The Next Big Idea

By The Next Big Idea Club / Wondery

What's The Next Big Idea about?

Think bigger. Create better. Live smarter. Ideas are coming at you every day from all directions. Where do you even start? Hosted by Rufus Griscom, and featuring thought-leaders Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink, THE NEXT BIG IDEA brings you the most groundbreaking ideas that have the power to change the way you live, work, and think. Each episode dives deep into one big idea through immersive storytelling, narration and curator interviews with the most interesting authors at work today.

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DRUNK: Why Alcohol Makes Us...

07.29.2021

Do we have alcohol to thank for civilization? The answer, according to Edward Slingerland’s new book, “Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization,” is a resounding yes. Edward, who’s a professor at the University of British ...

The Next Big Idea episodes:

07.29.2021 DRUNK: Why Alcohol Makes Us More Creative, Sociable, and Attractive Do we have alcohol to thank for civilization? The answer, according to Edward Slingerland’s new book, “Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization,” is a resounding yes. Edward, who’s a professor at the University of British ...
07.22.2021 DEATH, SEX & MONEY: Anna Sale Talks About Hard Things A lot of us run away from tough conversations. Anna Sale runs toward them. For nearly a decade, as the host of the podcast “Death, Sex & Money,” she has been having searching conversations about “the things we think about ...
07.15.2021 THE BOMBER MAFIA: Malcolm Gladwell on Warfare, Audiobooks, and the Future of Storytelling Malcolm Gladwell’s extraordinary new book, “The Bomber Mafia,” tells the story of a group of pilots who met on a muggy airbase in central Alabama and hatched a plan to revolutionize warfare. This was in the 1930s, the era of ...
07.08.2021 EFFORTLESS: Embrace the Easy Option Teddy Roosevelt once said that nothing is worth doing “unless it means effort, pain, and difficulty.” And to that bestselling author Greg McKeown says, “Baloney!” There’s no denying that hard work often leads to positive results, but it can just ...
07.01.2021 HIGH CONFLICT: How to Defuse Any Squabble (Amanda Ripley & Susan Cain) Have you ever lain awake at night obsessing over a conflict with a colleague or a relative or a politician you’ve never met? If you have, you were probably experiencing what journalist Amanda Ripley calls high conflict. If good conflict ...
06.24.2021 EXTENDED MIND: Want to Get Smarter? Try Thinking Outside of Your Brain Modern life has not been easy on our brains. Average IQ scores rose steadily throughout the last century. Now they appear to be leveling off. The problem, according to neuroscientists, may be that we have reached our neurobiological limits. Our ...
06.17.2021 DELUSIONS: How Self-Deception Can Help You Flourish (Shankar Vedantam & Daniel Pink) Is it really so bad to be a little bit delusional? Not according to Shankar Vedantam. In his new book, “Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain,” he argues that we tell ourselves lies in order to ...
06.10.2021 AI: The Extraordinary Story of the Tech That’s Changing the World In 1958, a psychologist named Frank Rosenblatt took a five-ton computer, fed it a steady diet of punch cards, and taught it how to recognize the letter “A.” He called his creation the Perceptron, and his belief in its potential ...
06.03.2021 MINE: How the Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives Ownership is simple, right? Something is either yours or it isn’t. Case closed. But who owns the space behind your airplane seat, the results of the DNA you took online, the Netflix password you got from your cousin’s roommate? The ...
05.27.2021 GATHERING: Mastering the Art of Hanging Out You’ve posted a photo of your vaccine card on Instagram. The CDC says it’s okay to leave your bunker. Some of your friends have expressed interest in taking off their masks, breaking the six-foot barrier, and hanging out with you. ...
05.20.2021 EMAIL: Would the World Be Better Without It? What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning and the last thing you do before bed? If you’re a modern knowledge worker, your answer is probably “check my email.” Makes sense. Your inbox is a ...
05.13.2021 WORK: Should You Do Less of It? Adam Grant and James Suzman on the 15-Hour Workweek. Our work consumes us. But does it have to? Anthropologist James Suzman has spent decades living in the Kalahari Desert with one of the world’s last hunter-gatherer societies, and he’s concluded that our modern attitudes about work don’t mesh with ...
05.06.2021 CODE BREAKER: Why Walter Isaacson Thinks CRISPR Will Change Life As We Know It In 2012, biochemist Jennifer Doudna and her team at Berkeley figured out how to rewrite our genetic code using a system called CRISPR. Thanks to this miraculous discovery, we now have the power to hunt down cancer cells, deflect oncoming ...
04.29.2021 FOOD: Can We Taste Climate Change? What’s for dinner? How will we answer that question in 50 years? In this thought-provoking (and occasionally hunger-inducing) conversation, science journalist Amanda Little tells Rufus that the single biggest threat posed by climate change is the collapse of our food ...
