Lit Visions Dhrupad Karwa

My guest today is Akhil Aryan who is a technology entrepreneur and content creator. He has built and sold multiple businesses and is currently the co-founder and CEO of Altergo, a company whose software is helping accelerate Earth's transition to new energy. Akhil is also on a personal mission to 'enable everyone to do their life's best work'. He creates content on topics related to business, philosophy, decision making and financial freedom.

We first met in 2014 on a startup accelerator program at Google Campus in London, where we bonded over entrepreneurship, spirituality and creative expression. In a recent catchup, our conversation turned to literature, specifically Hermann Hesse's novel Siddhartha - and we ended up discussing the book on this podcast.

Siddhartha is a philosophical story that follows the journey of a young man who is on a quest for enlightenment. It's a novel that I first read as a teenager and have come back to, every few years. It has always offered me new perspective, meaning and even refuge during turbulent times.

Now what I really love about this conversation with Akhil is that it takes places in parallel dimensions. In the first, we're talking about the book. And in the second, we are applying the lens of Siddhartha to everyday life and work situations. I've always felt that fiction and reality share a powerful bridge and episodes like this one only reinforce my belief.

It was truly a pleasure speaking with Akhil. He is one of the most fascinating people I've ever met and I'm sure this won't be the last time he appears on this podcast.

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Say hi to Akhil on IG: www.instagram.com/akhilaryanofficial
Say hi to Dhru on IG: www.instagram.com/dhrupadkarwa
Say hi to Dhru of Twitter: www.twitter.com/dhrupadkarwa

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Mentioned:

www.litvisions.substack.com - for essays, podcasts and fiction
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre

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Show notes:

0:00 - Introduction
02:42 - What Siddhartha means to Akhil
03:31 - Akhil as Siddhartha
07:41 - On knowing yourself
10:35 - Subject-Object relationships
12:30 - Siddhartha’s different personas
14:50 - I can think. I can wait. I can fast.
19:55 - Thoughts are maps, Actions are vehicles
22:05 - What is essence?
29:05 - Why I am? Who I am?
32:57 - Siddhartha does not procrastinate
37:15 - The power of clarity
39:08 - Difference between truth and meaning
42:45 - The mystery of Siddhartha
44:14 - Akhil's sequence of sentences
48:15 - On Govinda
57:03 - Hermann Hesse’s depression
01:02:46 - Why should someone read Siddhartha

If you have ever procrastinated on the internet, then you'll probably relate to this conversation with Jordan Castro. 

He is a novelist whose debut novel is actually called "The Novelist" and it is just fascinating. The story is set over the course of a single morning, where a writer is trying to pen an autobiographical novel in Google Docs. But just keeps getting distracted by Twitter, Instagram, daily rituals and his own mind. Each act of procrastination prompts an intriguing and often comedic psychic reflection on the nature of language, consciousness, technology and addiction.  

Now in our conversation, we discuss Jordan's book and dive into a number of tangential topics such as:


The power of saying a lot, using little
Attention spans and whether they are actually on the decline
Social media and how as we build it, it is building us
Drug addiction and lessons from sobriety
Infinite universe theory and what it means for the novel
and lots more...  

What struck me about Jordan was not just how he thinks but also his humility. He's a really chilled out guy and has a rare talent for traversing complex terrain in a way that's light and super fun. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.  

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Say hi to Jordan on Twitter: twitter.com/jordan_castro2
Say hi to Dhru on Twitter: twitter.com/dhrupadkarwa  

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Mentioned:  

litvisions.substack.com - for essays, podcasts, speculative fiction and novel suggestions
The Novelist by Jordan Castro
Frost by Thomas Bernhard
The works of Tao Lin
Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Cat Country by Lao She
Omon Ra by Victor Pelevin
The Courage to Be by Paul Tillich
Dynamics of faith by Paul Tillich  

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Show notes:  

0:00 - Introduction
02:08 - What fiction means to Jordan
02:56 - His journey as a poet
05:30 - The art of distillation
07:15 - Time well spent
08:05 - Attention spans and social media
17:40 - The Novelist by Jordan Castro
25:30 - On machines and AI
34:24 - Animals, Objects and Animism
43:15 - Reality, Paradoxes and Individualism
48:09 - Infinite Novel Theory
51:30 - Drugs and lessons from getting sober
56:45 - Lightning round

Today, I have a wild and freewheeling conversation with Vinamre Kasanaa who is an old friend and the host of Dostcast, India's fastest growing podcast - that recently hit 300,000 subscribers.   

