From podcasts to mind mapping: Indulge in these unique experiences

Representative Image

Apple has gone and silently added an app to their collection, that's warming the hearts of many music lovers. Gone are the days of listening to low-quality audio. Now, just log onto Apple Music Classical (included in your Apple Music subscription) and listen to the largest catalogue of Western classical music in the world. There are three standout features. First is the granularity (the scale or level of detail in a set of data) of the search feature. Classical pieces of music often have many different versions - according to the conductor and the orchestra that performed them. The app, with sections divided into composers, conductors, periods, soloists, orchestras, etc, makes it easier for the listener to take a deep dive. Secondly, the audio quality, which Apple offers makes sure it's an immersive experience. And thirdly, it also showcases new releases in the genre.
Available on App Store for iPhone and iPad

Who is Adnan Syed?

Sarah Koenig

The story of Adnan Syed is something that even the most creative of writers couldn't have imagined. Syed's story was featured in OG true-crime podcast Serial and is back in the news after an appellate court in Maryland reinstated the conviction that accused him of murdering his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. The podcast was originally released in October 2014 and became a worldwide phenomenon after journalist Sarah Koenig raised questions about the lack of evidence used to convict Syed back in 1999, when he was only 17. In September of 2022 and after more than a decade-long citizen movement ‘Free Syed' the 1999 conviction was overturned placing him under house arrest. If you haven't had a chance to hear this podcast yet, we assure you it will be worth your time.
Stream on Spotify

Mind mapping

Tory Press

The mind is a wanderer - almost random, if one may say - feeling happy or otherwise grieving, and sometimes, just still. But through all these highs and lows, wouldn't it just be lovely, to have someone speak to us and articulate, how our mind is feeling. Artist, writer, self-love advocate and therapy enthusiast, Tory Press's Instagram page @revelatori compels you to listen to yourself, and be less judgy about your capriciousness. Through illustrated sketchnotes, Press who also admits to be highly anxious, talks about death, grief, depression, hurt, heartbreak, happiness, and how to be resilient. Often taking recourse in therapy, she also delves deeper into how to feel better. A post, which we most loved, is where she spoke about "holding two opposing truths at once" and living with these multitudes and reconciling with them. This is a lovely page to just feel seen and heard.
@revelatori, Instagram

A walk in the clouds

If you want to run like the wind (and who doesn't), this shoe will help you out. The new Ultraboost Light shoes for women by Adidas is touted to be their lightest Ultraboost. As soon as we wore them, we felt like we were literally walking on air. We ran, jumped, spun around, and felt the shoe supported us. It also elevated us, so we felt taller, and stood straighter if that's possible. It also made our soles feel as if we were covered in a flexible material, easy to stretch and bend. The boost technology prides itself on its cushioning properties and is designed to cope with a wide range of temperatures, making it the kind of running shoe that can pound through wind, snow, sun, rain - whatever - with no issues. Well, since monsoon is coming up, this writer is happier she can look forward to her outdoor workouts no matter what.
Available at Adidas outlets

A crash course on cybercrimes

DGP Ashok Kumar and OP Manocha

As cybercrimes proliferate in numbers as well as in terms of the methods employed by the perpetrators, a latest book on the subject to hit the stands would make for good reading this weekend. Cyber Encounters: Cops' adventures with Online Criminals, delves into 13 different types of cybercrimes, all of which are widely prevalent today. Authored by Ashok Kumar, Director General of Police, Uttarakhand and OP Minocha, a retired scientist with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), it touches upon rackets such as honey trapping, lottery scams, money-doubling scams and impersonation. What sets the book apart from the myriad others on the same topic is the fact that it has been written in the simplest of words, with the entire modus operandi of each crime broken down for everyone to understand in the form of a story. It picks up one single victim of each racket and narrates their story, while putting across every small detail of the crime at the same time. Further, Kumar does not shy away from being candid where the occasion demands. In the chapter on impersonation, he freely admits that he himself was impersonated by cyber-fraudsters conning people out of their money in the name of "contributions to the police fund". In another story, he talks about how a Brahmin police officer was uncomfortable sitting on a train next to a Cameroonian accused, because the latter only ate non-vegetarian food. Definitely worth a read!
Available on Amazon.in

Compiled by Aastha Atray Banan, Jane Borges, Gautam Mengle, Arpika Bhosale and Sharanya Kumar