The Mother Jones Interviews

We ask, they tell. An archive of <i>Mother Jones</i> Q&As.

Illustration: Joyce Hesselberth

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Why Barack Obama Is Still Your New Bicycle
Mathew Honan
The San Francisco writer and meme creator explains BarackObamaIsYourNewBicycle.com, Twitter publicity, and what it’s like to have the Obama campaign favorite his photo on Flickr.
August 5, 2008

MoJo Interview: The Angola 3
Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox
Meet the Black Panther Party members who spent 36 years of solitude in a Louisiana state pen—and who a federal magistrate now says should be freed.
July 9, 2008

Helena Cobban: A Guide To the Post-Bush Globe
Helena Cobban
The Quaker and foreign policy wonk cheers Bush’s North Korea diplomacy, skewers ‘daddy-knows-bestism,’ and offers some worldly advice for Americans.
June 26, 2008

The MoJo Interview: John Cusack
John Cusack
The former Lloyd Dobler banters with MoJo editor Clara Jeffery about his movie War, Inc., her inner 16-year-old, and what it’s like to still be Gen X’s favorite antihero heartthrob.
July/August 2008 Issue

Interrogating Errol Morris
Errol Morris
The Oscar-winning filmmaker talks about turning his camera on Abu Ghraib for Standard Operating Procedure. Plus, the best political ads you never saw and why.
May/June 2008 Issue

DeVotchka: Music to Swoon To
Nick Urata
After a decade of playing Eastern European music, mariachi and ballads, the Grammy-nominated Denver quartet is signed and touring the world.
May 1, 2008

Yo La Tengo: “It’s Our Life”
Ira Kaplin and James McNew
Members of Yo La Tengo drop free-throw metaphors and debate whether or not mixing hip-hop and jazz on bouzoukis is a good idea.
April 22, 2008

Dave Wakeling: An Englishman in SoCal
Dave Wakeling
The politically outspoken English Beat front man is playing 140 shows a year and getting more radio play than he did in the 80s.
April 21, 2008

Love Bites: An Interview With Toby Barlow
Toby Barlow
The author of the future cult novel Sharp Teeth talks about his tale of werewolves in Los Angeles.
April 15, 2008

Pistolera: Party at the Border
Sandra Lilia Velasquez
Sandra Lilia Velasquez dishes on San Diego slow pokes, fierce New Yorkers, and how to make it without a record label.
April 14, 2008

Hollywood Chinese: An Interview with Arthur Dong
Arthur Dong
A new film about being Chinese in Tinseltown takes on yellowface, kung fu masters, and heroin-dealing Triads.
April 11, 2008

Lynn Hershman Leeson: Wag the Free Speech
Lynn Hershman Leeson
The docudrama Strange Culture combines Tilda Swinton, genetically modified foods, death, bacteria, and censorship. MoJo sits down with the film’s creator.
April 7, 2008

Malik Yusef: Word on the Street
Malik Yusef
Chicago’s premier spoken-word artist riffs on music, poverty, and the problem with commercial hip-hop.
April 1, 2008

The Real-Life Matrix
Nick Turse
Think you’re not part of the military-industrial complex? Think again.
April 1, 2008

The Apex of Slavery
Benjamin Skinner
Benjamin Skinner went undercover in Istanbul to negotiate the purchase of slaves from human traffickers. What he found was a thriving trade in human misery.
March 27, 2008

Lewis Black Is No Judge Judy
Lewis Black
What doesn’t piss off comedian Lewis Black? March Madness, that guy in A Thousand Clowns, and not much else.
March 11, 2008

Interview: Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey
Five questions for the pop-art provocateur of Andre the Giant poster fame.
March/April 2008 Media Pick

The Real Adrian Tomine
Adrian Tomine
The Optic Nerve cartoonist talks about his new graphic novel, his nosy fans, and the joys of not having to draw posters for horrible bands.
January 11, 2008

Stephin Merritt: The Silent Type
Stephin Merritt
The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt talks about the “indie-rock ghetto” and his new album—but stays mum about Sasha Frere-Jones and Mamma Mia.
January 5, 2008

Thirty Days in Iran’s Worst Prison
Zarah Ghahramani
Ghahramani, an Iranian student, was sent to Evin prison for exposing her head in public in 2001. Seven years later, she talks about what happened next.
January 4, 2008

The Verdict Is In: Our Voting System Is a Loser
William Poundstone
Poundstone’s Gaming the Vote entertainingly probes the combative history of voting over the past few centuries.
January 2, 2007

Never Mind the Mullahs
Marjane Satrapi
Now living in self-imposed exile in Paris, 38-year-old cartoonist Marjane Satrapi talks with Mother Jones about the animated version of her memoir, Persepolis.
December/January 2008 Media Pick

Dance Dance Revolution
Boots Riley
Boots Riley talks politics, and vents about how the biz shortchanges idiosyncratic bands like the Coup.
November/December 2007 Media Pick

Trita Parsi: The NIE’s Got Nothing on Him
Trita Parsi
This Iran expert was saying it before it was cool: Iran is a rational actor. And he’s not so sure the new National Intelligence Estimate will change things in the Middle East, either.
December 5, 2007

