index
000 Manifesto
001 Atomic Theory and Wasting Time
002 Recapped: March 2025
welcome to
the magpi
𓅪
a passion project by theia gabatan.
Recapped: March 2025
A non-exhaustive summary of my media diet from this month. Things I’ve read, listened to and watched.
THINGS I’VE BEEN READING:
I’ve been watching a lot more video essays this month which has taken the place of written essays that I would normally read.
[NON-FICTION] The Good Ancestor by Roman Krznaric // I started this book in November 2024 and finished it earlier this month. This is one of those books that should be read slowly over time so the ideas really marinate and settle and convert into behavioural change ✱✱✱✱
[NON-FICTION] The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer // I really enjoyed this and it’s a good intro to gift economies. I did however find it extremely repetitive. It’s an extended version of this essay published in Emergence Magazine ✱✱✱
[FICTION] The Garden of Time by J.G Ballard // On a big short-story kick as I ease back into fiction. This is one of my new favourites that explores how the wealthy have the means to suspend reality and insulate themselves from the outside world – though ultimately it is a futile exercise in escapism ✱✱✱✱
[NON-FICTION] Anatomy of a Trend by Henrik Vejlgaard // I wanted to learn more about how trends emerge and trend cycles, this was a good intro albeit quite outdated ✱✱✱
[NON-FICTION] [CURRENTLY READING] The Aristocracy of Talent by Adrian Wooldridge
[NON-FICTION] [CURRENTLY READING] On Creativity by David Bohm
THINGS I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:
H.O.O.D by KNEECAP ✱✱✱✱
Silver Springs by Fleetwood Mac ✱✱✱✱
KALAMANTINA by Saint Levant, Marwan Moussa ✱✱✱
Mr. Brew by El Michels Affair ✱✱✱
Get Your Brits Out by KNEECAP // Really obsessed with the energy and vibe of KNEECAP, feels very punk and anti-establishment ✱✱✱✱
I’d Love to Change the World by Ten Years After ✱✱✱✱
Corrida by Charif Magarbane ✱✱✱✱
[ALBUM] Cartoon Darkness by Amyl and The Sniffers ✱✱✱✱ // Punk is so back 🤘🏽
Customer Service by Sugar Pit // Retail/hospitality employee anthem ✱✱✱✱
Human Fly by The Cramps // I love the Cramps but also everything about this song reminds me of a fly ✱✱✱✱
THINGS I’VE BEEN WATCHING:
I’m back on Youtube so my watch history is EXTREMELY overinflated this month.
[VIDEO ESSAY] How to Erase a People by uncivilized // Genuinely one of the best things I saw this month. An incredible deep dive into Indigeneity, forcible displacement and Indigenous connection to the land. It reinforced for me this idea that land is not just a resource to be exploited, but a gift and a relationship between man and nature, which when harmonious is mutually beneficial ✱✱✱✱✱
[TV SERIES] Severance Season 2 (2025) // I’ve been a Ben Stiller defender since The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (this film defs influenced Severance) and I’m so glad he is getting all the hype he deserves as a filmmaker/storyteller. I loved this season, and I loved all the little nods and references to Classical Greek/Roman Mythology (Orpheus x Eurydice, Persephone x Hades, the Underworld, Labyrinths) ✱✱✱✱
[SHORT] Life of a Doduo by Pokearth // Something very wholesome about someone’s passion project being the creation of David Attenborough-style mini-documentaries about Pokemon (sidenote: the fact that this is how Doduos are meant to fly absolutely sent me) ✱✱✱✱
[SHORT] Cat’s Cosmic Dance with the Bird from Flow (2024) // This is my not-so subtle way of telling you to watch this movie because it is a masterpiece and a beautiful reflection on struggle, death, adversity and life but with animals. A singularly unique visual language and proof that passion and meaningful stories will always have a place amongst AI/profit-driven slop ✱✱✱✱✱
[VIDEO ESSAY] How Empires Fall and Why The US is Next by uncivilized ✱✱✱✱
[DOCUMENTARY] No Other Land (2024), Directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor // This was a hard watch, but I urge you to watch it ✱✱✱✱
[VIDEO ESSAY] The Insane Graphic Design in Severance // How seemingly innocuous design choices can reinforce structures of power and control ✱✱✱
[VIDEO ESSAY] A Marxist Analysis of Shrek by trolleybolley // I need to write another Shrek essay and publish it this time lol ✱✱✱
