Sign in
Education
Society & Culture
Next Big Idea Club
What if engaging with great ideas could become one of your daily habits? What if some of the best tips for living better and working smarter were served up with your morning coffee, a hit of motivation guaranteed to start your day right? That’s the idea behind “The Next Big Idea Daily.” We work with hundreds of non-fiction authors — experts in productivity, creativity, leadership, communication, and other fields — boil down their big ideas into bite-sized chunks, and then offer you one each morning.
How to Find Work That Works for You
A psychologist’s guide to finding your most fulfilling job yet.
📕 Job Therapy: Finding Work That Works for You by Tessa West
🎁 Use code DAILY50 at nextbigideaclub.com/gift to take 50% off a Next Big Idea Club express membership
12:5825/11/2024
Is Marriage Still Relevant?
Allison Raskin's new book is "I Do (I Think): Conversations About Modern Marriage."
09:1722/11/2024
The Urban-Rural Divide Is Smaller Than You Think
Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, a public policy professor at USC, has spent years studying small-town America. What she's learned may surprise you.
📕 The Overlooked Americans
📬 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter
09:4021/11/2024
How Economics Explains the World
Andrew Leigh, a former professor of economics and current member of Australia's parliament, shares key insights from his timely new book How Economics Explains the World: A Short History of Humanity.
13:0020/11/2024
A Brief History of the Female Body
In "A Brief History of the Female Body," Dr. Deena Emera draws on her vast expertise as a biologist, her experience as a mother, and her love of teaching to look far into our evolutionary past, illuminating how and why the female form has transformed over millions of years and its effects on women's health.
13:0819/11/2024
How to Achieve Financial Freedom Without Sacrificing What Matters Most
Most entrepreneurs start a business seeking freedom but end up in a prison of hundred-hour workweeks isolated from their loved ones. Today: a guide for how to do entrepreneurship differently — letting go of the hustle and embracing a family-first mindset instead.
14:1618/11/2024
Is Technology the World's Most Powerful Religion?
Today, we're joined by Greg Epstein, Harvard and MIT's humanist chaplain, who shares a few key insights from his new book Tech Agnostic.
13:1315/11/2024
Mastering AI: A Survival Guide to Our Superpowered Future
Award-winning journalist Jeremy Kahn shares his advice for staying on the right side of the AI revolution.
16:2714/11/2024
Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going
A blueprint for a better future that offers a unified theory of human behavior, culture, and society.
📖 A Theory of Everyone by Michael Muthukrishna
15:0113/11/2024
A Doctor's Search for Humanity in Medicine
As an assistant professor, practicing psychiatrist, university wellness leader, and regular media expert, Jessi Gold was used to constant busyness. But when mental exhaustion led her to commit an unthinkable error during a patient session, she was forced to reevaluate everything that the medical system taught her.
📖 How Do You Feel?: One Doctor's Search for Humanity in Medicine
09:4412/11/2024
Your Journey to Financial Freedom
Jamila Souffrant offers a step-by-step guide to achieving wealth and happiness.
12:2211/11/2024
What We Miss in Our Pursuit of the Good Life
Happiness and meaning are usually seen as the two keys to the good life. But there's a third. Lorraine Besser is here to tell us more.
📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter
16:4908/11/2024
The Psychology Behind America's Political Divide
Can we find a way to mend the personal bonds that are fraying for so many of us?
📕 Good Reasonable People: The Psychology Behind America's Dangerous Divide by Keith Payne
11:2807/11/2024
'The Art of Verbal Warfare' by Rik Smits
Value judgments, cultural relativism, and other conversation killers.
11:5906/11/2024
Can You Make Your Anxiety Work for You?
It's the most stressful day of the year! To help us stay calm, we're bringing in renowned psychologist Wendy Suzuki to share a few tips from her book "Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion."
🎙️ Check out Wendy's interview on our sister podcast, The Next Big Idea, here
12:4705/11/2024
Women and the Fight to Build a Just Economy
Women in this country lag behind men according to most economic measures. Why this is and how to change it is the subject of the recent book "Fair Shake: Women and the Fight to Build a Just Economy" by Naomi Cahn, June Carbone, and Nancy Levit.
14:0704/11/2024
Mastering the Art of Conscious Conversations
We live in conversations like fish live in water. Here's how to become a better swimmer — er, talker.
