The Next Big Idea Daily
Episodes
A Guide to Living a Meaningful Life
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Psychologist Steven Heine on how to overcome angst and live life with purpose. 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wh...
How Neuroscience and Mysticism Can Unlock the Secrets of Consciousness
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cognitive scientist Vladimir Miskovic and psychologist Steven Jay Lynn have teamed up to write a new book called Dreaming Reality, blending their pers...
The Power Code
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Power is not working — for women, for men, or for the world. Today, big ideas from Katty Kay and Claire Shipman on how to remake power in a way that...
What Can AI Really Do?
17 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Two of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI share what you need to know about AI — and how to defend yourself against bogus AI claims and pro...
Beyond Anxiety
14 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Bestselling author and life coach Martha Beck explains how to turn worry into creativity. 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spot...
How to Prepare for a Wildfire
13 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nick Mott and Justin Angle have written a practical guide for living with wildfire, including essential history and science, actions you can take to p...
Can Microdosing Enhance Your Health?
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Five key insights from "Microdosing for Health, Healing, and Enhanced Performance" by James Fadiman and Jordan Gruber. 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea ...
The Small Shifts That Lead to Big Change
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Anne-Laure Le Cunff shows how an experimental mindset can turn challenges into self-discovery and doubt into opportunity. 📱 Follow The Next Big Id...
Inside the Messy, Unstoppable Transition to EVs
10 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Electric vehicles are here to stay. What does that mean for the automotive industry, the world, and you? 📕 Inevitable by Mike Colias 📱 Follow ...
The Key to a Good Diet
07 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For the last few years, philosopher Julian Baggini has been exploring the hidden forces that shape our food choices — from the debates over organic ...
Think You’re Too Smart to Fall for a Scam? Think Again.
06 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What makes perps tick, victims so gullible, and whistleblowers so morally righteous? Kelly Richmond Pope reports. Her book is “Fool Me Once: Scams, ...
Can the Stress of Loss Be an Opportunity for Healing?
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In The Grieving Body, Grief expert and neuroscientist Mary-Frances O’Connor shows the impact grief — and life’s other major stressors — can ha...
How Innovation Happens at Microsoft
04 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Microsoft insiders Dean Carignan and JoAnn Garbin explain how the tech giant has managed to stay at the forefront of innovation for half a century. 📱...
How to Move from Surviving to Thriving
03 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Magness shares five key insights from his new book "Win the Inside Game." 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wh...
How Hollywood’s Biggest Flops Changed Film History
28 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tim Robey tells an alternate history of Hollywood, starring misunderstood masterpieces, disastrous sequels, and catastrophic literary adaptations. Tur...
The Art of Healthy Arrogance
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Will Packer is the author of "Who Better Than You?" 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen 📩 Want ...
The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Management professor and communication expert Andrew Brodsky shares his framework for navigating the digital workplace. 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea...
Unlearning Bad Ideas About How to Be a Good Mom
25 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nancy Reddy, an award-winning writer and professor, shares a few key insights from "The Good Mother Myth." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...
How to Break Up With Your Phone
24 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Let’s face it — your relationship with your phone is toxic. Luckily, Catherine Price is here to help. 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Appl...
The Boys Are Not All Right
21 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Boys and men are struggling. What should we do about it? 📕 Of Boys and Men by Richard Reeves 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts...
How to Help Your Kids Learn, Live, and Feel Better
20 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Have a teen who's checked out, stressed out, or both? Then this episode is for you. Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop have spent the last five years...
Can You Upgrade Your Brain in 15 Minutes a Day?
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, Elizabeth Ricker, an MIT and Harvard-trained brain researcher turned Silicon Valley technologist, shows you how a few minutes of neurohacking c...
It's Cool to Be Kind
18 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Graham Allcott argues the key to success is kindness. 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen 📩 Wan...
Jay Shetty’s Rules of Love
17 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Valentine’s Day is behind us, but don’t let your relationship slip into screensaver mode. Relationships need ongoing attention and care. That’s ...
Autonomy, Connection, and Why We Need Both to Find Happiness
14 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Happy Valentine’s Day! Whether you’re celebrating with roses or rolling your eyes at all that lovey-dovey stuff, it's a good time to reflect on an...
