DC-based staff writer Stephanie Mencimer ("If at First You Don’t Secede" and "The Golden Fleece") spent several months investigating Glenn Beck’s relationship with gold sellers. Illustrator Dale Stephanos watched lots of Beck to gear up for this assignment, for which he should probably be paid double.

Alexander Zaitchik‘s article ("Lonesome at the Top") is adapted from his book, Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance.

For our inaugural Climate Desk project on how businesses are adapting to global warming, we tapped savvy reporters including New York Times Magazine and Wired contributing writer Clive Thompson ("Disaster Capitalism"); Reuters blogger Felix Salmon ("Risk Mismanagement"); Mark Hertsgaard ("Grapes of Wrath"), author of the forthcoming Living Through the Storm: Our Future Under Global Warming; and MoJo reporters Josh Harkinson ("Buh-Bye East Coast Beaches") and Kate Sheppard ("Fair and Carbon Neutral").

David Kushner ("Click and Dagger") is the digital culture commentator for NPR’S Weekend Edition.

Senior correspondent James Ridgeway ("Meet the Real Death Panels") frequently writes about the politics of aging. Tim Bower is a contributing illustrator for Mother Jones whose drawings can be found in mags ranging from Entertainment Weekly to Fortune.

Stephanie Mencimer

Dale Stephanos

Kate Sheppard

Justin Maxon

James Ridgeway

Jacques Leslie

Jacques Leslie ("What’s Killing the Babies of Kettleman City?") wrote about environmental devastation in China for MoJo in 2008. Justin Maxon‘s photos have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Fader, and Newsweek.

David Corn ("The Hardest Job in Washington" and "Bomb at the Box Office") is MoJo‘s DC bureau chief. To eavesdrop on White House press briefings, follow him on Twitter @DavidCornDC.

News editor Daniel Schulman and assistant editor Nick Baumann ("Spy vs….Lawyer?") are also part of our indomitable Washington reporting crew.

While reporting in Maricopa County, Aura Bogado ("Hazing Arizona") was "hyper-vigilant about carrying my ID with me at all times." Her story was supported by the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute.

Kiera Butler ("Get Behind Me, Seitan") solves eco-mysteries each week in our (free) Econundrums newsletter. Sign up at motherjones.com/econundrums.