the lithiumhead

Specifically Indians when working from India. I used to joke to my American colleagues that it’s because we have the self-imposed “difficult” task of keeping up with pop-culture and memes of both countries - India and USA. On the Indian side we give our mindspace and time to know what the deal is with Uorfi Javed and the Bollywood Wives, watch CTRL and Ulajh and the latest season of Panchayat, taking breaks in between only to watch Aatman Desai’s latest reels only a few hundred times each. And once we are done with that, we start over again and read about SF’s homelessness for the umpteenth time, worry about Sunita Williams, watch Jennifer Aniston’s ATLAS and the latest season of Bridgerton (remember the scam party?) and finally spend hours reading articles on Hacker News. Oh wait did I forget Anime and Korean Drama - those are 2 separate entire countries’ worth of content. And don’t get me started on gaming, although we do pick and choose our poison and I have yet to come across someo...

  Found the same question that I have been asking people all this while in this post Where do people come from? - Fin Moorhouse : “Here’s a question: as a great oak tree grows, the material for the tree came from somewhere. And just like how animals eat with their mouths, trees draw up nutrients from the soil. So why doesn’t a 10 ton oak tree form a big crater in the soil where its solid biomass came from? Where did all that tree come from?” Also from the article: “or effectively everyone who has ever lived, and even most living adults, your body contains at least one atom that has been part of them,” “Of course, more likely than the planet somehow finding an extra India+US amount of arable land to farm, a world without fertilisers is just a world with fewer people. On some estimates, perhaps two billion fewer people would be alive today without the Haber process, or at least some way of producing synthetic fertiliser on an industrial scale.”

My favourite podcasts episodes these last two months talk about the experiences of muslims growing up in India over the past 50 years, experiences of researchers trying to model Covid-19 in India, cultural phenomenon that is "banter", a simple idea on how to curb climate change for cheap, a SPAC posing as a Deli, the story of the guy who claims to have invented a hot version of a popular processed food, using social media and crowd funding for reparations, Brood 10 Periodical Cicadas, experiences of employees working in Amazon Warehouses and the fascinating story of the discovery of a live saving  immunosuppressant drug .   Radiolab The Dirty Drug and the Ice Cream Tub 21 May 2021 ( listen ) Brown Box 14 May 2021 ( listen ) StarTalk Cosmic Queries – Cicada Invasion! With Jessica Ware 26 April 2021 ( listen ) NPR Planet Money DIY Reparations 5 May 2021 ( listen ) Hot Cheetos 12 May 2021 ( listen ) The $100 Million Deli 28 April 2021 ( listen ) TED Talks Daily How we can curb c...

My favourite podcasts episodes this month talk about our attitudes of the host nation's citizens towards refugees, learning new things throughout life, invention of syndication on television etc. The Audio Long Read The ungrateful refugee: ‘We have no debt to repay’  1 Feb 2021 ( listen | read ) The joys of being an absolute beginner ... for life 29 Jan 2021 ( listen | read ) NPR Planet Money How Desi Invented Television 22 Jan 2021 ( listen )

My favourite podcasts episodes this month talk about how an American company got back at counterfeiters in China, NPR Planet Money The Stolen Company (Classic)  9 Dec 2020 ( listen )

My favourite podcasts episodes this month talk about patenting genes, criticism of Malcom Gladwell's take on Amanda Knox case by Amanda Knox herself, History of Free Trade, Fermentation   NPR Planet Money All Your Genes Are Belong To Us 20 Nov 2020 ( listen ) Trade Show (UPDATE) History of how the world took to the idea of Free Trade - albeit incompletely 18 Nov 2020 ( listen ) Labyrinths The Half-life of Prejudice Amanda Knox clarifies what she thinks to be the cause of pre-judice against her, somewhat contrary to what Malcom Gladwell had to say in his book Talking To Strangers. 6 Nov 2020 ( listen ) StarTalk Cosmic Queries – Fermentation 24 Nov 2020 ( listen )

My favourite podcasts episodes this month talk about startup culture, NGOs working in the Mediterranean sea, Misclassification of employees in USA, Casteism among Indians living in the USA The Guardian's Audio Long Reads How rescuing drowning migrants became a crime 22 Sep 2020 ( listen | read ) The disruption con: why big tech’s favourite buzzword is nonsense 24 Sep 2020 ( listen  |  read ) NPR Planet Money Call Center Call Out 2 Oct 2020 ( listen ) Caste Arrives In Silicon Valley 14 Oct 2020 ( listen )