04.22.2021 CHATTER: Learning to Love the Voice in Your Head Whether or not we care to admit it, we all talk to ourselves. A lot. The voice in our heads yaks it up about half the time we’re awake, and it can speak at a rate of 4,000 words per ...
04.15.2021 HUMOR: How to Turn Levity Into Your Secret Weapon Humor is no laughing matter. It inspires innovation, strengthens relationships, disarms tension, and makes you look smart. Seriously. So why are we all afraid to be funny at work? In their new book, “Humor, Seriously,” Stanford professors Jennifer Aaker and ...
04.08.2021 BEGINNERS: The Joys of Being an Amateur A few years ago, as he watched his young daughter try out one hobby after another, a thought crossed Tom Vanderbilt’s mind: Why do we work so hard to get our kids to learn new skills when most of us ...
04.01.2021 THINK AGAIN: Adam Grant on the Power of Changing Your Mind We’re taught that the mark of a surefire intelligence is the ability to think and learn. But in his new book, "Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know," Adam Grant says that in our turbulent world, there’s ...
03.25.2021 VOICE: You Are What You Speak Sure, opposable thumbs are handy. But in his brilliant new book, “This Is the Voice,” John Colapinto says the voice is our species’ greatest attribute. We rely on it to communicate and collaborate, woo our mates and protect our children, ...
03.18.2021 THE BRAIN: A User’s Guide to the Blob Between Your Ears If you managed to stay awake during Bio 101, then you probably think you have a basic understanding of how your brain works. Not so, says neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett. In this cerebral yet highly entertaining conversation with Next Big ...
03.11.2021 SERENDIPITY: Good Luck and How to Get It In all likelihood, some of the biggest moments in your life, like meeting your spouse or finding your job, were the result of a chance encounter or fortunate coincidence. You got lucky. But Christian Busch, who directs the global economy ...
03.04.2021 DRUG USE: Is Getting High an American Right? Every day, Dr. Carl Hart goes into his laboratory at Columbia University and gets people high. That research has led him to a surprising conclusion: the predominant effects of the drugs he administers — substances like cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and ...
02.25.2021 POST CORONA: Predicting the Future With Scott Galloway We don’t know when the pandemic will end, but we do know this: while we’ve been stuck at home, the world has been spinning faster than ever. Name any existing trend in technology, healthcare, commerce, or education, and it’s safe ...
02.19.2021 Season 3: New Ideas, Same Great Taste The Next Big Idea returns on February 25th. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
09.25.2020 LET’S BE REASONABLE: Sam Harris and Rufus in Conversation Neuroscientist, philosopher, podcaster, author, meditation guru, and unabashed atheist Sam Harris is one of our best-known — and most controversial — public intellectuals. In this bonus episode, he and Rufus talk about consciousness, free will, morality, and people’s stubborn insistence ...
09.01.2020 MIND GAMES: What Poker Can Teach Us About Luck, Skill, and Ourselves You have to play with the hand you’re dealt. At least that’s what we’re always told. But is it really true? How much of what we achieve in life is the product of our pluck and guile, and how much ...
08.25.2020 TRANSCENDENCE: Finding Fulfillment Beyond Ourselves You may have heard about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which sees human development as a sort of a pyramid, with survival needs at the bottom, social and emotional needs in the middle, and “self-actualization” at the top. Psychologist Scott Barry ...
08.18.2020 HUMANKIND: Finding Hope in Human History Our society is built on the assumption that we’re all a broken stoplight away from reverting to our animal selves. It’s what we’ve come to call “realism.” Historian Rutger Bregman thinks that kind of realism is, well, unrealistic. And not ...
08.11.2020 MIGRATION: Why Human Beings Were Built to Move Birds do it, bees do it, even fishes in the seas do it. So why do we have such a hard time when people migrate from one place to another? Science writer Sonia Shah presents the evidence that migration is ...
08.04.2020 BREATH: Harnessing the Power of a Lost Art We do it 25,000 times a day, but most of us rarely give breathing a thought. Author James Nestor says we’re missing out on one of the most powerful pathways to health and happiness. He leads Rufus through the ins ...
07.28.2020 PERSUASION: How to Change People’s Minds Businesses want people to buy their products. Parents want their kids to eat their vegetables. We all want to convince someone to do something. So we push and we prod – but often to no avail. Wharton marketing professor Jonah ...
07.21.2020 ALCHEMY: How Our Creations Recreate Us Since humans sharpened the first stick and lit the first fire, we have been on an innovation spree, constantly developing new tools and materials to solve our problems. But material scientist Ainissa Ramirez says innovation is a two-way street. Drawing ...
