Exploding Pintos, Imploding Politics: Celebrating 50 Years of Fearless Journalism

Reveal

The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

News

4.7 • 8.7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2026

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

More To The Story: Over the last half-century, Mother Jones magazine has broken some of the era’s defining stories, including some of the earliest reporting about the dangers of Big Tobacco, its investigation into the exploding Ford Pinto, and Mitt Romney’s now-infamous line about 47 percent of Americans viewing themselves as “victims” who are “dependent on government.” Monika Bauerlein has been part of Mother Jones’ story for half of its existence, first as an editor and now as the CEO of the Center for Investigative Reporting, which produces Mother Jones, as well as the public radio show Reveal and its sister podcast, More To The Story. This week, Bauerlein joins host Al Letson to look back at the magazine’s Bay Area origin story. Plus, they examine how the politics of the 1970s are strikingly similar to today and look forward to what the next 50 years might bring for independent nonprofit news in the US.

Read: Are You Driving the Deadliest Car in America? (Mother Jones)
Read: My Four Months as a Private Prison Guard (Mother Jones)
Read: SECRET VIDEO: Romney Tells Millionaire Donors What He REALLY Thinks of Obama Voters (Mother Jones)
Listen: Trump’s “Pincer Attack” on Journalism Is Working. But There’s Hope. (More To The Story)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This group of journalists wanted to create a magazine that would do all those things that
0:08.3	corporate media wasn't doing, that would be a non-profit from the outset, that would be
0:13.7	supported by an accountable to its community, and that would also be beautiful and engaging and cool looking
0:24.5	and something that people wanted to bring into their life.
0:28.2	Coming up on more to the story,
0:30.0	the CEO of the Center for Investigative Reporting and my boss
0:33.3	marks the 50th year of Mother Jones Magazine.
0:37.0	Stay with us.
0:50.4	This is more to the story.
0:52.6	I'm Al Letton.
0:53.9	50 years ago, in a small San Francisco office above a fast food restaurant, the staff of Mother Jones, all 17 of them, published their first magazine.
1:04.4	Following the Watergate scandal, investigative journalism made its mark and changed the course of history.
1:10.8	The founders of Mother Jones
1:11.7	believed that powerful people and corporations should be held accountable by reporting.
1:17.2	For half of Mother Jones history, Monica Bowerline has been contributing to its award-winning
1:22.0	journalism, first as an editor, then as the CEO since 2015. Two years ago, she spearheaded the merger of Mother
1:30.0	Jones with the organization I came from, the Center for Investigative Reporting. We are now
1:34.9	one powerhouse newsroom led by Monica. The CIR Newsroom generates the Mother Jones magazine
1:40.8	and website, social media, and video productions, plus all the investigative audio reporting from reveal.
1:47.9	Monica joins me today from our San Francisco studio to help mark five decades of newsmaking.
1:54.0	Monica, how you doing?
1:55.3	I'm great, Al.
	...

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