The Next Big Idea Daily: Recent Episodes
Next Big Idea Club
What if engaging with great ideas could become one of your daily habits? What if some of the best tips for living better and working smarter were served up with your morning coffee, a hit of motivation guaranteed to start your day right? That’s the idea behind “The Next Big Idea Daily.” We work with hundreds of non-fiction authors — experts in productivity, creativity, leadership, communication, and other fields — boil down their big ideas into bite-sized chunks, and then offer you one each morning.
Today, our curator Adam Grant stops by to share the key takeaways from his #1 New York Times bestseller "Think Again." • If you're an Adam Grant fan, you'll love The Next Big Idea Club. Adam, Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink handpick their favorite books, and then we send them to your doorstep. Sign up at nextbigideaclub.com and use code DAILY for a special discount.
Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, a leading political and intellectual historian and a certified fitness instructor, explores the complex and far-reaching implications of how our contemporary exercise culture took shape.
To write "Beginners," Tom Vanderbilt embarked on a yearlong quest of learning just for the sake of it. Along the way, he interviewed dozens of experts about the psychology and science behind the benefits of becoming an adult beginner. Today, he joins us to explain how anyone can get better at beginning again — and why it's worth it.
The chasm separating managers from leaders is widening as the skills required to be an effective leader grow in number and complexity. But you're ambitious. You want to cross that chasm. And your organization needs you to cross it in order to join its bench of stars who will lead with empathy and humanity and ground the organization's strategies in a meaningful, mission-driven, and purposeful way. Today on the show, Adam Bryant, will teach you how to make that leap.
In "How to Think like a Philosopher," Julian Baggini turns to eminent philosophers, past and present, to find practical solutions for today's most vexing questions.
Jessica Carew Kraft, an urban wife and mom of two, was firmly rooted in the modern world, complete with a high-powered career in tech and the sneaking suspicion that her lifestyle was preventing her and her family from truly thriving. Determined to find a better way, Jessica quit her job and set out to learn about "rewilding" from people who reject the comforts and convenience of civilization by using ancient tools and skills to survive. Along the way, she learned how to turn sticks into fire, stones into axes, and bones into tools for harvesting wild food―and found an entire community walking the path back from our technology-focused, anxiety-ridden way of life to a simpler, more human experience.
The traditional ways of earning a living are outdated, if not outright rigged. That’s why a growing number of enterprising individuals are instead turning to the growing ecosystem of decentralized, fast-moving virtual markets to pursue a host of previously unheard-of ways to pay the bills. Join New York Times bestselling author Chris Guillebeau on a fascinating tour of this brave new world where novelty is currency, and the creators are in control.
Today, Juliet Funt provides strategies you can use to regain control of days, liberate yourself from burnout and busy work, and reclaim creativity and focus—even when there's chaos all around you. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code DAILY gets you 10% off) • Send us an email
Today, two-time Guinness World Record memory champ Dave Farrow shares practical tips you can use to “rewire” your brain and boost its power.
Our most precious resource isn’t money. It’s time. We are allotted just 24 hours a day, and we live in a culture that keeps us feeling “time poor.” Since we can’t add more hours to the day, how can we experience our lives as richer?
You may have noticed that the kind of focus we all need to get stuff done is harder and harder to come by. But fear not. To help you get back on track, we've called in some of the smartest writers we know to give us their take on the attention crisis and what we can do about it. All this week, we'll be hearing from them. First up is journalist Johann Hari. Johann is the author of three New York Times bestsellers, and he joins us today to share some key insights from his latest, "Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again."
In the final installment of the master class based on her book “Tranquility by Tuesday,” productivity expert Laura Vanderkam says nailing your work-life balance comes down to how you use your Fridays.
Do effortful fun before effortless fun. But what's the difference? Laura explains in today's mini masterclass.
To renew your spirits, Laura says you need to take some time for yourself.
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You know what you need? An adventure. That's right. You don't have to wait until your next vacation. You can — and should — make it a habit to do surprising, novel things on the reg. And, yes, we know you're thinking: "How can I fit that in with everything else I have going on?" Don't worry. Laura Vanderkam has a simple solution for making adventures of all sizes part of your routine.