07.14.2020 UPSTREAM: Solving Problems Before They Happen We knew a pandemic was coming. We knew our police were treating some of us differently than others. So why were we so unprepared for what happened? In this eye-opening conversation, Rufus and author Dan Heath dig into what it ...
07.07.2020 CIVILIZATION: Recalculating the Price of Progress Cutting-edge science, music and art, powerful technology, plentiful food. It’s no wonder we sing the praises of civilization. But do we really have it so good? Christopher Ryan says it’s time for a rethink. He tells Rufus that people in ...
06.30.2020 TOGETHER: A Doctor’s Prescription for Health and Happiness When Dr. Vivek Murthy became U.S. Surgeon General in 2014, he went on a listening tour. What he heard surprised him. Americans were lonely, and it was killing them. In this deeply personal conversation with Next Big Idea Club curator ...
06.23.2020 WEIRDNESS: How to Make it Your Superpower Olga Khazan describes weirdness as not fitting neatly into a box — regardless of what that box may be. It doesn’t just make other people see you as different — it also makes you feel like you don’t belong. But ...
06.16.2020 BOYS & SEX: Coming of Age in America Hook-ups, sexting, friends with benefits, ubiquitous porn — sometimes it seems like boys today are growing up in a world of easy sex and mindless gratification. But sit down and talk to them and you get a different story. Rufus ...
06.09.2020 FRIENDSHIP: The Science and Power of Life’s Deepest Bond Friends aren’t just fun to hang out with and handy in a pinch. They’re also a biological necessity. Rufus talks to journalist Lydia Denworth, author of a new book on the science of friendship, who explains why friends — even ...
06.03.2020 THINKING AHEAD: How to Make Life’s Big Decisions We all face fork-in-the-road moments in our lives. In his 2005 bestseller “Blink,” Next Big Idea Club curator (and this episode’s guest interviewer) Malcolm Gladwell famously argued that snap judgments can be just as effective as meticulous planning. In this ...
05.26.2020 LISTENING: What You’re Missing and Why it Matters In the cacophony of modern life, it can seem that talking, scoring points, and being heard are more important than paying attention to what others have to say. But journalist Kate Murphy says listening — really listening — can strengthen ...
05.19.2020 SUCCESSFUL AGING: How to Live a Full, Long Life Even with the COVID-19 pandemic, we're living longer, on average, than at any time in history. So why do so many of us act like our last decades are a time to lower our expectations? Neuroscientist and musician Daniel Levitin ...
05.12.2020 Rethinking Big Ideas: Adam Grant on Finding Balance For the grand finale of our stay-at-home miniseries, Rufus talks about work-life balance, the future of education, and the addictive nature of generosity with author, podcaster, and Next Big Idea Club curator Adam Grant. Support us by supporting our sponsors! ...
05.05.2020 Rethinking Big Ideas: Priya Parker on Gathering Apart In “The Art of Gathering,” conflict resolution specialist Priya Parker writes that “Every gathering is an opportunity to create a world we wish existed.” But sometimes we have to make do with the world we’ve got. She tells Rufus that ...
04.28.2020 Rethinking Big Ideas: The Path to a More Generous World Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler has never felt comfortable with an economic system that values short-term profits over long-term human needs. In a quarantine conversation with host Rufus Griscom, he shares his ideas for moving from a me/now world to one ...
04.21.2020 Rethinking Big Ideas: Daniel Pink on the Future of Work How will the pandemic change the way we organize our days? Our sense of purpose? Our commitments to others? So many questions! Who better to answer than Next Big Idea Club curator Daniel Pink, author of six books about motivation, ...
04.16.2020 Rethinking Big Ideas: On Finding Joy in Simple Pleasures Last season, author/designer Ingrid Fetell Lee taught us about joy spotting. It’s the practice of going out into the world and finding ordinary objects that make you feel extraordinarily happy. But what about when you can’t leave the house? Well, ...
04.09.2020 Rethinking Big Ideas: Steven Johnson on Scientific Breakthroughs What kinds of bold thinking might lead us out of this pandemic? In this lively conversation, Steven Johnson and Rufus Griscom talk about the innovations that are paving the way. Steven is the author of numerous books and hosts "Fighting ...
04.02.2020 Rethinking Big Ideas: Susan Cain on Solitude Last season, we brought you ideas with the power to change the way you see the world. Now that the world’s been turned upside down, we thought it’d be a good time to invite back some of our favorite guests ...
01.28.2020 STILLNESS: How to Find Peace in a Frantic World What do the Buddha, John F. Kennedy, Mr. Rogers, and Leonardo da Vinci all have in common? The ability to be still and tune out the busy, buzzing drone of modern life. Ryan Holiday, the author of “Stillness Is the ...
01.21.2020 FREE MONEY: Why Andrew Yang Thinks a Giveaway Can Save the Economy Andrew Yang has a pretty bleak vision for the future. The way he sees it, we’re staring down the barrel of a techno-apocalypse. Robots will replace millions of workers. Income inequality will skyrocket. And social isolation will become the new ...