📕 The Art of Conscious Conversations: Transforming How We Talk, Listen, and Interact by Chuck Wisner
13:4201/11/2024
The Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History
Sharon McMahon shares a few inspiring stories from her new book, "The Small and the Mighty," a #1 New York Times bestseller.
13:3531/10/2024
Who Owns Your Face?
Kashmir Hill, a reporter at the New York Times, shares the story of a small AI company that gave facial recognition to law enforcement, billionaires, and businesses, threatening to end privacy as we know it.
13:3030/10/2024
The Science of Paternal Potential
Most male mammals, including our closest primate relatives, barely participate in childcare. So why do at least some human men do a marginally better job? Here to explain is James Rilling, author of the new book "Father Nature."
15:2929/10/2024
Seth Godin's Advice for Making Better Plans
Seth Godin is one of the world's most influential business thinkers. Today, he shares five key insights from his brand new book "This Is Strategy."
11:5528/10/2024
Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts
Oliver Burkeman has been called a self-help guru for people who make fun of self-help. He joins us today to share five key insights from his new book "Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts."
12:1125/10/2024
A Journey into the Heart of American Democracy
Frank Barry takes us on a thought-provoking journey into the heart of our democracy and the soul of our country. His new book is "Back Roads and Better Angels."
13:3224/10/2024
AI, ChatGPT, and the Race That Will Change the World
Rival CEOs. A race to build god-like machines. What could go wrong? In "Supremacy," Bloomberg's Parmy Olson shares the thrilling (and sometimes chilling) story of Sam Altman, Demis Hassabis, and the battle to create our future.
10:5823/10/2024
Your Stone Age Brain in the Screen Age
The human brain hasn't changed much since the Stone Age, which is why it's so poorly equipped to resist modern technology. But don't despair. Renowned neuroscientist Richard Cytowic is here to offer compelling evidence that we can change the way we use technology, resist its addictive power over us, and regain the control we have lost.
⏳ Want to supercharge your productivity in under an hour? Check out the podclass we made with Cal Newport
11:4122/10/2024
How to Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius
Happy Monday! To kick off the week, we're joined by Kendra Adachi, who's here to teach you how to be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't.
📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter
13:5421/10/2024
Rediscover Calm in a Chaotic World
Start your weekend with a little mindfulness...
📕 Deeper Mindfulness: The New Way to Rediscover Calm in a Chaotic World by Mark Williams & Danny Penman
📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter
14:3618/10/2024
How to Be a Happy High Achiever
Clinical psychologist Mary Anderson shares a road map ambitious people can follow to transform chronic stress and anxiety into sustainable happiness and success.
17:5117/10/2024
Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity
Earlier this week, MIT's Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson were awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for their groundbreaking research on how institutions influence economic development and the historical roots of economic inequalities. But we at the Next Big Idea Club were into these guys over a year ago when we featured Daron and Simon's book "Power and Progress." To celebrate their Nobel, we thought we'd bring Simon back to share the big ideas from that book.
16:2316/10/2024
How to Transform Your Daily Grind and Achieve a Better Life
American work isn’t working. Brigid Schulte is here to change that.
📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter
14:4515/10/2024
The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land
Rebecca Nagle has written for the Atlantic, the Washington Post, the Guardian, and Indian Country Today. She hosts the celebrated podcast This Land. Her new book is By the Fire We Carry.
📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter
16:2014/10/2024
What if the Problem Isn’t Your Partner―It’s Stress?
It's Friday. You made it. But before you get into weekend mode, check out these key insights from Elizabeth Earnshaw, author of the new book 'Til Stress Do Us Part: How to Heal the #1 Issue in Our Relationships. She says stress is often at the root of relationship problems, but lucky for us, she has advice for how to cope with it.
📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter
16:0011/10/2024
How We Can Fix Our Waste and Heal Our World
Today, some key insights from Total Garbage, a new book by Edward Humes about the waste embedded in our daily lives.
15:1010/10/2024
Why Are We Obsessed With Human Origins?
Stefanos Geroulanos, an eminent historian, tells the story of how we came to obsess over the origins of humanity ― and how, for three centuries, ideas of prehistory have been used to justify devastating violence against others.