I've been a two-time guest on his show, where we spoke a lot about fiction, technology, Royal Enfield motorcycles and meditation. And in this episode, we cover topics like:  


The tension between literature and social media
Poetry as a means of spiritual seeking
How paperback novels are the last frontier against advertising
Why books should be treated as wellness tools
and lots more - including discussing the works of Jack Kerouac and John Williams  

What I love about this conversation is that we get unapologetically lost in some far-flung ideas, yet find our way back to the present. Vinamre is a fascinating guy and a purist at heart - it's always a pleasure jamming with him.  

I should also mention that this episode was recorded in-person at Vinamre's makeshift Airbnb studio, on a rainy Mumbai night. And it happened pretty impromptu. We were meeting just to catchup, and then somehow ended up hitting the record button.

I'd like to thank him and his team for setting up the space so cosily and for the delicious masala chai we sipped throughout.

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Say hi to Vinamre on Twitter: www.twitter.com/vinamrekasanaa
Say hi to Vinamre on Instagram: www.instagram.com/vinamrekasanaa
Say hi to Dhru on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dhrupadkarwa
Say hi to Dhru on Instagram: www.instagram.com/dkarwa  

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Mentioned:  

litvisions.substack.com - for essays, novel suggestions and more  

David And Suzanne picture books   

Biff, Chip and Kipper books  

An American Prayer by Jim Morrison (album)  

Chuck Palahniuk and 'Dangerous Writing'  

Stoner by John Williams  

Red Dead Redemption (game)  

Monument Valley (game)  

The Journey (game)  

Fantastic Mr. Fox (movie)  

Indian Art Fair   

The Little Price by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry   

Deep Work by Cal Newport  

Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil  

Works of Khushwant Singh  

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Show notes:  

0:00 - Introduction
02:25 - What poetry and literature mean to him
06:13 - Tension between art and content
15:10 - Relationships and the soul
19:10 - Phones are attacking us
20:30 - Paperbacks as wellness tools
22:05 - Big Sur by Jack Kerouac
29:50 - Committing to empathy
32:10 - Chuck Palahniuk, Dangerous Writing and Nassim Nicholas Taleb
35:08 - Why we buy books
37:25 - Stoner by John Williams
41:35 - Video games: Red Dead Redemption, Monument Valley, The Journey
47:05 - Analogising Fantastic Mr. Fox
49:35 - Internet rabbit holes and novels as social contexts
55:50 - Being with an experience
59:20 - Cultures of reading and podcasting
01:10:45 - The future of fiction
01:17:30 - News2Novel and book discovery
01:26:43 - Novels by Jeet Thayil and Khushwant Singh
01:29:55 - Metaphors for podcast hosting

If topics like artificial intelligence or crypto literature have ever intrigued, excited, intimidated or even disgusted you, then please take out 90-minutes to listen to this episode with Sasha Stiles. I promise you it will be worth it.  

Sasha is a poet, artist and AI researcher probing the intersection of text and technology. Her cross-media work is extremely experimental in nature and has been recognised on stages like the Future Art Awards, the Museum of Contemporary Digital Art and New York Fashion Week.   

As well as being a writer, she is a poetry mentor to two AI robots. She is constantly pushing the frontiers of human-machine collaboration and challenging our assumptions about cognition and creativity.   

In our conversation, Sasha shares her journey and also gives listeners a primer on complex topics such as AI and web3. We cover a lot of ground, applying a philosophical lens to everything we discuss.   

It was a joy speaking with Sasha and she inspired me to dive deeper in my literary experiments. It's rare to meet someone working on the bleeding edge; and even rarer when that person does so with real sensitivity and empathy.   

