“You’re on Mute!” Is the Phrase of the Year

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This is a big one: the first time we’re asking for the donations Mother Jones relies on since joining forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting. So in “Less Dreading, More Doing,” we lay it all out for you—why we merged, how we’re stronger together, and why we’re more optimistic than normal about the work ahead. It still won’t be easy. Please help us raise the First $500,000 we need by June 22.

This is big. Mother Jones just merged with the Center for Investigative Reporting, and this is the first time we’re asking for the donations we rely on. So we lay it all out for you in “Less Dreading, More Doing,” and we need to raise the First $500,000 in online donations by June 22. It won’t be easy. Please help if you can.

Courtesy of the Financial Times, here’s a weird chart to start off our week:

What accounts for this? Corporate earnings calls, as the name implies, have always been calls. That didn’t change because of the COVID-19 pandemic. And yet, the surge in mentions of muting started precisely in April and May, exactly when the pandemic took off in the United States. Was there a sudden switch from phone calls to Zoom calls, and with it a learning curve of how to mute oneself? But if that’s the case, surely people would learn over time and the incidence of being unexpectedly on mute would decline. That hasn’t happened.

I feel like there’s something obvious that I’m missing here. Somebody school me, please.