As content creators, we’re constantly on the hunt for interesting and inspiring stories from wherever we can find them—the internet, a podcast, television. This enables us not only to keep up with but to lead relevant conversations on the people, events, and discoveries that are impacting our world.
Here’s what we’ve been devouring lately.
Kadesha, Founder/CEO
Reading: The collection of Clifford the Big Red Dog stories in Spanish with my son because we’re working on his colors, counting, and his Spanish—three birds, one stone.
Watching: I lost the remote to my TV, so I’m not currently watching anything, and it’s been great.
Listening to: Tim Ferriss’ Four-Hour Work Week podcast about project and time management. As a new mom and a business owner, I have to not do as much and learn to delegate better.
Following: The hashtag #HCIC16 for the Healthcare Internet Conference that I’ll be attending next week in Las Vegas.
Jennifer, Content Director
Reading: Celebrities Who Cheer For The Chicago Cubs. Sorry, Indians fans. Cubs Fever has made Chicago delirious.
Watching: Bull—an interesting new TV drama on jury psychology. Who knew we humans are so predictable?
Listening to: Useful Science. The science of getting drunk, getting full, and attracting mosquitos, all in one podcast. Cool.
Following: The Presidential debates. And I’m glad they’re over.
Ros, Web Content Specialist
Reading: Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald, which was an Oprah’s Book Club pick and not at all like anything I would normally read. But I found it in the laundry room of my old apartment building and figured I’d give it a shot. It’s a historical novel that follows four sisters as they grow up on an island off the coast of Nova Scotia in the early 20th century. There’s more to it than that, obviously, or else I’d have given up on this 500-pager by now. But you’ll have to read it yourself to find out.
Watching: All of the crime and “I escaped from a crazy cult” documentaries on Netflix, from The Imposter to Holy Hell. I have no idea why I can’t stop watching these, considering how easily frightened and sensitive to gory visuals I am. And yet several times a week I find myself wondering which of these documentaries I should watch next.
Listening to: Justin Timberlake.
Following: BuzzFeed’s coverage of the second presidential debate, which they (and probably everyone else) are calling “the craziest and most surreal debate in modern history.”
Sammi, Web Content Specialist
Reading: Several articles about whether or not doctors should turn away unvaccinated kids to protect other patients and families. It’s an interesting debate. Is it choosing one child’s care over another?
Watching: Designated Survivor. It’s completely unrealistic and pretty cheesy, but it is very entertaining—also pretty relevant in terms of combatting Islamophobia and balancing power.
Listening to: More Hamilton! I finally saw the show, and now I am listening to it even more. I’m also listening to a lot of Beatles music lately. My sister just got married, and she and her husband love the Beatles, so there have been Beatles songs on replay.
Following: The election and the Cubs—not sure which I am more interested in at the moment!
Nicole, Multimedia Content Designer
Reading: “Parents Should Sleep in Same Room as Newborns to Prevent SIDS, Doctors Say.” Time Magazine reports new guidelines that suggest parents be in close quarters with their babies until about 6 months to 1 year old.
Watching: Opioids: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. This is a late-night take on the nation’s growing opioid epidemic, shedding light on where the addiction problem tends to start: prescription drug use.
Listening to: Out Of This World: How Artists Imagine Planets Yet Unseen. We already have actual photo documentation of what our own solar system looks like. NPR explains how artists envision and create visuals of newly discovered, unknown worlds in faraway galaxies.
Following: Matt Wiley on Twitter. He’s a Brooklyn-based designer from the UK who is currently Art Director for The New York Times Magazine. He prefers a bold, art deco design style, and he has a thing for typography (like me).
LaToya, Content Design Specialist
Reading: Who We Were Before, a story about a couple who loses their son in a tragic accident. Instead of grieving together, the wife disconnects from the husband, and the life that they knew before is slowly fading away.
Watching: Shameless, Season 7. A television series starring William H. Macy, the story takes place in Chicago and is about a very dysfunctional family. The mother suffers from bipolar disorder, and the father is an alcoholic and drug addict. The story follows the family of seven as they each face their own life obstacles as well as those of their parents.
Listening to: Various artists, from Hezekiah Walker to Toni Braxton
Following: @tonibraxton who is currently touring and also spreading awareness about Autism Speaks and her constant battle with Lupus.
Katie, Engagement and Analytics
Reading: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. This is Coates’ letter to his son, about the history of race in the U.S., what it means to be black today, and how we all move forward. Toni Morrison called this book required reading, so I couldn’t pass it by.
Watching: Dallas Goldtooth’s and Didi Banerji’s Facebook live streams from the front lines at Standing Rock. These two have been reporting extensively about what’s happening on the ground as the self-proclaimed water protectors battle construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. If completed, the pipeline would cross the Missouri River and put drinking water at risk for millions of people, as well as desecrate sacred Native burial land.
Listening to: This American Life episode 599, “Seriously?” A fascinating analysis of the way we currently view “facts” as a society and how journalists and the Presidential candidates portray them. As someone who spent her college education studying journalism, I’m so entirely frustrated, flabbergasted, and frightened by where people get their information and what they consider to be true.
Following: @SickOfWolves on Twitter makes me laugh daily. So glad this wolf masquerading as a man decided to use social media to keep the world updated on his trials and successes. Those updates include gems such as, “WELL IF I DO NOT HAVE ANY HUMAN FRIENDS WHY ARE THERE SO MANY FRAMED PHOTOS OF MARK RUFFALO IN MY HOME.”
