Serena I was lucky to acquire a ticket to the fully sold-out talk by Tim Wise last week at the University of Washington (thank you, SSH!). Wise is an anti-racist educator and activist, as well as an artful and entertaining orator, and he reflected on the US election results and white supremacy in America in … Read more
Alan Some of Sightline’s staff, fellows, and I have been reading voraciously and swapping articles as we try to draw the right lessons from the November US elections. We must have circulated, read, and debated a hundred articles as we sought to understand the implications of the astounding events to Cascadia’s east. Today, my personal … Read more
Kristin In the past three months, there were 22 days when school in was out but work was in for professional workers. For people who don’t have the privilege, as I do, of paid holidays, there were 27 days when workers had to choose between working, paying for childcare, or leaving their kids home alone. … Read more
Eric The whiz kids at Stockholm Environment Institute have a killer new analysis that breaks down the effect of US government subsidies to the oil industry, and what it all means for carbon emissions. Michael Riordan makes the case the era of Trump should also be the era of a Cascadia independence movement. Aven Revenge, … Read more
Kristin Think we’re all rational actors, taking in information and carefully weighing pros and cons? You haven’t been reading psychological research. Maria Konnikova explains how “Biased Assimilation and Attitude Polarization” and other human traits impacted the 2016 election. And if you want to use some knowledge about humans in your next political argument, here are … Read more
Anna From the courage and vision and unity we witnessed around Standing Rock water protectors to powerful national conversations about economic justice and Black Lives Matter, Yes! Magazine’s Sarah van Gelder looks back at 2016 and reminds us that “it wasn’t all bad.” She leaves us with five signs of positive change as we brace for … Read more
Alan Infectious Madness: The Surprising Science of How We “Catch” Mental IllnesS By Harriet Washington Ever since I read this article on how the growing popularity of pet cats in Europe centuries ago may have brought with it the eruption of severe mental illness, especially schizophrenia, I’ve been fascinated by germ-theory research on mental health. … Read more
Kristin A group of electors calling themselves the “Hamilton Electors” are trying to gather enough electors across the country to fulfill the Founding Fathers’ original vision of the Electoral College as a deliberative body that would protect the nation from demagogues. They are urging electors to cast their votes for Ohio Governor John Kasich for … Read more
We at Sightline share our favorite organizations to help inspire your end-of-year giving. We imagine these organizations will need our support more than ever in the coming years and want to amplify the great work that is happening in Cascadia and beyond. Have a favorite organization you’re giving to this year? Share it in the comments … Read more
Serena Some dude wrote a long book about the history and origins of consumerism and was kind enough to distill it into an interesting several-page article. In my view, the long history of moral prohibitions against the accumulation of stuff has a curious contemporary manifestation, in which a certain class of consumers is encouraged to demonstrate its values through … Read more