Senthil Veeraraghavan
@senthilv.bsky.social
Wharton/Penn Prof.
operations. ephemera. writing. travel. 🇮🇳 🇺🇸
Newsletter: http://senthilv.substack.com
operations. ephemera. writing. travel. 🇮🇳 🇺🇸
Newsletter: http://senthilv.substack.com
Pinned
Steering The Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story
A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story
bookshop.org
2025 Reads:
Trying out a belated 2025 book-thread (will add to the list as we go along).
1/ Loved reading (and working through) this advice from Ursula Le Guin.
bookshop.org/p/books/stee...
Trying out a belated 2025 book-thread (will add to the list as we go along).
1/ Loved reading (and working through) this advice from Ursula Le Guin.
bookshop.org/p/books/stee...
The Thing with Feathers
Reflections on Separation, Education and Agency
senthilv.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Photo finish at a marathon is truly all kinds of crazy.
September 15, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Photo finish at a marathon is truly all kinds of crazy.
Honestly, mind boggling. Both in terms of how much surgery has advanced and the physiology of the human eye that can make this work.
Brent Chapman can see again after doctors pulled out one of his teeth, flattened it, drilled a hole in it, placed a lens inside and implanted the tooth in one of his eyes. on.nbcboston.com/mRI06Sh
Man, 34, is no longer blind after tooth is implanted in eye in 'crazy' surgery
Tooth-in-eye surgery sounds like science fiction, but it can help people with severely damaged corneas see again. A patient and his doctors describe what it's like.
on.nbcboston.com
September 12, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Honestly, mind boggling. Both in terms of how much surgery has advanced and the physiology of the human eye that can make this work.
Supply chains data for Bullwhip effect: Stockpiling inventories.
Tariff inflation effects are just getting started.
(via Apollo)
(via Apollo)
August 28, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Supply chains data for Bullwhip effect: Stockpiling inventories.
Young Jane Austen was both audacious and hilarious. She wrote this littlest book when she was only 16 and calls herself "a partial, prejudiced and ignorant historian". Nice illustrations by her sister Cassandra.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/78...
www.goodreads.com/book/show/78...
July 7, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Young Jane Austen was both audacious and hilarious. She wrote this littlest book when she was only 16 and calls herself "a partial, prejudiced and ignorant historian". Nice illustrations by her sister Cassandra.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/78...
www.goodreads.com/book/show/78...
Jennifer's Body (2009) -- a movie that seemed a bit too clever and panned when it was released, but has grown better with time. It is way funnier than (and not as preachy as) Juno.
letterboxd.com/film/jennife...
letterboxd.com/film/jennife...
Jennifer's Body (2009)
Jennifer, a gorgeous, seductive cheerleader takes evil to a whole new level after she's possessed by a sinister demon. Now it's up to her best friend to stop Jennifer's reign of terror before it's too...
letterboxd.com
May 16, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Jennifer's Body (2009) -- a movie that seemed a bit too clever and panned when it was released, but has grown better with time. It is way funnier than (and not as preachy as) Juno.
letterboxd.com/film/jennife...
letterboxd.com/film/jennife...
Not yet published in US. A dear friend visited UK and gifted me with a signed copy of @willdalrymple.bsky.social William Dalrymple's amazing latest book, The Golden Road. Just finished reading. Particularly *loved* the sections on Xuanzang and the Pallavas and Mamallapuram. Notes to follow soon.
April 25, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Not yet published in US. A dear friend visited UK and gifted me with a signed copy of @willdalrymple.bsky.social William Dalrymple's amazing latest book, The Golden Road. Just finished reading. Particularly *loved* the sections on Xuanzang and the Pallavas and Mamallapuram. Notes to follow soon.
Supply chains need many partners and finished goods need EVERY part. Do not trust confident predictions on prices.
cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thu...
cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thu...
April 16, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Supply chains need many partners and finished goods need EVERY part. Do not trust confident predictions on prices.
cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thu...
cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thu...
I was mentioning that there was going to be an inventory problem. First it was used car supply, now it is new vehicles.
Spikes/uncertainties in demand are bad for inventory planning. Excess inventories means locking up cash. Low inventories means suffering shortages.
cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thu...
Spikes/uncertainties in demand are bad for inventory planning. Excess inventories means locking up cash. Low inventories means suffering shortages.
cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thu...
April 16, 2025 at 1:33 PM
I was mentioning that there was going to be an inventory problem. First it was used car supply, now it is new vehicles.
