42 things I recommend
Videos. Music. Books. Podcasts. And of course, some life gyaan.
I turn 42 today! So here’s the answer to life, the universe and everything stuff I find myself readily recommending to others. This includes some of my favourite content, most meaningful purchases, and ways of living important to me. For the purpose of this list, I’m not including individual songs, comedy bits or essays. Also, I don’t consider myself a movie / TV show nerd so apart from a few select ones, you won’t see much of that here. My idea is to give you recommendations, not popular “best of” things (or even my own favourites) - so you will find something new! :)
This list has: YouTube videos | YouTube channels | Books | Podcasts | Apps | Health & wellness | Music | Philosophies
YouTube videos
Everything is a remix | Kirby Ferguson
The thesis: There are no original ideas. Every piece of art - the music of Led Zeppelin, your favourite graphic novel, a funny Reel - is built on the back of something, often many things. Culture is ever-evolving, ideas constantly blend to create new ones.
history of the entire world, i guess | Bill Wurtz
A surreal and frantic 20 minutes that’ll teach you everything you need to know about how we got here. Brace.
65 Songs - A Journey Through Rock ‘N’ Roll | Ten Second Songs
One of my favourite YouTubers - who specialises in performing songs in other styles - brings together two fellow musicians to take us through a history of the genre. Beautiful mashup, brilliantly performed.
History of Rock | Ithaca Studios
There are several videos on the history of the genre - but how many do it in the form of a Facebook timeline - complete with real quotes, and “likes” by the influenced artists?
Listening to ONLY an iPod for a Month Changed Everything | Digging The Greats
Brandon - who normally makes music commentary videos - did an experiment where he wanted to go without streaming for a month. The end - as the title suggests - changed more than his music listening. While the title is about music, the video is really about digital wellness, and hence highly recommended for everyone. It also inspired my post on smartphone unbundling.
The Music That Defined the 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | Mic The Snare
This is not a list of “best songs” or top-charting or even the creator’s favourite songs from each decade. Instead, it’s the songs that defined each decade - things that caused a shift, or were emblematic of one. This is really well compiled, edited and is at heart a history-of-tech lesson.
Backyard Squirrel Maze | Mark Rober
The premise is weird as heck, but I swear it will leave you - and any kids watching - with a giant grin.
YouTube channels
“I love things that take silliness seriously” - Divya, my wife.
Taskmaster (comedy)
An incredibly silly British panel-cum-live-action show where 5 comedians / public figures do pointless tasks to impress a comedically mean judge. This got us through the pandemic, and is now a global phenomenon. If you need a counterbalance to hustle culture and always-on productivity, this is it.
Jet Lag: The Game (comedy / travel)
A board game, but a country (or city, or continent) is the board. Also, very pointless. Incredible fun, and gets more tense than a game where the stakes is a digital trophy needs to be.
True Facts by Ze Frank (comedy / science)
Imagine if David Attenborough took a nice fat spliff.
Kurzgesagt (science)
Has science ever been so beautifully told? The videos on emergence, memories and trees are among my favourite ever. You have most likely seen something from this channel.
Yes Theory (challenges / travel)
A channel featuring a few friends doing crazy things outside their comfort zone, such as traveling to the most isolated (or supposedly dangerous) places in the world. The result is often heartwarming, along with some stunning footage.
Drumeo’s “Heard song for the first time” series (music)
A kickass series where a (famous) drummer hears a song for the first time, and makes up his/her own drum parts. It’s a great demonstrator of the importance of drums and how a different interpretation can change a whole song. Plus, just amazing to see how they do it. Recommended even if you’re not a drummer (I’m not). Nic Collins’ re-interpretation of my favourite song, Opeth’s Ghost of Perdition, is one of my favourite videos of all time.
20 Style Covers | 10 Second Songs (music)
Anthony Vincent shows off his incredible vocal, instrumental and arranging prowess by covering popular rock / pop songs in 20 different styles. What a genius.
Starboyz | Kenny Sebastian & Naveen Richard (comedy)
Ok, this is the kvltest, weirdest, randomest thing that English-speaking comedy in India has ever produced. When watching the scene below for the first time - admittedly, not at full sobriety - was the first and only time I thought I was physically in danger of dying of laughter. Please queue up and enjoy. You will bonus enjoy if you are from Kerala, Bangalore, or (best) a Keralite from Bangalore.
Books
Alchemy | Rory Sutherland
Why our species is wired to seek out non-conformity. It might be an advertising book written by an advertising man, but its lessons are applicable in all sorts of places.
What to Make of a Life | Jim Collins
On finding what makes you tick. The author describes it as not a self-help book, but a self-exploration book. I read this as I was building Unstuck, and it resonated with me so much. The core idea of finding your encodings, and the “Bug Book” exercise itself are worth the fee. Highly recommended for millennials.
Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives | David Eagleman
What happens after we die? In this enthralling collection of fictional essays, a neuroscientist explores 40 possible options. Poignant, surreal, hilarious, thought-provoking.
Blue Sky Through the Window of a Moving Car | Jordan Bolton
Slice-of-life incredibly moving comics - or as he calls then - visual poems. His work’s been going viral on Instagram over the last year and for good reason. Interestingly, his follow-up book drops today!
The Asterix series: Box set
If you loved reading random editions as a kid, there are few better gifts to give yourself. I have the full series and it gives me such a joy to open and read them.
Anything by PG Wodehouse
The master of comedic English writing. Since a lot of his books are out of license, you’ll find some amazing deals if you’re okay going digital. For less than ₹100, you can have 6000 pages of his works in one massive collection, on your Kindle. I know this is hardly a recommendation, but as Stephen Fry said: If you have never read Wodehouse, what a lucky person you are.
Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy | Douglas Adams
Of course, a 42-numbered list should have this! The original surreal piece of fiction, one that’s opened up many minds, and one that rewards every re-read. If you have read the book, the audiobook narration by none other than Stephen Fry is well worth it.
Podcasts
I do audio podcasts. You will find all of these on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocketcasts, and the likes.
Radiolab
Science communication through touching stories and stunning sound design. A high watermark of what audio podcasts can be.
Dear Hank & John
A comfort podcast by the vlogbrothers, Hank and John Green. Funny, silly, often profound - centred around answering questions from their fans. The questions may seem frivolous, the answers start off funny, often go deep. It’s from this show I found my favourite quote: “Pay attention to what you pay attention to” by the late author Amy Krause Rosenthal.
Freakonomics Radio
One question, answered with lots of research, interviews, and Dubner’s trademark sardonic wit. I use it as a reference for narrative style podcasts, and I learn something every time.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
I’m a fan of anything Trevor does. His new podcast is lovely. The questions are thoughtful, he shows respect for the topic, there are stories, lessons, warmth and humour in every conversation. I listen even if I don’t know the guest.
What It’s Like To Be… with Dan Heath
Each episode is a chat with someone from a different profession. Not celebrities, just regular folks good at (and passionate about) jobs like being a teacher, a pilot, a fireman, and more. I love this show, and there are so many meta-takeaways, and more lessons than techbro productivity Twitter.
TED Radio Hour
It’s like the world’s wisdom is condensed down to an hour, weekly.
Twenty Thousand Hertz
A podcast exploring sound - not music necessarily. Beautiful explorations of sonic worlds, theme songs, jingles, soundtracks and yes, music. Geeky and delightful.
I have several more podcasts I listen to and recommend, a later post for that if people are interested.
Apps
1 second everyday
An app where you upload, well, one second daily. At the end of the year, you mash it up to create a nice video for yourself. Of course, there are the big moments - the concert, the summit view, the annual friend meetup… But it’s the smaller monents - cat doing something silly, a regular home dinner, the sight from your balcony - that make you realise life is full of small, beautiful moments worth savoring. I’ve been doing this since September 2017 - when I flew to Singapore to watch Dream Theater.
Spelltower
A word game which is a combination of Scrabble and Tetris. Delightful. Ideal for tablets.
Yeah, just two apps :)
Health / fitness / wellness
This can be a very nuanced topic, and I am certainly not the expert on all of it, so here’s two specific recommendations from me.
Unlock by Kunal Rajput
Daily live virtual workouts for intermediates. Done from home, using nothing more than a few dumbbells. It’s fun, challenging, diverse, and effective. I’ve been working out with Kunal and his sister Shivani since mid 2022 and it has been life changing. I’ve gotten fitter, become more alert, and have a better understanding of fundamentals. More than anything, these crazy workouts have helped me enjoy the rest of the things I like doing.
Mr Butler sodamakers
The only ‘branded product’ I’m going to recommend here, because it’s helped with my cravings so much. This is a power-less machine that fizzes water. The result is something that feels like cola (all those bubbles!) but with no sugar or flavouring. It’s immensely satisfying and filling. It’s an easy reco for me to make given there are no side effects (apart from a lot of burps!) and it’s cheap.
Waking Up
This is the meditation app I use, and I love it. It’s a bit pricey at $130 a year, but it’s given me a lot of value. I do (on most days) a 10-minute meditation to start the day. I’ve come to realise meditation is not about having some crazy insight on a daily basis - it’s just 10 minutes of total mind relaxation and learning to focus better. Since I’m a subscriber, I can share a free month if anyone is interested (I get no benefit from this). And in that one month, you can try the introductory course, which alone is great.
