Around the Corner: April 3, 2023
Kuba’s Corner turns 6 months old this week!
To celebrate, I’m trying something new: more structured posts and a set schedule.
Starting today, you can expect (at least) 3 posts a week:
Mondays
Wednesdays
and Fridays
Each making their way to your inbox at 9am AK.
I likely won’t be able to help myself, so there will probably be periodic extra posts, especially for breaking news and election updates.
We’re kicking this shift off with the aptly named Around the Corner, which will be all about updates on this platform, recent articles, personal interests, and my own life.
On Wednesdays, I’ll be sending out calls to action, reports, and think pieces.
Friday will be for news and events around Fairbanks.
We’re adapting, settling in, feeling out what’s useful and what readers (that’s you!) respond to. It’s a process!
Feel free to leave a comment or send an email if something in particular speaks to you… or doesn’t.
Without further ado…
Kuba’s Corner
Last week was eventful! With four original posts and two (unaffiliated) cross-posts from The Alaska Memo by Matt Buxton, we saw an uptick in subscribers and page views, averaging about 200 visits a day.
The r/Alaska subreddit was (generally) kind to my first post there: thank you to u/Hoguelander, whoever you are, for the reddit Platinum, Gold, and Take My Energy awards. Big shout out to Carrie Nash for her dedicated sharing on Twitter!
Thank you to everyone who has subscribed, read these posts to keep them out of the email spam filters, and those who’ve had a chance to help get the word out. It’s making a difference!
Updates from Last Week
Alaskans really showed up to oppose HB 105, Dunleavy’s latest appeal to… non-Alaskans in Florida. I really think he’s shooting for a future cabinet position, and doesn’t mind threatening trans youth to get it.
I had a friend share more information from Forbes about pay gaps related to my post about Women’s History Month:
The difference between the controlled and uncontrolled pay gap
There are two types of gender pay gaps: the controlled and uncontrolled gap. The controlled gap measures the difference in pay between men and women performing the same job, with the same experience and qualifications. The uncontrolled gap represents the overall difference in pay between men and women, considering all the jobs and industries in which they work.
What is the wage gap currently?
Women earned an average of 17% less than men in 2022.
For every dollar earned by men, women earned 82 cents.
When comparing women and men with the same job title, seniority level and hours worked, a gender gap of 11% still exists in terms of take-home pay.
The controlled gender pay gap, which considers factors such as job title, experience, education, industry, job level and hours worked, is currently at 99 cents for every dollar men earn.
It’s good to note the difference, and to also note that women often don’t get the same professional chances as men. The largest opportunities to shrink the pay gap are found in increasing those chances and shifting the cultural expectations around unpaid family labor.
The Near Future
Lots of exciting things Around the Corner! I am working on a google form that people can submit if they have a topic or story they’d like me to explore or otherwise have their own opinion or expertise they’d like to share.
The wonderful Danielle Bessent (Danielle, rekindle your website so I can link it!) is helping me with branding and logo work for Kuba’s Corner. She had previously designed my campaign signs and other campaign marketing material. Hoping to show some of it off later this month!
…I’m also considering offering up a voluntary, fairly inexpensive monthly and yearly subscription option, for those that would like to opt in.
I really enjoy this work, and I’d like to keep it all free! This voluntary subscription would help me cover some of the costs of my time, and let me spend a little more of it researching and writing. More on this (and other updates) soon.
As always, I really appreciate you spending the time to read this. I hope you’re doing well.
Here’s a song I’ve been listening to a lot lately, and hoping for spring!
Quite the song! Good luck with the new format!