The Sunken Treasures

Sammy Davis Jr., a famed member of Sinatra's 'Rat Pack', was a black icon. History has judged him unfaithful to the black community due to his support for Richard Nixon. In this work, Malcolm Gladwell makes the case to revise and restructure our understanding of Sammy's life and his place in the world. In this week's episode, we discuss the pressure of being a 'token', privilege, and Richard Nixon...

This episode is a summary of the media discussed in the next episode. Sammy Davis Jr., a famed member of Sinatra's 'Rat Pack', was a black icon. History has judged him unfaithful to the black community due to his support for Richard Nixon. In this work, Malcolm Gladwell makes the case to revise and restructure our understanding of Sammy's life and his place in the world. In this week's episode, we...

Singapore achieved independence in 1965. Lee Kuan Yew, its first Prime Minister, turned it into the metropolis it is today. In 2013, in the twilight of his life, he put down his thoughts on the nations of the world and what he saw were possible futures for them. This week, we discuss the renowned statesman's views on Europe, India, Japan, Korea, and most importantly, Singapore. This is part of a t...

Singapore achieved independence in 1965. Lee Kuan Yew, its first Prime Minister, turned it into the metropolis it is today. In 2013, in the twilight of his life, he put down his thoughts on the nations of the world and what he saw were possible futures for them. This week, we discuss the renowned statesman's views on the United States and China, after seven decades of experience in politics. This...

Renowned by world leaders and businessmen alike, Singapore's founder Lee Kuan Yew occupied an important place among the great Statesmen of the world. He turned a poverty-ridden former British colony into today's Singapore. In his Twilight years, after 7 decades in politics, he wrote about his views on the countries of the world, their societies, and where he thought their trajectories were headed....

What happens when a musician's toolbox is used to break the rules? This week we discuss American conductor Leonard Bernstein's lecture at Harvard, 'The Unanswered Question'. Part of a lecture series discussing the intricacies of classical music, the lecture takes a turn. Bernstein talks about musicians breaking rules to achieve things similar to tradition but by different means. He...

In this week's episode, we delve into the complex world of Robert A. Heinlein's groundbreaking science fiction novel, Stranger in a Strange Land . Join us as we explore the nuanced themes of this seminal work, examining its profound social, religious, and philosophical implications. We discuss how Heinlein's depiction of an extraterrestrial-raised human challenges our notions of othern...

The world in 2027 is bleak. Mankind loses fertility and descends into a world without hope. As much of the world collapses into war and famine, London remains the sole city standing, still holding civilization. When a new hope arises in the form of a pregnant woman, she finds herself pulled by multiple forces. This episode brings us Alfonso Cuaron's 2006 film, Children Of Men. We chat with our...

What does it mean to be a human being? What, if anything, gives meaning to life? What are the aspects of 'Being'? Diving into the above questions and more is Tao Ruspoli's 2010 documentary, Being In The World. In this episode, we discuss what it means to be a human, if technology can ever compete with understanding the world as a human does, and how, if at all, could we prepare for a f...

What does it mean to be yourself? Can being our own vibrant selves be our best contribution to the world? Caroline McHugh explores. 'The art of being yourself' is a 2013 TED Talk by Caroline McHugh. This week we explore the ideas of Ego, Persona, and finding one's inner self. We discuss whether the self can ever be clearly defined and what it means to have different 'personas'...

Is a teacher's role to inform or to channel the thoughts of students? If not as a disciplinarian of a classroom, what can a teacher's role aspire to be? How pivotal are the younger years of a child's life to their learning destinies? Maria Montessori, in the 19th century, decides to find out. This week we discuss Italian physician and educator, Maria Montessori's work. Breaking into the then male-...

Who controls what information gets disseminated? Are substances like Ayahuasca merely recreational or are they a channel to something bigger? How far into our consciousness do we really ever reach? In this 2013, now-censored, TED talk, British writer Graham Hancock delves into the above questions. He makes a case for the Amazonian ritualistic practices involving hallucinogenic substances, being a...