[TV SERIES] Adolescence (2025) // Another hard and disturbing watch, but extremely timely and important. An insight into incel culture, toxic masculinity, and how sinister and pervasive the normalisation of gender-based violence is in young people ✱✱✱✱
[VIDEO ESSAY] The Secret to Good Airport Design: Aesthetics vs Efficiency by Architectural Digest // I love liminal spaces, and airports are my favourite liminal space. This deep dive into how they’re designed is FASCINATING ✱✱✱✱
[VIDEO ESSAY] Piracy is Morally Correct, Actually by noRugrats ✱✱✱
[VIDEO ESSAY] Fascists Have No Drip: The History of Fashion in Fascist Italy by Taipeiqueen // Validated my suspicions around the popularity of clean girl aesthetics, quiet luxury, and the beige-ification of fashion ✱✱✱✱
[CLIP] “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”
[VIDEO] A Tour of Walton Goggins’ Home by Architectural Digest // I always knew this guy had taste, and this video proves it
[VIDEO ESSAY] How F1 Exploded by Wendover Productions ✱✱✱✱
[VIDEO ESSAY] The World is Poorly Designed. But Copying Nature Helps // A nice beginner intro to biomimicry and biophilic design principles ✱✱✱✱
MARCH 2025 IMAGES
Atomic Theory and Wasting Time
Written in February 2024 while reading Lucretius’ ‘The Nature of Things’.
Our lives are made up of a myriad of rituals.
A ritual can be as simple as our morning routine: turning off the alarm, making the bed, brushing our teeth, getting dressed, having breakfast, gulping down your first hit of caffeine for the day. Ever since I went travelling last year, one of my rituals has been to waste time.
In a world obsessed with extracting maximum productivity from every single activity and resource, wasting time might seem strange. But I view it as a simple and subversive act of rebellion.
It is also an opportunity to come to terms with the simple yet obvious fact that we are in fact human. And to be human is to reckon with the idea that we cannot be or do everything all the time without consequence.
When I first leaned into the idea of wasting time, I confess that I felt terrible about it. I felt as though I should be producing something, working on a side hustle, seeing friends, or learning something that would make me a better person. The idea of being still, to just be felt unnatural and wrong. Like it was somehow a waste.
We are conditioned into believing that time – by virtue of it being finite – is a precious resource that must be hoarded and protected. Value must be extracted from every second and the most heinous modern crime you can commit is to waste even a single moment.
When I went travelling on my first solo trip, I was met with endless expanses of time and no commitments. Save for my flights and train rides, my calendar was empty and I had nowhere to be and nothing to do. Time took on a different shape entirely, and rather than extract value from every moment, there was space to rest and wander.
In late 2023, while on these travels, I picked up a random book from the Uffizi Gallery. The old adage about not judging a book by its cover feels relevant to mention here, but I’m glad I did judge it by its cover otherwise I would never have picked it up. The book was a series of didactic poems exploring Epicurean philosophy, The Nature of Things by Lucretius.
In one of the essays, titled Matter and Void, Lucretius teaches us the atomic theory – a core tenet of Epicurianism. In the essay, Lucretius teaches us that everything in the universe comprises two fundamental elements: matter (atoms) and void (empty space).
Atoms are eternal and indivisible – moving and combining together to create all things. On the other hand, void provides the necessary space for atoms to move and interact.
The logical temptation might be to believe that void’s role in atomic theory is inferior to matter. After all, everything is made of matter – what does void produce or create in return other than, quite literally, nothing?
But it is the very presence of void that enables atoms to move freely and interact.
In Lucretius’ own words:
‘For if there were no emptiness, nothing could move; since it’s the property of matter to obstruct and to resist... Sans void, these would not only lack for agitated motion but existence altogether. They could no way come to pass with all things at a total standstill, chock-a-block with mass.’