Spikes/uncertainties in demand are bad for inventory planning. Excess inventories means locking up cash. Low inventories means suffering shortages.
cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thu...
Spikes/uncertainties in demand are bad for inventory planning. Excess inventories means locking up cash. Low inventories means suffering shortages.
cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thu...
My favorite SF book series in last few years is now on Apple TV. I hope TV gets the humor of the books right.
If you're going to watch Murderbot on Apple TV, consider adding it to your watchlist. It's kind of like pre-ordering a book, it tells the streaming service that you're there for our show.
Link for US viewers: tv.apple.com/us/show/murd... (You can also search for it on the app.)
Link for US viewers: tv.apple.com/us/show/murd... (You can also search for it on the app.)
Watch Murderbot - Apple TV+
In a high-tech future, a rogue security robot (Alexander Skarsgård) secretly gains free will. To stay hidden, it reluctantly joins a new mission prote…
tv.apple.com
April 15, 2025 at 8:59 PM
My favorite SF book series in last few years is now on Apple TV. I hope TV gets the humor of the books right.
Reposted by Senthil Veeraraghavan
China Orders Boeing Jet Delivery Halt as Trade War Expands www.bloomberg.com/news/article... (via @bloomberg.com)
China Orders Boeing Jet Delivery Halt as Trade War Expands
China has ordered its airlines not to take any further deliveries of Boeing Co. jets as part of the tit-for-tat trade war that’s seen US President Donald Trump levy tariffs of as high as 145% on Chine...
www.bloomberg.com
April 15, 2025 at 10:44 AM
China Orders Boeing Jet Delivery Halt as Trade War Expands www.bloomberg.com/news/article... (via @bloomberg.com)
Second part of my essay - focusing on challenges facing Manufacturing in the US.
senthilv.substack.com/p/the-sentin...
senthilv.substack.com/p/the-sentin...
The Sentinel #31: Tariffs, Part II: Constraints on Manufacturing Locally
Five Challenges Facing "Make in America". Storms, Seas and Stability.
senthilv.substack.com
April 14, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Second part of my essay - focusing on challenges facing Manufacturing in the US.
senthilv.substack.com/p/the-sentin...
senthilv.substack.com/p/the-sentin...
This is going to hurt Electronics and Semiconductor supply chains and increase prices regardless of tariff exemptions.
China halts critical rare earth exports as trade war intensifies www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/b... (via @nytimes.com)
China Halts Critical Rare Earth Exports as Trade War Intensifies
Beijing has suspended exports of certain rare earth minerals and magnets that are crucial for the world’s car, semiconductor and aerospace industries.
www.nytimes.com
April 13, 2025 at 7:13 PM
This is going to hurt Electronics and Semiconductor supply chains and increase prices regardless of tariff exemptions.
Reposted by Senthil Veeraraghavan
China halts critical rare earth exports as trade war intensifies www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/b... (via @nytimes.com)
China Halts Critical Rare Earth Exports as Trade War Intensifies
Beijing has suspended exports of certain rare earth minerals and magnets that are crucial for the world’s car, semiconductor and aerospace industries.
www.nytimes.com
April 13, 2025 at 7:11 PM
China halts critical rare earth exports as trade war intensifies www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/b... (via @nytimes.com)
True supply chain costs unfortunately being realized.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/u...
In South Carolina, a Once Thriving Textile Hub Is Baffled by Trump’s Tariffs
The Upstate region of South Carolina was saved by foreign companies after the fall of its textile industry. Now, tariffs pose another round of uncertainty.
www.nytimes.com
April 13, 2025 at 7:11 PM
True supply chain costs unfortunately being realized.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/u...
It is a click-baity title, but an article worth reading at least to understand the arguments. My question is: How can sprawl coexist with strict 5-day RTOs to Headquarters?
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/m...
America Needs More Sprawl to Fix Its Housing Crisis
The word has become an epithet for garish, reckless growth — but to fix the housing crisis, the country needs more of it.
www.nytimes.com
April 10, 2025 at 7:00 PM
It is a click-baity title, but an article worth reading at least to understand the arguments. My question is: How can sprawl coexist with strict 5-day RTOs to Headquarters?
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/m...
This is an under appreciated supply chain point -- money locked up in excess inventories is no good. To be lean is to grow. Tariff fears make firms stockpile inventories, which leads to bad economic growth outcomes.
What some people aren’t factoring into their analysis is the reality that companies were buying tons of inventory to beat the tariffs.
That’s cash taken from being able to invest or hire. In fact the probably cut costs and jobs as a result.
