The Next Big Idea Daily

William Ury wrote the world’s best-selling book on negotiation. Now he's here to help us navigate conflict.

Linguist and professor Anne Curzan encourages us all to lighten up when it comes to grammar rules.

As a teenager, Andrew Leland started to lose his sight. One day, in all likelihood, he will be blind. In his moving new memoir, "The Country of the Blind," he reckons with his soon-to-be blindness while also challenging us to think differently about our ablest world.

Carol Dweck’s "Mindset" transformed our view of individual potential. Now her protégé, Mary Murphy, is here to explain how mindset can transcend individuals and transform any group, team, or classroom.

Do you ever feel kind of ... meh? Corey Keyes is here to help. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

Journalist Josie Cox stops by to share highlights from the story of women’s fight for financial freedom.

Could Generation Z's focus on ethics, climate change, and purpose change capitalism forever? • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist Venki Ramakrishnan walks us through the ongoing revolution in biology that could allow us to live for a very, very long time. • Venki's new book is "Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality" • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

Anxiety can be painful and embarrassing, even downright debilitating. But author and podcaster Morra Aarons-Mele says it's also a force that you can use to your advantage. She's here today to teach you how. Morra's new book is "The Anxious Achiever: Turn Your Biggest Fears into Your Leadership Superpower." And be sure to check out her podcast, "The Anxious Achiever," which, like our show, is part of the LinkedIn Podcast Network.

Guy Kawasaki has spent 40 years working with game-changing organizations like Apple, Google, Mercedes, and Canva. More recently, he's been chatting with luminaries like Steve Wozniak and Jane Goodall on his podcast, "Remarkable People." Today, he shares the six key insights — that's right, six! — he's learned along the way. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

It's not enough to be inclusive. Denise Hamilton, a nationally recognized workplace culture and DEI expert, says we should strive for a world that's indivisible. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

The ability to tell a good story is more than just a social skill. It’s a key element in good leadership, connection, and influence that can help you creatively and professionally as much as personally. Today, award-winning consultant and TED speaker Karen Eber has some practical tips for telling stories that resonate. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

Today, Joshua Fletcher (a.k.a. Anxiety Josh) takes us on a tour of the inner mind of a therapist. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

Do fewer things. Work at a natural pace. Obsess over quality. Those are Cal Newport's three strategies for achieving "Slow Productivity." He's on the show today to tell us more.

Why do we assume romantic relationships are more important than friendships? Rhaina Cohen, award-winning producer and editor for NPR's Embedded, has a surprising pro-friendship answer in today's episode. Rhaina's new book is "The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center." • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

Today, we hear from Angelique Bellmer Krembs, global head of brand at BlackRock, about the micro-offenses women encounter in the workplace and what we can do to dismantle them. • You can read the book bite for "You Should Smile More: How to Dismantle Gender Bias in the Workplace" here • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

Today, join scientist Nicholas Humphrey on an epic quest to uncover the evolutionary history of consciousness.

In his new book, "Tornado of Life: A Doctor's Journey through Constraints and Creativity in the ER," physician and writer Jay Baruch explains how working in the emergency room made him a better listener and how what he's learned can help you, too. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

The average human lifespan is just over four thousand weeks. How will you spend your days? How should you spend your days? Journalist Oliver Burkeman has thoughts.

In the early days of the Covid lockdown, many of us found ourselves taking up new hobbies, like playing guitar or baking bread. But Peggy Orenstein went a little further. A lifelong knitter, Peggy decided to try making a sweater from scratch. She taught herself to shear sheep, spin and dye yarn, and other skills. The surprising life lessons she learned are the subject of her new book, "Unraveling: What I Learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World's Ugliest Sweater."

What is it about American political culture that has kept women from the presidency for so long? NBC News correspondent Ali Vitale tackles this question in her book "Electable: Why America Hasn't Put a Woman in the White House … Yet."

You might have heard of Einstein and Newton and Galileo, but can you name the woman whose work led to the discovery of the Big Bang, or the woman who toppled one of the most fundamental laws of physics, or the woman who landed a probe on a comet. Women have contributed to every major discovery ever made in physics and astronomy. Shohini Ghose thinks it's time to rewrite our history books to tell the full story.

Neuroscientist and psychologist Charan Ranganath reframes how we think about remembering and shares the tools we can use to hold on to the things we don't want to forget. Charan's new book, "Why We Remember," is out now.

Today, learn how to perform at your very best from the psychologist who has advised elite military operators, Olympic medalists, big wave surfers, neurosurgeons, cliff divers, first responders, Cirque du Soleil acrobats, professional athletes and coaches, Fortune 500 business executives, and CIA analysts.