How the Competition in Space Will Change Our World
13 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today: Tim Marshall, author of the new book "The Future of Geography." 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever yo...
Is Climate Change Messing With Your Brain?
12 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Recovering neuroscientist Clayton Page Aldern stops by to share a few key insights from his book "The Weight of Nature: How a Changing Climate Changes...
The New Rules of Persuasion in Business and Life
11 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Leslie Zane shares five key insights from her new book "The Power of Instinct: The New Rules of Persuasion in Business and Life." 📱 Follow The Nex...
Does AI Have Rights?
10 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Philosopher Jeff Sebo calls for a revolution in ethics, suggesting we expand our “moral circle” to everything from insects to AI. 📱 Follow The...
How Optimists Change the World, and How You Can Be One
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You don’t have to be naturally optimistic to benefit from the power of positivity. You just have to follow these five easy steps. 📱 Follow The N...
We Can Win the Fight Against Climate Change. Here's How.
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Investor, activist, and former presidential candidate Tom Steyer shares five key insights from his new book "Cheaper, Faster, Better." 📱 Follow Th...
The Path to Inspired Leadership
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Social psychologist and leadership expert Adam Galinsky says there are two kinds of leaders: those who inspire and those who infuriate. Which will you...
What's Your Hidden Genius?
04 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The key to a fulfilling and successful life isn’t just about passion or hard work — it’s about understanding and harnessing your innate aptitude...
Technology Is Tearing Us Apart
03 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Faster, easier communication was supposed to make the world better. Instead, it made us miserable. How did we get here, and what can we do about it? F...
How to Be Enough
31 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Clinical psychologist Ellen Hendriksen on how to be good to yourself. 📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter Learn more ...
The Transformative Power of Inclusion
30 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Anne Chow, the former CEO of AT&T Business, shares a new approach to inclusive leadership that goes beyond DEI. 📩 Check out our daily Substack and ...
The DOSE Effect
29 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Neuroscientist TJ Power provides a powerful framework for enhancing your quality of life through the regulation of four key hormones: Dopamine, Oxytoc...
Throw Away Your Budget
28 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, five big ideas from "You Don’t Need a Budget: Stop Worrying About Debt, Spend Without Shame, and Manage Money with Ease" by Dana Miranda. 📩...
Are Algorithms Controlling Your Mind?
27 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Algorithms have penetrated the most intimate aspects of our psychology. Here’s what you can do about it. 📕 Mindmasters: The Data-Driven Science ...
Strategies for More Meaningful Connection
24 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
To close out the week, we're joined by Natalie Kerr and Jaime Kurtz, who are going to share five key insights from their book "Our New Social Life: Sc...
You Should Probably Buy Some Plants
23 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From the remarkable power of flowers to the surprising health effects of touching wood or smelling lavender, Kathy Willis blends cutting-edge research...
How to Lead in a Fast-Changing World
22 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Dennis has held senior leadership roles at two Fortune 500 companies. He shares what he learned in "Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at t...
Can We Settle Space? Should We?
21 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kelly Weinersmith and her husband Zach set out to write the essential guide to a glorious future of space settlements. After years of research, they a...
How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap
20 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why has so little progress been made on the wealth gap? 📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter Learn more about your ad ...
Public Speaking Made Simple
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Chad Hoeppner has coached presidential candidates, prominent CEOs, and Ivy League deans on their communication skills. Now he's going to share...
Pay the People!
16 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Seventy percent of the U.S. economy relies on consumer demand, yet nearly 40 percent of Americans earn less than the cost of living. John Driscoll wan...
How Neuroscience Is Rewriting the Story of Parenthood
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Health and science journalist Chelsea Conaboy explodes the concept of “maternal instinct” and tells a new story about what it means to become a pa...
Benjamin Franklin's Electric Mind
14 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The dramatic story of an ingenious man who explained nature and created a country. 📕 Ingenious: A Biography of Benjamin Franklin, Scientist 📩 Ch...
How to Build Extraordinary Wealth Buying Ordinary Businesses
13 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Forget flashy startups — the real path to wealth is buying the local car wash. Today, former Wall Street investor Codie Sanchez reveals how acquirin...
