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Big Think
By bigthinkEducation
Big Think episodes
- America’s mass spiral of self-censorship | The Dilemma Ep. 1
Americans no longer feel safe to speak their minds. The levels of self-silencing in the country rival that of Mccarthyism in the late 1940s – or higher, says research scientist Todd Rose. Our social trust is non-existent, so much so that many are opting out of sharing their opinions altogether, making way for those at the extremes to be the dominant voices.
But just because the most vocal want something, doesn’t mean that the rest of the country shares this ideology. In fact, our brains mistake this extremist noise for consensus, reinforcing the lie that this is what we must believe.
Here’s why this social silence must be changed. Why it's healthy to invite in other points of view – even if they differ from yours.
This is The Dilemma with Irshad Manji, a series from Big Think created in partnership with Moral Courage College.
About Irshad Manji:
Irshad Manji is an award-winning educator, author, and advocate for moral courage and diversity of thought. As the founder of Moral Courage College, she equips people to engage in honest conversations across lines of difference.
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23 min - Why we explore, even when there’s no payoff
Astrobiologist Betül Kaçar believes science doesn’t always need a clear purpose; asking questions just to know is reason enough.
Historically, scientific breakthroughs have come as a result of random, niche interests: questions asked just for the sake of satiating curiosity. For Kaçar, science is a patient act, and the simple desire to understand is one of the most beautiful parts of being human.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------About Betül Kaçar:Dr. Betül Kaçar is a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and NASA-funded research leader exploring life’s early evolution. Her team has developed methods to uncover ancient biological innovations. She earned her Ph.D. In Chemistry from Emory and trained at Harvard in Evolutionary Biology.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------About The WellDo we inhabit a multiverse? Do we have free will? What is love? Is evolution directional? There are no simple answers to life’s biggest questions, and that’s why they’re the questions occupying the world’s brightest minds.Together, let's learn from them.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------06:30-19
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5 min - What if the truth offends? Publish it anyway | Peter Singer
In an era of cancel culture, outrage cycles, and the censorship of dissent, philosopher and co-founder of The Journal of Controversial Ideas Peter Singer makes his case for freedom of thought and expression.
Singer argues that silencing uncomfortable ideas doesn't make us safer — it makes us less able to grow, reason, and solve the pressing issues of our time.Chapters:
00:00 Freedom of thought and expression00:44 Why is freedom of thought essential?02:21 The cost of preventing objections03:10 The Journal of Controversial Ideas07:31 Our political climate and controversy09:38 An argument for hiding controversial ideas11:50 The importance of an open debate14:18 Choice in end of life18:54 Same-sex relationshipsAbout Peter Singer:
Peter Singer has been described as the world’s most influential philosopher. Born in Melbourne in 1946, he has been professor of bioethics at Princeton University since 1999. His many books include Animal Liberation - often credited with triggering the modern animal rights movement - Practical Ethics, The Life You Can Save, The Most Good You Can Do, and Ethics in the Real World. In 2023, he published Animal Liberation Now, a fully revised and updated version of the 1975 original.Singer’s writings have also inspired the movement known as effective altruism, and he is the founder of the charity The Life You Can Save. In 2021 he was awarded the $1 million Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture, which he donated to nonprofit organizations working for the causes he supports. In 2023 he received the Frontiers of Knowledge Prize for the Humanities, from the Spanish BBVA Foundation.Folllow this Podcast for daily Episodes-----------------------------------------------------06:30-19
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29 min - Be a creativity pioneer. Change the world | Adama Sanneh
**Can creativity be the key to revolution?** In a world dominated by rigid structures and outdated frameworks, a new movement is rising—one that sees art, culture, and imagination as the driving forces of social change. From recording studios in African prisons to theater schools in vulnerable slums, these Creativity Pioneers are proving that innovation isn’t just about technology—it’s about redefining what’s possible. But can creative solutions truly reshape policies, challenge power, and rebuild democracy? **The spark is there. Will it be enough to ignite a global transformation?**
Creativity is a powerful force for social change. Learn how Creativity Pioneers are shaping our future by applying creative solutions to tackle the world’s most pressing global issues.
