Traveling Mercies

I thought I’d share a few of my favorite things. (One of) My Favorite Book(s) This is the book I have recommended to more people than any other, The Confidence Code by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman. It’s not new, it was published in 2014, but the content is so important for women. The authors are well respected journalists who have interviewed female heads of business as well as heads of state. They were often surprised at what happened once the camera was off. These powerful and accomplished females relayed comments that indicated a lack of confidence that their male interview subjects never exhibited. Even Sheryl Sandberg, in an interview before the release of Lean In , said “There are still days I wake up feeling like a fraud, not sure I should be where I am.” As the authors begin to dig deeper into the subject of confidence, they came upon studies that show there is a vast confidence gap that separates the sexes. Women don’t consider themselves as ready for promotions...

I enjoy talking about my favorite podcasts. These podcasts represent my favorite legal podcasts, as well as new podcasts I discovered in 2017. S-Town. S-Town is an investigative journalism show created by the producers of the award-winning podcast, Serial. The host, Brian Reed, created S-Town in seven chapters and unlike the common form of releasing a chapter a week, released all seven chapters at once allowing followers to binge listen. The podcast was downloaded a record-breaking 10 million times in four days. Reed lets us in on a secret; S-Town is actually a euphemism for “Shit Town”, the colorful name bestowed on the town of Woodstock, Alabama by the show’s even more colorful protagonist, John B. McLemore. McLemore sends an email to Reed, a staff member of This American Life , asking him to investigate a murder in Woodstock. The journey Reed and McLemore takes is breathtaking with shocking turns of events. If you have ever lived in the rural south, you will recognize...