Other People's Words
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When a loved one dies, can their words live on? 📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter Learn more about your ad choices....
Should We Go Extinct?
09 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The title says it all. 📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...
Red, White, and Taboo: America's Sexual History
08 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
American history is kinkier than you think. 📕 Fierce Desires by Rebecca L. Davis 📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newslet...
Custodians of Wonder
07 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Eliot Stein, journalist and editor at BBC Travel, has traveled the globe in search of remarkable people who are preserving some of our most extraordi...
You Need an Editor
06 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Want to write emails people will actually read? Author Jenn Bane is here to show you how. Her new book, which she co-wrote with Melissa Harris, is “...
What You Learn From Losing Everything
03 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A storage unit fire destroyed everything Helen Chandler-Wilde owned and forced her to re-evaluate her relationship with material things. Learn more ab...
Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman
02 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Patrick Hutchison quit his office job and moved to a cabin in the woods. Here's what he learned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...
Are We Living in an Age of Magical Overthinking?
01 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why does living in the so-called Information Age only seem to make life more confusing? Amanda Montell has some surprising answers. Learn more about y...
Best Of: No-BS Secrets to Success
31 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jim VandeHei co-founded two highly influential news outlets, Politico and Axios. But as he explains in today's episode, his path to success was far fr...
Best Of: How to Get Unstuck
30 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Alter, author of "Anatomy of a Breakthrough," offers up a groundbreaking guide to breaking free from the thoughts, habits, jobs, relationships, ...
Best Of: An Ugly Sweater’s Hidden Wisdom
27 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the early days of the Covid lockdown, many of us took up new hobbies, like playing guitar or baking bread. But Peggy Orenstein went a little furthe...
Best Of: How Large-Scale Change Really Happens
26 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rajiv Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation and former administrator of President Barack Obama’s United States Agency for International Deve...
Best Of: Anyone Can Become a Supercommunicator — Even You
25 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Charles Duhigg, the bestselling author of "Power of Habit," is on the show today to explain what marital spats, NASA interviews, and gun rights debate...
Best Of: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age
24 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Katherine May, the New York Times–bestselling author of Wintering, invites us to rediscover the feelings of awe and wonder available to us all. ✉...
A Curious History of the Gut
23 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Elsa Richardson shares five big ideas from her book "Rumbles: A Curious History of the Gut." ✉️ Check out our newsletter, Book of the Day 🎁 Nee...
Can You Save Civilization by Getting Married?
20 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nothing predicts happiness better than a good marriage, says University of Virginia sociologist Brad Wilcox. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...
What Do We Owe Animals?
19 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Brandon Keim shares a few big ideas from his new book "Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-than-Human World." Learn more about your ad...
Escaping the Toxic Productivity Trap
18 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If you've ever wondered, "When will it feel like I've done enough?" this episode is for you. 📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn...
The Career Advice You Really Need
17 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Three innovators offer a road-tested framework for career development that helps anyone make real progress on their path when they switch jobs. Learn ...
How to Winter
16 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the winter solstice this week, which means we have officially hit the darkest time of the year. But dark doesn’t have to mean bleak. That’s...
Are You Playing It Safe? Stop That.
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Chase Jarvis shares five big ideas from Never Play It Safe. 🎁 Take 50% off a Next Big Idea Club express membership when you use the code DAILY50 at...
"Playing from the Rough" by Jimmie James
12 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When Jimmie James set out to become the first person to play all of America’s 100 greatest golf courses in a single year, he came face to face with ...
The Surprising Biology of the Seven Deadly Sins
11 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What if the seven deadly sins aren't moral failings? What if, instead, they're biological functions that humans need to survive? 📕 Seven Deadly Sin...
How to Be a Likeable Badass
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today, key insights from Alison Fragale's "Likeable Badass: How Women Get the Success They Deserve," a book that our curator Daniel Pink says "shatter...
A Woodworker's Guide to Life
09 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today, master woodworker Callum Robinson on craft, history, family, and our relationship with the natural world. 📕 Ingrained: The Making of a Craft...
Let's Talk About Sex, Baby
06 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We all deserve great sex, according to relationship therapist Dr. Emily Jamea. And she joins us today to share the latest science on how to achieve it...