#econsky
That’s cash taken from being able to invest or hire. In fact the probably cut costs and jobs as a result.
#econsky
April 9, 2025 at 7:42 PM
This is an under appreciated supply chain point -- money locked up in excess inventories is no good. To be lean is to grow. Tariff fears make firms stockpile inventories, which leads to bad economic growth outcomes.
Sheila Fitzpatrick is a serious historian of Modern Russia and the USSR who studies "history from below" (in her words). I thought this book idea was a bit of a joke, but she succeeds - absolutely excels at making it interesting, funny and informative.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/59...
www.goodreads.com/book/show/59...
The Shortest History of the Soviet Union
In 1917, Bolshevik revolutionaries came to power in the…
www.goodreads.com
April 9, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Sheila Fitzpatrick is a serious historian of Modern Russia and the USSR who studies "history from below" (in her words). I thought this book idea was a bit of a joke, but she succeeds - absolutely excels at making it interesting, funny and informative.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/59...
www.goodreads.com/book/show/59...
Seems like the premium for fast shipments is way less than the additional tariffs. Not to forget, there can be higher prices anyway.
Officials: Apple sent five planes full of iPhones and other products from India to the US in just three days in the last week of March to avoid the 10% tariff (Times of India)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
April 9, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Seems like the premium for fast shipments is way less than the additional tariffs. Not to forget, there can be higher prices anyway.
Hope still floats!
This is delightful:
Trading cards depicting local, middle-aged men take off in the Japanese town of Kawara
www.tokyoweekender.com/entertainmen...
Trading cards depicting local, middle-aged men take off in the Japanese town of Kawara
www.tokyoweekender.com/entertainmen...
Middle-Aged Man Trading Cards Go Viral in Rural Japan Town
A trading card game consisting of real-life ojisan (middle-aged men) are going viral with kids in the city of Kawara in Fukuoka Prefecture.
www.tokyoweekender.com
April 8, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Hope still floats!
Generally, from my own usage experience, I would rank Bluesky in my preference ordering in the following way in terms of interestingness and engagement.
Old Twitter >> Bluesky >> New Twitter (or X).
Possible because ...
Old Twitter >> Bluesky >> New Twitter (or X).
Possible because ...
April 8, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Generally, from my own usage experience, I would rank Bluesky in my preference ordering in the following way in terms of interestingness and engagement.
Old Twitter >> Bluesky >> New Twitter (or X).
Possible because ...
Old Twitter >> Bluesky >> New Twitter (or X).
Possible because ...
Amazing book. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn recommended by my kids. (LMNOP)
A whole town goes into disarray as they drop random letters in speech in bowing to one man. A timely commentary on free speech, disbelief, rumors and fall of logic in totalitarian rulings.
www.amazon.com/Ella-Minnow-...
A whole town goes into disarray as they drop random letters in speech in bowing to one man. A timely commentary on free speech, disbelief, rumors and fall of logic in totalitarian rulings.
www.amazon.com/Ella-Minnow-...
April 7, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Amazing book. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn recommended by my kids. (LMNOP)
A whole town goes into disarray as they drop random letters in speech in bowing to one man. A timely commentary on free speech, disbelief, rumors and fall of logic in totalitarian rulings.
www.amazon.com/Ella-Minnow-...
A whole town goes into disarray as they drop random letters in speech in bowing to one man. A timely commentary on free speech, disbelief, rumors and fall of logic in totalitarian rulings.
www.amazon.com/Ella-Minnow-...
Reposted by Senthil Veeraraghavan
Breaking: Whirlpool announces they are laying off 651 American workers in Iowa, citing the economic conditions under Trump.
Whirlpool Corp. announces Iowa's largest layoff of 2025 in Amana manufacturing facility
A statement from Whirlpool said the layoffs are the result of reduced consumer demand for products made in Amana, primarily refrigeration units.
www.desmoinesregister.com
April 3, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Breaking: Whirlpool announces they are laying off 651 American workers in Iowa, citing the economic conditions under Trump.
Good on Princeton.
Princeton has announced that it is considering selling approximately $320 million of taxable bonds. The bonds are a way for the University to raise short-term funds. The major credit-rating agencies rate University bonds AAA, the highest level of creditworthiness.
Princeton considers issuing bonds same day as federal government pauses grants
The University announced its consideration to sell approximately $320 million of taxable bonds on Tuesday, following a notification from government agencies about the suspension of research grants.
www.dailyprincetonian.com
April 2, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Good on Princeton.