May/June 1998 Issue

Media Picks

Image: Shannon McIntyre

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Lawrence Wright, an award-winning New Yorker writer, has compiled research from around the world for his latest book, Twins: And What They Tell Us About Who We Are (John Wiley & Sons, 1997). He found that while only about 1 out of 80 of us is a twin, as many as 1 out of 8 pregnancies starts out as twins. “It appears one twin dies or is absorbed by the other in the womb,” he says. “Perhaps that’s why so many of us fantasize about this relationship.” Wright shared with Mother Jones his recommended scientific reading, as well as his take on how twins have fared in popular culture.

What have you been reading lately?

I’ve been reading Steven Pinker’s How the Mind Works (W.W. Norton, 1997). Pinker has the wonderful quality as a writer of posing simple questions about science and responding with clear and entertaining answers.

What publication has the best or most interesting science reporting?

For years I’ve been receiving the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report—a publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which provides fascinating epidemiological accounts every week. They are like little detective stories.

Which movie has a realistic depiction of twins? Which has the most inaccurate?

Everyone thinks that Twins (1988), the movie starring Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger as twins, is the worst example of Hollywood dealing with twins. Actually, there are many instances in which one individual of a twin pair is larger and stronger than the other, so it’s not unbelievable that one twin could be Arnold-sized and the other Danny-sized.

The worst example I know of concerning twins relates to conjoined (or Siamese) twins. A Hollywood executive called me to ask about a project starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino as fraternal Siamese twins. “But all Siamese twins are identical,” I told her. There was a long pause. “I’ll get back to you about that,” she said. I haven’t heard back from her.

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate