Shiv's Newsletter #24
Welcome to the 24th edition! Habemus papam 💪
👋 We have a new pope! Tonight is the NBA’s Draft Lottery! Let’s see which team gets the opportunity to draft Duke freshman Cooper Flagg. Also we have a plethora of candidates looking to topple Eric Adams and become the next mayor of New York City. Our city doesn’t need Adams who was recently facing federal corruption charges or former governor Andrew Cuomo who was also engulfed in a series of scandals.
🗽 Our next mayor should be Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and state assembly member representing Queens. My guy wants to freeze the rent on rent-stabilized units, make buses free, implement universal childcare, launch a Department of Community Safety, and lower the cost of living for all New Yorkers across the five boroughs.
🙏 Mamdani has clearly articulated several simple policy ideas as opposed to the other two guys I mentioned who are both trying to recover from their reputational fallout. Zohran for NYC, inshallah.
📖 ICYMI, here’s a link to my last newsletter which featured my NCAA tournament picks1 and was the first edition to include a global news roundup and the new community shoutouts section.
📰 Global News Roundup
🇻🇦 Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost emerged onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as the new leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics as Pope Leo XIV after the papal conclave inside the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel setting off celebrations from the streets of Chicago to the Peruvian town of Chiclayo2
🇩🇪 Friedrich Merz was elected by lawmakers as Germany’s 10th post-World War II chancellor—he has vowed to prioritize unity across Europe as the continent grapples with Trump 2.0 and Russia’s war on Ukraine
🇮🇳 India and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate and full ceasefire to the conflict that has escalated for weeks in the disputed territory of Kashmir, although there are already reports of violations as of this writing
💰 Bill Gates announced an expedited timeline to give away virtually all of his wealth in the next 20 years to global health causes through the Gates Foundation which will spend more than $200 billion between now and 20453
🌱 Community Shoutouts
My friend and former colleague Britney Nguyen recently wrapped up her first week at MarketWatch covering the chip industry!! Check out her first story on Huawei’s new AI chip with a focus on Nvidia and the US-China tech competition
My homies Brian and Alexis Helfman welcomed their first child into the world!! Can’t wait to meet baby Drew Rider as Uncle Shiv!
My fellow LIC resident Andy participated in the London Marathon followed by an exploration of central Europe (Copenhagen, Budapest, Prague, Vienna, Munich, and Zurich)
My girl Drishti completed her doctorate at NYU in occupational therapy and passed her NBCOT exam becoming a board certified OT in addition to already being a certified baddie! Proud of you hehe :)
❤️ Grat List
Grateful for Krish and Vish hosting me and Drish in Atlanta as well as the memories we made together in ATL like celebrating Krishna’s birthday and experiencing Innerbloom by Rüfüs Du Sol live at the Lakewood Amphiteater
Grateful for Nicole Kelner’s crowdsourced collection of 750+ resources for people who want to work in climate with curated favorites highlighting job boards, Slack communities, books, and more
🔮 What to watch for in the month ahead
🏀 The 2025 WNBA season tips off this week, with the league expanding for the first time since 2008 (welcome to the W—Golden State Valkyries) and multiple franchises poised to compete for the title thanks to a historic 2024 rookie class
🎞️ The 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival runs from May 13-24 on the Côte d’Azur including screenings of Mission: Impossible–The Final Reckoning starring Tom Cruise and Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest starring Denzel Washington
⚽️ Munich is hosting the UEFA Champions League final on May 31st at the Allianz Arena between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan (first time in over two decades years that the final won’t feature a team from Spain, England, or Germany)4
👀 Recommendation Zone
📚 What I’m reading
🕊️ What was Quartz by Zach Seward | ZMS
🚙 How Well Is Congestion Pricing Doing? Very by Christopher Bonanos | Curbed
📖 The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination by Stuart A. Reid | Penguin Random House
💵 Rivian just unlocked another $1 billion from Volkswagen by Tim Levin | InsideEVs
⚡️ Inside the EV startup secretly backed by Jeff Bezos by Sean O’Kane | TechCrunch
🚖 Waymo says its robotaxis are up to 25x safer for pedestrians and cyclists by Jameson Dow | Electrek
🎧 What I’m listening to
NPR’s Up First podcast with the news to start my day
🎥 What I’m watching
⛪️ Conclave starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow
🇻🇳 Turning Point: The Vietnam War (also called the American War by Vietnamese)
🧳 The Four Seasons starring Tina Fey, Colman Domingo5, and Steve Carell
✍️ My favorite quotes
“You can have multiple careers, you can change directions, you can evolve again and again as long as you keep chasing what sets your soul on fire.”
— Carmelo Anthony (from Melo’s commencement speech to Syracuse’s Class of 2025)
"There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about."
— Margaret J. Wheatley
“It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”
― Mark Twain
Thanks for reading! Send any NBA playoff predictions, Pope Leo memes, and recommendations for new films to watch at my local AMC!
With gratitude,
Shiv
I correctly predicted UConn as the women’s champs but misplaced my faith in the Duke men’s team as the Florida Gators won their 3rd title
Although the new pontiff was born in the US, he served for roughly two decades in Peru and is also fluent in five languages
They gave $100 billion during the first 25 years largely powered by the generosity of Warren Buffett
The last time that happened was in the 2004 Champions League final when Porto defeated Monaco
Colman was also a co-chair at the 2025 Met Gala along with Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams and honorary co-chair LeBron James with the theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”