The Next Big Idea Daily

Today, Rajiv Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation and former administrator of President Barack Obama’s United States Agency for International Development, shares his audacious strategy for achieving transformational change.

Most of us believe that what we see is what’s really there. But new discoveries in neuroscience and psychology have turned this assumption upside down. What if rather than perceiving reality passively, your mind actively predicts it? That's what Andy Clark argues in today's episode.

Today, Dr. Amy Shah shares a science-based plan designed to help you take charge of your health and your cravings, without feeling deprived.

As an editor at Harper's and GQ, Christopher Cox learned the power of a good deadline. Then he began to wonder: could he leverage that power in other parts of his life?

We're capping off the week with an eye-opening journey through the magical, yet surprisingly little-understood, human emotion that is wonder led by Monica Parker, a consultant whose clients include blue-chip companies such as LinkedIn, Google, Prudential, and LEGO.

We all have a vague sense that social media is bad for us, but the truth, according to New York Times reporter Max Fisher, is that its reach and impact run far deeper than we have understood. He joins us today to explain how social media rewired our minds and what we can do to break free.

A surprising vision of how human intelligence will coevolve with digital technology and revolutionize how we think and behave from one of the founders of the MIT Media Lab.

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.

Few things will change your trajectory in life or business as much as learning to think clearly. Today, Shane Parrish, founder of Farnam Street and host of "The Knowledge Project" podcast, is here to teach you how.

John Kim and Vanessa Bennett are marriage therapists. They are also partners. Today, they tell us how analyzing their own relationship helped them untangle the common barriers many individuals face on the road to a happy, loving, rewarding partnership. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code DAILY gets you 10% off)

Zoe Chance teaches the most popular class at the Yale School of Management. But you don't have to got to Yale to hear what she has to say, because she's with us today to share a few key insights from her book "Influence Is Your Superpower." • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code DAILY gets you 10% off)

Has a healthy appreciation for the culture and heritage of minority groups transformed into a counterproductive obsession with group identity in all its forms? The Atlantic's Yascha Mounk thinks so. He joins us today to explain how it happened and why he believes it threatens American democracy. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code DAILY gets you 10% off)

Today, a top expert on decision-making explains why it’s so hard to make good choices about your health — and what you (and your doctor) can do to make better ones. Subscribe to our newsletter Download our app Join our club (code DAILY gets you 10% off)

Happy Monday! Today, Bloomberg reporter Zeke Faux is here to tell the story of the greatest financial mania the world has ever seen.

Today, we hear from Jennifer Breheny Wallace, author of the definitive book on the rise of toxic achievement culture that is overtaking our kids' and parents' lives. She offers a new framework for fighting back. • We'll be hosting a live event with Jennifer in New York City on November 1st. Click here to learn more. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code PODCAST gets you 20% off)

Can civility help bridge our political divide?

MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan isn’t one to avoid arguments. He relishes them as the lifeblood of democracy and the only surefire way to establish the truth. Arguments help us solve problems, uncover new ideas we might not have considered, and nudge our disagreements toward mutual understanding. A good argument, made in good faith, has intrinsic value ― and can also simply be fun. Whether you are making a presentation at work or debating current political issues with a friend, Mehdi Hasan will teach you how to sharpen your speaking skills to make the winning case. Subscribe to our newsletter Download our app Join our club (code DAILY gets you 10% off)

If memory is a simple thing, why does it so often go awry? Why is forgetting so common? How can you be certain about something you remember — and be wrong about it? Why is it so difficult to remember people's names? How can you study hard for an exam but not be able to recall the material on the test? Today, Dr. Andrew Budson and Dr. Elizabeth Kensinger address these questions and more, using their years of experience to guide readers into better memory.

Today, Adam Alter, author of "Anatomy of a Breakthrough," offers up a groundbreaking guide to breaking free from the thoughts, habits, jobs, relationships, and business models that are preventing you from achieving your full potential.

The things we tell ourselves affect how well or poorly our path in life goes. Today, we're going to flip the script on the internal stories you tell yourself so you can live life on your terms. Subscribe to our newsletter Download our app Join our club (code DAILY gets you 10% off)

Today we dig into the unprecedented risks that AI and other fast-developing technologies pose to global order, and how we might contain them while we have the chance.

Today, New York Times bestselling author Cal Newport offers a bold vision for liberating workers from the tyranny of the inbox — and unleashing a new era of productivity.

In this episode, Rina Bliss, a genetics expert and professor challenges our understanding of intelligence, explaining what it truly means to be “smart,” why conventional assessments are misleading, and what everyone can do to optimize their potential.

