Shiv's Newsletter #10
Welcome to the 10th edition! Let's dive in đȘ
đ What up fam! The days are getting warmer in NYC and the NBA playoffs are well underway with the New York Knicks advancing to the second round for just the third time this century. Itâs the most wonderful time of the year. A warm welcome to my new subscribers. Thanks for being on this journey with me homies. Letâs get into it.
đ ICYMI, hereâs my last edition from March 21st where I talked about the magic of bringing people together as well as the beauty of intentional solitude.
đ April Recap
I kicked off the month by heading to Raleigh, North Carolina for Dreamville Festivalâjoining my friend Gaurav Uppal who I went with to Rolling Loud Miami last year. Gaurav and I met at Columbia Universityâs high school summer program in 2012. Weâve kept in touch over the past decade and our friendship has remained a constant source of energy and inspiration including reunions in Singapore, New York, and two music festivals where Gaurav introduced me to his dope friends from ATL.
Dreamville Fest was my first time in NC, the home state of the GOAT J. Cole who was raised in Fayetteville. This yearâs lineup included Sean Paul, SiR, Ari Lennox, Usher, JID, Bas, Waka Flocka Flame, Ayra Starr, Mario, Drake, Burna Boy, and Cole. I still canât believe we got to see all these artists live in two days. My fav performance has got to be the AFRICAN GIANT aka Burna Boy. The two rap legends Drizzy Drake + Cole did not disappoint either and brought out Lil Wayne, Lil Uzi Vert, and 21 Savage.
Back in NYC, I also got to see my friend Karl Hallerstromâs gig in Manhattanâs Lower East Side. Iâve known Karl for a minute as well since our high schools were rivals and competed against each other in a sports tournament called NECIS (Northwest European Council of International Schools). He played varsity basketball for the International School of Luxembourg (ISL) and I came off the bench for the junior varsity team at the Antwerp International School (AIS). I finally made the JV team as a senior lol. We won the championship and Iâd like to think I brought good vibes to the team like a Desi Dani Rojas.
It wasnât until Karl came to Northeastern that we started hanging out and ended up playing on the same intramural basketball team at NEU (my game got a lot better after putting up shots at 7am before my classes and building that muscle memory). FYI, for those of you based in NYC, his next gig is on Saturday, April 29th at Palo Santo in Williamsburg. Next Sunday, Iâll be seeing Kahani, a DJ who blends global beats with South Asian sounds. I saw him perform with a full squad at Indo Warehouse in Brooklyn about a month ago (one of those days where I hit three outta five boroughs).
âGo and love someone exactly as they are. And then watch how quickly they transform into the greatest, truest version of themselves. When one feels seen and appreciated in their own essence, one is instantly empowered.â â Wes Angelozzi
đïž Quartz Obsession Podcast
The new season of the Quartz Obsession podcast launches next week, hosted by our fantastic emerging tech reporter Scott Nover. Scott sits down with Quartz journalists across the newsroom to discuss the impact of technology on our lives in the next decade. Iâm also a guest on the show in season five and will be talking about online voting. I spent a chunk of time researching elections around the world that used online voting such as the former Soviet republic Estonia at the national level and the US state of West Virginia at the local pilot level.
I hopped on a Zoom call with Mac Warner, West Virginiaâs Secretary of State, to ask him about the pilot in his state and the viability of online voting becoming mainstream in the US. Then I got on the phone with the Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation to get a civil rights perspective on this tool and the integrity of election results over the public internet. Check us out on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. My episode drops on May 19th!!
đïž Upcoming Travels
May 19-22: Miami, FL
Imma be in the 305 for my sister-in-lawâs 30th birthday đ
May 26-28: Seattle, WA
And then Iâll be flying westbound for my friendâs wedding đ
đ Recommendation Zone
đ What Iâm reading
đźđł Appleâs first India store is opening in Mumbai by Ananya Bhattacharya | Quartz India
đ The US is countering Russian and Chinese influence in Africa by Faustine Ngila | Quartz Africa
đ Beyond the Valley: Nine companies hit hard by the global tech crash | Rest of World
đș Pachinko turns a heralded novel into a laser-focused epic by Olivia Truffaut-Wong | Polygon
đ My boss Susan Howson launched her own email newsletter called
filled with brilliant book reviews/recommendations | Substack
đ§ What Iâm listening to
Search & Rescue by Drake
Bank On It by Burna Boy
Dholna Remix by Kahani (from Indo Warehouse)
The invisible hand: Capitalismâs misunderstood metaphor (Quartz Obsession podcast ft. Julia Malleck)
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the newsletter whether it was your first edition or 10th. Send any Burna Boy songs, podcast recommendations, and playoff predictions.
With gratitude,
Shiv