The Next Big Idea Daily
by Next Big Idea Club
Latest episode
Addiction Is Not One Story
Addiction Is Not One Story
About this podcast
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. They distill their big ideas into bite-sized chunks, and we offer you one each morning.
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Episodes
The newest 50 of 989 episodes
- Addiction Is Not One Story · 30 minAddiction is one of those things we tend to explain with a single sentence: it's a disease, or a failure of willpower, or a moral failing. Anyone who's lived with it — or loved…
- Why Joy Is Worth the Risk · 29 minWhat if joy isn’t just something that happens to us, but something we can make room for? Psychologist Kelly McGonigal, author of Joy Is a Risk Worth Taking, explores how…
- Why Don't They Believe You? · 29 minEvery day you make claims — in meetings, in email, on LinkedIn — but how do you know if anyone actually believes what you say? Henna Pryor calls this the Verification Era, and in…
- A Better Way to Lead · 28 minWhat if the strengths you leave out at work are the ones that could make you a better leader? In Illuminating Hidden Brilliance: The Power of Multidimensional Leadership in a…
- Why Are AI Builders the Biggest Doomers? · 25 minKevin Roose spent years inside the biggest AI labs for The AGI Chronicles, and what he found is stranger than the headlines: the people most afraid of artificial intelligence are…
- Game Theory Explains the Weird Things You Do · 25 minPeople do puzzling things. We buy things to impress strangers, give to charities without checking whether they work, and dig in during negotiations even when a deal would help…
- The Science of Optimism · 23 minIt’s easy to feel optimistic when everything is going according to plan. But what happens when the plan falls apart—or the challenge lasts longer than expected? Positive…
- To Plan Your Future, Look at Your Past · 32 minBefore you make plans for the future, how often do you stop to consider the life you’ve already lived? In Life in Perspective, productivity expert Tiago Forte makes the case for…
- How Parenthood Changes the Brain · 33 minBecoming a parent changes your life—but what happens to your brain? Neuroscientist Susana Carmona explores the remarkable transformations of pregnancy and parenthood in A…
- The New Rules of Power · 33 minAlgorithms increasingly shape what we see, think, and value—but who gets to decide how that power is used? In Trias Algorithmica: What Code Rules, AI researcher Hamilton Mann…
- Your Brain on Spirituality · 29 minCan spiritual practices help us, even if we’re not sure what we believe? In How God Works: The Science Behind the Benefits of Religion, psychologist David DeSteno explores what…
- The New Appeal of Autocracy · 31 minWhat happens when people start seeing democracy not as the solution, but as the problem? In American Caesar, religion scholar Bradley Onishi examines an emerging alliance of…
- When Your Best Friend Isn't Human · 18 minA chatbot is always available, endlessly patient, and happy to hear about your day. But is that connection—or a convincing imitation? In Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When…
- Are You Burned Out, or Just Tired? · 29 minYou’ve hit your goals, kept everyone happy, and earned a little time off. So why doesn’t a weekend away fix the exhaustion? In Breaking Burnout: How High Achievers Break the…
- Is Playing It Safe Holding You Back? · 30 minWaiting until things feel safe before making your next move? You might be waiting a while. In Worth the Risk: The Seven Myths That Keep Us from Taking the Chances We Need to…
- The Startup End Game · 31 minBuilding a startup is often framed as a race to scale. But what happens after growth—and how early should you plan for the ending? In the 2022 book Exit Path: How to Win the…
- Hierarchy Is Broken. Here's How to Fix It. · 37 minWhy do workplace hierarchies so often fail the people inside them? In Level Up: Why Hierarchies Are Broken and How to Fix Them, Stanford organizational psychologist Nir Halevy…
- Ancient Wisdom for Modern Overload · 31 minWhat if feeling better isn’t about finding the next new thing, but remembering what we’ve stopped doing? In The Great Remembering: Powerful Ancient Practices—And the New Science…
- Success Is a Team Sport. Here’s How to Find Your People. · 30 minSuccess is often told as a solo story: one talented person works hard, then makes it. But who noticed their potential, challenged their thinking, or opened a door? In Lift: The…
- How to Use AI Without Getting Dumber · 30 minAI can help you finish the work faster. But what happens when you stop practicing those skills? In The Collision: What AI Does to Us, MIT professor Eric So explores how tools…
- Outer Space is Stranger Than You Think · 28 minSpace looks spectacular in photographs. But what would you actually see if you were standing on another world? Astronomer Philip Plait takes us beyond the telescope in Under…
- Why We Want Things We Don’t Need · 22 minWhy does the next new thing always seem like the thing that will finally make life better? In Saying No to New: Why New Things Are Stealing Your Time, Money, and Happiness—And…
- Why Bad Feelings Stick · 30 minWhy do bad feelings have such staying power? In The Opposite of Happiness: How Bad Feelings Make and Break Us, behavioral economist George Loewenstein explores how evolution…
- Why Smart Groups Make Bad Decisions · 36 minSmart people can make terrible decisions—or brilliant ones. What makes the difference? In Goodthink: The New Science of Collective Intelligence, Damon Centola, a University of…
- When the Cost is Higher Than the Price · 34 minSame product. Same store. A different price—just for you? Lindsay Owens, author of Gouged: The End of a Fair Price—and What That Means for Your Wallet, explores how companies use…
