📚 #246 The Bets with Howard Marks, To Your Heart’s Content, The Whole Truth Story, Advancements in Self-driving Cars

Events Ticket Chaos, Shadowing a Hospitalist, Inspiring Public Spaces & Little Moments of Joy

Jan 19, 2026

Hello,

Welcome to Stay Curious #246.

Over the past few months, I have noticed a clear change in the readership of this newsletter. Some long time readers have quietly drifted away. A few new ones have joined and are still getting a feel for this place. I won’t lie. Losing the attention of people you thought you had does not feel great.

At the same time, I know I have been that reader too. I have followed many blogs with dedication, until one day they stopped holding my interest. Sometimes the topic changed. Sometimes the ideas started repeating. Sometimes the novelty just wore off.

That is the tricky part of building for attention. If you choose to play this game, it takes real effort to keep it interesting, again and again.

I read a line in an email today that stayed with me. “If you’re like me, you will like it.” It sounds bold, even a little boastful. But it also does something important. It frees the curator from trying to please everyone. In one line, the choice is made clear, and the responsibility shifts to the reader.

What do you think of this?

🎙️ The Bets with Howard Marks

I recently discovered Howard Marks’ memos and have loved every one I have read so far. His writing blends history, philosophy, human behavior, and the mechanics of finance and investing. It gives you a clear window into how he thinks, and offers a solid reference for sharpening your own judgment. His curiosity ranges wide, which is why his lessons come from such varied places. This memo from 2020 is a great example.

Listen: The Archive: You Bet!

Or Read: You Bet!

Here is how he sums up his approach to decision making:

By my stage in life – if not well before – one should have figured out his strengths and weaknesses
and tilted his activities toward the former. I’ve concluded that my strengths include the ability to:
frame questions,
logically organize data and weigh pros and cons,
know what I don’t know,
accept that future outcomes aren’t predictable,
think about the future probabilistically, and
make decisions incorporating all of the above (although far from always correctly).

Such succinct outline for 6 lessons that can take you to the path of greatness.

In this memo, he reflects on his life as a gambler. Card games, bets, chance driven pursuits - all that shaped up his thinking & decision making. He shows how closely investing mirrors gambling, and how much it can learn from it. It is a masterclass on decision making.

We often underestimate games. Yet they reveal so much about human behaviour and offer powerful models for thinking clearly under uncertainty.

I highly recommend this one.

▶️ To Your Heart’s Content

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered Utsav and Chuck’s podcast, To Your Heart’s Content. Thanks to Devansh Malik for pointing me to it.

I started with the episode featuring Praveen Gopal Krishnan from The Ken on building journalism as a product. Within minutes, I knew why this podcast came so highly recommended.

A few snippets stayed with me.

On how stories boil down to emotion

“The really great stories are the ones where you can describe it in one paragraph… in one line… in one word. The greatest stories’ one‑word description is usually an emotional word.” ⁠

On journalism as product, not just service

“What I really like… is how journalism itself is a product… writing fiction or cinema is actually not very different from writing a business story.” ⁠

And PGK’s story about a writer’s conviction survives long gaps

“For almost 10 years I hadn’t written anything… yet I held a private belief only I had—that I’m a writer. That illustrated food‑tech story gave me the confidence I can do this.”

I have loved Utsav’s work for a long time. Some of the best writing I have read from any Indian creator. So I was not surprised that the rest of the series lived up to the promise. It truly stands out.

The guest lineup is refreshingly different. These are not the usual content creators. The themes are well thought through. The conversations feel light, honest, and deeply engaging. Three curious people talking about what they genuinely care about. No fluff. No loud claims.

I have enjoyed every episode I have heard so far and I am excited to dive into the rest this week. To give you a sense of the vibe, here are the episodes I have listened to and would recommend if you enjoy thoughtful content and conversations around community.

How Creators and Sub-Cultures Evolve with Dhruv Sheth (of OML & m19collective)
How Ideas turn into Communities with Ajit Bhaskar (of Thindi Capital)
In Praise of ‘Being Inefficient’ with Meeta Malhotra (of The Hard Copy)

▶️ The Whole Truth Story

Shashank Mehta and The Whole Truth stand out as one of the brightest brand building stories in the Indian ecosystem. Not because of flashy campaigns or polished ads, but because a single clear idea has grown into a movement. That idea shows up everywhere. In the product. In the communication. In the culture. And in the people.

I am a big fan of their content and brand marketing. Samarth Bansal has been a real inspiration, and I would love to work with someone like him. Yes, I am hiring, so if you know him or anyone with a similar mindset, please reach out.

This conversation between Jaydeep Barman of Rebel Foods and Shashank Mehta offers a clear view into how The Whole Truth became what it is today. Shashank is a natural storyteller, and Jaydeep asks the right questions to draw those stories out.

Watch: Jaydeep Barman’s Interaction with Shashank Mehta

A few highlights that stayed with me.