How the Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together
05 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A lot has been written about the downsides of tribalism, but could the forces that separate people also help build stronger teams and communities? Lea...
The Wellness Trap
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What if modern wellness culture is standing in the way of true well-being? 🎁 Take 75% off a Next Big Idea Club express membership (for yourself or ...
How the James Webb Telescope Unlocked the Secrets of the Cosmos
03 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A $10 billion marvel of human ingenuity is rewriting the cosmic narrative right before our eyes. *** 🎁 Take 75% off a Next Big Idea Club express me...
Is Your Job a Good Fit?
02 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
You’re probably used to looking for so-called good jobs and avoiding bad ones, but we might be better off looking for jobs that fit, that are a good...
The Wisdom and Wonder of Uncertainty
29 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Google searches for "uncertainty" are at a five-year high, so it seems like the right time to revisit "Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsur...
From Hot Takes to Handshakes: A Thanksgiving Survival Guide
28 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! To celebrate, we’re bringing back Ian Leslie, a columnist for the New Statesman, who’s going to teach us how to tran...
Happiness That You Can Eat
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
James Beard Award-winner Rowan Jacobsen on the surprising history and magical properties of chocolate. 🎁 Save 50% on a Next Big Idea Club express m...
What Would Socrates Do?
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What can the father of Western philosophy teach us about how to live today? A great deal, according to Donald J. Robertson, author of the new book "Ho...
How to Find Work That Works for You
25 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A psychologist’s guide to finding your most fulfilling job yet. 📕 Job Therapy: Finding Work That Works for You by Tessa West 🎁 Use code DAILY5...
Is Marriage Still Relevant?
22 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Allison Raskin's new book is "I Do (I Think): Conversations About Modern Marriage." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Urban-Rural Divide Is Smaller Than You Think
21 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, a public policy professor at USC, has spent years studying small-town America. What she's learned may surprise you. 📕 The...
How Economics Explains the World
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew Leigh, a former professor of economics and current member of Australia's parliament, shares key insights from his timely new book How Economics...
A Brief History of the Female Body
19 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In "A Brief History of the Female Body," Dr. Deena Emera draws on her vast expertise as a biologist, her experience as a mother, and her love of teach...
How to Achieve Financial Freedom Without Sacrificing What Matters Most
18 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Most entrepreneurs start a business seeking freedom but end up in a prison of hundred-hour workweeks isolated from their loved ones. Today: a guide fo...
Is Technology the World's Most Powerful Religion?
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we're joined by Greg Epstein, Harvard and MIT's humanist chaplain, who shares a few key insights from his new book Tech Agnostic. Learn more ab...
Mastering AI: A Survival Guide to Our Superpowered Future
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Award-winning journalist Jeremy Kahn shares his advice for staying on the right side of the AI revolution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...
Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A blueprint for a better future that offers a unified theory of human behavior, culture, and society. 📖 A Theory of Everyone by Michael Muthukrishn...
A Doctor's Search for Humanity in Medicine
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As an assistant professor, practicing psychiatrist, university wellness leader, and regular media expert, Jessi Gold was used to constant busyness. Bu...
Your Journey to Financial Freedom
11 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jamila Souffrant offers a step-by-step guide to achieving wealth and happiness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What We Miss in Our Pursuit of the Good Life
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Happiness and meaning are usually seen as the two keys to the good life. But there's a third. Lorraine Besser is here to tell us more. 📩 Check out ...
The Psychology Behind America's Political Divide
07 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Can we find a way to mend the personal bonds that are fraying for so many of us? 📕 Good Reasonable People: The Psychology Behind America's Dangerou...
'The Art of Verbal Warfare' by Rik Smits
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Value judgments, cultural relativism, and other conversation killers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Can You Make Your Anxiety Work for You?
05 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's the most stressful day of the year! To help us stay calm, we're bringing in renowned psychologist Wendy Suzuki to share a few tips from her book ...
Women and the Fight to Build a Just Economy
04 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Women in this country lag behind men according to most economic measures. Why this is and how to change it is the subject of the recent book "Fair Sha...
Mastering the Art of Conscious Conversations
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We live in conversations like fish live in water. Here's how to become a better swimmer — er, talker. 📕 The Art of Conscious Conversations: Trans...