He was 'creatively dead.' Then he harnessed the power of boredom

We are in it right now, aren't we? The holiday season and all the parties that come with it. You've got your office parties. Your family feasts. Your neighborhood potlucks. And maybe you're good at these. You float around from corner to corner making appropriate small talk — deploying witty aphorisms like it's your J-O-B. You love this. You're the queen of the party. The sommelier of small talk.

This used to be me. I don't know exactly what happened — COVID, interviewing people for a living for a long time, age. Whatever. But it's not me anymore. Now, all I want to do is cut the talk about holiday plans or work drama and go right for the jugular. I want to ask the BIG existential questions and I want to ask them right from the get go. Yes, I know this is not so cool to do at parties. Luckily, I get to do that here!

I have been a fan of Hrishikesh Hirway for a long time. I listened to his , and his podcast (which will