The Drafts

Diya Dadlani
  • 5.0 (1)
  • SELF-IMPROVEMENT
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

The Drafts is a space for thoughtful reflection, creative exploration, and real-world insights. Each episode is a behind-the-scenes look at ideas in progress—covering design, UX, entrepreneurship, and the everyday moments that shape the way we think and work. Host Diya shares reflections, experiments, and lessons learned while navigating projects, life, and the messy middle of creation. Whether you’re building products, shaping experiences, or just curious about how ideas evolve, The Drafts offers clarity, perspective, and a little company along the way.

Episodes

  1. 1D AGO

    Fake Menus and AI Friends: The High Cost of Easy Answers

    Welcome to The Drafts, a podcast about building a business while working full-time with honesty, no highlight reels. In this episode, I'm talking about AI, but not in the way you might expect. It started with a menu I couldn't read at a Japanese restaurant. The images were AI-generated, glossy, perfect, and completely fake. And once I started noticing, I couldn't stop. What are we actually solving for when we implement AI everywhere? And who pays the price? You'll hear: Why restaurants use AI-generated images of fake food instead of photographing the real thingThe uncanny valley we're living in: AI images good enough to pass at a glance, wrong enough to make you feel lied toWhat LLMs actually do (they aggregate, they don't create) and why the Detroit: Become Human painting scene captures it perfectlyReal examples of AI failures: law firms submitting hallucinated case citations, a consultancy caught twice using LLMs for government reports, a chatbot selling an $80,000 car for $1Why workplaces implement AI not because it works, but to say they're doing itThe hidden costs: data centers consuming electricity like small countries, millions of gallons of water daily, carbon emissions equivalent to hundreds of flightsThe labor cost: Kenyan moderators paid $2/hour to read graphic content with little psychological supportThe artist cost: billions of images scraped without permission to train models that undercut the people who created themThe linguistic divide: English speakers get the best AI, everyone else gets leftovers and the gap compoundsThe loneliness epidemic by the numbers (21% of U.S. adults feel lonely, 30% of young adults feel lonely daily, 73% cite technology as a contributor)Why AI companions create manufactured attachment, not real connection and why solving loneliness with chatbots won't workWhat would actually help: third spaces, community infrastructure, asking friends for help instead of buying solutionsThe legitimate uses of AI: language learning (with limitations), assistive technology, using it as scaffolding (not the final output)If you've ever felt uneasy about AI without being able to articulate why, or wondered whether the convenience is worth the trade-offs, this is for you. The "right" use of AI isn't the one that sounds impressive in a boardroom. It's the one that actually solves a problem without creating worse ones. Full show notes and resources are available at thedraftspodcast.substack.com Music in this episode: "The Drafts Theme" by Madhumita Prasad Disclaimer: The content of this episode is for educational and informational purposes only and represents the personal opinions of the host. All references to specific companies, events, or corporate practices are based on publicly available news reports, court documents, and cited publications. These citations are provided for critical analysis and commentary on matters of public interest. The views expressed here are solely those of the host and do not reflect the views or policies of any current or former employers, clients, or affiliated organizations.

    36 min

  2. FEB 5

    The Survival Phase: What Building Actually Looks Like

    Month 1 wasn't about conquering the market. It was about surviving the cold, the self-doubt, and the silence, and realizing that was enough. This is the Survival Phase. The part nobody posts about. The part that determines whether you make it back or not. In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on what "Founder Mode" actually looked like: contract renewal anxiety, treating the podcast like a dirty secret, 32 Spotify streams, and the moment I realized I'm not selling websites. I'm selling momentum. Topics discussed: The Uncertainty Tax: Building when your "safe" income feels unsafeWhy stealth mode became self-sabotageThe analytics reality check (spoiler: my audience wasn't who I thought)The System Reset framework for getting unstuck when burned outThe Arro pivot: Selling momentum, not websitesLaunch messy, iterate later: Why shipping to friends first is strategyHard launching on LinkedIn (and why I'm terrified)Music: "The Drafts Theme" by Madhumita Prasad

    20 min

  3. JAN 29

    Sold a Feeling: How Everything Became an Ad (and Why We're So Tired)

    Welcome to The Drafts, a podcast about design, UX, tech entrepreneurship, and the everyday moments that shape how we think and work, with honesty, no highlight reels. In this episode, I'm talking about why everything feels like an ad now, how emotional manipulation became a marketing strategy, and what it costs us to live in a world where no space is safe from commerce, not even our sleep. From that Volkswagen commercial that took me through someone's entire life just to sell a car, to influencers faking stalking incidents to launch brands, to why I finally paid for YouTube Premium just to achieve basic peace, this is about the exhaustion we're all feeling and why it's gotten so much worse. You'll hear: * Why that VW ad in the movie theater left me feeling gross (and what it reveals about emotional manipulation in advertising) * How AI companies sell inevitability and urgency while hiding who benefits and who pays the cost (Karen Hao's *Empire of AI*) * The difference between content creators and influencers, and why that distinction matters * How wealth inequality (top 10% holding 67% of wealth) shows up in influencer lifestyle inflation and why it feels so alienating * The algorithmic manipulation playbook: manufacturing rage and controversy to drive sales * Why authenticity itself became something to sell (Sarah Banet-Weiser's *Authentic™*) * How brand culture makes everything about individual hustle instead of structural inequality—and why that stops us from organizing collectively * What Cyberpunk 2077's ad-saturated Night City reveals about where we're headed * Small acts of resistance: hiding ads, skipping sponsored content, reducing screen time with tools like Screenzen * The hypocrisy question: can I ever accept deals without becoming part of the problem? If you've ever felt exhausted by the constant performance of online life, if you've noticed you can't experience a feeling without seeing a logo attached, or if you're wondering how to exist in this system without being consumed by it—this episode is for you. We're not opting out. But we can start noticing. We can ask who benefits. And maybe, just maybe, we can reclaim some space for feelings that aren't tied to a transaction. Full show notes and resources are available at thedraftspodcast.substack.com Music in this episode: - "The Drafts Theme" by Madhumita Prasad

