Claiming Names and Finding Strength In Adoption with Libby Hobbs

We are back in the month of June—a namesake time of year that invites us into a specific flow of reflection around family, identity, and the complex experiences of adoption and belonging. In this episode, April welcomes back the amazing Libby Hobbs (first heard on the podcast in August 2025 alongside Ahna Fleeming) for a powerful, heartwarming, and deeply honest catch-up.

Sitting together right in April’s Harlem brownstone, they dive into the massive new season of Libby’s life: graduating college, leaving The New York Times, and moving all the way to Oklahoma to find her writer’s voice as a reporter for the startup local news source, the Tulsa Flyer.

Libby shares a profound, full-body-chill moment from a recent reporting assignment on cultural Mahjong, where a group of local elder women welcomed her and affectionately claimed her by her Chinese middle name, Shinlan (New Orchid). This powerful experience of acceptance sparks a beautiful conversation about what it means to step into vulnerability as a strength, build community from scratch, and claim our heritages on our own terms.