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The traffic is back! This is what you would hear from your friends, colleagues who have resumed commuting to the office and my opinion is no different. I shuffle between self-drive, cab, and public transport and can feel the noticeable increase in the traffic between the covid and present days. Cycling is ruled out due to the distance 🙂
The usual options during the commute were to listen to the Radio, Songs on CD (incase you remember)/USB drive, but I rarely listen to these nowadays. I remember reading somewhere that many FM radio stations are closing due to low patronage. Couple of the ways I have managed to deal with the commuting boredom or stress is listening to Podcasts and Audiobooks. Podcasts are the best things to have happened in the recent past and I think its a win – win to both the content creators and content listeners. Bear with the Podcaster talking about their sponsors at the beginning and the end and you can listen to uninterrupted content. Don’t like something, skip it and you are in total control in terms of interests.
As I work in the InfoSec, I started off with the podcasts around this topic to keep myself up-to-date, but later added other areas once the routine set in. I have found some of these podcasts very enriching and hence thought of sharing. Irrespective of commute or not, it is better to set aside some time in the day for listening to audio books or podcasts:
The Darknet Diaries
If you work in the security field or just even an enthusiast, this is a great one. Jack Rhsyider interviews the people from the wide range of spectrum in the security industry ranging from hackers to CxOs, Hacktivists, self proclaimed vigilantes, Rappers, Social Engineers, Regime Survivors and more. My favorite episode was one about the investigation on Linkedin Incident , which actually led to breaches in other companies. If you are on the defensive side of the security, you can actually use this as a benchmark for enhancing security in your own companies. All the TTPs will unravel as you listen and you can connect the dots. What I also like about this podcast is the music from BreakMaster Cylinder (fancy name eh!) which is pleasant to hear unlike the opening and closing notes of many podcasts.
Work Life by Adam Grant
This is not related to InfoSec but do not miss this one as it touches various aspects of professional and personal life skills. Some of the episodes that have I have found very helpful include “The 4 Deadly Sins of Work Culture“, “How to Rethink a Bad Decision“, “Networking for People who hate Networking”
Some of the pointers in the podcasts talks about identifying the traits of the organisation culture before joining using a method called as culture audits. The podcast episode mentioned above in itself deserves a separate writeup and I will share some thoughts on them in future
Huberman Lab Podcast
Andrew Huberman is a neurobiologist. What the heck does Neurobiologist have to do with security for me to be recommending this ? Well, there are couple of changes I did based on this podcast and is helping me in my journey of physical and mental fitness including sleeping well ! Huberman podcasts are usually long (~1.5 hours on an average) and very detailed. Topics include managing stress, sleeping well, improving gut health. Handy tip: Do make you are not actually driving while listening this to Huberman’s podcast as any missed out attention will require listening from scratch 🙂
CISO Series Podcast
 If you are someone who works in the field of Information Security you will enjoy listening to this show as the speakers talk from a corporate angle dealing with vendors, the board, the management, peering teams. The podcasts are short with most of them ranging from 10-20 minutes and is hosted by David Spark. A few topics that I liked include: “A look back at the Foolish Security Policies of Past and Present”, “After a Breach Its really easy to calculate Risk“, “Finding the perfect Time to Quit Your Job“,
When Audiobooks launched, I was skeptical initially but soon one book led to another and currently there are close to 20+ audiobooks in the library some of which I have listened to again. I listen to them not just during the commute but also during workouts, walks and even as a break from work. Most of the podcasts I listen to are themed around Information Security with the exception of few. Here are some of the books I have been listening/reading (mostly in audio book format) and it includes both fiction and non-fiction as well
Fascinating book on the journey of Hacker Culture, the origin of DefCon, Blackhat, hacktivism, CyberLegal stuff and a lot more
Why I Am an Atheist and Other Works
This is the collection of letters Indian Revolutionary Bhagat Singh wrote while he was imprisoned
Permanent Record
Biography on Snowden, great insights on inner workings of surveillance program at NSA
The Phoenix Project
Book that made concept of DevOps popular
Ikigai
Self-help / motivational
Talking to Strangers
Non-fiction and a book that touches upon Inherent biases and how it affects our judgements
Zero to One
From the Startup guru Peter Thiel, its actually notes from his lecture classes which a student compiled
Essential Calvin and Hobbes
Calvin fan, hence 🙂 PS: This is a kindle ebook
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth Chris Hadfield
Fan of Space and Astronauts, hence
The Goal
More like a precursor to The Phoenix Project, can draw parallel to modern day monolits
Outliers
Name says it all
The order of Time
A good read on the captured history of time measurement. Felt this was philosophical as well during the listening of audiobook, probably will listen to it again.
Atomic Habits (still listening)
The Almanac of Naval Ravikant (still reading)
What are your tips to beat the commuting boredom ? Feel free to share through comments:
