The Next Big Idea Daily
Episodes
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...
The Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History
31 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sharon McMahon shares a few inspiring stories from her new book, "The Small and the Mighty," a #1 New York Times bestseller. Learn more about your ad ...
Who Owns Your Face?
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kashmir Hill, a reporter at the New York Times, shares the story of a small AI company that gave facial recognition to law enforcement, billionaires, ...
The Science of Paternal Potential
29 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Most male mammals, including our closest primate relatives, barely participate in childcare. So why do at least some human men do a marginally better ...
Seth Godin's Advice for Making Better Plans
28 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Seth Godin is one of the world's most influential business thinkers. Today, he shares five key insights from his brand new book "This Is Strategy." Le...
Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts
25 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Oliver Burkeman has been called a self-help guru for people who make fun of self-help. He joins us today to share five key insights from his new book ...
A Journey into the Heart of American Democracy
24 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Frank Barry takes us on a thought-provoking journey into the heart of our democracy and the soul of our country. His new book is "Back Roads and Bette...
AI, ChatGPT, and the Race That Will Change the World
23 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rival CEOs. A race to build god-like machines. What could go wrong? In "Supremacy," Bloomberg's Parmy Olson shares the thrilling (and sometimes chilli...
Your Stone Age Brain in the Screen Age
22 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The human brain hasn't changed much since the Stone Age, which is why it's so poorly equipped to resist modern technology. But don't despair. Renowned...
How to Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius
21 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Happy Monday! To kick off the week, we're joined by Kendra Adachi, who's here to teach you how to be a genius about the things that matter and lazy ab...
Rediscover Calm in a Chaotic World
18 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Start your weekend with a little mindfulness... 📕 Deeper Mindfulness: The New Way to Rediscover Calm in a Chaotic World by Mark Williams & Danny Pe...
How to Be a Happy High Achiever
17 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Clinical psychologist Mary Anderson shares a road map ambitious people can follow to transform chronic stress and anxiety into sustainable happiness a...
Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity
16 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this week, MIT's Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson were awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for their groundbreaking research on how instituti...
How to Transform Your Daily Grind and Achieve a Better Life
15 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
American work isn’t working. Brigid Schulte is here to change that. 📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter Learn more ...
The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land
14 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rebecca Nagle has written for the Atlantic, the Washington Post, the Guardian, and Indian Country Today. She hosts the celebrated podcast This Land. ...
What if the Problem Isn’t Your Partner―It’s Stress?
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's Friday. You made it. But before you get into weekend mode, check out these key insights from Elizabeth Earnshaw, author of the new book 'Til Stre...
How We Can Fix Our Waste and Heal Our World
10 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today, some key insights from Total Garbage, a new book by Edward Humes about the waste embedded in our daily lives. Learn more about your ad choices....
Why Are We Obsessed With Human Origins?
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Stefanos Geroulanos, an eminent historian, tells the story of how we came to obsess over the origins of humanity ― and how, for three centuries, ide...
How to Optimize Your Brain and Transform the Way You Work
08 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mithu Storoni isn't just an eye surgeon and neuroscience researcher; she's also an expert in how to get your brain working at peak efficiency. Today,...
How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World
07 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tyler Cowen, one of the world's most respected economists, shares how to spot, assess, woo, and retain highly talented people. Learn more about your a...
Life Lessons From Kierkegaard
04 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we're straying a bit off our usual path to share some inspiring insights from Aaron Simmons's book "Camping with Kierkegaard: Faithfulness as a...
How to Make the Most Consequential Decision in the World
03 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Voting for president is no small thing. Gautum Mukunda, from the Harvard Kennedy School, reflects on its significance in his new book "Picking Preside...
Inside the Mind of Volodymyr Zelensky
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Time correspondent Simon Shuster provides an intimate portrait of Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky. 📕 The Showman: Inside the Invasion That ...
Living in Sync with Your Inner Clock
01 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Want to be sharper, healthier, and happier? Then you need to up your sleep game. Lynne Peeples, author of The Inner Clock: Living in Sync with Our Cir...
A Guide to Finding Fulfillment in Work and Life
30 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Megan Hellerer graduated from Stanford at the top of her class, landed a dream job at Google, and dutifully climbed the corporate ladder. So why was s...
The Science of Human Possibilities
27 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kumar Murty illuminates the interconnectedness of mental acuity and spiritual enlightenment. 📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly Linke...
How Corporations Get Rich off America’s Poor
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The federal government spends around $900 billion a year on programs that are supposed to help poor Americans. Why does so much of that money end up i...
The Horse: A Galloping History of Humanity
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Horses revolutionized the way we hunted, traded, traveled, farmed, fought, worshipped, and interacted. They determined international borders, molded c...
Answers to the Big Questions of Midlife
24 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Debra Whitman, a globally recognized expert on aging, presents practical steps you can follow to make sure the second half of your life is as rich, re...
Sell Like A Spy
23 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jeremy Hurewitz on the tradecraft that can make you better at persuasion. 🎟️ Grab a ticket to our event with Daniel Pink and Adam Moss at nextbig...
Stories From the Best of Humanity
20 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Let's end the week on a positive note. Gabriel Reilich and Lucia Knell share a few much-needed life-affirming stories handpicked from Upworthy’s com...
Why Public Schools Are Worth Fighting For
19 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Public schools are the most democratic institutions this country has ever created. So why are they under threat? And can they be saved? Journalist Jen...
Create Extraordinary Places that Bring People Together
18 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Museums, restaurants, grocery stores, and universities — in the era of AI and the metaverse, these real places will matter more than ever. Kevin Erv...
How to Pay Attention in a Distracted World
17 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Christian Madsbjerg explores how we can reclaim the lost art of paying attention. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How to Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation and Intuition at Work
16 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Creativity isn't just for artists. You can — and should — embrace creativity no matter your line of work. Today, Natalie Nixon offers tips for how...
How to Find the Silver Linings Even on Your Darkest Days
13 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From award-winning Washington Post columnist Steven Petrow, a guide to finding joy even during life’s most difficult times. Learn more about your ...
How Our Culture Enables Misbehaving Men
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's been seven years since #MeToo went viral. What has actually changed? Reah Bravo joins us to share answers from her book "Complicit." Learn more a...