October 1, 2020

From the Sesame Street Writers’ Room to “The Jooniverse,” Comedian Joon Chung Has Good News

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With just 33 days until the election, and the pandemic’s end nowhere in sight, the stakes couldn’t be higher and the state of the universe is no laughing matter. An alternative: The Jooniverse, comedian Joon Chung’s new site, which promises personalized answers to all of life’s mysteries and miseries. “Welcome to The Jooniverse. You’re all just living in it,” his welcome note says. “If asking the universe feels too scary, ask me and I’ll respond with some advice.”

The Jooniverse’s backstory is here, and your questions go here. See what good news, expertly bad puns, and healing humor before Election Day he has in store. Chung was recently a Sesame Street Writers’ Room fellow, and he’s developing a project with Sesame Workshop. He’s currently working on a preschool animated show. He was also named a Young Staten Island Talent to Look For, and he co-hosted the podcast Just the Gals. Previously he edited news and animated shorts for The Root, Jezebel, and other sites.

“Asking the universe for anything is tough,” Chung says, “so ask me!” If you ask him and he delivers, share your results at recharge@motherjones.com and we’ll highlight a few. Let us know if you’d like your name included. A Recharge salute to Chung’s creative ventures.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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