Circa
Circa is a weekly podcast hosted by Vipulesh Thiyagarajah, a Sri Lankan author and entrepreneur. Each episode features in-depth conversations with interesting minds in business, politics, philosophy, economics, culture, and sport. Guests include business leaders, politicians, film-makers, tech founders, economists, authors, and athletes. Topics range from existential philosophy and geopolitics to entrepreneurship, investing, sport, cinema, and what it means to build something that lasts.
Episodes
Sri Lanka's Governance Failure: An Economist's Brutal Diagnosis | ft. Kithmina Hewage
In this episode of Circa, I sit down with Kithmina Hewage — economist, former Political Adviser to the British High Commission in Colombo, World Economic Forum expert network member, and World Bank consultant who has advised governments across 17 Asian economies. Kithmina also happens to be the man who taught me debating and Model UN in school. He speaks here entirely in his personal capacity.We g
OZEMPIC & GLPs | PEPTIDES | BIO-HACKING & LONGEVITY [ft. Tony Medrano]
The human body is the last great frontier of human technology. In this episode of Circa, host Vipulesh sits down with Tony Medrano—a tech founder, biohacker, Ironman athlete, and MBA—who treats his own body like an engineering problem to be solved. Tony shares how he maintains a high-performance lifestyle at 55, holding down a CEO role while completing grueling 16-hour Ironman triathlons. We unpac
75+ Million Dollar VC Exit w/ JP Morgan Chase | Investment Games | Brain Drain | ft. Chalinda Abeykoon
One company. JP Morgan acquisition. 100+ Sri Lankan millionaires in the making. Chalinda Abeykoon is the Managing Partner of nVentures — the first Singapore-regulated VC fund built to back founders from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the tier-two cities of South and Southeast Asia that most investors can't even find on a map.He built Sri Lanka's first post-war startup incubator after graduatin
Iran War | US Debt Spiral | $2.5M Treasury Fraud | UAE OPEC Exit | ft. Kusum Wijetilleke
In this episode, I sit down with Kusum Wijetilika—political commentator and SJB working committee member—to dissect the systemic rot inside the global financial architecture.From the "spoofing" of the Sri Lankan Treasury to the geopolitical earthquake of the UAE leaving OPEC, we use Ray Dalio’s "Big Cycle" framework to explain why the world feels so volatile in 2026.All Links →
Space-X IPO, Y-Combinator & VC Playbooks, Shifting Equities Markets, AI-Driven Unemployment. (ft. Raveen Kariyawasam)
Circa By Vipulesh Thiyagarajah.On this weeks episode:Raveen Kariyawasam went from a Sri Lankan school kid to a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, a Wharton graduate, and a two-time Y Combinator founder who has raised Millions in Silicon Valley. In this episode, he sits down with Vipulesh Thiyagarajah for a wide-ranging, unfiltered conversation about what it actually takes to build at the frontier. They cov
Your Desires Aren't Yours — Mimetic Theory, Cancel Culture & the New Religion
Five years ago, this conversation hit #1 on Apple Podcasts in Sri Lanka. We're back. Wimarshana Wijesooriya — philosopher, author of Modern Heresy, and the man who introduced me to philosophy at seventeen — returns for the Circa Z relaunch. Two and a half hours on the ideas that actually matter. We get into René Girard's mimetic theory and why your desires probably aren't yours. How mi
What If Everything You See Isn't Real?
Exploring Plato's Cave and the crucial act of questioning the world around us.The following post is an exploration of a passage from my book, "Sonder: An Existential Manifesto," and honestly, it’s one of those concepts that keeps popping back into my head, no matter what I’m doing.
