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President Obama broke 2 huge barriers with his choice for Librarian of Congress.

The White House announced today that President Obama is nominating Carla Hayden to serve as the next Librarian of Congress.

Photo by The White House/YouTube.

Who is Hayden?

She's the CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore.

Photo by nf utvol/Wikimedia Commons.

If confirmed, she'd — weirdly — be only the third-ever actual librarian to hold America's top library job.

Hayden is also a big advocate for moving libraries into the 21st century, with expertise in doing just that, according to the White House statement:

"She's been hard at work revitalizing Baltimore’s library system as the CEO of Enoch Pratt Free Library, updating its technology and raising money to fund essential improvements. Under her leadership, the Pratt library has become the largest provider of public-access computers in Maryland."

She'd also be breaking some pretty neat boundaries. If Hayden is confirmed by the Senate, she'd also be the first African-American and the first woman to hold the post.

Photo by The White House/YouTube.

It's flown a little bit under America's radar, but Obama has been low-key diversifying the federal government and the courts for some time now.

Photo by Daderot/Wikimedia Commons.

A 2015 analysis found that over 50% of Obama's successful appointments to over 80 critical policy jobs were women and people of color. As of October 2014, 42% of Obama's judicial nominees were women, and 36% were non-white.

In September, White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett told the Washington Post that the president has "made a very deliberate effort to be inclusive in the diversity of his administration at all levels."

The result? The government and the bench look more like America than ever before, which is a great thing.

Top federal and judicial officials make decisions every day that affect real people's lives. The more walks of life that are represented in the most important posts, the greater the likelihood those decisions will reflect the lived experience of all Americans.

Anyway, congratulations, Dr. Hayden.

And yes, I promise, I'll use my inside voice now.

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This artist brilliantly tackles the concept of 'being offended' in a colorful comic.

Maybe we need a new word for 'offended.'

All images by Rebecca Cohen, used with permission.

Here’s a thought.

Self proclaimed feminist killjoy Rebecca Cohen is a cartoonist based in Berkeley, California.

Here’s what she has to say about her role as an artist taken from her Patreon page.

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Mom comes out to her 7-year-old as a sexual assault survivor. The discomfort was worth it.

Sometimes speaking our truth can help history from repeating itself.

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Almost all the important conversations are uncomfortable

Sarah Shanley Hope's story is frighteningly common.

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Hope was only 6 years old.

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Education

Sweden’s landmark new proposal will stop the world from mixing it up with Switzerland

Honestly, do you know the difference?

True

After over a thousand years of peaceful relations, European semi-superpowers Sweden and Switzerland may finally address a lingering issue between the two nations. But the problem isn’t either country’s fault. The point is that the rest of the world can’t tell them apart. They simply don’t know their kroppkakor (Swedish potato dumpling) from their birchermüesli (a Swiss breakfast dish).

This confusion on the European continent has played out in countless ways.

Swedish people who move to the United States often complain of being introduced as Swiss. The New York Stock Exchange has fallen victim to the confusion, and a French hockey team once greeted their Swiss opponents, SC Bern, by playing the Swedish National Anthem and raising the Swedish flag.

Skämtar du med mig? (“Are you kidding me?” in Swedish)

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A woman requested inspiring middle-age success stories, and the internet delivered—big time

There's nothing magical about "making it" in your younger years.

Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash, @JillHannaA/Twitter, @KateGrand/Twitter

It all can happen at just the right time.

Media outlets love to compile lists of impressive people under a certain age. They laud the accomplishments of fresh-faced entrepreneurs, innovators, influencers, etc., making the rest of us ooh and ahh wonder how they got so far so young.

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The danger of high-functioning depression as told by a college student

Overachievers can struggle with mental health issues, too.


I first saw a psychiatrist for my anxiety and depression as a junior in high school.

During her evaluation, she asked about my coursework. I told her that I had a 4.0 GPA and had filled my schedule with pre-AP and AP classes. A puzzled look crossed her face. She asked about my involvement in extracurricular activities. As I rattled off the long list of groups and organizations I was a part of, her frown creased further.

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Her boyfriend asked her to draw a comic about their relationship. Hilarity ensued.

The series combines humor and playful drawings with spot-on depictions of the intense familiarity that long-standing coupledom often brings.

All images by Catana Chetwynd


"It was all his idea."

An offhand suggestion from her boyfriend of two years coupled with her own lifelong love of comic strips like "Calvin and Hobbes" and "Get Fuzzy" gave 22-year-old Catana Chetwynd the push she needed to start drawing an illustrated series about long-term relationships.

Specifically, her own relationship.

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