Older episodes

The Next Big Idea

What's The Next Big Idea about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Next Big Idea episodes:

DRUNK: Why Alcohol Makes Us More Creative, Sociable, and Attractive

DEATH, SEX & MONEY: Anna Sale Talks About Hard Things

THE BOMBER MAFIA: Malcolm Gladwell on Warfare, Audiobooks, and the Future of Storytelling

EFFORTLESS: Embrace the Easy Option

HIGH CONFLICT: How to Defuse Any Squabble (Amanda Ripley & Susan Cain)

EXTENDED MIND: Want to Get Smarter? Try Thinking Outside of Your Brain

DELUSIONS: How Self-Deception Can Help You Flourish (Shankar Vedantam & Daniel Pink)

AI: The Extraordinary Story of the Tech That’s Changing the World

MINE: How the Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives

GATHERING: Mastering the Art of Hanging Out

EMAIL: Would the World Be Better Without It?

WORK: Should You Do Less of It? Adam Grant and James Suzman on the 15-Hour Workweek.

CODE BREAKER: Why Walter Isaacson Thinks CRISPR Will Change Life As We Know It

FOOD: Can We Taste Climate Change?

CHATTER: Learning to Love the Voice in Your Head

HUMOR: How to Turn Levity Into Your Secret Weapon

BEGINNERS: The Joys of Being an Amateur

THINK AGAIN: Adam Grant on the Power of Changing Your Mind

VOICE: You Are What You Speak

THE BRAIN: A User’s Guide to the Blob Between Your Ears

SERENDIPITY: Good Luck and How to Get It

DRUG USE: Is Getting High an American Right?

POST CORONA: Predicting the Future With Scott Galloway

Season 3: New Ideas, Same Great Taste

LET’S BE REASONABLE: Sam Harris and Rufus in Conversation

MIND GAMES: What Poker Can Teach Us About Luck, Skill, and Ourselves

TRANSCENDENCE: Finding Fulfillment Beyond Ourselves

HUMANKIND: Finding Hope in Human History

MIGRATION: Why Human Beings Were Built to Move

BREATH: Harnessing the Power of a Lost Art

PERSUASION: How to Change People’s Minds

ALCHEMY: How Our Creations Recreate Us

UPSTREAM: Solving Problems Before They Happen

CIVILIZATION: Recalculating the Price of Progress

TOGETHER: A Doctor’s Prescription for Health and Happiness

WEIRDNESS: How to Make it Your Superpower

BOYS & SEX: Coming of Age in America

FRIENDSHIP: The Science and Power of Life’s Deepest Bond

THINKING AHEAD: How to Make Life’s Big Decisions

LISTENING: What You’re Missing and Why it Matters

SUCCESSFUL AGING: How to Live a Full, Long Life

Rethinking Big Ideas: Adam Grant on Finding Balance

Rethinking Big Ideas: Priya Parker on Gathering Apart

Rethinking Big Ideas: The Path to a More Generous World

Rethinking Big Ideas: Daniel Pink on the Future of Work

Rethinking Big Ideas: On Finding Joy in Simple Pleasures

Rethinking Big Ideas: Steven Johnson on Scientific Breakthroughs

Rethinking Big Ideas: Susan Cain on Solitude

STILLNESS: How to Find Peace in a Frantic World

FREE MONEY: Why Andrew Yang Thinks a Giveaway Can Save the Economy

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