The Next Big Idea Daily

As chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Tom Wheeler advocated for stronger legislation of big tech companies. In his new book, "Techlash: Who Makes the Rules in the Digital Gilded Age?," he says there's more to be done.

Jacqueline Alnes was a DI runner in college, but her athletic career was cut short by a series of mysterious neurological symptoms. Her search for a cure led her to discover the dark side of wellness culture. Her new book is "The Fruit Cure: The Story of Extreme Wellness Turned Sour."

Are all the little things getting you down? Rob Cross and Karen Dillon are here to help. Their new book is "The Microstress Effect: How Little Things Pile Up and Create Big Problems--and What to Do about It."

Harvard's Michael Norton says cultivating a "ritual" mindset can infuse our lives with meaning. His new book is "The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions."

Longtime New York Times columnist Frank Bruni says fervent hostility has eroded the civility, common ground, and compromise necessary for our democracy to survive. His new book is "The Age of Grievance."

Ecologist David Scheel has been obsessed with octopuses for decades. What he's learned — and why it should matter to you — is the subject of his new book: "Many Things Under a Rock: The Mysteries of Octopuses."

Your twenties are the most challenging time of your life. Does it have to be that way?

Life lessons from the creator of the popular finance podcast So Money.

Inside of you resides an intentional life without limits. The time has come to awaken it. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

Today, a few big ideas from Susan Liautaud, who teaches cutting-edge ethics courses at Stanford University.

"How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex." The title says it all, doesn't it? Author Samantha Cole stops by to tell us why we have sex to thank for the internet we know and love.

"As a top athlete," says today's guest, Mark Tuitert, "you can easily be blinded by the goal: winning." Mark would know. He won the gold medal in speed skating in the 1500-meter event at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. When he woke up the next day, however, a worrying thought shot through his head: Now what? What do I focus on now? To answer those questions, he turned to the ancient philosophy of Stoicism.

Today, Joe Davis, managing director and senior partner at the Boston Consulting Group, explains why gernosity is the key attribute of a modern leader.

You didn't choose to live this life, but you can still make it beautiful.

If you're living in a city in America right now, there's a nuclear weapon pointed directly at you.

Life is full of moral dilemmas. How do you know you're making the right calls? • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

Today, friend-of-the-pod Steven Johnson stops by to share a few big ideas from his recent book "Extra Life," which President Obama praised for offering readers "a useful reminder of the role of modern science in fundamentally transforming all of our lives." • If you enjoy this episode, check out the audio essay we made with Steven. It's called "Immortality: A User's Guide"

Have you ever been afraid to speak up? You're not alone, says Elaine Lin Hering, a lecturer at Harvard Law School. But your silence has repercussions for you and those around you. Today, Elaine is here to help you summon the courage to say what's on your mind.

To close out the week, let's hear from Reddit's Global Brand Ambassador, Will Cady, who has a few surprising tips for unlocking your creativity. • Don't miss our event with Scott Galloway on April 22nd in New York City. Tickets are going fast! Grab yours at nextbigideaclub.com/events and use the code PODCAST for 50% off

Robin Reames grew up in a fundamentalist Christian, white, and very conservative family in the Deep South. "Up until about my late adolescence and early adulthood," she says, "I more or less believed that the polarized view of the world that dominated my subculture was true. They are the bad guys. We are the good guys." But things changed when she went away to college and discovered rhetoric. That ancient art ultimately showed her how everything from disagreements with her parents to the polarized politics of our time — and even to the way that we think about truth itself — are propelled by the power of words. Robin, who is now a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, joins us today to share a few key insights from her new book, "The Ancient Art of Thinking For Yourself."

In this episode, CNN anchor and chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto warns that another world war could be looming. • We're hosting a live event with Scott Galloway in New York City on April 22nd. Learn more and grab your ticket at nextbigideaclub.com/events

Keto, Atkins, paleo, and Whole30 — it seems like fad diets are everywhere these days. How did they get so popular, and are they doomed to fail? • Want to attend our live event with Scott Galloway on April 22? Learn more at nextbigideaclub.com/events/

Today, indispensable financial advice from Jill Schlesinger, Emmy and Gracie Award winning business analyst for CBS News and author of "The Great Money Reset: Change Your Work, Change Your Wealth, Change Your Life."

Can Joseph Campbell’s "hero’s journey" help you find fulfillment?

Is the design of the internet to blame for our current crises of disinformation, mental illness, and hyper-partisan division? • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

Why does living in the so-called Information Age only seem to make life more confusing? Amanda Montell has some surprising answers.

Today, a few brainy insights from neuroscientist Chantel Prat, author of "The Neuroscience of You," which our pal Adam Grant called her book "the smartest, clearest, and funniest book I've ever read about the brain."

How smart leaders make the right things easier and the wrong things harder. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

For the past few years, Scott Rick, a behavioral scientist at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, has been surveying couples, and he's reached a surprising conclusion: many tightwads are married to spendthrifts. Why does this happen? Why do penny pinchers fall for cash splashers? And if you find yourself in such a relationship, what can you do about it? • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (and use code DAILY for a special discount)

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."