Listening Chronicles #24
Listening Chronicles #24
Documenting thoughts on the podcasts that I listen to and those I would recommend.
Hi,
I’m trying to make 2024 a different year?
Every year, I promise to myself that I’ll write more, read more, watch more, listen more, create more etc.
And every year I fail.
But, despite that when the dates change, and the calendar resets in a way, I feel like I should make that attempt again.
So, here I am. Making another attempt with one of the things I couldn’t write about last year. Podcasts.
Podcasts were something I listened to all the time, but over the last year or so, that habit came to lull. I stopped listening to as many as I would have preferred and as a result, also never documented them on Listening Chronicles.
Starting this edition, I hope to change that. You can expect an edition of Listening Chronicles at least once a month. I will share thoughts about the podcasts I’m listening to, and if you have any podcasts recently that you liked, definitely share them with me.
Podcasts I Listened To
Poetry Unbound | When in Doubt?
Poetry Unbound started its latest season this year. This is its eighth season.
In this episode, Pádraig Ó Tuama reads out and discusses the poem ‘When in Doubt’ by Sandra Cisneros. I personally think it came at the right time for me. I’ve been in doubt a lot these days, and I think this gave me a moment of pause. I like these lines from the poem
“When in doubt,
Absorb biographies to avoid life’s major mistakes.“When in doubt,
Make life’s major mistakes.
These sentiments shared by Padraig about the poem in this podcast is also really beautiful:
And the unfolding advice of the poem seems to be: in times of incertitude think about things like pleasure and generosity and hospitality and your relationship with people and gratitude. And it’s also saying: Try to be in the world. Try not to be outside of it, living some perfect kind of life. Try to be in it, living the complicated life that you have. And even in that world, pay attention to other sentient and insentient beings. Tell your grief to the tree. It’s like a secular set of commandments, this poem, and it does have a register of religion as it says, “When in doubt / Forgive us our myopia / As we forgive those who are myopic against us.” Picking up on a line that you find in the Gospels, instruction and prayer, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
The Memory Palace | Alice Ramsay
One of my other favourite podcasts. The best way to listen to The Memory Palace is to just dive right in without reading the description, and patiently let Nate Di Meo tell you a story about some unique historical incident/figure/event etc.
This particular episode is about Alice Ramsay, the first woman to drive an automobile coast to coast in the United States. She did this in 1909, an era where women weren’t really driving cars in the US.
This story has a lot more to it. Only 16 minutes, and I promise it’s worth your time.
The Why | Pantheon with Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Tony Parker
Dwyane Wade, one of the legends of the game of basketball launched his own podcast this month. It is a trend for NBA players to start building out their personal brand, and podcasting is definitely one way of doing it.
Of course, what is unique about Wade is the reach he has, that I think other NBA players who are in this space don’t have yet.
The opening episode is a good example, it features three of the best players to ever play the game in the last two decades—Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Tony Parker.
These are all players who I have grown up watching, and it is definitely the first time that they have sat down together to even have a conversation like this.
There are two parts to this. I loved listening to a bunch of different stories and their perspective on their careers after 20 years. If you’re a basketball fan, this is a must watch.
Tanmay Bhat’s conversation with Varun Mayya
As someone who’s always interested in other content creator’s journeys, this is another appearance of Tanmay Bhat that I quite liked.
Particularly interesting was the discussions around the sheer amount of writing that is needed to actually reach a level of decent success, and what the ‘oven moment’ in a good video is.
If you’re curious about how much a YouTuber can earn in India, what it takes to write different types of stories and want to learn more about Tanmay, this one’s for you.
If you don’t want to know any of those things, you can skip it.
The Neon Show | Ashish Fafadia, Partner of Blume Ventures
Lately, I’ve been a little more interested in the venture capital space in India. I am only updated with things that happens in the headlines, but don’t know more about this space. My friend Sandesh recommended listening to this interview with Ashish, a founder of one of the most well-known VC funds in India - Blume.
I really liked this interview. I think it’s also because a lot of it was new for me, and I learnt a bunch of things about the history of venture capital in India, and how it really is quite young.
I’m on the look out for all things related to VC, so if you have suggestions feel free to drop them by.
Side Note: Over the last 2 years, there has been an explosion of podcasts in India which feature conversations with startup founders, investors etc. Again, this is also due to an increase in longform video podcasts become popular again on the YouTube platform and I also think a demand for a style of conversation which is missing in traditional business newspapers, journalism etc. Some do it really well, and there are others which are basically low-quality. I’m interested in this, at some point, will definitely try to write about it.
Other Recommendations
I am sure you have come across ‘edits’: these compilation videos across genre. It will have clips, stitched together with a fitting background theme. These can be related to some anime scenes, favourite movies, politics, music, fashion etc.
But edits have been on the rise.
Fueled initially by TikTok, and now something that has spread to reels, YouTube shorts etc.
Jules Terpak has a wonderful video which breakdown the rise of TikTok edits. Going all the way back to the first known fan-made edits, and what are the reasons why it has become such a mainstream phenomenon in modern culture.
I loved watching this. I think if you’re someone who spends a lot of time on Instagram, you should definitely check this out.
That was it for this edition.
Let me know what you thought about these episodes if you end up listening to them.
See you next week.
Take care !
Happy Listening,
Nirmal Bhansali