Reflections – Part 2

This is the second part of a two-part series I started last week. Last week’s post was part one, the penultimate post of the year. I shared some of the key takeaways and things I learned from my artistic and creative journey to date, having started this weekly blog and newsletter in the spring of this year. This week, in the last post of 2022, I’d like to share a list of podcasts, books, and other productions that I’ve loved this year. I’m sharing this because I’d like to give you insights into the sorts of things that have shaped my creative actions and reasoning this year, and also just because, if nothing else, the exercise of compiling this list has been a helpful end-of-year exercise for me.

I’ve largely organised them by themes (i.e. the sorts of content they cover), as opposed to type (i.e. the sorts of mediums they take), but it could have gone either way. I’d also like to state that although I recommend these works for the reasons I outline below, and although I’ve drawn inspiration from a lot of them in the course of the year, I have no personal or professional affiliations to any of them. A final caveat on this note is that there’s so much more I could have included in this list, but as I mentioned last week, I’m working on keeping these posts short enough to be consumed in one sitting, so some things just didn’t make the cut. With that said, let’s get going…

Science, Philosophy & Big Ideas 

1. Atomic Habits (Book): By James Clear, this is a book I’ve read before, and I’ll most likely read again next year, because it changed the way I think about habits and goals. 
2. Four Thousand Weeks, Time Management for Mortals (Book): By Oliver Burkeman, this book changed the way I think about time in the macro sense, and made me re-evaluate what makes for a life worth living. 
3. HumanKind (Book): By Rutger Bregman, this book restored my faith in humanity (not that my faith was lacking) by reminding me of the depths and breaths of human warmth, kindness and ingenuity, amid all the headlines that would rather have us believe it’s all doom and gloom. 
4. On The Rise of Bullshit Jobs (Book): By David Graeber, this book sheds light on something many people would acknowledge is a problem, but few are willing to admit out loud, that the idea of modern work has lost the plot. 
5. Stolen Focus (Book): By Johann Hari, this book explores the 21st Century problem of addiction to technology and what we can do about it. 
6. Freakonomics | The Next Big Idea | Hidden Brain (Podcast): These three podcasts are mainstays in my feed, often accompanying me on my walks. They explore big ideas in science, literature, politics and just everyday life, often challenging me to see things in a new way. 

Writing, Creativity & Artistry

1. Design Matters (Podcast): The host from this TED-based podcast interviews household names in creative industries ranging from screenplay writers, novelists, scientists, non-fiction writers and more. They’re long-form interviews, but they’re always worth it.
2. So You Want To Be A Writer (Podcast): Every week this Australian-based podcast features interviews with writers from all walks of life. I always learn so much in the way of writing tips and the inner workings of the publishing world from listening in on these interviews.
3. Writing Excuses (Podcast): A group of creatives (writers, comic artists, puppeteers and more) have short conversations where they tackle all sorts of ideas and topics that pertain to the day-to-day of writing. It is always so insightful. 

History

1. Short history Of (Podcast): This podcast features what I can only describe as short to medium-length audio documentaries on history topics. I’ve learnt a lot about the Mongol empire, King Henry VI, the Berlin wall and many more fascinating events throughout history. 
2. Cautionary Tales (Podcast): The host takes on usually well-known but often misunderstood or misinterpreted events in history, and puts a new spin on them so they can serve as cautionary tales – what not to do so that ill-fated history doesn’t repeat itself. 
3. Bad Women (Podcast): There’ve been two seasons of this podcast series so far, both fascinating. The hosts have shared stories about the victims of Jack the ripper (season 1), and the blackout ripper (series 2). What differentiates this work from other true-crime works which tell the narrative from the killers’ perspectives, is that here, the focus is placed on the lives and stories of the victims, so that we can empathise with, and understand them.

Fiction 

1. Americanah (Book): A wonderful novel by my favourite Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. This book will change the way you think about race relations in the world. 
2. Normal People (Book): This novel by Sally Rooney, which has now been adapted for the screen, tells a heartfelt story from two characters' perspectives. It is a joy to read.
3. Beautiful World Where Are You (Book): I’ve learnt so much about accessible writing from reading Sally Rooney. The stories in this novel reveal themselves to you on the page and keep you reading, and visualising, and engaging with the lives of the characters. 

