Top 5: Reflecting on Civil Rights giants
+ the experiences of those who are unemployed during a pandemic.
Top 5 articles for your week:
“John Lewis Was an American Founder” (The Atlantic)
Because this latest from Adam Serwer honors the late Congressman John Lewis and Civil Rights leader Rev. CT Vivian.
“David Shor’s Unified Theory of American Politics” (New York Magazine)
Because The Intelligencer interviewed David Shor, a Democratic political strategist (and recently part of a viral online argument over data framing), on his views towards protests, electoral politics, the Right and more. And just another thought on the interview below:
“How Can the Press Best Serve a Democratic Society?” (New Yorker)
Because this essay summarizes some of the talking points and lessons from a 1940s commission on how the press could better serve a time in the past that was facing several similar issues that we are facing now.
“Out of Work” (The California Sunday)
Because this is an inside look at what it’s like to be unemployed during the pandemic.
“What Happens When Kids Don’t See Their Peers for Months” and “This Isn’t Sustainable for Working Parents” (The Atlantic)
Because these two articles, paired together, cover the dilemmas facing anyone with kids in their lives — what are the lasting effects on socialization? How do we perform a job, raise a kid, and weather a pandemic, all at the same time?
PS: It’s your last chance for our summer subscription discount!
Image is of social distancing at a park in Dusseldorf, Germany. Image credit: Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty.
Pliny the Elder famously wrote, "True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written; in writing what deserves to be read; and in so living as to make the world happier for our living in it." By that standard, the glory that Adam Serwer assigns to the life of John Lewis is eminently deserved. It would be so much more seemly, however, if those who have dedicated themselves to frustrating a central purpose of his life in advancing voting rights could at least spare us their insincere regrets at his passing.