The Next Big Idea Daily

What does it take to open someone's mind? We asked David McRaney for his science-backed tips.

Increasing longevity and the explosion of technology are reshaping the world. What will it mean for your education, career, and life? Wharton professor Mauro Guillén has the answers.

"The art of losing isn't hard to master," Elizabeth Bishop wrote in her poem "One Art." Psychotherapist Gina Moffa agrees. In her new book, "Moving On Doesn't Mean Letting Go," Gina offers an easy-to-follow map through the hinterlands of loss.

With the rise of hybrid work, intergeneration offices, and flexible schedules, it has never been harder to build a successful team. Leaders are bending over backward, searching for solutions that work. But nothing sticks. Today, bestselling author Mike Michalowicz shares his proven formula for building an unstoppable team in any workplace.

To close out the week, let's hear from two philosophers about what it means to be happy, good, and to live with purpose.

Every day, in offices around the world, there are an estimated 200 million one-on-one meetings. In "Glad We Met," Steven Rogelberg asks: are all those 1:1s run as effectively as possible?

Does free will exist? Stanford professor Robert Sapolsky says, "Hell no!" Which sounds scary, we know, but he's here today to explain why a world without free will might not actually be such a bad place.

We don't just want to live for a long time — we want to thrive as we age. Today, science writer and documentarian Jason Prall tells us how we can.

It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which has us thinking about the state of our nation — specifically, the state of diversity in our nation. It's a complicated subject, to be sure, so to help us think through it, we're joined by Adia Harvey Wingfield, a professor of sociology at Washington University, whose new book, "Gray Areas," examines why racial inequality persists in the workplace despite today's multi-billion-dollar diversity industry and what actions we can take to create an equitable, multiracial future.

Madeleine Dore went in search of the secret to productivity, only to find that there isn't one. Instead, we're being set up to fail. Today, she's here to encourage us to take productivity off its pedestal.

How innovative are our times really? Not very, according to Thomas Ramge and Rafael Laguna de la Vera. And they've got a point. Technology may have solved some fake problems ("one-click buying!"), but it hasn't done nearly enough to tackle big issues like climate change, cancer, dementia, or hunger. Today, Tomas and Rafael share their vision for a future in which we harness the forces of science and technology to solve real problems.

You may know David Leonhardt from his wildly popular New York Times newsletter, "The Morning." What you may not know is that David is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has spent years trying to understand why the standard of living for many Americans seems to be eroding. His findings are the subject of a new book, "Ours Was the Shining Future," which The Atlantic named one of the best of the year. He joins us today to talk about it.

Today, Dr. Jeremy Nobel unpacks our personal and national experiences of loneliness to discover its roots and to show how we can take steps to find comfort and connection.

Do you have what it takes to be a great leader? Find out by listening to Kirstin Ferguson, who joins us to share five indispensable leadership tips from her new book, "Head & Heart," which Adam Grant calls "a timely, actionable book on the virtues that every great leader needs to learn."

Today, author Maggie Jackson offers a guide to flourishing in times of flux and angst by harnessing the overlooked power of our uncertainty.

Have you ever met an airborne cryptologic linguist? No? Well, today's your lucky day. We're joined by Ian Fritz who has written a new memoir about coming-of-age in a war that is lost.

A structural engineer examines the basic building blocks of engineering that have shaped the modern world.

Exercise isn't just our modern obsession: the ancients were keen on it, too. That's according to award-winning journalist Bill Hayes, who joins us today to describe how our fanaticism for working out has evolved.

Change is not the exception, it’s the rule. Today, Brad Stulberg ("Master of Change") tells us how to deal with it.

You can get happier. And getting there will be the adventure of your lifetime. Harvard professor Arthur C. Brooks shares a few tips on how to do it from his new book — co-written with the one and only Oprah Winfrey — "Build the Life You Want."

Actor, producer, and writer Rainn Wilson ("The Office") explores the problem-solving benefits that spirituality gives us to create solutions for an increasingly challenging world.

Today, Shankar Vedantam, host of "Hidden Brain," walks us through the surprising role of self-deception in human flourishing.

Today, Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and author, explores the exciting new scientific discoveries that explain why the relentless pursuit of pleasure leads to pain — and what we can do about it.

This week, we're looking back at some of our favorite episodes from the last year. Today, we'll hear from award-winning Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson, who's going to transform your relationship with failure.

