About

I created Syntopikon to explore topics that interest me and might interest you. I'll explain what each section is for here instead of using up valuable space on other pages.

But first, pray tell, who are you?

My name's Yuvraj, though I usually go by Raj. I work on a few different things, most recently a book scheduled to be published in December 2022 by Oxford University Press, My Fellow Americans: Presidents and Their Inaugural Addresses. I asked 64 historians to write an essay on each inaugural address and, shockingly, they did. 🙃

I live in the Bay Area. Drop me a line at hello@syntopikon.com if you're in the area or if you have any questions. I'm happy to answer what I can or point you in a direction.

Home

Blog posts are meant to be ephemeral. It could be about an event that just occurred, my thoughts on recent news or goings-on, something I found interesting in an article, and other similar things. Most of them will be shorter than the other kinds of posts.

Workflows

Everyone has questions about how people do what they do. What tools do they use? What's their schedule like? How do they accomplish so much? How did they get where they are?

This is an effort to answer all those questions, and more, through short interviews with people doing interesting things, in any industry. This was heavily inspired by Uses This, which I highly recommend.

If there's someone you'd like me to interview, or if you want to suggest someone you know, drop me a line at hello@syntopikon.com. Two, twenty, or two-hundred individuals working in the same space may have gotten there in wildly different ways, or approach some things differently.

Essays

Essays will be longer and more thought-out than blog posts. They're meant to be timeless, though how well I accomplish that is up to you to judge, dear reader. An essay could be on any number of topics, though I'll tag them appropriately.

Reviews

I read a lot of books, watch a lot of movies, listen to a lot of music, and play (not a lot) of video games. I find that I remember them more and enjoy them better if I write down my thoughts. Once I finish something, I'll compile my thoughts and post them here.

Current # of Notes to Digitize: 51 😅

What's up with the name Syntopikon?

To preempt this question, perhaps unsuccessfully, the name comes from Mortimer J. Adler's How to Read a Book. Syntopical reading is when you read several books about a particular topic to synthesize the knowledge and, just maybe, strike out in a new direction. But "Syntopikon" looks cooler, so here we are.

Anyways, I highly recommend the book.

What if I just want to stay updated?

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