- Why Are You Working So Hard? · 20 minHard work is often treated as a virtue with no downside—but what if the story we tell about work keeps us from living well? Journalist Adam Chandler questions the American…
- The Trouble With Men · 33 minA strange invitation to a castle sends Jon Ronson into a much bigger mystery: What happens when men lose their sense of purpose—and the internet offers to supply a new one? In…
- Stop Trying Harder. Build a Better System. · 28 minIf trying harder were the answer, your to-do list would be empty by now. In How to Be Good at Life: Simple Systems to Achieve More and Stress Less, Ben Meer explores how…
- You’re More Than What You Do for Other People · 35 minYou can be the person everyone relies on—and still feel invisible. In The Mattering Effect: Creating a Life of Meaning and Worth, John R. Miles explores the gap between being…
- How to Get Rich in America · 21 minWhen you picture the very rich, do you see a tech billionaire—or the owner of your local car dealership? In The Everywhere Millionaire: Who Is Really Rich in America and How They…
- How to Say the Right Thing · 32 minThe right words can open doors—but the best negotiators know that language works only when it creates genuine connection. In Magic Words: What to Say to Get Your Way, Wharton…
- The Art of Passionate Living · 30 minWhat would happen if you stopped rushing, paid closer attention, and let yourself take up a little more space? In Alex Durand and Tom Carles’s Pardon Our French: The Parisian Way…
- How to Be Reasonable in an Age of Contempt · 25 minWhat does it take to stay reasonable when politics rewards contempt? Utah Governor Spencer Cox, author of Off Ramp: How to Be a Peacemaker in an Age of Contempt, argues that…
- What Freud Got Right About the Mind · 31 minSigmund Freud’s reputation has taken a beating, but neuroscientist and psychoanalyst Mark Solms argues that some of his biggest ideas were decades ahead of their time. In The…
- Why We Cheat: The Science of Infidelity · 27 minWhy do we commit—and why do some of us break that commitment? Psychologist Glenn Hutchinson explores the unconscious impulses, clashing brain systems, and limits of self-control…
- How Great Leaders Help People Thrive at Work · 25 minWork can be a source of energy—or the thing that drains it. In Leading for Wellness: How to Create a Team Culture Where Everyone Thrives, industrial/organizational psychologists…
- How Much Time Tax Are You Paying? · 32 minPaperwork is never just paperwork when you’re already stretched thin. In The Time Tax: How the Government Wastes Our Time―and How to Fix It, Annie Lowrey shows how administrative…
- Why Starting a Family Feels Impossible to Many · 28 minWhy does starting a family feel out of reach—and sustaining one feel so exhausting? In Inconceivable: The Impossibility of Family in an Age of Uncertainty, journalist Anna Louie…
- The Art of Getting Unstuck · 26 minWhy do some problems yield to effort while others only tighten into knots? In The Knot: Problems Can Be Solved, Seth Godin reveals the invisible assumptions, borrowed scorecards…
- How to Get Paid Forever · 33 minRetirement security isn’t just about making your money last. It’s also about planning for care, autonomy, and meaning as life changes. In The Forever Paycheck: The New Retirement…
- What Peak Performance Really Demands · 31 minGreatness doesn’t come with a tidy checklist. In Winning: The Unforgiving Race to Greatness, performance coach Tim Grover—whose clients included Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and…
- You’re Not Too Sensitive—You’re Paying Attention · 30 minWhat if being “too sensitive” doesn’t mean you’re weak—but that your nervous system is picking up information other people miss? Psychiatrist Sasha Hamdani draws on Too…
- Before You Lead Others, Learn to Lead Yourself · 26 minGreat leadership isn’t just about having the right strategy—it begins with understanding the person making the decisions. In Manage Yourself to Lead Others, Margaret Andrews…
- A Better Kind of Financial Freedom · 29 minWhat if freedom didn’t have to wait until retirement? In Time Freedom: Rethink Your Work and Money to Create a Life You Love Now, author, speaker, and financial advisor Brian…
- Do Leaders Even Matter? · 28 minWe love to credit the person at the top when things go right—and blame them when they don’t. But how much power does one leader really have? In Profits, Prophets, Coaches, and…
- Authenticity, Skepticism, and a Better Way to Live · 26 minWhat if being true to yourself isn’t about discovering a hidden “real you,” but actively creating the person you’ll become? In How to Be Authentic, philosopher Skye Cleary draws…
- Confidence Is a Team Sport · 26 minWhy do some teams rise under pressure while others struggle despite having plenty of talent? Organizational psychologist André Martin argues that success starts with two kinds of…
- How to Read the Room, and Why You Should · 29 minThe higher the stakes, the harder it becomes to read the room. Stress narrows our attention, confidence disguises bad assumptions, and familiar body-language “tells” often tell…
- Being Smart Isn’t Enough: 5 Science-Backed Habits of Better Leaders · 27 minAI may be everywhere, but good leadership still depends on deeply human skills: sound judgment, adaptability, and the ability to stay steady under pressure. In Leadership…
- Midlife Isn’t a Slow Fade: 5 Ideas to Inspire Your Third Turn · 30 minMidlife can feel like standing on a rope swing: you know it’s time to let go, but the familiar still has a powerful grip. In Your Turn: How to Create a Midlife You Love, longtime…
