Taylor Swift has built an empire that redefines what it means to be an artist-entrepreneur. Her ownership battles, billion-dollar tours, and mastery of narrative have been hailed as a leadership blueprint for a new generation. Yet critics argue her success rests on singular talent, timing, and cultural lightning strikes that no strategy can replicate.

This episode debates whether Swift offers a replicable playbook for millennial leadership—or whether her empire proves she’s the rare exception who can’t be copied.

Previously a Fulbright Scholar, Fox International Fellow and Teaching Fellow at Yale, Gul has also been a Lead for the Digital Transformation of Industries at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, and an Expert on Higher Education, Entrepreneurship, and Industrial Policy at the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation in Vienna. His book The New Geography of Innovation won the Financial Times/McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize for writers under 35. 

In this episode you will learn

1. How the geography of innovation is shifting and what it means for the new world order 
   
2. The art of connecting innovation, geography, and ambition with the help of illustrative case studies
   
3. How to write a deeply-researched book
   

In order to thrive at work, must we always be working? For many young professionals, the hours outside work are no longer a refuge.

In this episode of Arguable, Dhruva and Utkarsh explore the shifting line between hobbies and side hustles, and what that says about careers today.

Are side hustles a smart form of insurance in an unpredictable economy, or a symptom of a culture that demands we monetise every interest?

Do they help us discover new sides of ourselves, or simply extend the workday into our free time? In order to thrive at work, must we always be working?

This episode explores whether the modern millennial’s embrace of stoicism, rigorous health routines, and padel reflects a genuine search for meaning or a set of coping mechanisms that ultimately fall short. Has the rise of self-discipline and structured lifestyles created a more resilient generation, or has it led to a quiet sense of emptiness masked by routine?

We examine the social and psychological roots of these trends, asking whether the appeal of ancient philosophy, physical optimisation, and curated leisure is a response to instability or a retreat from vulnerability and connection.

We live in an era of disciplinary chauvinism. While most hiring managers agree that deep generalists are precious for the modern workplace, they tend to hesitate before giving a shot to someone from a non-traditional background. That’s why it is important to study the careers of people like Arunima Anand who pivoted her career from literature and is building her category of one at Spotify, one of the fastest growing companies in the world. 

In this masterclass, you will learn

1. How to position yourself as a deep-generalist who can add tangible value from day 1

2. How to attract interesting opportunities in fast-growing sectors

3. How Spotify really works and why the Asian market is critical for its success 

Biography

Urvashi Prasad has spent the last 15 years trying to make the world a kinder, fairer, and better place through her policy-based interventions in heathcare. Armed with degrees from Cambridge and LSTH, she worked as a director at NITI Aayog, and was awarded the India-UK Achievers Award. 

In addition to sharing principles and frameworks for building meaningful careers in public policy, Urvashi opens up about losing her beloved father and being diagnosed with cancer soon after. 

We admire her resilience and are proud to share her story with you. Here you will learn

1. How governments attempt to address systemic challenges in sectors like healthcare

2. How young professionals can carve out interesting and impactful careers in public policy 

3. How to make sense of life when you lose your beloved parent and are diagnosed with cancer

   
   

Urvashi Prasad is a public health and policy advisor with over 15 years of leadership across government, academia, and grassroots innovation. As Director in the Office of the Vice Chairperson at NITI Aayog, India’s apex policy think tank, she helped shape the country’s COVID-19 response strategy, monitor Sustainable Development Goals in real time, and spearhead national programs advancing public health, gender equity, and social inclusion.

A co-author of India’s first Voluntary National Review presented at the UN High-Level Political Forum in 2017, Urvashi’s policy insights have been featured in 150+ publications globally. She is also the British Council’s UK Alumni Ambassador for SDG 10, an Honorary Professor at De Montfort University, UK, and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network. Her accolades include the India-UK Achievers Honors and recognition among India's most influential women. In 2023, she founded Spcace by Urvashi, a pioneering platform amplifying patient voices.