In "Tranquility by Tuesday," time management guru Laura Vanderkam shares tools you can use to finally make time for the activities you love. But before you can do that, you need to get a good night's sleep. Today, Laura explains how.
In the final installment of her interview, Vanessa Patrick ("The Power of Saying No") gives us tips for turning down the pushy people in our lives.
In this episode, Vanessa Patrick shares a strategy for saying "no" inspired by one of the most famous people in the world, and one of the best at saying "no"—Oprah Winfrey.
Today, Vanessa explains how the super skill of "empowered refusal" can help you say "no" no in a way that is persuasive and does not elicit pushback from others.
Too often, we say "yes" to friends, bosses, and even strangers when what we really want to say is "absolutely not." Why do we do this? Vanessa Patrick, a marketing professor at the University of Houston, has spent years researching this question. The answer she's come up with could change your life.
In the final installment of our week-long exploration into the art and science of decision-making, we hear from acclaimed science journalist Steven Johnson, who provides a step-by-step process for making life-altering decisions. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code DAILY gets you 10% off) • Send us an email
Today, you'll how to make smart decisions about two vexing subjects: money and love. • Myra Strober is a labor economist and Professor Emerita at Stanford University, where she founded the Stanford Center for Research on Women (now the Clayman Institute for Gender Research). • Abby Davisson is a social innovation leader and career development expert, who served as president of Gap Foundation and co-founded the company's employee resource group for parents and caregivers.
As a U.S. fighter pilot, Hasard Lee has had to make split-second decisions under extreme pressure. Now he's here to teach you how to do the same.
Today, we're continuing our deep dive into decision-making with a few big ideas from Eric Johnson, director of the Center for Decision Sciences at Columbia Business School and author of "The Elements of Choice: Why the Way We Decide Matters."
Sometimes it seems that all we do in life is make decisions, and yet it’s a surprisingly difficult skill to master. How do you get good at deciding? To answer that question, we’re calling in the pros: Annie Duke, Eric Johnson, Hasard Lee, Abby Davisson, Myra Strober, and Steven Johnson. They’re ex-poker players, business school professors, fighter pilots, and science journalists — and together, they’re going to share a whole bunch of tools you can use to improve your decision-making capabilities. First up is cognitive scientist turned poker player turned decision strategist Annie Duke to share a few key insights from her recent book “Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away.”
• Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, audio e-courses, and hundreds of author-read book summaries, download the Next Big Idea app
For any trade-off between your current and future self, it's always the you of today who has to make the sacrifice. In his final appearance on the show, UCLA's Hal Hershfield offers a way around that problem.
Today, Hal Hershfield ("Your Future Self") explains how you can make life better tomorrow by making grand plans now to ease your future life.
It may sound strange, but if you can learn to treat your future self like someone you really care about, then you'll be more likely to make satisfying, rewarding, and ethical long-term decisions.
Can vividly imagining your future self help you make better decisions? Hal Hershfield thinks so, and he’s got the research to prove it. Hal — who teaches at UCLA and has been called a “pioneering psychologist” by none other than our curator Adam Grant — is out with a new book called “Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today,” and he is here all week to help Michael, you, and future you achieve success.
In the final installment of his mini-masterclass, Brett Crozier shares advice for being a staunch defender of your personal time.
Today, retired Navy captain Brett Crozier ("Surf When You Can") explains why in order to achieve big success, you've first got to nail the little things. • Sign up for our newsletter to get a behind-the-scenes look at how we make this show • Download the Next Big Idea app to hear hundreds of authors summarize their books • Use code DAILY to get 10% off a Next Big Idea Club subscription at nextbigideaclub.com
Whether you're flying, captaining, or working, always focus on the alligator closest to the canoe.
