vets to Buy Guns

This post was assigned by DC Bureau Chief David Corn, who is very good at passing on newsworthy, underreported stories for me to flesh out. While I’m a journalist not a gun control activist, after having examined what is by all appearances a tremendously misguided policy proposal I wouldn’t mind if my piece stirred up a [...]

Read Full Post »