In 2023, Marlena Arjo adopted a one-eyed kitten with a penchant for destruction. She named him Otto, and over the next eight months, Otto grew into his own little chaotic personality. “ He’s laying on houseplants, he’s tearing books out of the bookshelves, ripping the calendar off the wall…I wasn’t prepared for having a criminal in […]
The staff of Mother Jones is, once again, rounding up the heroes and monsters of the past year. This is a non-exhaustive and totally subjective list, giving our reporters a chance to write about something that brought joy, discontent, or curiosity. Happy holidays. My Instagram algorithm has decided that I am a woman, and, therefore, I must want to […]
Two years ago, I was speaking to my mother, when I made a passing comment: on a whim, I told her, I had decided to take a commercial DNA test. Instantly, from the expression on her face, I knew something was amiss. My parents took me aside for a serious sit-down conversation, and revealed a family secret: they had turned to the fertility industry to conceive me via the use of a sperm donor. I was shocked. More than anything, I was incredibly curious to learn more.