Shiv's Newsletter #7
Welcome to the seventh issue! Happy 2023 💪
👋 Hello from New York! Welcome to my new subscribers. I started this thing last October with fifteen people signed up and now there are over 60 of you reading this email! In today’s newsletter, I’ll give a recap of my recent travels, reflect on the past twelve months, and look ahead at the big stories to watch out for in 2023.
📖 ICYMI, here’s the last edition of 2022 from Dec. 12 where I shared memorable moments from my birthday weekend in Paris and talked about the US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, DC. I also called for overdue permanent representation of African voices at the G20 and UN Security Council.
🏕 Travel Recap
I spent the last two weeks of December back in the motherland, starting out with a wedding in Mumbai followed by a big group holiday in Uttarakhand, a state in northern India crossed by the Himalayas, and capped off by a religious pilgrimage near Ranchi, the state capital of Jharkhand in eastern India. A few highlights from this trip include:
🛶 White-water river rafting for 36km in the Ganges River rapids (Rishikesh)
🏔 Trekking up George Everest Peak with sweeping views of the mountain range (Mussoorie)
⚽️ Watching the insane Messi vs Mbappé matchup in the FIFA World Cup final at the JW Marriott in Mussoorie
🙏 Participating in a spiritual gathering in the evening known as Ganga Aarti by the sacred river
🧘♂️ Taking advantage of the 8am yoga & 4pm meditation sessions led by the Taj Rishikesh hotel staff
🛕 Embarking on a 15-hour journey to visit Shikharji up Parasnath Hill, one of the world’s holiest pilgrimage sites for Jains
I returned to Mumbai for two days after this trip where I made it to Simran and Ankit’s engagement party, then flew to Dubai for some quality time with my family, and finally went back to Antwerp where we had a super wholesome mini-reunion with friends from high school (shoutout to Rowan, Erez, Jo, Albina, Elisa, Bhavs, and Divi for a fun night on the town brought to you by Hoegaarden).
✏️ 2022 Annual Review
What a year it’s been! The past twelve months marked another year of tremendous growth for me, both personally and professionally. Personally, I moved into my own apartment in Long Island City, Queens (my third borough after living in Manhattan and Williamsburg, Brooklyn). Professionally, I started my new job at Quartz where we launched pop-up newsletters with coverage of global events including the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the World Economic Forum in Davos, the UN General Assembly in NYC, and the UN climate summit in Egypt (COP27).
Looking back at 2022, I am immensely grateful for all the people that made me feel a sense of belonging in NYC, all the places that sparked my curiosity for this world, all the books that taught me something new, and all the songs that kept me company along the journey. Now, as per my tradition since 2018, here are my annual end-of-year lists of favorite books, music, and places I traveled to last year.
Places I got to visit:
🇮🇳 India (Jaipur, Mumbai 2x, Kochi, Rishikesh, Mussoorie, Ranchi)
🇲🇻 Maldives (Malé)
🇧🇭 Bahrain (Manama)
🇧🇪 Belgium (Antwerp 3x, Brussels)
🇩🇰 Denmark (Copenhagen)
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates (Dubai 2x, Fujairah)
🇺🇸 United States (NYC, Dallas, Miami 2x, Washington DC)
🇨🇭 Switzerland (Lucerne)
🇦🇹 Austria (Salzburg, Hallstatt, Innsbruck)
🇩🇪 Germany (Cologne, Nuremberg, Munich)
🇮🇹 Italy (Venice)
🇫🇷 France (Strasbourg, Paris)
Books I enjoyed reading:
21st Century Monetary Policy: The Federal Reserve from the Great Inflation to COVID-19 by Ben S. Bernanke
How the World Really Works: A Scientist’s Guide to Our Past, Present, and Future by Vaclav Smil
The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance by W. Timothy Gallwey
Where Tomorrows Aren’t Promised: A Memoir of Survival and Hope by Carmelo Anthony
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz
Aftershocks: Pandemic Politics and the End of the Old International Order by Colin Kahl and Thomas Wright
Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent by Dipo Faloyin
Land of Big Numbers: Stories by Te-Ping Chen
How to Love by Thich Nhat Hanh
YEARN.ings: A Poetry Collection by Joshua Ross
Ask Iwata: Words of Wisdom from Nintendo’s Legendary CEO by Satoru Iwata
Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP by Mirin Fader
Albums I loved listening to:
Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny
Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar
Her Loss by Drake & 21 Savage
Dawn FM by The Weeknd
Entergalactic by Kid Cudi
Love, Damini by Burna Boy
Honestly, Nevermind by Drake
Two Hearts Never Break The Same by AP Dhillon
Rave & Roses by Rema
We’re All Alone In This Together by Dave
Artists I got to see live:
Santan Dave at the Irving Plaza in NYC
Coldplay at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels
AP Dhillon at the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC
The Weeknd at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey
Hasan Minhaj stand-up comedy tour at Radio City Music Hall in NYC
Rolling Loud Miami hip-hop music festival including performances by Kendrick Lamar, Future, Travis Scott, Don Toliver, Lil Baby, Lil Uzi Vert, Aminé, Gucci Mane, Kodak Black, Baby Keem, Saweetie, 2 Chainz, Lil Durk, and Migos
📚 What I’m reading
🇺🇦 This was the year liberal democracy fought back by Janan Ganesh | Financial Times
🏦 The last time the Fed curbed inflation without crashing the economy, explained by Madeleine Ngo | Vox
🇨🇳 What does Xi Jinping's visit to Saudi Arabia mean for Russia? by Tim McDonnell | Quartz
🔭 The James Webb Telescope Team: Innovator of the Year 2022 by Jeffrey Kluger | TIME
🎧 What I’m listening to
Gato de Noche by Ñengo Flow and Bad Bunny
Daku by Chani Nattan and Inderpal Moga
Gaddi Red Challenger by Babbulicious
Para Voce by Gregor Salto feat. Curio Capoeira
👀 What to watch for in 2023
🇯🇵 Japan prime minister Fumio Kishida is touring G7 allies in Europe and North America (via Diego Lasarte)
🇫🇮🇸🇪 Finland and/or Sweden will join NATO after formally applying last year as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (via Future Perfect’s forecasts for 2023)
🗳 Top five general elections to watch in 2023: 🇳🇬 Nigeria, 🇹🇷 Türkiye, 🇵🇰 Pakistan, 🇦🇷 Argentina, and 🇧🇩 Bangladesh
Thanks so much for reading! Wishing everyone peace & progress in the new year and beyond. Let me know if you have any book recommendations for 2023. Until next time.
With gratitude,
Shiv