Cheap digital alarm clock
Why get yourself one of these things when your phone can tell the time and give you an alarm? So that you can get that timesucking device out of the bedroom. At 300 bucks, it’s the easiest start to deaddicting yourself from the phone. No doomscrolling temptation in bed, and no checking email first thing in the morning. I think that’s decent.
Music
Note: I’ll try to provide entry points, rather than specific songs, here.
An Indian independent rock starter pack
This country has a ridiculous amount of talent and sub-genres. Ranging from folk to death metal… and folky death metal. Here’s a playlist where I’ve tried to collect seminal songs, representative tracks for various genres, etc. You may not like everything here, but I guarantee you will find SOMETHING you like. In which case, click the artist / album, and explore more. Playlist on Spotify | YouTube
100 songs to get you into rock
If you were fond of Bryan Adams / Bon Jovi in school and want to explore a few more - without worrying about death metal growls or 20-minute progressive songs, here is a selection of tracks I’ve curated for you. Features some of my favourite songs ever. Mostly easy listening, light-to-medium rock. This is NOT a “greatest rock songs of all time” or “essential listening” or anything, so rock snobs please don’t @ me. This was made purely on the basis of vibes and what I had in my ‘gold music’ folder. Playlist on Spotify | YouTube
Philosophies
Ok, so this is the gyaan part of this list. Forgive me, I’m now 42. Jokes apart, these are the things that have helped me navigate my post-35, working-for-self life. I live life largely on my own terms now, and these are some of the things that have contributed to that.
Ask Big Questions
What does your ideal day look like? What do you want out of life, actually? What is your idea of happiness? What would you do if you had all the money you needed? These are seemingly simple questions - but damn tough to answer (especially the older you get). I don’t think they ever do get answered, but the process of working on them, helps you understand yourself, your values, and more.
If asking Big Questions seems too intimidating, just reflect often. Something I feel millennials don’t do enough of.
Have something to be enthusiastic about
Dive into something you like. Not at a surface level, but deep. You like music? Devour the artists you like. You want to get back to reading about history? Get yourself a few books and get into them without distraction. You like TV shows? That’s also ok - watch them with attention, form your theories and corraborate them with subreddits. Don’t be passive about your hobby. Get into it. Have something you’re passionate about - and this should not at all be work. (I am deeply distrustful of people whose LinkedIn headline reads “passionate about CRM”).
Which leads me to a related point.
Spend (within reason) on your enthusiasms
Gift yourself - not recklessly - something that will help you maximise your passion. If you like music, get a nice pair of wired headphones that will help you enjoy music more. Like TV shows? Take a subscription to Variety. Like exploring the hills? Treat yourself to guided weekend treks. It’s expensive and wasted only if you consume it passively. But remember, a purchase does not guarantee you will get into a habit, so don’t use this recommendation as a crutch - drop cash only when you’re sure you’ve earned the upgrade and are sure this is for an enthusiasm and not a social media post. For me, it’s two headphones and a li’l Sony portable music player.
And finally, my programs
If all the above has been useful to you, then I hope you won’t mind if I spend 5% of my recommendations plugging stuff I do :)
Unstuck
A life-design-for-millennials program I run. Over 3 months, we help you design and action your idea of a good life. That could cover (depending on where you’re feeling stuck) career shifts, healthy rituals, better relationships, deaddicting yourself from technology, and more. The first cohort wrapped up last Friday, and dare I say, each of the 19 participants understood themelves better, have started taking meaningful steps towards a better life. Three even quit their jobs!
The next cohort starts on 04 September. Check out the site here.
The 6% Club
The creative projects program I run. My belief is that everyone has a ‘category of one’ idea inside them. This is not to become an influencer or something - it’s meant to act as a form of creative expression. We wrapped up our 9th cohort last Friday, and now there are over 350 folks we’ve mentored, and we’ve seen some kickass projects and ideas emerge (including books!). If finding a creative outlet appeals to you, we’d love you to join us. Our 10th cohort starts in October.
Bonus!
If you felt I was cheating by inserting ads for my programs within this post (or you are alumni of said programs!), fair enough, here are two things that will give you daily recommendations: A WhatsApp broadcast group where I share an article a day; and another one where I share a song a day.
Hope you find something you like here. Let me know if you found anything to like.
And hey, on the basis of the above, feel free to make your own recommendations. Maybe that’ll become the compilation for next year :)
Chuck
What an amazing list !
PG Wodehouse and H2G2 ❤️
Happy 42 Chuck!
What a lovely and immersive list of things to explore. I plan to pick some of these and share it with my circle.
Thank you! And happy birthday, Chuck! :)