I love this annual ritual. I love looking back at all the things I have listened to. I love remembering how the year went by. And boy, what a year 2024 was – all the elections around the world, the Olympics, the VR glasses, the unstoppable rise of AI … And July and August were the craziest months: the Trump-Biden debate, Starmer was elected, Trump shot, Biden dropped out, the DNC and the rise of Kamala Harris, and the Olympics.
And the takeaways?
I still love for sports. I am scared by AI. I am demoralised by the seemingly unstoppable polarisation. And most importantly, I am terrified by the power of Elon Musk.
Stats:
- 136 shows, 1244 episodes
- 879 hours listened = 2.4 hours a day (and I also read 43 books this year … Gosh my productivity-junkie-ego is overly giddy)
- Podcasting App: PocketCast
Trends:
2018 – An anarchist’s bakery, Captain Data’s wrath, Chuck E. Cheese, FUBR.
2019 – meditation and spirituality
2020 – podcasts from “both sides.”
2021 – economics, history, and more things outside of the US.
2022 – Center-right leaning shows and the global south.
2023 – Tech, because of the rise of AI, and economics.
2024 – Politics, because of the Taiwan, UK, and US elections, and basketball, because of the Olympics. I also went a bit of a binge on COO-related shows because of my work at casetify.
Monumental episodes of 2024:
I used to call this section “Favorite Episodes” of the year. I am changing it because 2024 was a pivotal year:
1. Democrats Have a Better Option Than Biden
Listen to it at The Ezra Klein Show
This was pivotal because Klein questioned the decision to stick to Biden and suggested a primary back in February, 2024. Many ridiculed him for bringing this up. With hindsight, his justifications were even more insightful.
2. When the “Person” Abusing Your Child is a Chatbot: The Tragic Story of Sewell Setzer
Listen to it at Your Undivided Attention
This was a wake up call for me to pay attention to these AI Chatbots. Similar to the grip of social media and games on mobile, AI chatbots can become very addictive.
3. Remembering Daniel Kahneman
Listen to it at People I Mostly Admire
My favorite podcast host remembering one of my favorite psychologists.
4. Elon Dreams and Bitter Lessons
Listen to it at Stratechery
This episode was produced after Trump’s victory. Musk played a big role in Trump’s election. He was a bit of a King Maker. This episode articulated the Musk Phenomenon well by studying all his successes at SpaceX and Tesla. This made me think how we collectively misunderstood and under-estimated Musk and his powers. Perhaps more alarmingly, we often chose to write-off his impact, rather irrationally, because we didn’t like him, thought he was an idiotic man-child with daddy issues, and we didn’t want to believe the power of someone of such morale values would yield any results. But the truth is, he is very, very, very, powerful.
5. LLM Utilities, Google Disruption, Remote Work Angst, Family Tech Support, and a Thanksgiving Mailbag
Listen to it at Sharp Tech
Well, this deserves to be in the Top 5 because they read my email. 😬
Here are the podcasts in rotation in 2024:
Top 5:
- The Greatest of All Talk – NBA and basketball
- The Tim Ferriss Show
- Stratechery
- Vergecast
- The Daily
Economics:
- People I (Mostly) Admire” by Steven Levitt
- The Jim Rutt Show
- Conversations with Tyler
- Econtalk
Tech:
- Sharp Tech
- Dithering
- Techmeme Ride Home
- Decoder with Nilay Patel
- Hardfork
- Not Investment Advice
Hobbies:
- How I Write
- Thoroughly Considered
- The Wirecutter Show
Politics:
- The Rest Is Politics / The Rest Is Politics — Leading / The Rest Is Politics US
- The Ezra Klein Show
- 538 Politics
- The Dishcast
- Robert Wright’s Nonzero
- Sharp China
- Stay Tuned with Preet
Running a business, management, etc.
- Truth Works
- Fixable with Anne + Frances
- Founders
- Acquired
- Stephan Wolfram Podcasts
- The ReWork Podcast
- Planet Money
General Shows:
- Fresh Air
- On With Kara Swisher
- Pivot
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