The Next Big Idea Daily

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)

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.