"Talk to me, Goose." Actually, this week we're saying, "Talk to me, Chopper." That was Brett Crozier's call sign when he served as a fighter pilot (and it's what his wife still calls him when she's irritated). Brett has a new book out called "Surf When You Can: Lessons in Life, Loyalty, and Leadership from a Maverick Navy Captain," which charts his journey from "Top Gun" wannabe to commanding officer of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. He joins Michael this week to share five lessons from his career that can help you improve your life-work balance.
We're wrapping up our collection of summery Book Bites with a few lessons from Smiley Poswolsky's "Friendship in the Age of Loneliness: An Optimist's Guide to Connection." • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code DAILY gets you 10% off) • Send us an email
Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor at UC Berkeley who helped Pixar make “Inside Out,” explores the history and science of awe.
When David Pogue (CBS Sunday Morning) realized that we are already living through the beginnings of climate chaos, he decided to write a book full of action plans for riding out every climate catastrophe that Mother Nature might throw at us. • Download the Next Big Idea app: nextbigideaclub.com/app/
Ice ice baby! Today, journalist and historian Amy Brady shares the astonishing 200-year history of ice in America, from ice rinks to ice cream to modern-day miracles like cryotherapy breast-cancer treatments.
We're trying something different this week. Instead of hearing from one author, you'll hear from five. Together, they'll help you figure out how to have the perfect summer. Up first: comedian and podcaster Jamie Loftus shares a few tasty insights from her New York Times bestseller "Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs." • Use code DAILY to get 10% off your subscription at nextbigideaclub.com
What can the global response to climate change tell us about the health of modern democratic states? • Ben Ansell is professor of comparative democratic institutions at Oxford and author of “Why Politics Fail” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, audio e-courses, and hundreds of author-read book summaries, download the Next Big Idea app
Today, Ben explains why democracy and security are such uneasy bedfellows. • Ben Ansell is professor of comparative democratic institutions at Oxford and author of “Why Politics Fail” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, audio e-courses, and hundreds of author-read book summaries, download the Next Big Idea app
Why is it so hard to create a sense of national unity and civic responsibility here in the Divided States of America? • Ben Ansell is professor of comparative democratic institutions at Oxford and author of “Why Politics Fail” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, audio e-courses, and hundreds of author-read book summaries, download the Next Big Idea app
Why has the American political system failed to arrest accelerating inequality, and is there anything we can do about it? • Ben Ansell is professor of comparative democratic institutions at Oxford and author of “Why Politics Fail” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, audio e-courses, and hundreds of author-read book summaries, download the Next Big Idea app
As you may have noticed, modern democracies aren’t doing so hot. In country after country, income inequality soars while solidarity plummets. Resentment simmers while national unity cools. In places like the US and the UK, beacons of liberal democracy, words like “autocracy” and “anarchy” are thrown around with alarming regularity. Meanwhile, our ability to take action on existential threats like AI and climate change is stymied by sniping politicians who are obsessed with point-scoring and eerily disinclined to agree on a shared set of facts. Given all this, it’s not unreasonable to wonder: Are we doomed? This week, on the 247th anniversary of America’s birthday — and the dawn of the modern democratic experiment — we’ll get to the bottom of that unsettling question with Ben Ansell, professor of comparative democratic institutions at Oxford and author of “Why Politics Fail.”
