Content Factory Newsletter - Best of Rohan Desai, Sinéad Harnett, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Wales & Benedict Cumberbatch - November #1 (5 Minutes Read)
Hola! This edition covers a tech piece from an upcoming writer, bunch of amazing podcasts, ideas, clever sports tactics and articulation tips and more..
Articles
EXPLAINER: How and why do crowd surges turn deadly?
Content Factory Take: We’ve all been part of mass gatherings that enjoyed the exhilarating feeling of being part of something bigger than ourselves. The article explores the darker side of it. I got to learn about what goes into people’s minds when there is a crowd surge and people get suffocated and trampled over. It’s a friendly reminder for us to stay calm now that events are back to pre-pandemic levels.What is going through the mind of a product manager who is working in the social development sector?
Content Factory Take: Rudresh Dahiya explains why building tech capability for non-profits and development sector startups can go a long way in enhancing its impact. He talks about the importance of staying curious, and process-driven, putting people as a priority and maximising return on investment.
Comedy
Rohan Desai's Stand-Up Bits (9 mins)
Content Factory Take: Yes, not Rohan Joshi! Rohan Desai. Recently, I came across this amazing performer. One of the podcasts I heard (I think it was SimpleKen) introduced me to his persona and I found him to be super likeable. He is someone who used to think of standup as superior to all other art forms but now not so much. Here are the current art forms listed in descending order of complexity. 1 - Music, 2 - Films, 3 - Stand Up and Dance at the last. I guess I agree, as he rightly puts it, that dance is the only art form where people out of nowhere ask you to join as a performer. I can feel the social pressure already.Conan O'Brien's 2011 Dartmouth College Commencement Address (24 mins)
Content Factory Take: Maybe you're done with school and looking to get into a college or maybe you're done with college and looking to get into a job or you're done with your current job and looking to purpose something new. If you relate to any of the aforementioned stages of life and in addition possess a sense of humour, you're either a Conan fan or you're missing out on life. Conan is definitely one of the funniest people I know of to exist but he gets even funnier when you present him with a live audience. Yes, there is a message but who cares, think of it like 30 mins of stand-up. These days, stand-ups are teaching kids more than books anyway.
Music
Sinéad Harnett - At Your Best (You Are Love) Live (5 mins)
Content Factory Take: Yes, I know, no one can beat the original frank ocean's Endless album version where he sings this same song in angel-like notes. So, If you haven't heard that, do that. Trust me you won't regret it. Now back to Sinéad's performance. I think she really brings the best out of this song on a live stage performance. It's truly mesmerising. Originally an Isley Brothers song, both frank and Sinéad do justice to it in their own ways.
Podcast & Performance
Benedict Cumberbatch reads Sol LeWitt's letter to Eva Hesse (6 mins)
Content Factory Take: This is a beautiful eye-opening letter but when Benedict Cumberbatch reads it to you, it feels like you're the only one he is speaking to. I think this is especially for anyone who feels life is getting a bit dull and you don't think things are going according to how you planned. After listening to this, some things in your life will still not go according to plan but you'll for sure know that you're not alone.Into the Mind of Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia Founder
Content Factory Take: I always used to wonder what would’ve inspired the founding team of Wikipedia to create something so pathbreaking and influential without ever trying to monetise it. Jimmy reflects on why money was never important, how he build a community of similar-minded people and the limitation of Wikipedia as a platform.
Newsletter
Anticipating the Unintended
Content Factory Take: This is true newsletter inception. Where else would you find a newsletter recommending another newsletter? Anticipating the Unintended is one of my personal favourites because of two reasons: A. It has Pranay Kotasthane, half part of the one and only Hindi policy podcast Puliyabaazi. It's a gem of a podcast where complex issues are broken down by experts in my mother tongue (Hindi). B. The writers of this newsletter (both RSJ & Pranay) use anecdotes & examples of different events from current affairs that are dipped into a socio-political background. This not only makes the topic of discussion easy to remember but also makes it easy for you to transcend to your real-life conversations.
Random Ideas & Learnings
Second-Hand Books - Leveraging Amazon’s Reverse Pickup
Human Innovation in Sports - Maximisation of human resources.
Structuring a written or an oral argument - Pyramid Principles!