Americana’s Sad Sweetheart
Patty Griffin
Patty Griffin talks about her melancholy music’s surprising ties to the Dixie Chicks, Public Enemy, Mary Poppins, and Jessica Simpson.
November 21, 2007

Alternative Rock’s Political Poet
Serj Tankian
System of a Down singer Serj Tankian talks about going solo, his Armenian Genocide activism, Dennis Kucinich, and the decline of Western civilization.
November 13, 2007

Crisis in Pakistan A former U.S. government official in the region addresses president Pervez Musharraf’s state of emergency and the country’s subsequent unrest.
November 5, 2007

Grace Under Fire: The Power of Music and Art
Sean and Andrea Nix Fine talk about making a documentary on a government camp in Northern Uganda—and getting to know the former child soldiers who live there.
November/December 2007 Media Pick

The Moral Dilemma of Leaving Iraq
Conversations with more than 50 experts, from General Petraeus’ advisers to antiwar activists.
October 18, 2007

Spreading the Word
Robert Pinsky
Robert Pinsky talks about his mission to popularize poetry, Emily Dickinson versus hip hop, and the enduring influence of The Colbert Report.
October 16, 2007

Meet Viktor Bout, the Real-Life ‘Lord of War’
Douglas Farah
Journalist Douglas Farah, co-author of a new book on Viktor Bout, tells how the Tajik-born arms dealer forged a lucrative career skirting U.N. embargoes to sell weapons and air transport services to warlords and despots—not to mention the U.S. military and its contractors in Iraq.
September 13, 2007

“The Worst War Ever”
Ken Burns
Filmmaker Ken Burns discusses The War, a different kind of World War II documentary.
August 24, 2007

Matthew Israel Interviewed by Jennifer Gonnerman
Matthew Israel
From sugar-coated lollipops to electric shocks, the road to discipline. Jennifer Gonnerman talks with the Rotenberg Center’s founder Matthew Israel.
August 20, 2007

The Complicated Defense of Timothy McVeigh
Robert Nigh
The Oklahoma City bombing case is closed, the official story written, and Timothy McVeigh is dead. Still, McVeigh’s attorney, Robert Nigh, has some questions, and some answers, too.
August 1, 2007

Henry Rollins: Post-Punk Pundit
Henry Rollins
On television, onstage, and abroad, the former Black Flag singer walks a fine line between supporting the troops and hating the war.
July 25, 2007

10 Minutes with Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
The indie actor and director says a few words about his new film, The Interview, and the state of independent cinema.
July 18, 2007

When Will the Next Katrina Hit?
Mike Tidwell
In his new book, The Ravaging Tide, author and activist Mike Tidwell says it is only a matter of time.
July 18, 2007

Politics 2.0: Fight Different
Interviews with Bloggers, Politicos, and Netizens on Politics 2.0: the idea that social networking and participatory technologies will revolutionize political campaigns.
June 20, 2007

Washed Up
Pete Jordan
America’s most famous pot scrubber tells tales from the back of the restaurant.
June 7, 2007

Mexico’s Most Wanted Journalist
Lydia Cacho
Cacho made some powerful enemies by exposing Cancun’s sex tourism industry. Now she’s taking a historic civil rights case to Mexico’s highest court.
May 1, 2007

Chuck D and the State of the Black Union
Chuck D
After 20 years of music and race politics, Chuck D is still rolling with the punches.
March 14, 2007

35 Million Ways to Be Black
Henry Louis Gates Jr.
The intellectual impresario talks about his quest to make “Roots for the 21st century.”
March 14, 2007

Iraq War Sticker Shock
Joseph Stiglitz
An iconoclastic economist discusses how the White House cooked the books on its march to war.
February 21, 2007

Reporters Behind Bars
Josh Wolf
The video blogger has now been in prison for six months for refusing to turn over his tapes.
February 20, 2007

The Butt-Stroke Mentality
Rick Scavetta
The former head of Army’s Media Relations in Afghanistan lets loose on the marketing of Osama, the coffin controversy, and engineering combat footage for NBC.
December 22, 2006

One Punk Under God
Jay Bakker
The son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker says that Jesus loves you, tattoos and all.
December 13, 2006

First We Go After Big Pharma
Sherrod Brown
The senator-elect from Ohio weighs in on drug-pricing reform, Iraq, the ’08 campaign, and (oh yeah, that!) trade.
December 7, 2006

Going After the Con-man-der in Chief
Elizabeth de la Vega
Forget impeachment. What if the president were indicted for scamming the nation?
November 30, 2006

A Socialist in the Millionaires’ Club
Bernie Sanders
Vermont’s junior senator-elect has a modest proposal for Ted Kennedy’s committee: Investigate “power and wealth in America.”
November 20, 2006

Saving California’s 11th and the Environment from Rep. Richard Pombo
Jerry McNerney
A persistent Democrat revives his challenge to the environment’s worst enemy in Congress. This time, he may just win.
November 2, 2006

What to Take to the Polls: ID, Video Camera, Audio Tape
Bev Harris
The top watchdog of computerized voting prepares for the most hackable election ever.
November 1, 2006

Half of a Yellow Sun
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Interviewed By Rina Palta
An up-and-coming Nigerian author revisits the war that shaped her country.
October 24, 2006

