“Really, Watson, you excel yourself,” said Holmes, pushing back his chair and lighting a cigarette. “I am bound to say that in all the accounts which you have been so good as to give of my own small achievements you have habitually underrated your own abilities. It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it. I confess, my dear fellow, that I am very much in your debt.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles

Some people have a gift of shining the light for others even — or especially — when they’re not intending to.

My research brief this week highlights two such instances, both from New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) unwittingly shed light on the problem of overregulation and need for mens rea reform, while a Democratic candidate for Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, unintentionally brought a spotlight on the failures of the minimum-wage hike she favors.

All that’s left is for North Carolina policymakers to pick up on their clues.