    23 min

  4. JAN 22

    The Path That Builds You: Why Chaos Made Me a Better Designer

    Welcome to The Drafts, a podcast about building a business while working full-time with honesty, no highlight reels. In this episode, I'm talking about the myth of the "dream job," the hidden costs of prestige, and why my chaotic government career turned out to be my greatest advantage. What really builds you as a designer, is it the logo on your resume or the problems you've solved without a safety net? You'll hear: Why Big Tech's "golden cage" can make you a better employee but a worse founderThe difference between Brand-Protected Authority and Battle-Hardened AuthorityHow Uber, Meta, Amazon, and Google built beautiful products that enabled real harm and why the designers likely didn't knowWhat Mike Monteiro's Ruined by Design teaches us about responsibility and fragmentationWhy trying multiple things isn't "scattered". It's how you build rangeThe questions most corporate environments don't reward you for asking: "Who benefits? Who gets hurt? What happens if this scales?"How small teams force you to understand the whole machine (and why that matters more than specialization)Why the logo gets you in the door, but mileage determines whether you thriveIf you've ever felt like you're on the "wrong" career path because your resume doesn't have the right names, or because you've pivoted and people called you unfocused, this is for you. The "right" path isn't the one that looks best on LinkedIn. It's the one that builds you into someone adaptable, accountable, and dangerous (in the best way). Full show notes and resources are available at thedraftspodcast.substack.com Music in this episode: "The Drafts Theme" by Madhumita Prasad Disclaimer:The content of this episode is for educational and informational purposes only and represents the personal opinions of the host. All references to specific companies, events, or corporate practices are based on publicly available news reports, court documents, and cited publications (specifically Ruined by Design by Mike Monteiro). These citations are provided for critical analysis and commentary on matters of public interest. The views expressed here are solely those of the host and do not reflect the views or policies of any current or former employers, clients, or affiliated organizations.

    27 min

  5. JAN 15

    The Wrong Metric: When Taste Masquerades as Truth

    Episode 02 Description Welcome to The Drafts, a podcast about building a business while working full-time with honesty, no highlight reels. In this episode, I'm talking about critique, taste, and the wrong metric. Why do bad opinions stick? Why do we chase consensus instead of conviction? And what does a rock band getting roasted by The Guardian have to do with your 9-to-5 design review? You'll hear: The Guardian's brutal review of Sleep Token (and why the critic was confidently wrong)Why I felt like a failure on podcast launch day—despite knowing betterThe evolutionary reason we're terrified of being "niche" or differentHow False-Consensus Effect and Social Proof show up in stakeholder meetingsThe difference between constructive feedback and subjective projection (and why it matters)Why "I don't like it" and "Competitor X isn't doing it" are red flags, not roadblocksHow to identify your "iron deficiency"—the edge that makes you polarizing (and powerful)If you're a designer, builder, or creator tired of playing it safe to please everyone, this is for you. Stats are a metric of reach, not quality. Success isn't consensus—it's conviction. Full show notes and resources are available at thedraftspodcast.substack.com Music in this episode: - "For P" by ilyatruhanov - "The Drafts Theme" by Madhumita Prasad - "Little Alicia. Cinematic Background music for video. Short version" by White_Records - "Reflected Light" by SergePavkinMusic - "Unexpected Connection (Strategy, Risk)" by Grand_Project - "Better Today (Documentary, Informative)" by Grand_Project

    15 min

  6. JAN 8

    I'm 25 and I Like Stability — Here's Why That's Okay

    Welcome to The Drafts, a podcast about building a business while working full-time with honesty, no highlight reels. In this first episode, I'm talking about something that feels almost controversial online: I'm 25, I like stability, and I'm not quitting my job to build my consultancy. You'll hear: ​The WWII war plane story that changed how I think about entrepreneurship​Why I started building a UX consultancy on the side (and what happened when I published my first LinkedIn post)​The back injury that made me realize what stability actually buys you​What my actual schedule looks like working two full-time jobs​Why building from stability is strategic, not scared​The real data on side hustles in Canada (spoiler: you're not alone)If you're building something on the side in 2025 while managing a day job, health, and trying to still have a life, this is for you. The planes that make it back are the ones with armor. And we're building ours. Full show notes are available at thedraftspodcast.substack.com Music in this episode: ​“No Copyright Music” by moodmode​“Midnight Forest” by Syouki_Takahashi​“Good Night Lofi Cozy Chill Music” by FASSounds​“The Drafts Theme” by Madhumita Prasad

    14 min
  • 6 Episodes

About

The Drafts is a space for thoughtful reflection, creative exploration, and real-world insights. Each episode is a behind-the-scenes look at ideas in progress—covering design, UX, entrepreneurship, and the everyday moments that shape the way we think and work. Host Diya shares reflections, experiments, and lessons learned while navigating projects, life, and the messy middle of creation. Whether you’re building products, shaping experiences, or just curious about how ideas evolve, The Drafts offers clarity, perspective, and a little company along the way.

Information

  • Creator
    Diya Dadlani
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    6
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Diya Dadlani
  • Show Website
    The Drafts