Theatre, Music & Art

1. Singing In The Rain (Musical): I wrote about my experience of this production earlier this year, and even though several months have passed, the experience has stayed with me, in a good way of course. 
2. The Lion King (Musical): The costumes in this production were just phenomenal, the singing and dancing were sublime, and I just absolutely loved the colours, the vibes, and warm glow I came away with, even though I exited the theatre to the subzero temperatures of early December. 
3. Dear Evan Hansen (Musical): A play that my partner and I went to see on a whim because we had some spare time in London, it was a beautiful work of singing and storytelling, all the while tackling difficult conversations around mental health and suicide. 

Current Affairs, Politics & Business

1. Axios Today (Podcast): A short, daily podcast with a round-up of news and other notable events, albeit mostly from across the pond. 
2. Slate Business (Podcast): A series of productions that delve into current affairs of all sorts – technology, innovation, business, politics and more. Some episodes are short to medium length, some are longer, but all of them are worth a listen. 
3. TED Talks Daily: We’ve all watched TED talks, and maybe even attended the conferences, but what a game-changer it was for me to learn that I could get a new talk in my podcast feed every day. 

As I said earlier, there’s so much more I could have included in this list, and even now I fear it is already too long, but it just goes to underscore how thankful I am to have all this content available to me this year, and what a year it’s been.

I could go on about all the cool things I've learnt, but I've also had moments so random and so beautiful in their randomness. Case in point, a few days ago I learnt there's something called wundaweb. It’s just a hemming tape, an alternative for adjusting the lengths of trousers or sleeves when stitching or sewing isn’t an option, but what a game-changer it is, for me. One evening over dinner with my fiancee and her sister, I’d mentioned in passing that I wanted to adjust the length of an old pair of trousers for a wedding we were attending, but I couldn’t be bothered to do the stitching, and then my fiancee’s sister introduced me to this solution that had somehow eluded me. As I used it I thought, where has this been in all my years? How have I lived on this planet all these years and not once come across this, so easy, so accessible, so elegant, and yet so effective?

If you're reading this and wondering what I'm going on about, or whether I've lost the plot, I assure you I haven't. Also, this isn’t some cleverly (or poorly?) disguised product placement or sponsored ad for wundaweb. Again, there are no affiliations, I assure you. I'm just so genuinely impressed by this little wunda wonder that made my life a little easier and came to my rescue in time for the wedding. And if you're reading this and thinking, ‘of course, that's so basic, who doesn’t know about self-adhesive hemming tape?’ then it only serves to buttress my point, that I've made my way through all these years without happening upon this so-called basic thing.

It makes me wonder what else I don’t know about, what other thing (basic or profound) is out there, just waiting for me to reach out and pull it in? This is the sort of curiosity and thirst for knowledge that characterises my current outlook on life. This is the sort of mindset with which I go about my day-to-day life. I can't wait to find out all the cool and random things, big and small that next year holds. 

I'd also love to learn what you've taken away from the blog posts. As the series went on, I had some lovely feedback already, but I'd love some more. If you're of a mind to provide feedback, you could write to me with the following questions in mind: 

1. What topics would you like me to write about? What discussions should we engage in?
2. What formats should the blogs and newsletters take? Would you like more insights into the meaning behind my lyrics, would you like more open-ended discussions, would you like more essay-style write-ups? Something else perhaps? What would you like to see?
3. What day of the week would you like to receive the blogs and newsletters? Is the Sunday evening schedule still best for you?

Lastly, I’d just like to say thanks once again for sticking with me, reading, sharing, replying, commenting or just being there. I’d also like to remind you that regular programming will resume on the first Sunday after New Year's Day. That’s all from me for now. I hope you enjoy the best of the season and a wonderful new year.

Bring on 2023.

PS: Just a reminder that the lead single of the new record is out now, everywhere. You can listen to it on several platforms. Please share it with a friend, share it with your social networks, and consider subscribing to the newsletter (below), my YouTube channel, or wherever else you listen to music.