Think Again - a Big Think Podcast

62. Mixtape #3 – a Soupçon of Ornithology


Listen Later

Big Think launched in 2008 as a "YouTube for intellectuals." Since then, it has produced over 10,000 short-form video interviews with many of the most influential and creative thinkers of our time. 

In 2014, the podcast SERIAL burst on the scene and Apple put a "podcasts" app in the iPhone's OS, and suddenly podcasting, which had existed for over a decade, was widely considered to have entered its Golden Age (wonder how all the veteran podcasters felt about that...). So Big Think decided it might be a good time to start a podcast, too––to find its voice in this newly energized space. Jason Gots (who had been a writer and editor there since 2010), more or less leapt out of his chair at the meeting where this was announced and volunteered to create and host it. Thus THINK AGAIN - A BIG THINK PODCAST was born. 

Big Think's videos are bits of "expert wisdom", presented confidently and definitively against a white screen background. With THINK AGAIN, we wanted to revisit these ideas the way the audience encounters them––spontaneously, messily, and often out of context. We wanted to bring the experts to that state some thinkers call "beginner's mind" and see what would happen. 

The format: Jason sits down with artists, scientists, historians––all accomplished experts in their fields. They chat a bit about the guest's work. Then, they watch three surprise Big Think interview clips (chosen by the video producers), emailed to Jason just before the interview, and discuss them. And the conversation goes where it goes.  

Some amazing moments have happened this past year––fun, profound, profoundly painful––we're stepping back and taking stock. This, the third of our year one mixtapes, features direct, powerful, and hilarious conversations with actor Ethan Hawke, comedians P.F. Tompkins and Chris Gethard, and musician Amanda Palmer

Surprise clips in this episode:

Andrew Keen on the cultural impact of the internet, Bill Nye on infinity, and Baratunde Thurston on information overabundance.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Think Again - a Big Think PodcastBy Big Think / Panoply

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

552 ratings


More shows like Think Again - a Big Think Podcast

View all
Bookworm by KCRW

Bookworm

573 Listeners

Arts & Ideas by BBC Radio 4

Arts & Ideas

290 Listeners

On Being with Krista Tippett by On Being Studios

On Being with Krista Tippett

10,301 Listeners

World Book Club by BBC World Service

World Book Club

358 Listeners

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast by Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

2,080 Listeners

Books and Authors by BBC Radio 4

Books and Authors

369 Listeners

The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

The LRB Podcast

291 Listeners

Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry by David Naimon, Tin House Books

Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry

440 Listeners

Tricycle Talks by Tricycle: The Buddhist Review

Tricycle Talks

342 Listeners

Intelligence Squared by Intelligence Squared

Intelligence Squared

773 Listeners

Making Sense with Sam Harris by Sam Harris

Making Sense with Sam Harris

26,383 Listeners

The History of Literature by Jacke Wilson / The Podglomerate

The History of Literature

1,084 Listeners

Philosophy For Our Times by IAI

Philosophy For Our Times

303 Listeners

The Paris Review by The Paris Review

The Paris Review

783 Listeners

City Arts & Lectures by City Arts & Lectures

City Arts & Lectures

378 Listeners