A middle-school music teacher gets the gig of a lifetime to reach a dream that had long eluded him. Hopping away in joy, he meets his end as life presents him with an unwelcome gift - an accident. 'Soul' takes us along on his journey as he tries to escape the afterlife as a soul and learns the deeper ideas of purpose, life, and the 'spark'. Soul is a 2020 film by Pete Docter, the m...

After a young man from an impoverished neighbourhood is severely wounded in an act of police violence, people are on the edge. Protests wreak havoc and the threat of further violence is palpable. Against this grim backdrop, three young men question their place in the conflict and the world, even as one of them flirts with the idea of revenge. Mathieu Kassovitz's French crime drama from 1995, L...

Hector is a psychiatrist looking for happiness. Unhappy with his circumstance, he goes across the world in search of happiness. After confusion and peril, he comes upon the idea that it is not the 'pursuit of happiness' that one has to be concerned with, but the 'happiness of pursuit'. This week we discuss Peter Chelsom's 2014 movie, 'Hector and the Search for Happiness&#39...

The humanity of the future structures the world and human 'class' based on (convoluted) logic. Humans, almost manufactured, are assigned societal class at birth. Pain, quiet misery, and hopelessness ensue. This week, we pick up the conversations from Part 1 about society and class. Through the lens of Aldous Huxley's work from 1932, we discuss caste, structures of society, and the role...

Humanity of the future structures the world and human 'class' based on (convoluted) logic. Humans, almost manufactured, are assigned societal class at birth. Pain, quiet misery, and hopelessness ensue. This week we explore Brave New World, Aldous Huxley's work from 1932. We discuss the themes of class, conformity, and the tantalising farce of 'belonging to everyone'. Music by @...

The narrator draws a boa constrictor that swallowed an elephant whole. He finds, quite disappointedly, that adults can not see the glaringly obvious and prefer to call the drawing a 'hat'. The vexed narrator then begins a journey that soon finds him stuck in a desert. There he meets a Little Prince whose troubles seemingly span the universe. A story of planet-devouring Baobab trees, kings...

A (quite literal) Shakespearean drama. Inspired by Hamlet, Haider is set in the heavily militarized Indian region of Kashmir. Haider returns from university to find his father gone, his home destroyed, and his mother seemingly moved on. A tale of revenge, conflicted loyalties, and a 'half-widow' follows. Blood has stained the snows of Kashmir and the blot threatens to grow bigger. In this episode,...

January, 1776. It is mere months before the signing of the Declaration Of Independence. The Stamp Act and the American Revolution that it caused are more than a decade old. Amidst the turmoil, the fights, and years of debate, the masses remain divided between the patriots of America and the loyalists of the British Crown. A man has set upon writing for all to see what he believes to be the truth,...

Two women. A conversation across an ocean. And perhaps, across time. Young Nao comes home to Japan. A home she neither knows nor understands. In pain and directionless, she puts her story down for someone to read. A world away, someone does. Ruth. Nao's someone. A Time Being. Music by @fyahupondrums Sunken Treasures Email: thesunkentreasures@gmail.com

A man of music. A nation's love for his art. The quest to take it to him, an ocean away. Rodriguez's career in music never took off. Having started with odds stacked against him, he went on with his life, thankful for his window of opportunity. However, far away, unbeknownst to him, Rodriguez is a national idol. Life, and his fans, had other plans for him. Music by @fyahupondrums Sunken Tr...

Meet the gang of nerdy pirates! Alejandro, Cat, Danielle, Donovan, and Vikhyat (tiny group, we know), get together in this episode to talk about what brought them together, what the Sunken Treasures is, and what lies ahead. Here, the voyage begins. Music by @fyahupondrums Sunken Treasures Email: thesunkentreasures@gmail.com