Mother Jones and Reveal released their list of the 10 most popular stories, podcasts, and videos of the year, and to little surprise, the most engaged content focused on President Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and their most ardent MAGA supporters. It builds on a year in which Mother Jones’ print subscribers reached an all-time high of 230,000 and the organization’s online video views hit a record of nearly 65 million (more than doubling last year’s figure). 

“This year was a stress test for American democracy and for journalism, and yet our ambitious and determined team didn’t flinch,” said Clara Jeffery, the editor-in-chief of the Center for Investigative Reporting, which produces Mother Jones and Reveal. “We delivered dazzling investigations across print, audio, and video that proved why an independent, nonprofit newsroom matters more than ever.”

Of Mother Jones’ most-read stories, the top one, examining why RFK Jr. is attacking antidepressants, has been viewed more than 1 million times. And four of the top 10 stories explored federal court decisions in light of the Trump administration’s unprecedented challenge to the legal system. 

On the radio/podcast side, the organization’s most downloaded episode aired on its new weekly show, More To The Story, and featured a discussion about President Trump’s pardons of those who attacked the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. And while domestic politics drew extensive attention this year, three of the most listened-to Reveal episodes touched on international topics like Gaza, the former war in Iraq, and refugees in Greece. 

Finally, the organization’s most-viewed video of 2025 cleverly contrasted Trump’s response to the killing of Charlie Kirk with Joe Biden’s public statement about the assassination attempt on Trump in 2024. That video has been viewed more than 7.2 million times. Other top videos include a whistleblower documenting the failure to deliver food to starving Gazans, and how an international surveillance company is targeting people across the globe.

The Center for Investigative Reporting is a nonprofit organization supported by readers and listeners. Mother Jones formed in 1976 in San Francisco, and will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year.

10 Most-Read Mother Jones Stories (source: Google Analytics)

  1. RFK Jr. Is Already Taking Aim at Antidepressants (published Feb. 14, 2025)
  2. In Your Face: The Brutal Aesthetics of MAGA (published March 17, 2025)
  3. A Federal Judge Just Gave the Trump Administration a Sound Spanking (published Feb. 3, 2025)
  4. The Supreme Court Prepares to End Voting Rights as We Know Them (published Aug. 5, 2025)
  5. The Supreme Court Is Just One Vote Shy of Making Trump and Musk Kings (published March 5, 2025)
  6. RFK Jr. Secretly Recorded Second Wife During Divorce and Acknowledged Being “Polygamous” (published Jan. 28, 2025)
  7. As Trump Dodges Court Orders, Samuel Alito Suggests Obeying Judges Can Be Optional (published March 24, 2025)
  8. Megyn Kelly Suddenly Finds Pedophilia Very Hard to Define (published Nov. 13, 2025)
  9. Trump and Johnson Are Melting Down Over the Success of “No Kings” (published Oct. 19, 2025)
  10. The Country’s Most Famous Houseplant Is Missing. What Did Trump Do With It? (published March 8, 2025)

10 Most-Downloaded Reveal Episodes (source: PRX)

  1. How Trump’s January 6 Pardons Hijacked History (posted March 4, 2025) 
  2. Gazans Are Starving; It’s a Manmade Catastrophe (posted Aug. 5, 2025)
  3. Exposing a Global Surveillance Empire (posted Oct. 17, 2025) 
  4. Elon Musk and JD Vance Want You to Breed. A Lot. (posted June 27, 2025) 
  5. Immigrants on the Line (posted Jan. 31, 2025) 
  6. The Bible Says So…Or Does It? (posted July 29, 2025)
  7. In Fallujah, We Destroyed Parts of Ourselves (posted Jan. 17, 2025) 
  8. Fortress Europe: The Fight for Refugees in Greece (posted Jan. 4, 2025)
  9. Teaching Kids to Read: How One School District Gets It Right (posted April 25, 2025)
  10. The Landlord Gutting America’s Hospitals (posted July 18, 2025)

10 Most-Viewed Mother Jones Videos (source: Sprout Social)

  1. Trump makes national tragedies worse (posted Sept. 11, 2025)
  2. Charlie Kirk’s memorial was Christian nationalism’s biggest moment (posted Sept. 22, 2025)
  3. Rep. Boebert’s Situation Room meeting about Epstein files (posted Nov. 12, 2025)
  4. Relief worker blows whistle about Gaza food distribution sites (posted Aug. 1, 2025)
  5. Does anyone in the Trump administration know what habeas corpus is? (posted Oct. 9, 2025)
  6. Megyn Kelly downplays Jeffrey Epstein’s sex crimes (posted Nov. 13, 2025)
  7. “Quiet! Quiet, piggy,” Trump snapped at a female reporter (posted Nov. 18, 2025)
  8. Reporters revealed a global surveillance tool (posted Oct. 16, 2025)
  9. He was sentenced to death row—then DNA set him free (posted Oct. 20, 2025)
  10. Hasan Piker responds to Charlie Kirk’s killing(posted Sept. 12, 2025)