In her final mini masterclass, Shelby warns you not to be so focused on reaching the finish line that you may miss the epic views along the way. • Shelby Stanger is the host of REI’s “Wild Ideas Worth Living” podcast and the author of “Will to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, audio e-courses, and hundreds of author-read book summaries, download the Next Big Idea app
When scaling a steep rock wall or surfing gnarly waves, it’s easy to let fear get the better of you, but today, Shelby explains how you can use humor to stay loose. • Shelby Stanger is the host of REI’s “Wild Ideas Worth Living” podcast and the author of “Will to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, audio e-courses, and hundreds of author-read book summaries, download the Next Big Idea app
Before you embark on a wild adventure, you obviously need to do some planning. But don’t go overboard. Give yourself a deadline, and get to work. • Shelby Stanger is the host of REI’s “Wild Ideas Worth Living” podcast and the author of “Will to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, audio e-courses, and hundreds of author-read book summaries, download the Next Big Idea app
If you have a strong why for pursuing a wild adventure, you’re more likely to find a way to get it done. • Shelby Stanger is the host of REI’s “Wild Ideas Worth Living” podcast and the author of “Will to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, audio e-courses, and hundreds of author-read book summaries, download the Next Big Idea app
Where are you listening to this podcast? In your car? At your desk? Puttering around your house? If Shelby Stanger had her druthers, you’d be listening in the great outdoors — maybe while hiking on a scenic trail, or pedaling down an open road, or sitting astride a surfboard (while wearing waterproof earbuds, of course). Shelby is a journalist and adventurer: as a journalist, her work has appeared in Outside Magazine and on ESPN; as an adventurer, she’s surfed from Canada to Costa Rica and paddled remote stretches of the Amazon River. Her new book, “Will to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life,” is a guide to getting out of your comfort zone and into the wild world.
Data, demographics — these things only take you so far. That's the final lesson Marcus Collins has to share with us. If you really want to get to know someone, he says, you've got to look past what they "do" and try to figure out who they "are." • Use the code DAILY to get 10% off a Next Big Idea Club membership • Learn more about our event in NYC on June 28th by visiting betaworks.com/event/ai-consciousness • Subscribe to our LinkedIn newsletter
"Meaning," says Marcus Collins ("For the Culture") in today's episode, "is culturally mediated based on how we see the world. Understanding how people make meaning will increase the likelihood of understanding who they are and how they navigate the world."
Today, Marcus Collins ("For the Culture") says that if you want to understand someone, you can learn much more from their tribal communities than their demographics.
Welcome back to our week-long masterclass with marketing magician Marcus Collins. He ran digital strategy for Beyoncé; teaches at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan; serves as chief strategy officer at Wieden+Kennedy; and wrote a great book called "For the Culture." Today, he explains why he thinks the brands that'll succeed in the future will make consumers feel like they're part of a community.
This week: Marcus Collins, who teaches marketing at the University of Michigan's business school and serves as the chief strategy officer at Wieden+Kennedy, shares five key insights from his book "For the Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, and Who We Want to Be."
When we work all the time, it doesn’t just take our best hours; it often takes our best energy, too. In his final lesson, Simone Stolzoff (”The Good Enough Job”) implores us to step away from work and engage in active forms of leisure.
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Many of us have internalized the message that there’s one dream job for us and we shouldn’t stop until we find it. So we tweak our resumes and browse LinkedIn in the hopes of finding a role that helps us self-actualize. But first determining what matters and recognizing that we may already have it is a better recipe for happiness.
In today's episode, Simone Stolzoff ("The Good Enough Job") tells Michael that when you think about the role work plays in your life, "it's worth considering that valuing more free time over more money tends to be more fulfilling and lead to higher overall well-being."
Do you live to work or work to live? Journalist Simone Stolzoff tackles that age-old question with renewed energy in his book "The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work." All this week, he'll be chatting with host Michael Kovnat about how work came to play such an outsized role in our lives and what would happen if we stopped chasing the dream gig, gave up the idea of having a calling, and instead tried to find jobs that were simply good enough.
Our time with Tiago Forte may be over, but hopefully your journey to building a second brain has only just begun. In his final lesson, Tiago explains how your second brain can motivate you to take action.
• Grab a copy of "Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential" • Have you checked out our newsletter? Every Friday, Michael looks back on the week's episodes and shares his key takeaways. Sign up now! • Have you downloaded our app? It’s loaded up with hundreds of book summaries written and read by the world’s leading authors. Check it out by going to https://nextbigideaclub.com/app/! • Sign up for a Next Big Idea Club membership today and get 10% off when you use the code DAILY at checkout!
Today, Tiago explains how mastering the art of subtraction can strengthen your creative output.
Today’s lesson: “Before you shut off new sources of information and converge on an end result, take time to diverge. Expand your horizons, expose yourself to diverse influences, and collect anything that resonates with you.” Tiago Forte is the author of “Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential.”