Focusing on Franken
Chris Hegedus and Nick Doob Interviewed By Koshlan Mayer-Blackwell
The directors of Al Franken: God Spoke on the funnyman turned would-be senator.
October 11, 2006

Standing Up Against School Segregation
David Engle Interviewed By Amaya Rivera
A Seattle high school principal resigns in the name of diversity.
September 29, 2006

Facebook and the Politics of Privacy
A Facebook Activist Interviewed By Peter Meredith
Protests forced the social networking site to nix a new information-sharing feature. An interview with one student who helped lead the effort.
September 14, 2006

Blogging From Iraq
Iraqi Bloggers Interviewed By Paige Austin
Four members of the Iraqi blogosphere describe what the war has done to their country—and to them.
September 4, 2006

Toward A New Radical Politics
Tariq Ali Interviewed By Paige Austin
A lion of the literary left on the war in Lebanon, U.S. imperialism, and the prospects for reform in the Middle East.
August 9, 2006

How Influential is the Israel Lobby?
Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer Interviewed By Paige Austin
Two professors respond to the backlash over their controversial paper.
July 18, 2006

Our Endangered Values
Jimmy Carter Interviewed By Jeff Fleischer
A musician shows what it’s like to live in war and how people get by.
June 2, 2006

On the Side of the Peacemakers
Michael Franti Interviewed By Michael Beckel
A musician shows what it’s like to live in war and how people get by.
March 13, 2006

The Train of Death
Sonia Nazario Interviewed By Lisa Wong Macabasco
Migrants riding freights north from Central America risk their lives to reach the U.S.
March 3, 2006

The Dolphin Defender
Hardy Jones Interviewed By Julian Brookes
Filmmaker Hardy Jones on reasons for hope in a sea of troubles.
March 1, 2006

Toxic Fish and Poor Communities
Sharon Fuller Interviewed By Lisa Wong Macabasco
A Bay Area activist raises awareness about contaminated fish.
March 1, 2006

Oceans and the Media
Christina Reed Interviewed By Lisa Wong Macabasco
Press coverage of oceans issues is getting better, but there’s plenty more room for improvement.
March/April 2006 Issue

Bush’s State of Exception
Mark Danner Interviewed By Tom Engelhardt
With the Bush administration, power trumps law and even reality.
February 27, 2006

Cosmopolitanism: How To Be a Citizen of the World
Kwame Anthony Appiah Interviewed By Julian Brookes
A philosopher issues a call for a pragmatic, humane stance toward difference in a world of strangers.
February 23, 2006

My Holy War
Jonathan Raban Interviewed By Julian Brookes
In a series of essays, a novelist examines our new era of “religious ferocity.”
February 23, 2006

Voices of the New Arab Public
Marc Lynch Interviewed By Bradford Plumer
It’s not the war in Iraq that’s revolutionizing the Middle East — it’s the media.
January 6, 2006

The Maverick of Omaha
Ernie Chambers Interviewed By Michael Beckel
Sen. Ernie Chambers talks race and politics.
January 5, 2006

Time For a Change
Burt Bacharach Interviewed By Rina Palta
Legendary songwriter Burt Bacharach gets political (with drum loops by Dr. Dre).
January 6, 2006

Postwar
Tony Judt Interviewed By Julian Brookes
The fall of Communism didn’t just change Europe’s future; it transformed its past.
December 20, 2005

“Mohammed was a Feminist”
Asra Nomani Interviewed By April Dembosky
Asra Nomani takes her reform message beyond the United States.
December 19, 2005

Lawless World
Philippe Sands Interviewed By Julian Brookes
The United States is wrecking the international legal order—against its own interests.
December 19, 2005

Total Surveillance
Katherine Albrecht Interviewed By Michael Beckel
New consumer-tracking technology threatens to make personal privacy a thing of the past.
December 6, 2005

War Crimes, USA
Jeremy Brecher, Jill Cutler, and Brendan Smith Interviewed By Mark Engler
Could administration officials be called to account?
December 5, 2005

The Global Underworld
Moisés Naim Interviewed By Melanie Colburn
The editor of Foreign Policy explains how smugglers, traffickers, and copycats are hijacking the world economy
December 2, 2005

A Tale of Two Countries
Hyder Akbar Interviewed By Clara Jeffery
December 2005 Issue

Devil’s Game
Robert Dreyfuss Interviewed By Melanie Colburn
A reporter tells the story of how U.S. policies in the Middle East spurred the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.
November 10, 2005

The Economic 9/11
Clyde Prestowitz Interviewed By Julian Brookes
On current trends the US is headed for serious economic trouble.
November 9, 2005

The Collapse of Globalism
John Ralston Saul Interviewed By Julian Brookes
The more extravagant promises of globalization theory have come to naught. Where do we go from here?
November 9, 2005

The Turks Today
Andrew Mango Interviewed By Julian Brookes
In time, Turkey will become a fully modern liberal democracy, E.U. membership or no.
October 26, 2005

The Great Theft
Khaled Abou El Fadl Interviewed By Melanie Colburn
A moderate Muslim’s struggle to wrestle Islam from the extremists.
October 18, 2005

Steal This Vote
Andrew Gumbel Interviewed By Julian Brookes
The US electoral system is deeply dysfunctional—and always has been.
October 18, 2005

