Listening Chronicles #16
Listening Chronicles is a series where I'm documenting the podcasts I listen to and those I would recommend
Hello !
I have had a lot of spare time in the last few weeks. The spare time hasn’t been going into listening a lot of podcasts though. I randomly found myself watching a K-Drama, some anime and reading a translated Chinese xianxia novel.
Nevertheless, I did listen to some great conversations in the last 2 weeks. Conversations which have given me a lot to think about, made me laugh and surprised me.
Let’s get started !
Podcasts I Listened To
Getting Meta with Chuck | Amit Varma and Rohan Joshi
This is a new Indian podcast that released in July.
Deepak Gopalakrishnan (or Chuck) is the host and he talks to guests about thought processes, mental models and some habits of people who are really successful in their particular field.
Of course, as a premise this is a common one but I think after listening to 2 episodes, I found the show to be worth listening to. While the podcast is about mental models, the manner in which the conversation flows is really about the person and not the results only. This makes it a lot more relatable.
The first episode is with Amit Varma, and I loved it. In the episode, Amit Varma talks about how he ended up with The Seen and The Unseen, what drives him to make such long episodes and how he thinks about creating content. It was also really nice to hear his thoughts about being agnostic about the way in which you gain knowledge i.e. reading isn’t necessarily better than listening to podcasts or watching videos. People learn about the world in different ways, and that thought to me was particularly valuable.
As someone who makes podcasts inconsistently and writes a bit, it is always good to remind myself that this is hard, it takes a while and that iteration is the only way to get better. Overthinking each and everything that I release or publish is not helpful.
I’m a fan of Rohan Joshi’s work. The 2nd episode was also really thoughtful and I think what was important to takeaway from this was the notion of accepting that it is okay to be slow at something that you do. That some people have a finite well of energy, and won’t be able to stay full of energy throughout the day.
Lots of great suggestions also in this episode, and I’m sure you’ll find it relatable. The episode also lead me to this video of Rohan Joshi’s which I think you should definitely watch
"When you feel you're weak or at your weakest and you should give up. Remember that you might think you are weak, but you're someone's source of strength, whether you know it or not."
Jack of All Knowledge | Ashish Kulkarni
This is a really nice conversation between Divyanshu and the guest, Ashish Kulkarni. Ashish teaches economics and he writes this fun blog - EFE. I enjoyed listening to this episode. There’s lot to learn and think about. If you’re someone who’s interested in the education system of our country, or has at any point thought about university education, Ashish has a lot of insights to offer.
Ashish also talks about his view of how to maximise our soul. An idea, that would go well on a T-Shirt, but really is something worth thinking about and how you can apply in your life. The last interesting part about this conversation for me was the notion of how one shouldn’t feel guilty about productivity all the time.
Definitely worth listening to.
The Colin and Samir Show | Airrack
I’ve wasted a lot of my time watching Airrack videos. They are really entertaining to watch and Airrack as a creator started only at the beginning of 2020. He moved all the way upto 1 million subscribers within a year. I have mentioned an earlier episode in one of the previous editions of Listening Chronicles, where he talks to Colin and Samir.
This is his 2nd appearance on the podcast and he talks about dealing with his new found fame, how he’s handling all the pressure and what the next goal would be.
To anyone who’s even remotely interested in creators and the economy around it, you should definitely listen to this podcast. A lot of behind the scenes stuff about what goes into building one of the most successful channels of YouTube. You’ll learn about how much they earn, how they make money and what the life is really like.
70 over 70 | Michio Kaku
I enjoy listening to the 70 over 70 series, and when this episode was released I knew I had to listen. I’ve seen a lot of videos of Michio Kaku explaining concepts of physics. He’s really thoughtful and communicates complex concepts in really clear terms. This was fun to listen to, and I guess I would like to believe with Michio Kaku when he says that we’re going to be witnessing a generation where aging stops and people will be immortal.
Do give it a listen !
That was it for this edition ! I hope these suggestions keep you occupied.
Let me know what you think, and as always feel free to write to me about anything you’ve been listening to or content that occupied your time.
Take care !
Happy listening,
Nirmal Bhansali