[2023 updates included]
What is this?
I spend a fair bit of time reading newsletters and listening to podcasts, and sometimes, I get asked for recommendations on interesting stuff to read/listen to. This is my humble attempt at collating everything in one place to help you find my recommendations easily. Use this as a jumping board to find interesting stuff to read/listen to and discover more fun content you love. ❤️
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💡 Inspired by this post by Deepak 'Chuck' Gopalakrishnan and this excellent thread by Nicaia.
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A couple of disclaimers before we jump into the list:
- These are my staples — podcasts and newsletters that I've discovered organically via Spotify recommendations, social media, and friends. It might not be for everyone 🙂
- This is an evolving list, so stuff might change over time depending on my evolving interests.
My podcast list strictly includes podcasts less than 35 minutes ⏱. I cannot listen to podcasts longer than that (I tried, trust me 😅).What’s changed in 2022? Well, I’ve taken to long-form podcasts. With a return to the office and a longer commute and traffic courtesy of the ongoing metro construction in Bengaluru, long-form podcasts have become my constant companions. It feels nice to have an engaging conversation in the background while you’re moving at a snail’s pace.- What’s changed in 2023? Well, the move to academic life has left me with lesser time driven by a hectic schedule and the lack of a commute, so I’m back to shorter podcasts (under one hour in length), and my newsletter stack has only grown. I can’t wait to get back to long form podcasting (and long commutes).
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🔌 Huge Plug:
I also enjoy my books.
I've tracked my reads since 2021 on Twitter threads (yes, I refuse to call it X, come at me Elon Musk), find them here:
📕 **2021
📕 2022
📕 2023**
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✉️ Have something to suggest? DM me on Twitter. Always up for recommendations. Even if it doesn't make it to my list of staples, I'll definitely try reading/listening.
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Newsletters 📰
- [Tech/Startup ecosystem/General interest]: The Ken (Paid): The OG newsletter that got me into the habit of reading newsletters and following long-form journalism from way back in 2016. Now, of course, their long-form journalism has gone beyond just their mainstay to 9 newsletters - Moneyball, Inciting Incident, Ed Set Go, Tokenised, Green Margins, Trade Tricks, Ka-ching, The Nutgraf, and The Week That Was In India (daily and on weekends). A little too much, maybe? But it makes for good reading during a commute, coffee breaks, and weekends.
- [Tech/Startup ecosystem/General interest]: The Morning Context (Paid): Like The Ken, but IMHO much better. Again, going beyond long-form journalism, they've added a whole bunch of newsletters (Things Change, Thirty-Six, Street Smart, Game Point, Oversize, The World Revealed, People's Economics, Friction, From Fork to Farm, One Less Thing To Worry About, and Creative Destruction) that have made it to my coffee breaks and weekend routines.
- [General Interest]: Splainer (Paid): My favorite way to get up to speed with everything in the country. As a bonus, I love their sanity break sections (sometimes you need a chuckle in between the information overload and negativity) and their book recommendations. [h/t to Aishwarya Hariharan for this]