Why Europe Will Run the 21st Century
Mark Leonard Interviewed By Julian Brookes
Welcome to the New European Century
October 18, 2005

Role Reversal
T. J. Jourian Interviewed By April Dembosky
A star of the TV series TransGeneration takes on masculinity
October 10, 2005

The Battle to Say “I do.”
Evan Wolfson Interviewed By Michael Beckel
A civil rights lawyer on the right of gay couples to marry
October 10, 2005

Hugo Chavez and His Bolivarian Revolution
Richard Gott Interviewed By Julian Brookes
A veteran Latin America correspondent on the past, present, and possible future of Venezuela’s president.
October 4, 2005

Bayou Farewell
Mike Tidwell Interviewed By Erik Kancler
The Louisiana Bayou has been sinking for years, and now it’s almost gone—taking New Orleans and Cajun culture with it.
October 3, 2005

Our Imploding President
Interviewed By Tom Engelhardt
An Interview With Cindy Sheehan
September 29, 2005

Driving Change: An Interview With Mike Millikin
Interviewed By Erik Kancler
We can keep making and driving gas-guzzling cars, or we can have a sustainable energy economy. But we can’t do both.
September 13, 2005

The Mosquito and the Hammer
Interviewed By Tom Engelhardt
Columnist and author James Carroll on our post 9/11 world.
September 12, 2005

Bait and Switch: An Interview with Barbara Ehrenreich
Interviewed By April Dembosky
The author of Nickel and Dimed explores the insecure world of white-collar work.
September 9, 2005

The Outer Limits of Empire
Interviewed By Tom Engelhardt
An Interview With Howard Zinn
September 8, 2005

Sir, No Sir! An Interview with David Zeiger
Interviewed By Jonathan Stein
The director’s Vietnam documentary Sir! No Sir! chronicles a forgotten movement and presents a history lesson for the present.
September 1, 2005

Taking Action Now: An Interview with Nate Wright
Interviewed By Michael Beckel
Mother Jones’ student activist of the year talks about Darfur
September 1, 2005

Towards a Better Food Aid System: An Interview with Sophia Murphy
Interviewed By Clint Hendler
An agricultural and trade expert challenges the United States’ overly-rigid and wasteful food aid policies.
August 9, 2005

Reforming California’s Prisons: An Interview With Jackie Speier
Interviewed By Lisa Katayama
The state senator is working to hold California’s powerful corrections department to account.
July 7, 2005

Marching for Life: An Interview With José Tamayo
Interviewed By Bradford Plumer
A Honduran priest has organized a grassroots environmental movement to protest illegal logging and government corruption—with stunning results.
June 29, 2005

The Pentagon v. Abuse: An Interview With Deborah Tucker
Interviewed By Elizabeth Gettelman
How the military is responding, and not responding, to domestic violence in the ranks.
June 28, 2005

Hoping Against Hope: An Interview With Andrew Meldrum
Interviewed By Dave Gilson
An American journalist’s eyewitness view of Zimbabwe’s slide into crisis.
June 28, 2005

Good Courts: An Interview With Greg Berman
Interviewed By Onnesha Roychoudhuri
Our criminal courts aren’t working, argues the author. Time to give “problem-solving justice” a shot.
June 18, 2005

Return of the “L” Word: An Interview with Douglas Massey
Interviewed By Bradford Plumer
Liberals need a vision for the new century, says Douglas Massey. The key? Embracing markets.
May 13, 2005

A Hundred & One Days: An Interview with Asne Seierstad
Interviewed By Lisa Katayama
Finding the human stories in Baghdad before, during, and after the US invasion
May 12, 2005

The End of Poverty: An Interview with Jeffrey Sachs
Interviewed By Onnesha Roychoudhuri
One of the world’s top economists offers a blueprint for transforming the developing world.
May 6, 2005

Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader
Bradley K. Martin Interviewed By Lisa Katayama
A journalist describes the “cult of personality” that has ruled over North Korea for 50 years.
April 26, 2005

The Pioneer: An Interview With Jerome Ringo
Interviewed By Erik Kancler
The new head of the National Wildlife Federation has always been a pathbreaker.
April 25, 2005

Return to Greatness: An Interview with Alan Wolfe
Interviewed By Julian Brookes
Goodness isn’t good enough, says Alan Wolfe. America is best when it strives for greatness.
April 19, 2005

The Bad Boy On the Bus: An Interview With Matt Taibbi
Interviewed By Janelle Nanos
Assigned to cover the 2004 Democratic primary, Matt Taibbi found there was nothing to cover. So he fell back on his own resources. Oh, and drugs.
April 19, 2005

One World Expedition: An Interview with Lonnie Dupre and Eric Larsen
Interviewed By Erik Kancler and Katie Renz
Two explorers will attempt a completely novel Artic crossing to draw attention to global warming.
April 18, 2005

The Man Behind the Hockey Stick
Michael Mann Interviewed By Erik Kancler
Climatologist Michael Mann discusses the science of global warming, and takes on critics of his work.
April 18, 2005

Hot and Bothered: An Interview with Ross Gelbspan
Interviewed By Dave Gilson
Taking on the climate change deniers and their media enablers.
April 18, 2005