In other words, without void, atoms would be too closely packed together, thereby rendering them useless. There would be no room for change, for movement, for unexpected collissions and evolution.
Matter and void are symbiotic. They need each other and both must be in constant equilibrium to maintain balance in the universe. We can view time through this lens as well. As a delicate balance between two opposing states. Neither taking precedence over the other.
Our time must be balanced between periods of momentum and idleness. Unchecked momentum leads to decay, exhaustion and burnout. While unchecked idleness keeps us stagnant and rooted in the same place.
Hustling and pursuing a goal gives our life meaning and direction. Taking an afternoon to sit in the park and watch the clouds is equally meaningful and directive. These moments of mere existence, where there are no expectations of production are necessary for living rich and meaningful lives.
The stillness gives us time to reflect and to contemplate. It gives us time to imagine, to dream and to wonder. Without the stillness, we cannot envision wonderful alternate futures for ourselves or take stock of the choices we have already made, and whether they give us fulfilment. It is these very things that make the experience of living so uniquely human. And yet it is precisely these things that we do not value, and in fact consider a waste.
What is wasteful about being grounded in nature? What is wasteful about rest? What is wasteful about contemplation and reflection?
We hide behind busy schedules, plans and full calendars to escape from being still. It is easy to flit between obligations and apppointments, but it is hard to be comfortable with an empty calendar and hours of nothingness. The latter requires that we sit with our own thoughts – which one could argue is the very thing most people try to avoid.
Time, like the universe, is an endless expanse before us. And in the same way that matter and void give the universe structure; ritual, routine and rest gives our lives structure.
In the same way that we make a ritual of our morning routines, so too should we make a ritual of wasting time. This means blocks of time for scheduled nothingness.
When I started the ritual of wasting time upon returning from my travels, it felt wrong at first. But in doing so I have seen significant changes in my life. I feel more creative, more disciplined, and more self aware. I feel more grounded in the present and more grateful. My thoughts are clearer, my mind is less chaotic, and the frantic propulsion to be constantly doing things has largely disappeared.
If I could distil what wasting time has taught me it is that idleness and contemplation – doing nothing – gives us the necessary pause to make and find meaning. To be grounded in the present and to decide where and how to direct our attention and energy.
In Seneca’s letter to Paulinus he says:
‘It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested.
...So it is – the life we receive is not short, but we make it so, nor do we have any lack of it, but are wasteful of it.’
...So it is – the life we receive is not short, but we make it so, nor do we have any lack of it, but are wasteful of it.’
Some might take this to mean that we must maximise our time, but I interpret it differently.
Contrary to what many may say, we have enough time. The question is not in how we prolong it, but rather how we choose to spend it.
While we try and make the most of this one life that we do have, and the time that we are given, we cannot also forget to make time for rest and for stillness. It is in this stillness that we craft and derive meaning.
Magpi Manifesto
This is an outlet for me to explore ideas from culture, science, and philosophy. I’m in search of meaning, and a better vision for the future while learning and understanding from what came before.
When we look back through history, it is ideas that inspire thoughts. Thoughts inspire words. Words inspire action. And it is through action that people bring ideas into reality. This is how history is shaped and made.
Ideas are most potent when shared and can be an impetus for discourse. For years I have hoarded knowledge and locked it away without sharing it. This exists as a platform for me to share these ideas with others.
Why Magpi?
Mag = magpies. I feed a family of magpies at my home and love their funny personalities. Magpies are extremely intelligent and urban myths cite them as collectors of shiny things.
Pi = pigeons. I love pigeons. They are underappreciated, overlooked, and have survived adversity to become one of the most resilient and populous bird populations found worldwide.
Put together, Magpi reflects my love of shiny things, the overlooked, and freedom through the flight of ideas and curiosity.
Finally, the quote that inspired all of this by Roman Krznaric:
“It is the prevailing culture of ideas that shapes the direction of a society. That determines what is thinkable and unthinkable. What is possible and impossible.”
~ Theia