Can creativity really change the world? Creativity Pioneers argue that it can. By using art, culture, and imagination, these innovators are tackling some of the most pressing social issues of our time.From building recording studios in African prisons to using graphic novels to address homophobia, corruption, and environmental destruction, these visionaries are showing that creativity is more than just a luxury—it’s a powerful tool for global transformation.This message is clear: creativity is not just about producing art; it’s about fostering environments where innovative ideas flourish. It’s about combining the intellectual with the emotional, the practical with the poetic, and the local with the global.
About Adama Sanneh:Adama is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Moleskine Foundation. Adama brings a unique hybrid background in management and cultural studies to his work designing and building innovative organisations able to generate social impact.Adama graduated in Linguistic and Cultural Mediation from the University of Milan, obtained a Master in Public Management (MPM) from the Bocconi School of Management and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Geneva. After graduating, he worked as a management and strategy consultant for various public and not-for-profit organizations among which the United Nations, in education, social entrepreneurship, and innovation.As the CEO of the Moleskine Foundation, he is committed to explore and leverage the intersection of business, education, culture, and social development to create new and meaningful public value.
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10 min - The American Dream is falling apart | Derek Thompson: Full Interview
"The disease is the fact that liberalism, which used to be an ideology of building, has become an ideology of blocking."
00:00:00 Affordability vs upward mobility
00:00:59 From collapse to abundance00:01:45 Supply-side progressivism00:02:49 An agenda of abundance00:03:18 A look at liberalism00:04:15 The failure of liberal housing policy00:05:54 The unraveling of The American Dream00:07:14 City housing supply00:11:16 The freedom of housing abundance00:14:08 Homelessness is a housing problem00:16:40 The tragedy of good intentions00:18:31 A new set of problems00:20:27 Corporate power00:22:51 The untapped potential of government efficiency00:23:53 The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill00:27:02 Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)00:30:06 Should government be more or less effective?00:33:47 A new political order00:36:39 Neoliberalism and deregulation00:38:20 A fast, effective government00:38:44 Innovation requires implementation00:39:35 A story of technology00:41:29 How do we accelerate science?00:44:03 Ransacking American science00:46:27 A culture of experimentation00:47:30 The implementation of Penicillin00:51:36 Operation Warp Speed00:57:11 The anti-social generation01:01:04 300 hours of leisure time01:01:48 The privatization of attention01:06:53 Optimizing ourselves out of relationships01:07:55 The social costs of the anti-social century01:09:13 Amistics-----------------------------------About Derek Thompson:Derek Thompson is a staff writer at The Atlantic and host of the podcast Plain English. He is the author of Hit Makers and the co-author of Abundance alongside Ezra Klein, which explores the case for renewing the politics of plenty in the modern world.Folllow this Podcast for daily Episodes---------------------------------------------------------06:30-19
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1 hr 25 min - Learn these 3 triggers to navigate conflict like an expert | Jefferson Fisher for Big Think+
“What did you win? You won awkward silence. You won their contempt. You won the first to apologize. When you win an argument, you will lose their confidence, you will lose their respect, you will lose the connection.”
What if every argument you’ve ever “won” actually cost you something way more valuable? Whether that be respect, connection, or trust, lawyer and author Jefferson Fisher argues that when you try to control the conversation, you end up losing something far more important.Instead of fighting to be right, Fisher invites us to unravel the tension of disagreement and examine the real triggers that lie beneath.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------About Jefferson Fisher:Jefferson Fisher is a Texas board certified personal injury attorney, business owner, and communication expert. In 2022, he began making videos of practical communication tips to help people argue less and talk more. He is the host of The Jefferson Fisher Podcast.
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10 min - The last human choice: surrendering agency to AI
The world creates moments when philosophy truly matters. This is one of those moments.