Who She Was: An Interview With Samuel G. Freedman
Interviewed By Julian Brookes
A son’s search for his mother’s life—and for atonement
April 13, 2005

The Dissident: An Interview With Natan Sharansky
Interviewed By Nonna Gorilovskaya
The Israeli minister talks about Arab dissidents, Israel’s human rights record, and the prospects for a democratic Middle East.
March 30, 2005

Wild Life: An Interview With Tim Cahill
Interviewed By Erik Kancler
The vast wildernesses of our national parks belong to all of us, says Tim Cahill. We should go lose ourselves in them.
March 25, 2005

The Torn Fabric of the Law: An Interview With Michael Ratner
Interviewed By Onnesha Roychoudhuri
One key battle in the war on terror is being fought in courtrooms. And the administration isn’t winning there, either.
March 21, 2005

On the Hunt: An Interview with Daniel Duane
Interviewed By Elizabeth Gettelman
Shooting sheep to save them? Author Daniel Duane was a skeptic. Then he went on a hunt.
March 10, 2005

God’s Politics: An Interview With Jim Wallis
Interviewed By Michal Lumsden
The Right has been allowed to hijack faith and moral values, argues the editor of Sojourners. It’s high time the Democrats got religion.
March 10, 2005

Lipstick Jihad: An Interview With Azadeh Moaveni
Interviewed By Michal Lumsden
An Iranian-American journalist discovers a complex, paradoxical Iran.
March 9, 2005

Globalization and Health: An Interview With Julio Frenk
Interviewed By Lygia Navarro
Mexico’s Minister of Health talks about the role that disease, violence, and malnutrition play in the dialogue over global economic development.
March 3, 2005

People Power: An Interview With David Solnit
Interviewed By Katie Renz
A direct-action organizer talks about waging common-sense social revolution.
March/April 2005 Issue

Exporting America: An Interview With Lou Dobbs
Interviewed By Jeff Fleischer
The CNN anchor is mad as hell about offshore outsourcing and faith-based economics.
February 7, 2005

Inside Terry Jones’s War on the War on Terror
Interviewed By Jeff Fleischer
The former Python takes aim at Bush and Blair — without losing his sense of humor.
February 2, 2005

What Kind of Freedom? An Interview with Christian Parenti
Interviewed By Tucker Foehl
After three trips there, a reporter reflects on the “meltdown” and “total destruction” that is Iraq.
January 26, 2005

Shake Hands With the Devil: An Interview With Roméo Dallaire
Interviewed By Jeff Fleischer
The former head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Rwanda on genocide and the failure of humanity.
January 25, 2005

The Persian Puzzle: An Interview With Kenneth Pollack
Interviewed By Bradford Plumer
What’s next for U.S. foreign policy in Bush’s second term? Iran, that’s what.
January 24, 2005

The Debt Threat
Noreena Hertz Interviewed By Jeff Fleischer
Developing countries are crippled by their debts to industrialized nations. The moment for meaningful debt relief, says the author, is long overdue.
January 20, 2005

What We Owe Iraq: An Interview with Noah Feldman
Interviewed By Bradford Plumer
A former adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority on the ethics of nation-building and the promise and perils of Iraqi elections.
January 16, 2005

Blue Gold: An Interview with Maude Barlow
Interviewed By Jeff Fleischer
Increasingly, developing countries are forced to cede control over their dwindling water supplies to private firms.
January 14, 2005

Bury the Chains: An Interview with Adam Hochschild
Interviewed By Dave Gilson
Uncovering the history and enduring impact of the world’s first human-rights campaign.
January 10, 2005

Root Causes: An Interview with Wangari Maathai
Interviewed By Dave Gilson
The recent Nobel Peace Prize winner talks about sowing the seeds of democracy in Kenya.
January 5, 2005

Crisis in Darfur
John Prendergast Interviewed By Jeff Fleischer
A special adviser to the International Crisis Group on the genocide in Darfur, and the lack of an effective international response.
January 4, 2005

Neoconomy
Daniel Altman Interviewed By Bradford Plumer
The Bush economic policy amounts to a huge gamble based on a few radical economic assumptions. If these assumptions aren’t vindicated, we’re in big trouble.
December 27, 2004

Fighting Cultural Genocide
Rupert Isaacson Interviewed By Onnesha Roychoudhuri
The co-founder of a legal and humanitarian aid group details the plight of the Kalahari Bushmen.
December 22, 2004

Masters of their Domain
Scott Bullock Interviewed By Elizabeth Gettelman
A legal advocate for homeowners describes how local governments all over the country abuse the power of eminent domain to seize private property.
December 20, 2004

The Planet’s Chemical Trash Can
Marla Cone Interviewed By Elizabeth Gettelman
The author spent two years researching how the Arctic became the final destination for much of the industrial world’s toxic waste.
December 20, 2004

Give Me a Home
Sam Tsemberis Interviewed By Meghann Farnsworth
The founder of Pathways to Housing says the best way to deal with homelessness is to provide people with housing. And the success of his program is proving him right.
December 20, 2004

Crude Measures
Peter Maass Interviewed By Michal Lumsden
The author of “A Touch of Crude” reflects on the resource curse, the hypocrisy of corporate-driven foreign policy, and the perils of reporting in Equatorial Guinea.
December 20, 2004

