July 2015 | Hillman Foundation

Clear It With Sidney

The best of the week’s news by Lindsay Beyerstein

July 2015

Sidney’s Picks: The Death of a Young Black Journalist

Photo credit: 

Hades2K, Creative Commons

The Best of the Week’s News

Larry Lessig on Fixing Campaign Finance

Photo credit: 

Thomas Hawk, Creative Commons.

Harvard law professor Larry Lessig explains why we shouldn’t pin our hopes for campaign finance reform on a constitutional amendment, as desirable as useful as such an amendment might be.

Instead, Lessig argues, we should focus on increasing the percentage of campaign donations funded by small-dollar contributors. Attracting small donations could shift the balance of power away from large monied interests, towards ordinary citizens. He points out that it’s much easier to incentivize small contributions than it is to change the constitution to limit large ones. 

Sidney’s Picks: CA Judge Shutters Uber

Photo credit: 

London taxi drivers protesting Uber, David Holt London, Creative Commons.

The Best of the Week’s News

Sidney’s Picks: SC’s Confederate Flag is History!

Photo credit: 

MariusPriv, Creative Commons. Illustration shows Bree Newsome, a South Carolina woman who beat the state legislature to the punch and took the flag down herself. Today, it went down legally and permanently.  

The Best of the Week’s News

  • Hillman judge Ta-Nehisi Coates garners another rave review for his new book, “Between the World and Me.”
  • Hillman Prize-winner John Richardson checks in with climate scientists to find out how they feel about their front row seats for Armageddon.
  • A beautiful essay about a body farm in Texas and some remarkable people who gave their bodies to science. 

#Sidney’s Picks: OSHA, Salon, and Radioactive Toothpaste

The Best of the Week’s News

  • Editorial staffers at Salon.com announce their intent to unionize.
  • The Radium Girls, workplace safety, and America’s love affair with radioactive toothpaste.