The Tarun Tapes

Archival Note: The following collection represents seven audio recordings discovered between October and November 2025, documenting the internal monologues of a subject identified only as "Tarun Venkat." The tapes were found in various locations: outside Cheeseboard Collective, in a 2007 Toyota Corolla during Bay Bridge transit, and in multiple coffee establishments throughout Berkeley and San Francisco.

The recordings appear to capture unfiltered stream-of-consciousness observations on topics ranging from Nietzschean lunch philosophy to arbitrary sock-matching algorithms. Of particular interest is the subject's documented approach to what he terms "networking without networking" and his theory that indefinite optimism may be structurally identical to the phenomenon Peter Thiel warns against, despite the subject's extensive citation of Thiel's work.

Analysis suggests the subject maintains simultaneous enrollment in three academic programs while serving as nominal president of an AI startup he describes as "too intellectually honest to make money." The recurring motif of the deceased woman's Corolla serves as what appears to be his primary meditation on mortality.

These recordings have been digitally preserved and are presented here in their original form, with minimal editorial intervention. Listener discretion is advised for content involving existential dread, CS 170 study group dynamics, and complex analysis midterm strategies.