Holding Power Accountable
Chellie Pingree Interviewed By Jeff Fleischer
The president of Common Cause talks about election-day voting problems, the need for electoral reform, and the importance of staying engaged.
December 13, 2004

Intelligence Matters
Bob Graham Interviewed By Jeff Fleischer
The former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on the failures of the U.S. intel community and the need for reform.
November 23, 2004

Free World
Timothy Garton Ash Interviewed By Julian Brookes
A British historian of the present ponders America, Europe and the future of the West.
November 22, 2004

The Two-Income Trap
Amelia Tyagi Interviewed by Bradford Plumer
Families in financial trouble are working hard and playing by the rules — but the game is stacked against them.
November 8, 2004

Eve Ensler on “good” bodies and bad politics
Eve Ensler Interviewed By Andi Zeisler
November/December 2004 Issue

 

Purple Hearts: Back from Iraq
Nina Berman Interviewed by Tucker Foehl
An interview with photographer Nina Berman, whose new book vividly shows that many U.S. soldiers bring the war back home.
October 28, 2004

Nailing the Hammer
Lou Dubose Interviewed By Julian Brookes
A veteran Texas journalist ponders the astonishing rise — and likely fall — of Tom DeLay.
October 27, 2004

Bad Air
Bruce Buckheit Interviewed by Elizabeth Gettelman
The former head of EPA’s air quality division retired last year — in part because, under Bush, no “good work” was getting done.
October 27, 2004

The Road to Geneva
Yossi Beilin Interviewed By Nonna Gorilovskaya
One of the architects of the Oslo, and now of the Geneva Accord, believes that peace is possible between Palestinians and Israelis.
October 20, 2004

The Missing Peace
Dennis Ross Interviewed By Nonna Gorilovskaya
Bill Clinton’s Middle East envoy on what went wrong in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations — and what the U.S. has to do to help make them go right again.
October 20, 2004

How to Talk Like a Conservative (If You Must)
George Lakoff Interviewed By Dave Gilson
The left’s linguistics guru says liberals have to watch their language.
October 18, 2004

The Ultimate (Preventable) Catastrophe
Graham Allison Interviewed by Nonna Gorilovskaya
A nuclear terrorist attack on the United States is more than likely, says Graham Allison — and the administration isn’t doing nearly enough to prevent it.
October 18, 2004

In the Shadow of No Towers
Art Spiegelman Interviewed by Jeff Fleischer
The famed cartoonist on comics, politics, 9/11, and the virtues of going to hell slowly.
October 18, 2004

Crimes Against Nature
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Interviewed by Jeff Fleischer
George W. Bush will go down as the worst environmental president in U.S. history, says Robert F. Kennedy.
October 7, 2004

Taking Back Democracy
Howard Dean Interviewed by Jeff Fleischer
Democrats can pull it out in November, says Howard Dean; but then they’re going to have to rebuild the party — from the bottom up.
October 4, 2004

The Rise (and Rise) of Viagra
Meika Loe Interviewed by Eva Steele-Saccio
How the little blue pill has redefined masculinity — and not for the better — while Pfizer laughs all the way to the bank.
September 28, 2004

Operation Hollywood
David Robb Interviewed By Jeff Fleischer
How the Pentagon bullies movie producers into showing the U.S. military in the best possible light.
September 20, 2004

How to Run the Other Way
Bill Hillsman Interviewed By Jeff Fleischer
Bill Hillsman made his name in political advertising with spots that bucked the tired old formulas and got people talking. He’s not impressed with what he sees out there this political season.
September 13, 2004

Welfare to What?
Jason DeParle Interviewed By Janelle Nanos
In the author’s new book, “American Dream,” three single mothers struggle to hold it all together in a post-Welfare world.
September 13, 2004

The Republican Noise Machine
David Brock Interviewed by Bradford Plumer
The reformed conservative noise-maker on how the Right has sabotaged journalism, democracy, and truth.
September 1, 2004

Chuck D
Rapping the vote: the Former Public Enemy front man on the political power of hip-hop.
September/October 2004 Issue

Fortress America: An Interview with Matthew Brzezinski
Matthew Brzezinski Interviewed By Janelle Nanos
The author of Fortress America, and of our September/October cover story about the Department of Homeland Security, talks about terrorism, homeland defense, and the politics of fear.
August 26, 2004

Inside the Axis of Deceit
Andrew Wilkie Interviewed by Jeff Fleischer
Wilkie, a top Australian intelligence official, didn’t think the available WMD intel justified invading Iraq. When the government of Prime Minister John Howard joined the Coalition of the Willing anyway, Wilkie quit in protest.
August 16, 2004

It Happens Here
Mark Dow Interviewed By Bradford Plumer
Prisoner abuse is not limited to Iraq. The author of American Gulag investigates U.S. immigration prisons and finds widespread mistreatment of detainees, abetted and concealed by an official code of silence.
August 10, 2004

How Soccer Explains the World
Franklin Foer Interviewed By Bradford Plumer
In his new book, the author looks at the passions and rivalries embedded in soccer, and finds a key to understanding our ever-shrinking world.
August 4, 2004

American Candidate
R.J. Cutler Interviewed By Jeff Fleischer
The producer of a new political reality show talks about politics, TV, and getting people engaged in the process.
August 1, 2004