On purpose, creation, and playing to strengths

“I was clear early on that the point of life is happiness… I’m most happy when I’m creating… so I have to build to my strengths, not try to get better at my weaknesses.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

On how bad times make leaders

“Bad times create good leaders, good leaders create good times, good times create soft leaders, soft leaders create bad times—this loop never ends.” ⁠

I highly recommend this conversation to anyone interested in storytelling, culture building, and using content as the core of a brand.

📝 Advancements in Self Driving Cars

We hear so much about AI these days that another once magical technology, self driving cars, almost feels like a side show on a second stage.

Zvi Mowshowitzi’s recent post does a great job covering the latest developments and debates in this space. I do not follow self driving closely, so much of this was new, interesting, and even exciting for me.

Zvi has a distinctive way of reporting news. Short snippets paired with his sharp commentary. It works really well.

Read: Advancements In Self-Driving Cars

Here are a few snippets that stood out.

On Challenges with Waymo on Highway

Waymo is going to start using freeways in Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco. That’s a big deal for longer rides, but there is still the problem that Waymos have to obey the technical speed limit. On freeways no huamn driver does this, so obeying the technical speed limit is both slower and more dangerous. We are going to need a regulatory solution, ideally that allows you to drive at the average observed speed.

How bikers can be safer with more Self-driving cars on road

Waymos will reliably yield to bikes, use its turn signals and obey the rules. When you are biking, the problem is tail risk can literally kill you, so you have to constantly be paranoid that any given car will do something unexpected or crazy. With a Waymo, you don’t have to worry about that.

[via Tyler, MR Blog]

📝 Fixing the Event Tickets Chaos

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Coldplay’s tours, India’s cricket matches, and many other live events. Every time a big event is announced, we hear the same stories. Booking tickets is painful. Seats sell out in seconds. Soon after, the same tickets show up on Reddit, Facebook groups, and college mailing lists.

This is not a local problem. It is a global one. Regulators and policymakers have been wrestling with it for decades (even centuries) ever since we invented admission tickets.

A talk by Professor Eric Budish from Chicago Booth to the FTC digs into this problem in a thoughtful way. His slides were part of an FTC workshop back in 2019, well before many of the recent high profile events. Yet the way he breaks down the issue, and explores possible solutions, feels very relevant even today.

His approach draws from economic theory, making it both a useful refresher and a great way to stretch your thinking. A fascinating read.

Read: How to Fix the Market for Event Tickets

[via Tyler, MR Blog]

📝 Notes on Shadowing a Hospitalist

HumanInvariant has shown up many times in the feeds of people I follow, so I finally decided to dig in. I started with a recent piece about shadowing a hospitalist, and it pulled me in right away.

In case you are wondering,

A hospitalist is a generalist doctor responsible for patients while they are in the hospital. They go through similar training to the doctors you see for your annual check-ups.
Unlike ER doctors, who handle immediate crises hour-by-hour, hospitalists manage the day-to-day care of patients with serious but not immediately life-threatening conditions.

I do not recall seeing this role clearly defined in Indian hospitals, though I could be mistaken. Either way, the piece makes the role feel important and worth understanding.

Hospitalists function as medical coordinators. They are trained in high-level diagnosis but quick to refer to specialists for specific interventions. In many ways, they act like PMs of the hospital: aligning stakeholders, tracking progress, and ensuring patients are on course. They can order tests such as MRIs but typically leave interpretation and detailed recommendations to specialists (e.g. surgery).

Read: Notes on Shadowing a Hospitalist

The observations are sharp and full of details we usually miss. Here is one such example…

15 more where this came from. Well worth a read!

[via Sajith Pai’s Newsletter]

🖼️ Inspiring Public Spaces

Kovo 11 Park is a great example of designing for Everyone: Leisure, Play, and Social Connection

The park has been restructured around three essential principles—recreation, connectivity, and community engagement. Designed for both passive and active use, the new layout harmonizes different spatial zones to accommodate diverse users and activities.

See: Kovo 11 Park by Inout.designstudio

We need more such thoughtful design for our public spaces, this piece offers plenty of inspiration.

[via Dense Discovery]

✨ Little Moments of Joy

Also known as “Everything else…”. The small things that brought warmth, sparked joy, and made me appreciate life a little more.

Siddhartha Khosla’s background scores are pure bliss. They pull you back into the story and the moments. The beats and the tempo quietly lift every scene and make the experience richer. I often wonder if there is anyone close to this level of mastery in the Hindi film or TV world. If you want a taste of his work, the This Is Siddhartha Khosla playlist on Spotify is a great place to start.
Andrej Karpathy’s quick tip on how to use LLMs better.
Let’s get nerdy and learn about Dithering. Alas, this is just part 1, more to come soon. The site has more such explainers, well worth a click.

ICYMI, here is the link to last week’s post: