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: Harvard Business Review. It’s weird that I run a digital content company but I still love pages. HBR has had really great long-form articles on marketing and how we can be even better for our clients.
Watching: Waiting for the second season of Rosewood. It’s a TV drama about a private practice pathologist who helps the Miami police department investigate murder cases by deciphering medical evidence from the body. It stars Morris Chestnut…but that’s not why I watch it. I’m married!
Listening to: The book of Philippians in the New Testament. Lots of good verses on staying calm and not being anxious about stuff.
Following: #SHSMD16. This is a great healthcare marketing conference. Because I can’t clone myself to go to all the sessions, I followed the hashtag to hear the main points from the sessions I missed.
Jennifer, Content Director
Reading: The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland. I was living in Manhattan on 9/11 and try not to dwell on the memories. This book offers a comforting and refreshing perspective. The people of Gander willingly took in thousands of people whose planes were diverted to Newfoundland when New York airspace closed. Gander residents provided a thousand kindnesses on a day of great tragedy: food, lodging, reassurance, and more. From now on, 9/11 will remind me of the 11,000 residents of Gander and their great generosity.
Watching: “Top Hacker Shows Us How It’s Done”—a TedXMidwest talk. BlueTooth surveillance. Code that taps into your social networks. A robot that can scan your password from a mile away. Is there really any privacy anymore? This is worth a watch if you’re trying to stay ahead of hackers.
Listening to: The Moth Radio Hour. A pastiche of fascinating, funny, and touching real-life stories. My latest favorite: a theater director talks about loaning a couple of sleeping pills to R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, causing him to have a semi-psychotic meltdown on a plane, get arrested, and almost receive a lengthy prison sentence. This story collection was titled “What Went Wrong?” You’ll not feel so bad anymore about driving off with the coffee on your car roof.
Following: Humans of New York. Recently, this Facebook blog ran a collection of first-person stories from soldiers with PTSD. Their memories were riveting. Their journey back to relative normalcy was astonishing. You’ll never see a finer example of courage.
Ros, Web Content Specialist
Reading: “Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, Gypsy Wanted Her Mom To Be Murdered,” a BuzzFeed longform piece by Michelle Dean. The title says it all, really, but you’ll have to read the story to find out how it all unfolded.
Watching: The Imposter, an edge-of-your seat documentary about an adolescent boy who goes missing in Texas and turns up years later in Spain…or does he?
Listening to: Justin Timberlake.
Following: All of the cat posts on BuzzFeed. Because pictures of cats who are up to no good are always sure to put a smile on my face.
Sammi, Web Content Specialist
Reading: “We Need To Change The Way We Talk About Mental Health” is a Huffington Post op-ed piece about the harm of inappropriately using mental health terms in everyday conversation (e.g. “My favorite show is cancelled, I’m so depressed.”). The author writes about how we end up trivializing and stigmatizing mental health conditions when we use the terms incorrectly and casually.
Watching: President George W. Bush: The 9/11 Interview. This interview recalls 9/11 from President Bush’s point of view, and how it changed his presidency into a wartime presidency.
Listening to: Hamilton is one of the most popular Broadway shows at the moment. It uses rap and modern music to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton. The show is also race and ethnicity-blind, meaning characters are played by people of all races and ethnicities, regardless of historical accuracy. That adds a new level to the story, and raises questions about racial and ethnic casting in Broadway shows.
Following: #EpiPen, to follow the steep rise in price of EpiPens, and to understand how people are reacting to the price hike.
Nicole, Multimedia Content Designer
Reading: “A 3.2-Million-Year-Old Mystery: Did Lucy Fall From a Tree?” This piece from The New York Times hypothesizes that our first ancestor met her maker in a pretty mundane (and unfortunate) way.
Watching: Bacteria Invade Antibiotics And Transform Into Superbugs. Harvard Medical School releases a time-lapse video on probably one of your worst biological fears. Now, we can literally see the importance of fighting antibiotic resistance.
Listening to: Why The Low Zika Numbers In Haiti Might Be Wrong. I’m a little obsessed with Zika right now, and this NPR spot reports on Haiti’s supposedly low numbers, as well as its lack of resources to handle a potential surge in cases.
Following: Jessica Walsh on Twitter. She’s a young designer and art director in NYC who co-owns an avant-garde design firm. Just looking at her work makes you feel more hip and artsy.
LaToya, Content Design Specialist
Reading: I just purchased Who We Were Before by Leah Mercer, and look forward to telling you all about it next month.
Watching: Fear of the Walking Dead. Season 2 continues as a group of survivors goes on after a zombie apocalypse. They encounter others along the way, and their group is constantly tested as they allow others into the group. Family ties are broken and relationships are tested.
Listening to: Jekalyn Carr: Greater is Coming, a teenager with an amazing voice who is on fire in her ministry and outreach to the young teens.
Following: @cleaneatz—two young ladies inspiring people to make healthy food choices. They post a lot of dishes that they created on their own to show people healthier alternatives.
Katie, Engagement and Analytics
Reading: You’ll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein, stand-up comic and head writer on Inside Amy Schumer. The book chronicles Jessi’s journey into womanhood, from self-proclaimed tomboy to tom man.
Watching: Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World. This latest Werner Herzog film chronicles the virtual world’s role in society, how it impacts human interaction, and the potential effects of its omniscient presence.
Listening to: The Radiolab episode “Playing God,” which features Five Days at Memorial author Sheri Fink. It looks at the ethical decisions caregivers have to make when triaging patients in major emergencies.
Following: #NoDAPL to keep up to date on the Native American-driven protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, which would run under the Missouri River in North Dakota, putting drinking water at risk for millions of people.