As AI continues to make our lives more convenient, the temptation to use it to outsource judgment will also grow, threatening to erode human decision-making altogether. Brendan McCord, founder of Cosmos Institute, has spent his career advancing AI in the private and national security sectors. Led by a foundation in both technology and philosophy, he is proposing a new kind of technologist – a Philosopher-Builder – that could guide planetary-scale decision-making technology. According to McCord, approaching AI development with philosophical scrutiny is what will preserve our ability to live self-directed lives and flourish as humans.Chapters:
01:10 – What happens when AI becomes life's autocomplete02:20 – Why philosophy is essential to building technology03:30 – Silicon Valley's lost moral ambition04:30 – Three types of builders holding us back05:45 – A new kind of builder: the philosopher-builder07:00 – Benjamin Franklin as the archetype08:30 – The future of AI and the case for human flourishing----------------------------------------------------------------------About Brendan McCord:Brendan McCord is the founder and Chair of the Cosmos Institute and a key thinker at the intersection of AI and philosophy. In the private sector, Brendan was the founding CEO of two AI startups that were acquired for $400 million. In the public sector, Brendan was the principal founder of the first applied AI organization for the US Department of Defense and author of its first AI strategy. Brendan is a graduate of MIT and Harvard Business School and was a Visiting Fellow at St Catherine’s College at the University of Oxford. After MIT, he spent 610 days underwater on a submarine. He lives in Austin, TX with his wife and two children.Folllow this Podcast for daily Episodes----------------------------------------------06:30-19
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14 min - Sam Harris: Experience emotions without being consumed by them
“You can be aware of sadness from a point of view that is not merely sad, and you can be aware of fear from a point of view that's not merely afraid.”
Can consciousness serve as a refuge from suffering? By examining the raw textures of difficult emotions like anger and sadness, Sam Harris explains how we can experience them without suffering, and how digging into awareness reveals a layer of openness below the mental state.Harris explains how meditation and direct attention can alleviate pain and liberate us from a prison of our emotions.0:00 The condition of awareness0:48 Reframing our mental state2:22 The condition of consciousness4:55 How does consciousness arise?7:09 Meditation and consciousness7:36 Thought vs physiology----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About Sam Harris:Sam Harris is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation. The End of Faith won the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction.Mr. Harris' writing has been published in over ten languages. He and his work have been discussed in Newsweek, TIME, The New York Times, Scientific American, Rolling Stone, and many other journals. His writing has appeared in Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, The Times (London), The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, Nature, The Annals of Neurology, and elsewhere.Mr. Harris is a graduate in philosophy from Stanford University and holds a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA, where he studied the neural basis of belief with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). He is also a Co-Founder and CEO of Project Reason-------------------------------------------------------------06:30-19
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15 min - 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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10 min - Finding meaning at the quantum level
Kmele steps inside Fermilab, America’s premiere particle accelerator facility, to find out how the smallest particles in the universe can teach us about its biggest mysteries.
According to Fermilab's Bonnie Flemming, the pursuit of scientific understanding is “daunting in an inspiring way.” What makes it daunting? The seemingly infinite number of questions, with their potentially inaccessible answers.In this episode of Dispatches from The Well, host Kmele Foster tours the grounds of America’s legendary particle accelerator to discover how exploring the mysteries at the heart of particle physics help us better understand some of the most profound mysteries of our universe.Chapters:-
00:00:00 - The Miracle of Birth
00:04:48 - Exploring the Universe's Mysteries00:09:20 - Building Blocks of Matter and the Standard Model00:13:35 - The Evolving Body of Knowledge00:17:39 - Understanding the Early Universe00:22:05 - Reflections on Particle Physics00:25:34 - The Extraordinary Effort to Understand the Small00:29:59 - From Paleontology to Astrophysics00:33:40 - The Importance of the Scientific Method and Being Critical----------------------------------------------------------------------About Kmele Foster:Kmele Foster is a media entrepreneur, commentator, and regular contributor to various national publications. He is the co-founder and co-host of The Fifth Column, a popular media criticism podcast.He is the head of content at Founders Fund, a San Francisco based venture capital firm investing in companies building revolutionary technologies, and a partner at Freethink, a digital media company focused on the people and ideas changing our world.Kmele also serves on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).------------------------------------------------------06:30-17
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46 min
About Big Think
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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.…
Get actionable lessons from the world’s greatest thinkers & doers. Our experts are either disrupting or leading their respective fields. We aim to help you explore the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century, so you can apply them to the questions and challenges in your own life.
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