I feel there's something for everyone in this conversation and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  

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Say hi to Sasha on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sashastiles
Say hi to Dhru on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dhrupadkarwa  

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Mentioned:  

litvisions.substack.com - for essays, podcast summaries, novel suggestions and discussions on the future of literature
Technelegy by Sasha Stiles  
theVERSEverse.com - a poetry NFT gallery  

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Show notes:

0:00 - Introduction
01:53 - What poetry means to her
05:55 - Poems as data storage
07:27 - Defining AI in literature
13:10: On fearing AI
20:03 - Teaching poetry to robots
29:29 - Interplay between humans and machines
55:26 - Are robots 'real'?
01:10:30 - AI poems about gardening
01:15:01 - web3, cryptopoetry and literary NFTs

Today, I speak with someone whom I discovered through my previous guest, James Yu, the co-founder of Sudowrite. Back in May, James tweeted about a new novel called Reap3r, which he described as "cerebral near future sci-fi grounded in reality". I was pretty intrigued so I bought the book and messaged the author, Eliot Peper - who was kind enough to reply and be present for this podcast.

Eliot is based in Oakland, California and is the author of ten novels! His works have received amazing reviews from people and organisations like Seth Godin, The New York Times Book Review and Popular Science. 

And his latest book, Reap3r has again captured imaginations around the world. The story follows a quantum computer scientist, virologist, podcaster, venture capitalist, and assassin - who all collide and change the course of future history. It's a gripping adventure that weaves a number of complex themes in wonderful tapestry - themes like ambition, secrecy, transgression,  the price of progress and how technology shapes our lives and world.

Now in our conversation, Eliot shares his inspiration for Reap3r but we mainly discuss other topics such as:


How speculative fiction can be a tool for social change
The future's relationship with the present
What are the best ways to sell novels
And the role of place in storytelling, looking specifically at his home city, Oakland, in California

We also reflect on Eliot's creative influences like William Gibson and towards the end, we even speculate on the future of fiction.

This is a long conversation but I highly recommend listening to it in full. Eliot has a fascinating perspective - on almost everything - and it's a pleasure to see him think. I hope you enjoy it.

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Say hi to Eliot on Twitter: www.twitter.com/eliotpeper

Say hi to Dhru on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dhrupadkarwa

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Mentioned:

Lit Visions Substack - for essays, podcast summaries, novel suggestions and discussions on the future of literature

Reap3r by Eliot Peper

The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth

1984 by George Orwell

Star Wars (Original Trilogy)

The Martian by Andy Weir

Pattern Recognition by William Gibson

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

In this debut episode, I speak with James Yu, who is a writer, technologist and artist, based in San Francisco. James is the co-founder of Sudowrite, the AI assistant for creative writers, and he also makes art that explores how technology mediates our everyday experience. The conversation largely explores fiction through the lens of technology. 

We cover topics such as: fiction's relationship with AI, the tension between craft and technology, how writers can adopt and leverage new tools and how society's need for fiction has changed over the years.  

Say hi to James on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jamesjyu
Say hi to James on Instagram: www.instagram.com/jamesyu
Say hi to Dhru on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dhrupadkarwa
Say hi to Dhru on Instagram: www.instagram.com/dkarwa

Show notes:

0:00 - Introduction
1:55 - What fiction means to James
3:23 - On engineering and writing  
6:53 - AI and creative tools
14:02 - Tension between craft and technology
16:15 - Robin Sloan on 'stock and flow'
18:28 - Poisonous ideal of log cabin writers
19:50 - Kazuo Ishiguro on social media
22:55 - Books written by AIs
29:33 - Human++ and Digital Muses
30:40 - Relationships with books and authors
32:05 - Combinatorial creativity
38:35 - The ego
44:39 - Society's need for fiction
52:20 - How novels serve us
54:50 - Future of storytelling
58:53 - On Ted Chiang and T.C. Boyle
1:02:55 - Future of Fiction  

Links:

Sudowrite: www.sudowrite.com
Robin Sloan on 'stock and flow': www.snarkmarket.com/2010/4890
Kazuo Ishiguro on social media: www.wordfest.com/2021/watch/kazuo-ishiguro-on-social-media
Ted Chiang's short stories: www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/ted-chiangs-soulful-science-fiction
T.C. Boyle: www.tcboyle.com
Lit Visions: www.litvisions.substack.com