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

We are stuck in “Infinite Browsing Mode” — swiping through endless dating profiles without committing to a single partner, jumping from place to place searching for the next big thing, and refusing to make any decision that might close us off from an even better choice we imagine is just around the corner. This culture of restlessness and indecision, Pete Davis argues, is causing tension in the lives of young people today: We want to keep our options open, and yet we yearn for the purpose, community, and depth that can only come from making deep commitments. Today, he's here to teach us how to make it to the other side. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code DAILY gets you 10% off)

As an award-winning science journalist, Melinda Wenner Moyer was regularly asked to investigate and address all kinds of parenting questions: how to potty train, when and whether to get vaccines, and how to help kids sleep through the night. But as Melinda's children grew, she found that one huge area was ignored in the realm of parenting advice: How do we make sure our kids don't grow up to be assholes?

Today: a fascinating exploration into how the brain creates our conscious experiences — potentially revolutionizing neuroscience and the future of technology.

Sportswriter Sally Jenkins has spent 30 years observing, interviewing, and analyzing elite coaches and playmakers, such as Bill Belichick, Peyton Manning, Michael Phelps, and more. In this episode, she shares the principles that lead superstars to success — and how you can apply those principles to your life. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code DAILY gets you 10% off)

Spend 13 minutes with us today and develop the life-changing ability to excel in spontaneous communication situations—from public speaking to interviewing to networking—with a few essential strategies courtesy of Matt Abrahams, a Stanford lecturer, coach, and host of the popular "Think Fast, Talk Smart" podcast.

Today, licensed therapist and bestselling relationship expert Nedra Glover Tawwab offers clear advice for identifying dysfunctional family patterns and choosing the best path to breaking the cycle and moving forward. --- Subscribe to our newsletter Download our app Join our club (code DAILY gets you 10% off) Send us an email

Many of the problems we face today, from climate change to work anxiety, are the result of short-term thinking. But there is a solution. Futurist Ari Wallach offers a radical new way forward called “longpath,” a mantra and mindset to help us focus on the long view.

Social scientist Dan Ariely explores the behavior of misbelief that leads people to distrust accepted truths and embrace conspiracy theories.

In their groundbreaking book, "Random Acts of Medicine," Anupam Jena and Christopher Worsham reveal the hidden side of medicine and how unexpected — but predictable — events can profoundly affect our health.

Today, in just eight minutes, award-winning Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson is going to transform your relationship with failure.

The pursuit of perfection can become a dangerous obsession that leads to burnout and depression — keeping us from achieving our goals. Today, Thomas Curran gives us tips for letting go so we can focus on what matters most. • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code DAILY gets you 10% off) • Send us an email

Racism, says Heather McGhee in her award-winning book "The Sum of Us," is the common denominator of our most vexing public problems, the core dysfunction of our democracy, and constitutive of the spiritual and moral crises that grip us all. But how did this happen? And is there a way out?

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

Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas teach the popular course "Humor: Serious Business" at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where they help some of the world’s most hard-driving, blazer-wearing business minds infuse more humor and levity into their work and lives. In "Humor, Seriously," they draw on findings by behavioral scientists, world-class comedians, and inspiring business leaders to reveal how humor works and—more importantly—how you can use more of it, better.

In 2006, John Warren and John Thompson led Marines into combat in the world’s most dangerous city: Ramadi, Iraq. In "Lead Like a Marine," Warren and Thompson lay out the simple, universal rules that helped them succeed, from valuing grit and potential over pedigree, to condensing large groups into resilient “fireteams,” to cross-training team members so that anyone can step up to the plate in a crisis.

You can get happier. And getting there will be the adventure of your lifetime. Today, 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." • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code DAILY gets you 10% off) • Send us an email

Tribalism is one of the most complex and ancient evolutionary forces. But in our vast modern world, has this blessing become a curse?

In "High Conflict," bestselling author and award-winning journalist Amanda Ripley investigates how good people get captured by high conflict—and how they break free. • Subscribe to Michael's newsletter

Today, Paul Bloom takes us on a brisk tour through modern psychology.

What distinguishes the great from the truly exceptional? After five years of writing The Profile, Polina Marinova Pompliano has studied thousands of successful and interesting people in the world and examined how they reason their way through problems, unleash their creativity, and perform under extreme pressure.

Jane Ferguson has covered nearly every war front and humanitarian crisis of our time. Today, she shares career advice inspired by her bestselling memoir, "No Ordinary Assignment."

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

Today, our curator Adam Grant stops by to share the key takeaways from his #1 New York Times bestseller "Think Again." • If you're an Adam Grant fan, you'll love The Next Big Idea Club. Adam, Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink handpick their favorite books, and then we send them to your doorstep. Sign up at nextbigideaclub.com and use code DAILY for a special discount.

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, a leading political and intellectual historian and a certified fitness instructor, explores the complex and far-reaching implications of how our contemporary exercise culture took shape.

Today, Stanford Graduate School of Business faculty member, serial entrepreneur, and investor David Dodson details the five skills every great manager needs to know if they want to get things done.

To write "Beginners," Tom Vanderbilt embarked on a yearlong quest of learning just for the sake of it. Along the way, he interviewed dozens of experts about the psychology and science behind the benefits of becoming an adult beginner. Today, he joins us to explain how anyone can get better at beginning again — and why it's worth it.