There are numerous life lessons that you can take home from your computer science class. After all, computers and humans are not as different as one might think.

This episode is about "Algorithms to live by" - The computer science of human decisions by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths. My guest for the episode Merl Chandana is a researcher of the Data, Algorithms, and Policy team at LIRNEasia, and surely one of the most interesting people I know. 

Moments of insight, love, and compassion flow through Ajahn Brahm’s stories like rivers of hope. In nearly thirty years as a Buddhist monk, born and educated in the West but trained in the Thai forest tradition, Ajahn Brahm has gathered many poignant, engaging, and profound stories from the Buddhist philosophy. The book has 108 stories covering various aspects of life such as happiness, fear, pain, love, freedom, humility, suffering, wisdom, and many more. Even though the author is a Buddhist monk, the stories need no prior knowledge of the religion to be read, understood, and enjoyed. For anyone out there looking for a ray of positive energy for life, this book is a great read.

Humanity's quest to find the meaning of life is as old as the world. Many philosophical schools of thought have evolved around this problem. Today we rummage through absurdity and existentialism, and the Nobel prize-winning novel, "The Stranger"

Is it the difference between ethnicities that cause wars? Why do peace and harmony seem so far fetched?  I'm having a chat with my good friend Sumayya Ziyad about the award-winning novel, "The road from Elephant Pass", about ethnic conflict, civil war, and peace.

Is the planet already overcrowded? Will killing off some people help?  We have a chat about the best selling mystery thriller - 'Inferno' by Dan Brown, about the problem of World Overpopulation, and possible solutions.

A chat about the best-selling book "The monk who sold his Ferrari"; About new perspectives on life, its meaning and purpose. We also talk about the practices for self-improvement, and the stigma attached to Self-Help.