Hibbard Goes Blogging

Yesterday, I voted.  Today, I listened to " The Cost to Cast a Ballot " episode of Code Switch. To begin, they talked about the gubernatorial elections in both Georgia and Florida, each of which hold the potential to elect the first Black Governor in the United States:  Stacey Abrams and Andrew Gillum, respectively. How exciting that our Georgia election is being discussed on a national level, and that either state could make history depending on the outcome! Midterm elections generally produce low turnout. Domenico Montanaro, who hosts the NPR Politics podcast, references an expert from the University of Florida who suspects that 45-50% of voters will participate in this election, which would be the highest since the mid-1960s. Presidential elections (like the one in 2016) typically boast about 60% voter participation, and midterms are typically much lower. The 2014 midterm election produced only 36%, which was the lowest since the WWII. Later in the episode, Ge...

I recently came across an episode of the Netflix show, " Explained ," which tackled explaining the issue of "The Racial Wealth Gap." One of the most compelling stories from the short episode is when Congressman Cory Booker tells the story of his parents' attempt at buying their first home in the late 1960s, which involved a bit of 'bait and switch' in order to accomplish the purchase. This chart from The Institute for Policy Studies' report, The Road to Zero Wealth , illustrates the massive income gap between white households and minority households: Brian Thompson's article in Forbes goes into more detail about the wealth gap. I also found two additional articles from the Pew Research Center on the topic:  How Wealth Has Changed Since the Recession  and Findings on the Rise in Income Inequality . While discussing the "Explained" episode with some of my colleagues, I was directed to the Fresh Air podcast, among other sourc...

I'm the most indecisive person I know. That's why the " Decisions, Decisions, Decisions " episode TED Radio Hour podcast appealed so strongly to me. If I may get a little hokey, I've always blamed this character trait on my zodiac sign:  Libra . You see, Libras are known for liking balance- for being able to see both sides of an argument, and therefore not being particularly good at making decisions. We hear first from  Sheena Iyengar , the self-proclaimed "World's Expert on Choice." She breaks down why choice matters to people and explains the Choice Overload Problem by explaining an experiment done with jam. As soon as she began to talk about the choices in grocery stores, I immediately thought of Aldi. I recently started shopping there (just in time for them to close for renovations), and I think part of the appeal is the limited options. There is pretty much only one brand of most items available, so you either buy it or you don't. Pretty ...

TED Radio Hour's " Confronting Stigma " with Guy Roz covers four different topics, each of which faces a crippling stigma (or mark of shame). Drug addiction and mental health were the two that I felt the most connected to. I'm sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that there is a stigma surrounding drug addiction. We're told from a very young age that drugs are bad. So that must mean that people who do them are bad too, right? This is the idea that journalist Johann Hari confronts. Another example of someone working hard to destigmatize addiction is Dax Shepard. On his podcast,  Armchair Expert , he discusses countless topics with each of his guests, but one constant throughout every episode is the topic of addiction. Dax frequently mentions his past struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, as well as how much he has learned and grown from Alcoholics Anonymous and sobriety.  In fact, his wife Kristen Bell recently shared an  Instagram post  in which she ce...

Back in 2009, I was a new college graduate ready to take on the world. I had no job and lots of inspiration. Around this time, TED Talks were just becoming popular thanks to YouTube, and I came across a lecture from a man named Simon Sinek. His presentation, "Start with Why" has always stuck with me. When I spotted Sinek's name on a list of TED Radio Hour podcasts, my interest was instantly piqued. As it turns out, the message is the same as the one I heard nearly 10 years ago, but this time it was titled:   How Do Great Leaders Inspire Us To Take Action?   The refrain throughout Sinek's lecture? "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it."   That may seem absurd at first. Of course people buy the 'what.' You buy the iPad. You buy the Xbox. You buy the Alexa. But if you stop and think about it, what we're really buying into is the 'why.' These companies convince us that these exciting products will change our lives. Si...