Ad exec Bonnie Wan shares her playbook for navigating life’s decisions, crossroads, and curveballs. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

Historian Deborah Plant takes us on a personal exploration of America’s obsession with continuing human bondage.

Charles Duhigg, the bestselling author of "Power of Habit," is on the show today to explain what marital spats, NASA interviews, and gun rights debates can teach us about effective communication. His new book is "Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection." · Love the podcast and ready to go deeper? Come join us in the Next Big Idea Club, a community of lifelong learners led by acclaimed thinkers Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink. Learn more and sign up today at nextbigideaclub.com

We’ve become mad for our devices. Our devices are driving us mad.

Today, MIT's Andrew McAfee stops by to share a few key insights from his recent book "The Geek Way: The Radical Mindset that Drives Extraordinary Results."

Happy Friday, friends! To close out the week, here are a few tips on how to have a great day, any day. Guest: Daniel Goleman Book: "Optimal: How to Sustain Personal and Organizational Excellence Every Day" Subscribe to our newsletter Download our app Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

Today, the true story of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to land on American soil — more than half a century after a federal law banned the importation of captive Africans.

In an alarming new book "Countdown: The Blinding Future of Nuclear Weapons," journalist Sarah Scoles explores the current state of the nuclear arms race.

Today, clinical psychologist and mind-body expert Scott Lyons turns the notion of the drama queen on its head.

Want to become the best at what you do? First, says Ron Friedman ("Decoding Greatness"), you must learn how to reverse engineer.

Humans, it turns out, are pretty decent. That's according to Dutch historian Rutger Bregman, whose book "Humankind: A Hopeful History" was praised by our very own Daniel Pink for making a "bold, sweeping argument" — one you'll hear pieces of today — "[that] will make you rethink what you believe about society, democracy, and human nature itself." • Subscribe to Michael's newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

Nick Romeo, a writer for The New Yorker, has spent the last several years covering the most compelling economic policies and ideas in Europe and America. He's here today to share what he's learned.

Today, we hear from Rick Hanson, senior fellow at UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, about his latest book, "Making Great Relationships: Simple Practices for Solving Conflicts, Building Connection, and Fostering Love."

In "Little Treatments, Big Effects," Harvard-trained psychologist Jessica Schleider explains how you can reboot your mental health in a single therapy session. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

Shellye Archambeau was an executive at IBM, Blockbuster's president, and then MetricStream's CEO. She currently serves on the boards of Verizon and Nordstrom. Today, she shares five key insights from her book "Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers, and Create Success on Your Own Terms."

Today, five lessons, "Learning to Love Midlife," a blueprint for aging gracefully by Chip Conley, CEO of the Modern Elder Academy.

For her first book, Antonia Hylton, a Peabody and Emmy award-winning journalist, unearthed the 93-year-old history of a segregated asylum in Maryland.

Rebecca Boyle stops by to discuss her new book, "Our Moon: How Earth's Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are."

In "Rethinking Diabetes: What Science Reveals About Diet, Insulin, and Successful Treatments," science journalist Gary Taubes argues that when it comes to treating diabetes, a disease that one in five Americans struggles with, we need to focus on diet—particularly, fewer carbohydrates and more fat — over a reliance on insulin

How did Apple overcome a culture of secrecy? How did Pixar out-innovate Disney? In their new book, "Brave Together," Chris Deaver and Ian Clawson say the answer lies in the power of co-creation, a mindset that fosters genuine collaboration.

Stop trying to be perfect. Try this instead.

False narratives about post-racism and meritocracy have been used to condone egregious economic outcomes. What can we do to fix the system?

Last week, Stanford neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky came on the show to make the case that free will does not exist. Today, Alfred Mele, a professor of philosophy at Florida State University, is here to argue the opposite.

Craig Smith has been a heart surgeon for more than 40 years, and in that time he's saved the lives of ordinary patients and one former President of the United States. Today, he's on the show to reflect on his vocation and what it means to be a servant leader.

Charisma. Some people have it, some people don’t. Or so we’ve been led to believe. But speaker, researcher, and bestselling author Vanessa Van Edwards says that to be charismatic, you just have to harness the power of cues. But wait. What are cues? Tune in to find out. Swing by our event in New York City on Jan. 31. Can't make it in person? Grab a ticket for the livestream here.

Curiosity may not seem like a skill, but it is. You can cultivate it. Scott Shigeoka will teach you how. • Attend our event on Jan. 31 • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code DAILY gets you 20% off)