Diagnosed with Stage 4 ALK-positive lung cancer at age 35, Urvashi now brings lived experience to the policy table --challenging invisibility in cancer discourse and driving recognition of under-researched malignancies in young adults. Her advocacy bridges science, storytelling, and systemic reform.

She holds a master’s in public health from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, an MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise from Cambridge University, and a Bachelor's in Biological Sciences (Genetics) from the University of Birmingham, UK. In 2024, Urvashi received an honorary doctorate for her work in public health and policy.

Esther Wojcicki is a renowned educator and journalist, best known for her transformative parenting philosophy outlined in her books

In this episode, she shares the principles that guided her as a mother to Susan Wojcicki, former CEO of YouTube, Anne Wojcicki, founder of 23andMe, and Dr Janet Wojcicki, a professor of paediatrics at UCSF.

She reflects on how childhood trauma, loss and adversity can be met with trust, respect, independence, collaboration and kindness—the values at the heart of her TRICK framework.

We also explore how her philosophy contrasts with more authoritarian approaches to parenting, such as those advanced by Amy Chua in Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Esther argues that success does not require pressure or fear, but rather autonomy, connection, and trust.

Esther also discusses grief - a constant in most of our lives. This conversation goes well beyond parenting. It is about finding strength through meaning, creating space for healing, and choosing stories that uplift rather than confine. Esther’s insights offer a profound reminder that while loss is part of life, it does not have to define it.

What kind of economy does India need—not just to grow, but to serve its people with dignity and purpose? In this episode, we speak with Arun Maira, former Member of India’s Planning Commission, Chairman of BCG India, and author of Reimagining India’s Economy: An Inquiry into the Real Costs of Economic Growth.

Tracing his journey from Tata Motors to the highest levels of government, Maira reflects on what it takes to transform systems—both economic and institutional. He shares lessons from his work on industrial policy, capability-building, and ethical leadership, and calls for a bold shift away from GDP obsession toward a model grounded in inclusion, learning, and care.

We discuss:

• Why India is at a moral and economic crossroads

• What a “learning economy” looks like in practice

• How to design jobs-led growth that restores dignity to work

• Why systems thinking and listening must be central to leadership today

A compelling conversation with one of India’s most original thinkers on development, purpose, and how to shape an economy that works for everyone.

Podcast Description:
The nuclear family has become the dominant model in much of the world—but was its rise a step forward or a profound social loss?

Critics argue that the shift from joint families to nuclear households has led to loneliness, burnout, fragile caregiving systems, and the erosion of intergenerational wisdom. Joint families, they say, offered economic resilience, shared childcare, and a deep sense of belonging.

Supporters of the nuclear family, on the other hand, point to greater mobility, privacy, personal freedom, and protection from the toxic hierarchies that can exist in extended households.

In this episode, we explore the trade-offs:

• Has the nuclear family empowered individuals—or left them isolated?

• Did joint families offer support—or suppress autonomy?

• Is modern parenting sustainable without shared kin networks?

• Can we design a third path: community without control?

Private space travel once belonged in the realm of science fiction—but today, celebrities like Katy Perry are booking tickets on Blue Origin, and billionaires are launching rockets. In this episode, Dhruva and Utkarsh explore the growing role of private companies in space exploration and whether the shift away from government-led missions is cause for celebration or concern.

They delve into the tension between public and private funding: Should space exploration serve collective scientific goals or market incentives? Is "move fast and break things" the right ethos for a domain where failure can mean catastrophe? And as access to space becomes commercialized, who really benefits?

Supporters of private spaceflight argue it accelerates innovation, lowers costs, and inspires a new generation. But critics warn of widening inequalities, neglected public priorities, and the commodification of what many view as a shared human frontier.

Beyond rockets and revenue, this conversation grapples with deeper questions of purpose, responsibility, and who gets to write humanity’s next chapter among the stars.