Extremism on Viagra!
Jim Hightower Interviewed by Jeff Fleischer
That’s what another Bush term would be like, says Jim Hightower. He talks to MJ.com about the Democratic convention, the necessary Kerry compromise, and what progressives–win or lose–have to do.
July 29, 2004

Cronies
Robert Bryce Interviewed By Nonna Gorilovskaya
The author describes how the Lone Star State’s powerful crony network, centered around the energy industry, has come dominate national politics, making Texas “America’s superstate.”
July 21, 2004

Net Effects
Joe Trippi Interviewed By Jeff Fleischer
Joe Trippi on the lessons of the Dean campaign, the virtues of Internet democracy, and the end of politics-as-usual.
July 20, 2004

Moving Mountains
Anne-Christine d’Adesky Interviewed By Peter Meredith
JIn her new book, journalist and activist Anne-Christine d’Adesky argues that access to AIDS medicine is a fundamental human rights issue.
July 13, 2004

The End of Oil
Paul Roberts Interviewed By Nonna Gorilovskaya
Oil, besides being a whole lot of political trouble, is approaching its production peak. What to do?
June 8, 2004

Don’t Get Too Comfortable
Sarah Jones Interviewed By Joshua Wolf Shenk
New York’s fearless impersonator talks about her mix of humor and politics, and her battles with the FCC.
July/August 2004 Issue

Imperial Denial
Niall Ferguson Interviewed By Nonna Gorilovskaya
Niall Ferguson says we should stop worrying and learn to love the American Empire.
May 21, 2004

Out of Sight
Daniel Guttman Interviewed By Kari Lundgren
Federal contracting is as old as the Constitution. But we still haven’t figured out how to keep our private government accountable.
May 3, 2004

Taking Back the Dial
Lizz Winstead Interviewed By Kurt Andersen
Talking radio and politics with the comedy czarina of Air America.
May/June 2004 Issue

Clipping the Presidential Price Tag
Charles Lewis Interviewed by Julian Brookes
Yes, the Oval Office is for sale again, and Charles Lewis is back to tell the world who the buyers are.
March 29, 2004

Telling Truth
Billy Bragg Interviewed By David Hutcheon
Billy Bragg is living the life every ex-punk should aspire to.
March/April 2004 Issue

Witness to the Betrayal
Beth Shulman Interviewed By Julian Brookes
The 30 million working Americans who can’t make ends meet aren’t on the margins of our economy — they are in the stagnating mainstream.
February 23, 2004

Fair Trade’s Front Man
Chris Martin Interviewed By Katherine Turman
Coldplay’s Chris Martin has chosen not to live inside the bubble of his success.
January/February 2004 Issue

Tony Kushner, Radical Pragmatist
Tony Kushner Interviewed By Ben Greenman
The Pulitzer Prize-winning playright of Angels in America on queer TV and power politics in America.
November/December 2003 Issue

Songs Of Experience
Lucinda Williams Interviewed By Katherine Turman
May/June 2003 Issue

When Novel Meets Exposé
Ruth Ozeki Interviewed By Andi Zeisler
March/April 2003 Issue

Rage for Justice
Tom Morello Interviewed By Timothy C. Davis
January/February 2003 Issue

A Space of Her Own
Aimee Mann Interviewed By Nancy Updike
The iconic singer-songwriter discusses the economics of being oh-so indie.
November/December 2002 Issue

The Sundance Kid
Justin Lin Interviewed By Oliver Wang
Filmmaker Justin Lin discusses being young, urban, Asian American and the target of a Hollywood bidding war.
September/October 2002 Issue

Activist in an Angry World
Arundhati Roy Interviewed By Arlie Russell Hochschild
Novelist and activist superstar Arundhati Roy talks about globalization and the post-September 11th era.
January/February 2002 Issue

Matters of Life and Death
Studs Terkel Interviewed By Miles Harvey
November/December 2001 Issue

Cross-dressing the Divine
Louise Erdrich Interviewed By Josie Rawson
Novelist Louise Erdrich on miracles, literary citizenship, and a reservation priest with a secret
May/June 2001 Issue

Matt Groening
Matt Groening Interviewed By Brian Doherty
The creator of ‘The Simpsons’ on his new sci-fi TV show, why it’s nice to be rich, and how the ACLU infringed on his rights
March/April 1999 Issue

John McCain
John McCain Interviewed By Jason Vest
The Arizona senator hates Big Tobacco and thinks money corrupts politics. But he doesn’t mind chatting with Bill Gates.
November/December 1998 Issue

Steven Brill
Steven Brill Interviewed By James Ledbetter
Steven Brill wants to be king of all media watchdogs. But will Brill the owner and Brill the editor always get along?
September/October 1998 Issue

That’s the News and I Am Outta Here
Todd Strandberg Interviewed By Paul Tough
News junkie Todd Strandberg thinks the end is near, and he’s got the numbers to prove it.
September/October 1998 Issue

Stephanie Coontz
Stephanie Coontz Interviewed By Sarah Pollock
Following the State of the Union address, childcare is poised to become the next emotive issue in the national debate. A leading family historian offers her solutions.
May/June 1998 Issue