🎟️ To learn more about our Oct. 10 event with Daniel Pink and Adam Moss, visit https://nextbigideaclub.com/events
16:0209/10/2024
How to Optimize Your Brain and Transform the Way You Work
Mithu Storoni isn't just an eye surgeon and neuroscience researcher; she's also an expert in how to get your brain working at peak efficiency. Today, she shares a few performance-enhancing tips with us.
11:0308/10/2024
How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World
Tyler Cowen, one of the world's most respected economists, shares how to spot, assess, woo, and retain highly talented people.
15:1907/10/2024
Life Lessons From Kierkegaard
Today, we're straying a bit off our usual path to share some inspiring insights from Aaron Simmons's book "Camping with Kierkegaard: Faithfulness as a Way of Life."
🎟️ There's still time to grab a ticket to our Oct. 10 event with Daniel Pink and Adam Grant. Learn more at nextbigideaclub.com/events
📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter
12:2204/10/2024
How to Make the Most Consequential Decision in the World
Voting for president is no small thing. Gautum Mukunda, from the Harvard Kennedy School, reflects on its significance in his new book "Picking Presidents."
16:3603/10/2024
Inside the Mind of Volodymyr Zelensky
Time correspondent Simon Shuster provides an intimate portrait of Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky.
📕 The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky
🎟️ Grab a ticket to our Oct. 10 event with Daniel Pink and Adam Moss at nextbigideaclub.com/events
09:0002/10/2024
Living in Sync with Your Inner Clock
Want to be sharper, healthier, and happier? Then you need to up your sleep game. Lynne Peeples, author of The Inner Clock: Living in Sync with Our Circadian Rhythms, will teach you how.
🎟️ We're hosting a live event with Daniel Pink and Adam Moss in NYC on Oct. 10. To join virtually or in person, visit nextbigideaclub.com/events
14:5401/10/2024
A Guide to Finding Fulfillment in Work and Life
Megan Hellerer graduated from Stanford at the top of her class, landed a dream job at Google, and dutifully climbed the corporate ladder. So why was she so miserable?
📕 Directional Living: A Transformational Guide to Fulfillment in Work and Life
🎟️ Grab a ticket to our Oct. 10 event with Daniel Pink and Adam Moss here
17:4430/09/2024
The Science of Human Possibilities
Kumar Murty illuminates the interconnectedness of mental acuity and spiritual enlightenment.
📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter
13:0627/09/2024
How Corporations Get Rich off America’s Poor
The federal government spends around $900 billion a year on programs that are supposed to help poor Americans. Why does so much of that money end up in the pockets of private-sector interests that profit from the bureaucracies regulating the lives of the poor? Journalist Anne Kim reports on the “corporate poverty complex” in her new book "Poverty for Profit."
📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter
15:1626/09/2024
The Horse: A Galloping History of Humanity
Horses revolutionized the way we hunted, traded, traveled, farmed, fought, worshipped, and interacted. They determined international borders, molded cultures, fueled economies, and built global superpowers. Timothy C. Winegard joins us today to talk about how these four-legged marvels shaped the world.
15:5625/09/2024
Answers to the Big Questions of Midlife
Debra Whitman, a globally recognized expert on aging, presents practical steps you can follow to make sure the second half of your life is as rich, rewarding, and healthy as the first.
📩 Check out our daily Substack and our weekly LinkedIn newsletter
14:0524/09/2024
Sell Like A Spy
Jeremy Hurewitz on the tradecraft that can make you better at persuasion.
🎟️ Grab a ticket to our event with Daniel Pink and Adam Moss at nextbigideaclub.com/events
15:3723/09/2024
Stories From the Best of Humanity
Let's end the week on a positive note. Gabriel Reilich and Lucia Knell share a few much-needed life-affirming stories handpicked from Upworthy’s community of millions.
15:2320/09/2024
Why Public Schools Are Worth Fighting For
Public schools are the most democratic institutions this country has ever created. So why are they under threat? And can they be saved? Journalist Jennifer C. Berkshire and education scholar Jack Schneider are the authors of the new book "The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual."
12:1419/09/2024
Create Extraordinary Places that Bring People Together
Museums, restaurants, grocery stores, and universities — in the era of AI and the metaverse, these real places will matter more than ever. Kevin Ervin Kelley joins to tell us how to make them better.
13:5118/09/2024
How to Pay Attention in a Distracted World
Christian Madsbjerg explores how we can reclaim the lost art of paying attention.
11:0317/09/2024