Big Think

By bigthink

Big Think is the leading source of expert-driven, actionable, educational content -- with thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, we help you get smarter, faster.... more

· Education

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FAQs about Big Think:

How many episodes does Big Think have?

The podcast currently has 210 episodes available.

Big Think episodes:

August 13, 2025 How to be a more loving person, in 3 steps
What does it mean to build a moral life rooted in love? Philosopher Meghan Sullivan explores the concept of a "love ethic," a framework that calls us to extend the same compassion and concern we show loved ones to strangers.
Drawing on Aristotle’s idea of a friend as a second self and the biblical story of the Good Samaritan, she outlines three principles at the heart of love ethics: the inherent dignity of every person, love as the foundation of moral reasoning, and practical applications in daily life.
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About Meghan Sullivan:
Meghan Sullivan is the Wilsey Family College Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, where she leads the Ethics Initiative and founded the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good. With support from the John Templeton Foundation, the Institute advances research and teaching on human flourishing. Sullivan’s work spans ethics, metaphysics, and religion. She’s the author of Time Biases and co-author of The Good Life Method, based on her acclaimed course “God and the Good Life.”

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8min
August 13, 2025 Is it time to change the way you think about sex_ _ Cindy Gallop
Cindy Gallop answers our questions about sex, identity, and why we need to stop giving a damn.
Cindy Gallop, the founder and CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn, answered our questions about self-worth, the weight of other people’s expectations on women, and hope.
She shares her mission to normalize and destigmatize conversations about sex, including the negative consequences of using pornography as a substitute for sexual education.
Cindy hopes for a world where we’re all unburdened by societal judgments and true equality is achieved.

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8min
August 13, 2025 The 3-step process to CIA training, revealed | Andrew Bustamante: Full Interview
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1h 5min
August 13, 2025 Einstein failed to solve the Universe. Here’s what it would take to succeed. | Michio Kaku
If Einstein couldn’t solve the theory of everything, could anyone? Physicist Michio Kaku explains what it would take.
Albert Einstein spent the last 30 years of his life pursing a “theory of everything,” aiming to find a concise equation summarizing the fundamental laws of the Universe. His downfall? Subatomic particles.
Physicist Michio Kaku offers an alternative to Einstein’s elusive theory: “string theory.” We could try to explain it, but he does a much better job. After all, he’s one of the co-inventors of it.
If you aren’t sold on string theory, Kaku breaks down the three criteria needed to figure out what makes our Universe tick: it must incorporate Einstein’s theory of gravity, explain particle physics, and be mathematically sound. No pressure.