Theo Colborn
Theo Colborn Interviewed ByMarilyn Berlin Snell
A controversial scientist speaks on plastics, IQ, and the womb
March/April 1998 Issue

Lite Night with Bill Maher
Bill Maher Interviewed By Ana Marie Cox
The host of “Politically Incorrect” serves up warmed-over, celebrity-enhanced pop politics to an uninformed audience. Just the way America likes it.
January/February 1998 Issue

The World of Religion According to Huston Smith
Huston Smith Interviewed By Marilyn Snell
Smith has devoted his life to the study of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Hinduism. He believes in them all.
November/December 1997 Issue

Jamaica Kincaid Hates Happy Endings
Jamaica Kincaid Interviewed By Marilyn Snell
September/October 1997 Issue

Orville Schell
Orville Schell Interviewed By Dirk Olin
A 30-year veteran of reporting on China discusses Deng’s counterrevolution.
September/October 1997 Issue

Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood Interviewed By Marilyn Snell
The activist author of Alias Grace and The Handmaid’s Tale discusses the politics of art and the art of the con.
July/August 1997 Issue

Law Matters
Randall Kennedy Interviewed By Hugh Pearson
Randall Kennedy reminds us that criminal justice isn’t always black-and-white.
July/August 1997 Issue

Home Work Time
Arlie Hochschild Interviewed By Marilyn Snell
Why are we working more and spending less time at home? Arlie Hochschild has discovered some suprising reasons.
May/June 1997 Issue

John Irving
John Irving Interviewed By Suzanne Herel
The bestselling novelist is a strong believer in good manners, a semibeliever in religion, and unequivocal in his opinions about abortion. Author John Irving always plays by the rules — his own.
May/June 1997 Issue

George Carlin
George Carlin Interviewed By Ricky Young
Carlin speaks up about what’s wrong with Mickey Mouse, baby boomers, private property, and political activism.
March/April 1997 Issue

Gloria Feldt
Gloria Feldt Interviewed By Evan Smith
The new president of Planned Parenthood misses the old Hillary Clinton and says “thanks” to Newt Gingrich, but “thanks for nothing” to the Democratic leadership.
March/April 1997 Issue

Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould Interviewed By Michael Krasny
America’s premier science writer talks about the battles over evolution, the importance of dinosaur lunch boxes, and why no one’s likely to top Ty Cobb’s batting average.
January/February 1997 Issue

Sister Act
Candace Gingrich Interviewed By Rachel Burstein
How the Republican revolution launched the other Gingrich into activism.
January/February 1997 Issue

Al Franken
Al Franken Interviewed By Richard Blow
He’s good enough, he’s smart enough, and, doggone it, most people like him.
November/December 1996 Issue

William Julius Wilson
William Julius Wilson Interviewed By Gerald Early
A leading scholar of urban poverty has a prescription for the ghetto: jobs.
September/October 1996 Issue

What Patricia Wants
Patricia Ireland Interviewed By Richard Blow
NOW’s president celebrates the organization’s 30th anniversary.
September/October 1996 Issue

Nobody’s Nader
Ralph Nader Interviewed By Wesley J. Smith
The tough activist has some kind words for Buchanan, but none for Clinton.
July/August 1996 Issue

Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen Interviewed By David Corn
Bruce Springsteen tells the story of the secret America.
March/April 1996 Issue

Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem Interviewed By Cynthia Gorney
At 61, Steinem wants straight talk, more fun, and a new Congress.
November/December 1995 Issue

Jim Hightower
Jim Hightower Interviewed By Dale Eastman
We turn the microphone around on the king of the interview.
September/October 1995 Issue

Geoffrey Canada
Geoffrey Canada Interviewed By Andrea Bernstein
September/October 1995 Issue

Tony Kushner
Tony Kushner Interviewed By Andrea Bernstein
The award-winning author of Angels in America advises you to trust neither art nor artists.
July/August 1995 Issue

Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou Interviewed By Ken Kelley
A celebrated poet issues a call to arms to the nation’s artists.
May/June 1995 Issue

Being Frank
Barney Frank Interviewed By Claudia Dreifus
Massachusetts Congressman and unapologetic liberal Barney Frank knows why the Republicans will fail: They’ve eaten their dessert first.
May/June 1995 Issue

Malidoma Some
Malidoma Some Interviewed By D. Patrick Miller
March/April 1995 Issue

Back at You
Ntozake Shange Interviewed By Rebecca Carroll
Ntozake Shange, poet, playwright, and fiery author of “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf,” minces no words.
January/February 1995 Issue

Chameleon
Dick Gephardt Interviewed By Richard Blow
Dick Gephardt, the most powerful leader in Congress, wants to be seen as a populist. But Gephardt always adapts to the system. He is key to understanding why it doesn’t change.
September/October 1994 Issue

Isabel Allende
Isabel Allende Interviewed By Bob Baldock and Dennis Bernstein
September/October 1994 Issue

Here’s the Deal
Laura Tyson Interviewed By Josh Clark
March/April 1994 Issue

Surgeon General’s Warning
Joycelyn Elders Interviewed By Ken Kelly
Guns are hazardous to your health.
January/February 1994 Issue

Pro-Choice
David Osborne Interviewed By Josh Clark
A progressive friend of Bill’s argues for competition within the public school system.
September/October 1993 Issue

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We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

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