What If Saving the Planet Could Be Fun?
Despite decades of urgency and alarm, progress on climate change has felt frustratingly slow. What if we've been going about it all wrong? E...
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The Next Big Idea
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 Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain...
The Next Big Idea Podcast Guide
Listen to The Next Big Idea, a Society & Culture podcast by Next Big Idea Club. Stream 354 episodes in English, follow new audio stories, and play episodes online on Radio and Podcast.
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20 of 354 episodesHow to Live a Long and Useful Life
Publisher, scientist, humorist, diplomat — Benjamin Franklin was America's first polymath. Today, with help from Eric Weiner, we revisit Fra...
As America Turns 250, Are You in the Mood to Celebrate?
"We’re entering our 250th birthday, and we’re not quite in the mood for a birthday party. We’ve been tearing ourselves apart." That's what W...
THE GOD TEST (Part 2): Can Humanity Pass the Cosmic Reckoning?
On Thursday, Rufus and Robert Wright (The God Test) talked about AI as a new stage in the evolution of intelligence — and about the very hum...
THE GOD TEST (Part 1): Are You Ready for Superintelligence?
Does the logic of human destiny now lead to artificial intelligence? Are we creating a higher form of intelligence in our own image? And, if...
You Have 72 Free Hours a Week. How Do You Want to Spend Them?
Most of us swear we have no free time. But the week is 168 hours long. Subtract a 40-hour job and eight hours of sleep a night, and you're l...
Are You Playing Someone Else’s Game?
GPAs. Citations. Step counts. Likes. We love a good metric, don't we? It tells you exactly where you stand, no arguing. Mention a 4.0 to a h...
This World Cup Is Messy. Watch It Anyway.
The World Cup kicked off over the weekend, and so far the mood is meh. Fans are fuming over sell-your-kidney ticket prices, frightened by re...
The Case for AI Optimism with Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler
Nearly half of all Americans believe AI is bad for humanity. Peter Diamandis is not one of them. On his podcast, Moonshots, and in his new b...
Best Of: The Power of Thinking Outside 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...
Want to Be Happier? Try Talking to Strangers.
Nicholas Epley is a mind reader. But he doesn’t have ESP or practice hypnosis. He's not telepathic or clairvoyant. Sure, you could ask him t...
Best Of: Gretchen Rubin’s Guide to Getting Out of Your Head and Into the World
What do your five senses — sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch — have to do with happiness? According to Gretchen Rubin, a great deal. The...
The Case for Speechmaking in the Age of Doomscrolling
America's a funny place. It's not a country with a fixed geographic or religious identity. We don't have a common story of divine creation....
Best Of: Stop Chasing More. Start Embracing Your Limits.
In his mega-bestseller Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman showed that the finitude of life “isn’t a reason for unremitting despair, or for...
When Will AI Empty Your Dishwasher? (with Nicholas Thompson)
Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic and host of "The Most Interesting Thing in AI," joins Rufus and Caleb to explain why the machines may...
Best Of: An Epicurean Guide to the Good Life
The Greek philosopher Epicurus made a rather bold claim over two thousand years ago. The key to life, he said, is simple: pursue pleasure an...
What if Uncertainty Isn’t Such a Bad Thing?
You can run from uncertainty, but you can’t hide. The thing to do, says Simone Stolzoff, to develop comfort with ambiguity and build toleran...
You Can Grow Your Brain. Here’s How.
In the last 20 years, there has been a dramatic change in our understanding of neuroplasticity — the brain’s capacity to grow new neurons. I...
Turning Constraints Into Breakthroughs with David Epstein
Is freedom overrated? In his new book, Inside the Box, David Epstein argues that constraints, limits and obstacles are what stimulate creati...
You're in the Hospitality Business (Whether You Know It or Not)
For the last three years, Will Guidara has been on the road talking about unreasonable hospitality. He's met financiers and prison wardens,...