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8min
August 12, 2025 The last human choice: surrendering agency to AI
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11min
August 12, 2025 How rejection made Julie Plec an undeniable leader
🎬 **Julie Plec on Insecurity, Leadership & Self-Forgiveness**
Julie Plec — writer, producer, and showrunner — opens up about the emotional undercurrents of her creative journey, revealing how deeply insecurity can shape success.
✍️ **"I'm Not a Writer"**
Despite her long career, Julie often feels like an imposter. A painful writing class in college planted self-doubt. Every project brings fears of failure and fraudulence — even after major success.
💔 **Career Setback**
After rising in the industry, she was called “disruptive” and blacklisted. It crushed her confidence for years. But with time and perspective, she realized her inexperience *did* show — and owning that truth became her path to growth 💪.
🧊 **A Humbling Moment**
That career bump brought a “bucket of ice water” in humility. Accepting her role in the failure made her a better leader — more grounded, self-aware, and compassionate.
😨 **Fear of Death & Perfectionism**
Julie confesses a fear of death — not dying, but *not having lived fully*. That fear may have kept her from personal milestones like marriage or children. At the same time, a perfectionist streak leads her to self-criticism whenever she falls short.
👧 **The Origin of Doubt**
Her core limiting belief — *“I’m doing it all wrong”* — traces back to a childhood swimming lesson where she felt laughed at. But revisiting the memory as an adult revealed they were actually charmed by her. That moment shaped decades of self-doubt.
💗 **The Healing Journey**
Now, she’s working to forgive herself, love herself *despite* her flaws, and rewrite that old belief. It’s a powerful journey of self-compassion that she encourages others to explore.
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10min
August 12, 2025 The beauty of our improbable existence with a NASA expert, physicist & futurist
**🚀 From Mars Rocks to 10,000-Year Clocks: A Journey Through Time, Space & Human Curiosity**
In this episode of *Dispatches from the Well*, we're taken on an awe-inspiring ride through the cosmos and deep into Earth's own history—guided by some of the most curious minds on the planet. 🧠🌍
🔴 **Nina Lanza**, a planetary scientist, doesn't work *on* Mars—but she works *for* it. From the volcanic terrains of New Mexico, she studies rocks eerily similar to those found on the Red Planet. With NASA’s Rovers Curiosity and Perseverance, she's uncovering secrets about Martian geology, including tantalizing hints that microbial life *may* have once existed there. 🔬🪨
⚛️ **Sean Carroll**, the theoretical physicist behind the *Mindscape* podcast, reflects on the wonder and responsibility of scientific discovery. He stresses that while we don't yet understand dark matter or quantum gravity, we *do* know much about the atoms that make us—and that knowledge reshapes how we see ourselves. 🌀
🛸 **Kevin Kelly**, futurist and co-founder of *Wired*, opens up his "curiosity wall" and gives us a glimpse of a future shaped by wonder and longevity. From freeze-dried birds to a prototype part of a 10,000-year clock, Kevin shows us how thinking long-term could be the most radical thing we do. ⏳🔧
✨ Whether it's vaporizing Mars rocks with lasers or building monuments meant to last ten millennia, this episode celebrates our endless hunger to *know more*—about our past, our universe, and what lies ahead.
🧩 *What if curiosity isn’t just a trait—but our species’ best survival strategy?*
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43min
August 12, 2025 Physicist Brian Cox explains quantum physics in 22 minutes
"Quantum mechanics and quantum entanglement are becoming very real. We're beginning to be able to access this tremendously complicated configuration space to do useful things."
With a topic as seemingly complicated as quantum physics, where can you start if you want to build your understanding?
In just 22 minutes, physicist and professor Brian Cox unpacks the subatomic world, beginning with the theories as we understand them today.
Chapters:
0:00 The subatomic world
1:23 A shift in teaching quantum mechanics
2:48 Quantum mechanics vs. Classic theory
6:07 The double slit experiment
11:31 Complex numbers
13:53 Sub-atomic vs. Perceivable world
16:40 Quantum entanglement
About Brian Cox:
Brian Cox obtained a first class honors degree in physics from the University of Manchester in 1995 and in 1998 a Ph.D. In High Energy Particle Physics at the DESY laboratory in Hamburg. He is now Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Manchester, The Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science and a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Brian is widely recognized as the foremost communicator for all things scientific, having presented a number of highly acclaimed science programs for the BBC watched by billions internationally including ‘Adventures in Space and Time’ (2021), ‘Universe’ (2021), ‘The Planets’ (2018), ‘Forces of Nature’ (2016), ‘Human Universe’ (2014), ‘Wonders of Life’ (2012), ‘Wonders of the Universe’ (2011) and ‘Wonders of the Solar System’ (2010).
As an author, Brian has also sold over a million books worldwide including ‘Black Holes’, ‘Universal: A Guide to the Cosmos’, ‘Quantum Universe’ and ‘Why Does E=mc2?’ with co-author Professor Jeffrey Forshaw. He has set several world records for his sell-out live tours, including his most recent tour Horizons which has taken in venues across the globe.
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28min
August 12, 2025 Expand your perception. Change your life. | Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor
Neuroanatomist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor explains the 4 key ”characters” of the brain, and how understanding each can expand your perception of yourself, and the world, forever.
At age 37, neuroanatomist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor suffered a stroke that would take her eight years to fully recover from. This is how it changed her understanding of the brain.
In this interview, Dr. Jill draws a map of the human brain, explaining how it is comprised of four distinct modules, each serving a unique role in function and personality. This combination of cognitive and emotional components gives rise to the multidimensional characters within each of us.
Are you looking to be more rational, more creative, more forgiving, or perhaps less rigid in your thinking? Dr. Jill suggests that by becoming aware of the four modules of our brains, we can consciously choose to engage specific parts. This awareness allows us to harness the true power of our brains and shape who we want to become, ultimately fostering less anxiety, more inner peace, and a vastly more purposeful life.
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About Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor:
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained and published neuroscientist. In 1996 she experienced a severe hemorrhage (AVM) in the left hemisphere of her brain causing her to lose the ability to walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. Her memoir, My Stroke of Insight, documenting her experience with stroke and eight-year recovery, spent 63 weeks on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list and is still routinely the #1 book in the category Stroke in the Amazon marketplace.
Dr. Jill is a dynamic teacher and public speaker who loves educating all age groups, academic levels, as well as corporations and not-for-profit organizations about the beauty of our human brain. She focuses on how we can activate the power of our neuroplasticity to not only recover from neurological trauma, but how we can purposely choose to live a more flexible, resilient, and satisfying life.
In 2008 Dr. Jill gave the first TED talk that ever went viral on the Internet, which now has well over 27.5 million views. Also in 2008, Dr. Jill was chosen as one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” and was the premiere guest on Oprah Winfrey’s “Soul Series” webcast. Her new book, Whole Brain Living – the Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life is a #1 release on Amazon in categories ranging from Neuroscience to Nervous System Diseases and Stroke.
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12min
August 12, 2025 CIA psychology: Ask questions that make people reveal everything | Andrew Bustamante
What if every conversation you have is part of an invisible marketplace, and you’re giving away your most valuable assets for free?
Former CIA officer Andrew Bustamante introduces the concept of the economy of secrets, where every withheld thought and every shared opinion carries leverage. In this hidden system, those who understand the rules gain power, and those who don’t become easy targets.
00:00 The economy of secrets
01:00 The construct of fairness
03:30 Leveraging secrets
05:04 Different types of secrets
06:01 CIA’s classification of secrets
08:53 Information superiority
10:18 Using open questions
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About Andrew Bustamante:
Andrew Bustamante is a former covert CIA intelligence officer and decorated US Air Force combat veteran. In 2017, he founded EverydaySpy.com, the first digital platform teaching real-world intelligence techniques to everyday people. Drawing from his 20 years running human and technical operations globally, Bustamante empowers individuals to break social, financial, and cultural barriers using proven spy skills. He's a Fortune 10 corporate advisor, cybersecurity expert, and author of "Everyday Espionage: Winning the Workplace and Social Game." Together with his wife Jihi, also a former CIA officer, Andrew hosts the EverydaySpy Podcast.

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18min

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How many episodes does Big Think have?

The podcast currently has 210 episodes available.

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