Welcome back to my series of posts on this newsletter titled Ideas of the Week. It’s where I post my top 10 most interesting & favourite links of the month from across the internet for you to read or watch, or listen to at your convenience. I usually post an edition of this series every month, but I was too busy the last couple of months to post it; but Ideas is well & truly back.
Let’s dive in!
Kicking off with something you probably wouldn’t have heard about when it comes to cosmology & the study of space, is the newly released images of a Blazar, specifically, the closest blazar to Earth. Most people know what black holes are (at least modestly), but blazars are different — they’re fragments of galaxies that contain supermassive black holes & emit the most energy of any cosmic object. As defined by Google Gemini: “A blazar is an active galactic nucleus (AGN) with a supermassive black hole at its core that expels a powerful jet of matter and energy pointed almost directly at Earth, creating intense, rapidly fluctuating radiation across the entire electromagnetic spectrum due to relativistic beaming.” In their latest post about a blazar chidingly compared to “the eye of Sauron” after The Lord of the Rings movie, Nautilus Magazine explores the new images which are the first detailed one of a blazar ever put together. You can read the article here.
Continuing with the science section of this post, Quanta Magazine’s podcast about “string theory” is an intriguing delve into where we’re at with the postulation of string theory in 2025. From its implications such as the multiverse & how difficult it is to test it and whether it could still be called the “unified theory of everything”, the podcast delves into it at length. You can check out the podcast on the Quanta Magazine website linked here. You can also read my old article on String Theory, linked below, for an explanation of what it is, if you’re interested in learning more about it.
Coming to the literature part of this edition of ideas, I’ve been re-reading some old short stories from my class X ICSE short stories literature book. I topped my school in English in the class X ICSE board exams, and it took me a while to get back to writing as a career after several sales & marketing jobs after I graduated with a degree in engineering. These two short stories from our syllabus back then are rather compelling & witty reads. One is titled Self Made Men by Stephen Leacock, and the other is Dusk by Saki, which took me back to my school days as I read them. They make for nice little short reads, so be sure to check them out.
Poetry has its own beautiful & pervading way of moving you in short, concise verses. This poem, titled “If” by Rudyard Kipling, narrated by the actor Michael Caine, is rather eye-opening and one that echoes how to be a better man. It’s a lovely poem that doesn’t fail to move you & teach you how to live better in its brief yet revelatory verses.
Revisiting a recent post on this newsletter, which I think you should read in case you missed it, is my post on Zen monk Jikisai Minami’s book, It’s Okay Not To Look For The Meaning Of Life. It has some perspectives from the prism of Zen Buddhism that can bring a lot of peace & clarity. It personally helped me a lot. I’d highly recommend buying the book. You can read my post below:
This article on Medium, by a writer who explores how life doesn’t care about timing, basically, who got an early start or got ahead early or those who figured things out later in their lives, really puts things into perspective. It’s a read that’s from first-hand experience & offers learning and the larger lesson that everybody is on a different path & their own journey & there really isn’t a particular time for achieving certain milestones as life unfolds. It’s titled “Life doesn’t care about who started early or late” You can read the article on Medium here.
I’m a huge fan of cinematography within the art form of filmmaking, especially when it’s unique & makes films more aesthetically appealing. If you’re into old cinema, especially Old Hollywood and Old Bollywood, you’d have come across the names Alfred Hitchcock and Satyajit Ray in each industry, respectively. This video compilation of the best Satyajit Ray shots is pretty great & exemplifies why Ray is such a celebrated filmmaker.
Coming to music, this podcast, hosted by Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, wherein he interviews the guitarist Steve Vai, was a great watch/listen. It delves into passion for music, the dedication it takes to master the guitar — Vai practiced for 9 hours a day — and taking your chances & being humble. It was a pretty interesting listen, which you can watch/listen to as well. You can also read my post about this podcast on Medium, in case you don’t want to watch the whole thing.
Coming to this edition’s live set, this set by the UK artist Michael Kiwanuka for The Current is pretty neat. I’m a huge fan of Kiwanuka’s music because it’s so uplifting, and he’s a gifted songwriter as well. This short set of three songs typifies his music & moving lyrics.
Lastly, my latest #electronic album “Sketches” hit streaming platforms on 20th August. It’s the latest evolution of my electronic sound. It took me 4-6 months to finish & it’s got some smooth grooves. You can stream it on streaming platforms linked below.
 | Sketches Ghost Intent Album |
PS: You can buy my book Make Your Own Waves on Amazon, in your region. It’s a book that I compiled of 45 Thought-Provoking Perspectives that can help give you clarity, direction, perspective or just food for thought.
There’s a slight issue with my publisher’s distribution, which is why it’s not showing the paperback version on Amazon USA, but here’s the link where it’s available: https://amzn.eu/d/hrcC6Rl
Thanks for reading & checking out the links! As always, stay tuned for this series called ‘Ideas Of The Week’ on my publication Light Years!
Here are a few older editions of Ideas:
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