Why I started listening to podcasts and why I just love Amit Varma’s The Seen and the Unseen?

It’s been a tough year. I think a lot of people, including myself, have figured a lot about ourselves during this year where we got the opportunity to spend a lot of time with oneself and our loved ones confined in a space. The initial few days and weeks were quite tough. I’m sure many of you are able to relate to me — I think all of us were struggling to adjust to the pandemic.

Suddenly the boundaries between work and personal life became very porous. I didn’t realize when I started working at home and unwinding at work. I remember looking at my desk one day, which was busy with books, stationery and random things and realizing it’s time for the desk to stop being a dumping ground for me. It was time for it to serve its purpose. That was when I built a complete home office to be able to go “sit” into work and “sit out” of work where home and work are the same physical manifestation. I believe all of us had to create these spaces in our homes and mind to be able to adapt.

Working from home gave me a lot of time to spend with myself since a lot of ambient time such as traveling to work, walking around in the office, stepping out for lunch, breaking for a coffee vanished. This inspired me to utilize this time for an old habit that had quietly slipped into the background as life took over in the past few years. I wanted to restart reading books — well that’s what I thought initially. I realized over time, I wanted to learn, absorb and just expand my knowledge. Reading was merely a means for me to learn about new things, different perspectives but more-so a time-portal into an era I’ve wanted to be part of. I’ve generally gravitated towards non-fiction and that’s what I started to pick up during this pandemic.

I believe this context setting was important for me to fully explain why I finally stumbled upon the world of podcasts. In the quest for establishing a routine for myself in the pandemic and to also keep fit, I started walking a lot. I am not a big fan of running and I prefer doing that via a sport. I picked up a few news podcasts initially since I used to listen to the one off on my way to work in the public transit trains. Some of the great non-fiction podcasts I discovered were Economist Radio, WSJ Tech News Briefing, FT News Briefing, The Daily, 3 Things, The Joe Rogan Experience, Today, Explained. Although the news podcasts helped by being informative in nature, I wanted something more. That’s when I landed upon this podcast by Amit Varma, The Seen and the Unseen. I think this is when my podcast listening hit the zenith.

During the pandemic, I bought myself a bicycle just like many others around the world. Apart from it being the best way to see the city of Singapore, cycling was a good healthy habit that allowed me to go outdoors when we are locked in our houses. Instead of listening to music, I started listening to podcasts. The news podcasts weren’t engaging or lengthy enough. I did listen to a few Joe Rogan’s podcasts but I was hungry for something that spoke about issues and topics closer to home. The Seen and the Unseen was a breath of fresh air for me and I devoured the first couple episodes. I used to look forward to my cycling sessions where Amit Varma and his prolific guests would accompany me along the roads of Singapore talking about the most interesting topics. I realized how much podcasts enriched my knowledge and also helped counter my poor habit of not reading enough. It was like I just found a magical portal.

Apart from the extremely high quality content, I also appreciate Varma’s approach to the art of podcasting. His diverse background adds a lot of color to his thinking and something that I strongly relate to. I appreciate the fact that he did not cap the time limit so as to allow a healthy discussion and a to and fro and I’m equally thankful to all the guests on the show who allow him to do so. In this world of emoting in limited characters and byte size videos &reels, the podcast is breath of fresh air.

I know this post has become more of a endorsement for The Seen and the Unseen, however I need to acknowledge that Amit Varma’s work has allowed me to go and explore more podcasts and also to be more tolerant towards other podcast creators. I think to achieve that with a listener is commendable work. I think this is game-changing where I’m sure there are many like me whose behavior he’s been able to influence.

I encourage all of you out there who are interested in listening to powerful and thought-provoking conversations and stories to give it a shot themselves. Until then, I’m headed out for a walk now where I can’t wait to plug in my earphones and listen to the half completed almost-5 hour 200th episode of The Seen and the Unseen.