The Hedonic Treadmill
Why You’ll Never Be Happy — and Why That’s Exactly the Point.The ideas explored in this essay are drawn from a chapter I originally wrote for my book, Sonder: An Existential Manifesto (2024). The book dives deep into the hidden patterns of our modern condition — tracing how history, identity, and meaning interlace in our lives. What follows is a distilled meditation from that chapter, adapted for
The Wrexham Way: The Greatest Story in Football
Triple Triumph: Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds' Fairytale Rise from Non-League to the Championship
Augusta Is a Feeling: Why The Masters Is the Most Beautiful Event in Sport
Inside the Veblen good that every luxury house envies.
The Bitter Lesson of AI
Why Brute Force Beats Human Insight in AI—and What That Means for Geopolitics, Energy, and Civilization
One Year Since the Launch of My Book Sonder: Reflections from the Manifesto
To mark the first anniversary of my debut non-fiction book on meaning and the inner workings of our lives, I’m sharing one of my favorite excerpts on mimetic theory and the anatomy of desire.https://vipuleshthiyagarajah.com/novel
Clay Courts and Champagne: A Weekend at Roland Garros
Where Tennis Becomes Theatre and Tradition Meets Quiet Luxury.The ideas explored in this essay are drawn from a chapter I originally wrote for my book, Sonder: An Existential Manifesto (2024). The script was generated from a substack article I wrote: https://vipuleshthiyagarajah.substack.com/p/clay-courts-and-champagne-a-weekend
Is AI Making Us Dumb?
Thoughtless Thinking, Cognitive Offloading, and the Quiet Decline of Deep Work.The ideas explored in this essay are drawn from a chapter I originally wrote for my book, Sonder: An Existential Manifesto (2024). The script was generated from a substack article I wrote: https://vipuleshthiyagarajah.substack.com/p/we-are-nothing-and-thats-not-nothing
The Beauty of an Inconsequential Life
What a rodent utopia, cosmic odds, and existential dread reveal about the human condition.The ideas explored in this essay are drawn from a chapter I originally wrote for my book, Sonder: An Existential Manifesto (2024). The script was generated from a substack article I wrote: https://vipuleshthiyagarajah.substack.com/p/we-are-nothing-and-thats-not-nothing
Are We the Generation that Will Never Die?
From immortality to artificial intelligence, we are advancing faster than we can adapt—exploring the human cost of progress in an ever-changing world.
Exploring Ray Dalio's Theory: The Fragility of American Hegemony
The Death of Superpowers: Lessons from 500 Years of Hegemony.The ideas explored in this essay are drawn from a chapter I originally wrote for my book, Sonder: An Existential Manifesto (2024). The blog post is on my Substack: https://vipuleshthiyagarajah.substack.com/p/the-pursuit-of-happiness-and-the- Vipulesh ThiyagarajahAuthor of "Sonder: An Existential Manifesto"
Are Emotions Contagious?
How Personality, Proximity, and Psychology Shape the People We Become.The ideas explored in this essay are drawn from a chapter I originally wrote for my book, Sonder: An Existential Manifesto (2024). Originally written on my Substack Blog.- Vipulesh ThiyagarajahAuthor of "Sonder: An Existential Manifesto"
The Crisis Generation: Gen Z Stands at the Crossroads of Collapse & Reinvention
An Existential Reading of History, Memory, and the Generational Mandate.The ideas explored in this essay are drawn from a chapter I originally wrote for my book, Sonder: An Existential Manifesto (2024). If this resonated, I write weekly on history, economics, and human potential. Subscribe to my substack: https://vipuleshthiyagarajah.substack.com/p/the-crisis-generation-why-gen-z-stands
Market Volatility Shouldn’t Scare Long-Term Investors
Why Consistency Outperforms Market Timing in Investing.
Flashback
Viren Beruwalage and I discuss the past, present, and future of the the modern world.
A Pursuit of Happiness
Wimarshana Wijesuriya and I discuss the philosophy of happiness, the mental health crisis, and the meaning of life.
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Books by Wimarshana: Colombo: A Critical Introspection, Post Politica, and Citizens’ Guide to the Third World.
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