In each edition of this newsletter, I will share some inspiring web resources that I have curated after hours of research to ensure that you have the best education coffee in your inbox. In upcoming editions, I will focus on sharing insights, notes and realizations that I gather from people, ideas, books, films and podcasts. I will continue to write about education and learning as well and hope to be more consistent with the publication of this newsletter this year. Please subscribe to this newsletter if you enjoyed reading this edition. We are now 90 subscribers strong!
1. Learning from People
I love playing and watching cricket but I also love reading long form narrative non fiction about the game. I recently started Ramachandra Guha’s amazing collection of curated essays on the game in the book, Picador Book of Cricket. I read a lot of cricket autobiographies. It was the genre that got me excited about reading. Recently I started reviewing the web archive of ESPN cricinfo’s Cricket Monthly magazine. I came across this interview of the Indian bowler and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who recently completed playing 100 tests and getting 500+ wickets. That is a massive feat and this profile tells you the back story of that feat.
You can read the interview on the Cricket Monthly website by Sidharth Monga at this link - R Ashwin: 'If I am under pressure, I try to put the opposition under five times as much'. I have included an image on some statistics from his 14 year career from 2010 to 2024. My favorite part of this interview was this reflection on the importance of family support for an athlete from Ashwin,
It is very difficult to find a family like me, my dad and mom. I've forgotten to add two other members: my grandfather and my aunt. We used to live in a joint family. For about eight years, my granddad used to bring my cricket kit, my cricket clothes, milk and all and just stand outside the ground or spread a newspaper and sit on the ground, and make sure that everything was going right, because both my parents were working. If I came back home, my aunt would be the caretaker. She would provide what I needed.
2. Learning from Ideas
Who made these circles in the Sahara? Here is the team at Vox describing why they created this video and where it led them
Deep in the Sahara, far from any towns, roads, or other signs of life, is a row of markings in the sand. There are dozens of them stretching for miles in a straight line in central Algeria, each consisting of a central point surrounded by a circle of 12 nodes, like numbers on a clock. And when we started making this video, no one seemed to know what they were. We first saw the circles back in September 2021, after finding a Reddit post on r/WhatIsThis with coordinates asking what the circles could be. With just two upvotes and two commenters, it wasn’t exactly a lively discussion. But seeing the circles themselves on Google Earth was fascinating: They were eerily perfect in their shape and regularity, but so deeply isolated in the desert. We were hooked on finding an answer. So we decided to make a video out of trying to solve the mystery, no matter where it took us. We documented every step of the process — from Zoom calls and web browser screen recordings to vlogs and field shoots — to show the reporting process from the inside out. And when we maxed out what we could learn on the internet, we handed over this story to a team in Algeria to take it all the way.
3. Learning from Books, Websites and Blogs
The Daily Stoic is a blog created and updated by Ryan Holiday. The objective of the blog is to share insights and advice on how we can apply the principles of Stoicism to our daily modern lives. I have spent a considerable amount of time this past month reading posts on the blog. There is a great archive of resources that includes best articles, interviews, email archives, best quotes, profiles and an amazing collection of books. Here is a defintion of Stoicism and its main principles from a Britannica post by Jason Lewis Saunders
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. The Stoics believed that the practice of virtue is enough to achieve eudaimonia: a well-lived life. The Stoics identified the path to achieving it with a life spent practicing the four virtues in everyday life: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice. There is also a focus on living in accordance with nature.
I have been inspired by this school of thinking and believe it provides you with some valuable guidance to deal with life’s challenges. In this post about perseverance, Ryan reminds us to advocate for ourselves and take care of ourselves in difficult times. In this post about dealing with anxiety, Ryan noted that we can focus on the present moment and put our negative visualizations to the test. There is a lot of timeless wisdom on this website and I will let you explore this ancient school of thought on your own time. But here is a quote from Seneca, a prominent Stoic thinker about how challenges can shape and define us,
I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through life without an opponent—no one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you.
4. Learning from Films, Videos and Shows
I have always been fascinated by the art world. Why do some paintings cost so much? What is a good painting? Why do some artists have so much more influence than others? Why do museums buy, collect and display art? Why did humans develop a need to create art in the first place? I found some of these answers and more questions in this fascinating documentary about an art collection. The Art of the Steal is a 2009 documentary film directed by Don Argott, about the controversial move of the Barnes Foundation, generally considered to be the world's best collection of post-Impressionist art and valued in 2009 to be worth at least $25 billion, from Merion, Pennsylvania to Philadelphia. You can review the collection online (that includes 45 Picasso paintings and 59 Matisse paintings) on the Barnes Foundation website. You can watch the trailer below.
5. Learning from Podcasts and Music
Guy Raz is a great listener. He is one of my favorite podcasters. His first podcast show called, How I Built This was about innovators, entrepreneurs, and idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built. His new show, The Great Creators includes in-depth interviews with some of the most beloved actors, musicians, and performers of our time. He recently interviewed Hilary Swank about her journey as an actor in the film industry. She spoke about preparing for roles, balancing professional and personal life, learning from failure and observing other actors. You can find the full video episode linked below.
Hilary Swank is one of just 14 women to win not one but two Academy Awards for Best Actress (Boys Don’t Cry, Million Dollar Baby). And as you’ll learn today, her life story just as remarkable as her career: from growing up in a trailer park (“it was no big deal”) to moving to L.A. as a teenager and living with her mom in their car for a time while chasing her dreams, to her breakthrough role as Brandon Teena in the indie film “Boys Don’t Cry” – a performance that earned Hilary an Oscar, and just $3,000. She also reflects on playing a transgender character as a cisgender woman; the movie she feels doesn’t get nearly the credit it deserves; and how she envisions the next chapter of her career after becoming a mother last year.
I look forward to writing weekly editions of this newsletter this year. I hope to continue to share resources that will add value to your life. Thank you for subscribing to Education Coffee. You can also review the archive of Education Coffee for free at this link (40 past newsletters).
Please do send me your thoughts and resources on any edition of this newsletter through email at abhishekashokshetty@gmail.com, Linkedin or on twitter @AbhishekShetty_. You can find my work online at https://abhishekshetty.carrd.co/. If you would like to read pieces in the future please do consider subscribing to this newsletter by clicking the button below.
I love taking these discussions forward on those platforms and look forward to hearing your feedback.
Abhishek Shetty