#54 - Notes on Conan O'Brien, Thirst and Love Stories
Education Coffee is a 2xWeekly Newsletter on People, Ideas and Culture
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. Please subscribe to this newsletter if you enjoyed reading this edition. We are now 93 subscribers strong!
1. Learning from People
Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows, beginning with Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993–2009) and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (2009–2010) on the NBC television network, and Conan (2010–2021) on the cable channel TBS. Before his hosting career, O'Brien was a writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1988 to 1991, and the sitcom The Simpsons from 1991 to 1993. He has also been host of the podcast series Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend since 2018 and starred in the 2024 travel show Conan O'Brien Must Go on Max. He majored in History & Literature, and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1985. I have enjoyed listening to his podcast and recently saw 4 episodes of his travel show. He visits Ireland, Thailand, Argentina and Norway. He is such a fun travel documentary host as he has this unique ability to make any situation amusing with his antics. My favourite episode was the one where he visited Ireland, because he explored his Irish roots in the most comical way possible.
2. Learning from Ideas and Questions
3. Learning from Books, Websites and Blogs
This is the true love story of Amrita Rao, a Bollywood actress, and RJ Anmol, a radio jockey. They published a book and created a YouTube series (with 70 short videos) titled Couple of Things about their story. It is almost like a Bollywood film with lots of twists and turns. There was a long period of courtship, struggles to bring their families into the picture, breakups, planning a marriage, building a family and professional ups and downs. I loved binge watching their Youtube series and look forward to reading their book as well. It was heart warming to watch their story come to life over a 14 year period from 2010 to 2024. It makes you believe in the magic and power of love again!
4. Learning from Films, Videos and Shows
Shay Mitchell is a Canadian actress and entrepreneur. She has a 4 episode docu-series where she explores the world one drink at a time. On this show she visits exotic locations, samples unique ingredients, and meets expert hosts; on her journey, she encounters the latest drink trends, the best bars, and 8,000 years of sipping history. In season 1, she visits Peru, Columbia, Argentina and Brazil.
The show got me curious about the different kinds of drinks available around the world apart from water. I made a list of the more popular drinks and the chemistry that brings them to life:
Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from the roasted seeds of several species of an evergreen shrub of the genus Coffea.
Tea, the second most consumed drink in the world, is produced from infusing dried leaves of the Camellia sinensis shrub, in boiling water.
Beer is an alcoholic drink produced by the saccharification of starch and fermentation of the resulting sugar.
Cider is a fermented alcoholic drink made from fruit juice, most commonly and traditionally apple juice, but also the juice of peaches, pears or other fruit.
Wine is an alcoholic drink made from fermented grapes or other fruits.
Spirits are distilled beverages that contain no added sugar and have at least 20% alcohol by volume (ABV). Popular spirits include borovička, brandy, gin, rum, slivovitz, tequila, vodka, and whisky.
Fruit juice is a natural product that contains few or no additives. Citrus products such as orange juice and tangerine juice are familiar breakfast drinks, while grapefruit juice, pineapple, apple, grape, lime, and lemon juice are also common.
Soft drink is any water-based flavored drink, usually but not necessarily carbonated, and typically including added sweetener.
Here is a fascinating video from Insider Food on how Tea is enjoyed around the world.
5. Learning from Podcasts and Music
I love discovering creative music videos and new indie artists. Here is my current number 1 song and video by Abdul Hannan, a singer, video producer and songwriter from Lahore, Pakistan. Mello Musings does a great job analyzing the lyrics of this song in English and they wrote this short paragraph about the lyrics in their post
The lyrics capture the universal experiences of love and the search for that one soulmate…The lyrics paint vivid pictures of love's dance. They capture the yearning to be understood and embraced, the ups and downs of relationships. The heartfelt vocals pour out raw emotions, striking a delicate balance between melancholy and hope.
Thank you for reading this edition of #EducationCoffee. 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. You can also review the archive of Education Coffee for free at this link (53 past newsletters). You can subscribe to this newsletter for more such recommendations on people, ideas and culture.
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Abhishek Shetty