def is_list_empty(in_list):
    """Check if a list is empty
    ref: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1593564/python-how-to-check-if-a-nested-list-is-essentially-empty"""
    if isinstance(in_list, list): # Is a list
        in_list = [x for x in in_list \
                   if x != ''] # remove empty strings
        return all(map(is_list_empty, in_list))
    #
    return False