To close out the week, we called up Mara Glatzel to share her unique approach to identifying, honoring, and advocating for the most tender and true parts of yourself that yearn to be acknowledged.

“It’s the year 2050… and racism has ended.” Could this really be our future?

Today, we're joined by Morgan Housel, author of the mega-bestseller The Psychology of Money, who'll discuss his new book, Same as Ever.

In this episode, the New York Times–bestselling author of Wintering invites us to rediscover the feelings of awe and wonder available to us all.

We are living in a strange world. Felix Salmon calls it “the New Not Normal.” Today, he explores the economic ramifications of the pandemic years, many of which are surprisingly positive.

Can the ancient wisdom of the Stoics help you live a better life today?

Technology is rapidly reshaping our lives. And not always for the better. In this episode, three Stanford professors argue that if we want technology to advance human progress, we need to rein in big tech.

Egyptian-American astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance shares how she boldly carved out a place in the field of astrophysics, grounding herself in a lifelong love of the stars to face life’s inevitable challenges and embrace the unknown.

Today, physician and New York Times bestselling author Michael Greger shares simple hacks you can use to stay healthy as you age.

Over the past two decades, Rich Horwath has helped more than a quarter million leaders develop their strategic thinking and planning skills. Today, he's here to help you.

Today, journalist and podcaster Liel Leibovitz explores how the Talmud — an ancient work of Jewish ethics, law, and tradition ― might actually be humanity’s first self-help book. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code DAILY gets you 20% off)

Today, Wendy Wong, a political scientist at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan, stops by to tell us why we need to reboot rights in this data-intensive world.

The fear of playing the fool is a universal psychological phenomenon and an underappreciated driver of human behavior, says Tess Wilkinson-Ryan. She's on the show today to explain how to live with integrity in a sucker's world. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code DAILY gets you 20% off)

CW: This episode contains references to suicide. In his 20s, Andy Dunn launched a DTC men’s fashion brand called Bonobos. Business was booming. But Dunn was haunted by a ghost: a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. A collision course was set in motion, threatening to unravel everything he’d built. Today, Andy joins us to talk about his harrowing experience and what it can teach all of us about the mental health stigmas.

Today, Ozan Varol, the acclaimed author of "Think Like a Rocket Scientist" shares five tools you can use to unlock your originality and unleash your unique talents.

Today, to close out the week, we'll hear psychologist Michael Gervais's groundbreaking guide for overcoming what may be the single greatest constrictor of human potential: our fear of people’s opinions.

College isn’t for everyone. Could high-value apprenticeships provide an alternative pathway to economic opportunity?

Today, one of the world’s most creative mathematicians offers a new way to look at math.

"There are little things that we can do daily that lower our risk of dementia and Alzheimer's by anywhere from 30 to 60 percent," says Marc Milstein in today's episode.

In her two decades researching organizations, Michelle King has discovered that people who succeed possess a particularly unique skill: They know how workplaces work.

To cap off the week, we'll hear from Chris Bailey, who offers up a guide to achieving calm, navigating anxiety, and staving off burnout. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code DAILY gets you 20% off)

Ian Leslie, a columnist for the New Statesman, is here today to teach us how to transform the heat of conflict, disagreement, and argument into the light of insight, creativity, and connection.

Today, a deep dive into cancel culture, an account of its dangers to all Americans, and the much-needed antidote from the team that brought you "Coddling of the American Mind."

Many of us mistakenly view the arts as mere entertainment. But today Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross show us how the arts and aesthetics can help us transform traditional medicine, build healthier communities, and mend an aching planet. --- • Get an early start on your holiday shopping by giving the gift of a Next Big Idea Club membership. Use code DAILY at nextbigideaclub.com for a special discount!

We're often told to tough things out. But Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Julia Keller wanted to know: is grit all it's cracked up to be, or is it possible that sometimes quitting is actually a better life strategy? --- • Get an early start on your holiday shopping by giving the gift of a Next Big Idea Club membership. Use code DAILY at nextbigideaclub.com for a special discount!

Do you pause before you speak and think before you act? Do you tune into subtle details and make connections that others miss? Well then you, my friend, might be a sensitive person. And according to today's guest, Andre Sólo, that's a good thing — because if you can learn to embrace your sensitivity, you can leverage it across the most important areas of your life: in friendships and relationships, the workplace, leadership, and parenting.