The Next Big Idea Daily

Capitalism shapes everything about our lives — the way we work, the cities we live in, the goods we consume. But where did it come from, and where is it headed? Capitalism: A Global History by Sven Beckert The Problem of Twelve by John Coates Supported By: GoDaddy - Get a domain for pennies at godaddy.com/nbid  The Next Big Idea Club - Get 20% off a subscription when you use code DAILY at nextbigideaclub.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Max Telford is a leading evolutionary biologist who's spent his career tracing the deepest roots of life itself. His new book is called The Tree of Life: Solving Science's Greatest Puzzle, and he joins us today to share some of his big ideas in just a moment. In the second half of the show, we'll hear big ideas from the 2023 book Planta Sapiens, exploring the surprising intelligence hidden in the plants all around us. Sponsored By: GoDaddy - Get a domain for pennies at godaddy.com/nbid  The Next Big Idea Club - Get 20% off a subscription when you use code DAILY at nextbigideaclub.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Melissa Bernstein, co-founder of the beloved toy company Melissa & Doug, has spent decades discovering what it means to build a business that's true to who you are. Her new book is called The Heart of Entrepreneurship: Crafting Your Authentic Recipe for Success, and she'll join us to share some of her big ideas in the first half of today's show. After that, we'll hear from Catalina Daniels and James Sherman. They went inside eighteen companies founded by Harvard Business School graduates to uncover the lessons that actually lead to success. Sponsored By: GoDaddy - Get a domain for pennies at godaddy.com/nbid The Next Big Idea Club - Get 20% off a subscription when you use code DAILY at nextbigideaclub.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First up, Ann Tashi shares key insights from her book Traveling in Bardo: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World. And later in the show, we'll hear from Rachel Macy Stafford, New York Times bestselling author of 2023's Soul Shift, who'll show us how small, incremental changes can help us rediscover what truly brings us joy. Support Us by Supporting Our Sponsors: GoDaddy - Get a domain for pennies at godaddy.com/nbid Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First, Colin Woodard argues that where you are in the country determines how you live and how you'll die. Then Luke Shaefer tells us how America's most disadvantaged communities aren't where we think they are, and what their shared history reveals about inequality in this country. Sponsored By: Aura Frames - Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code IDEA at auraframes.com  GoDaddy - Get a domain for pennies at godaddy.com/nbi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When was the last time you actually thought about the air around you? Unless you're stuck in a windstorm or gasping after a run, probably never. But it turns out that this invisible element — whether it's blowing across continents or flowing through your lungs — has shaped human history in some pretty remarkable ways. Simon Winchester is the New York Times bestselling author of books like The Professor and the Madman and Krakatoa. His new book is called The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind, and he'll join us with some of his big ideas in just a moment. And later in the show, we'll hear from James Nestor, author of the 2020 book Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, who'll show us how modern humans have forgotten how to breathe properly — and what that's costing us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First up, Harvard economist John Campbell on how to make the financial system work better for you. His new book, co-written with Tarun Ramadorai, is Fixed: Why Personal Finance Is Broken and How to Make It Work for Everyone. Later in the show, Lauren Simmons offers us a practical, empowering roadmap for building financial wellness right now. Sponsored By: Aura Frames - Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code BIGIDEADAILY at auraframes.com  GoDaddy - Get a domain for pennies at godaddy.com/nbid  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Up first, we hear from Jonathan Gluck, author of An Exercise in Uncertainty. And then Suleika Jaouad shares key insights from Between Two Kingdoms. Aura Frames - Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code BIGIDEADAILY at auraframes.com  GoDaddy - Get a domain and professional email plan for just $0.99/month at Godaddy.com/GDNOW Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Act One: The Joy of Solitude: How to Reconnect with Yourself in an Overconnected World by Robert Coplan Act Two: Arrangements in Blue Notes by Amy Key Sponsored By: Aura Frames - Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code BIGIDEADAILY at auraframes.com  GoDaddy - Get a domain and professional email plan for just $0.99/month at Godaddy.com/GDNOW Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let's say you've made it to a position to manage other people. Congratulations! But unfortunately, you can't just coast from here. The mindset that got you into that leadership role isn't the mindset you need to succeed at it. Muriel Wilkins is a leadership coach and host of the award-winning podcast Coaching Real Leaders. Her new book is called Leadership Unblocked: Break Through the Beliefs That Limit Your Potential. And later, we hear from  Eduardo Briceño, author of the 2023 book The Performance Paradox. Aura Frames - Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code BIGIDEADAILY at auraframes.com  GoDaddy - With GoDaddy Airo, you can build a business without having to know a thing about this stuff. Just visit GoDaddy.com to get started Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you have a pet? A dog, a cat, a goldfish? If so, why? I don't mean why did you adopt the dear things, I mean why do humans keep pets at all? It's a strange behavior, when you think about it, and not one shared by any of our animal cousins. Jay Ingram is a top science writer and TV personality who's spent decades exploring the natural world. His new book is called The Science of Pets, and he shares five of his key insights in the first half of the show. Then we hear from Marlene Zuk, author of Dancing Cockatoos and the Dead Man Test. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all know someone who seems impossibly lucky. They land the perfect job, get into the right school, meet the right people at the right time. But luck isn't as random as it seems. There are hidden systems at work determining who gets what, and understanding them can tilt the odds in your favor. Act One: Lucky by Design by Judd Kessler Act Two: The Serendipity Mindset by Christian Busch Sponsored By: Aura Frames - Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code BIGIDEADAILY at auraframes.com  GoDaddy - Get a domain and professional email plan for just $0.99/month at Godaddy.com/GDNOW Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charlatans by Moisés Naím and Quico Toro Nobody's Fool by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris Sponsored By: Aura Frames - Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code BIGIDEADAILY at auraframes.com  GoDaddy - Get a domain and professional email plan for just $0.99/month at Godaddy.com/GDNOW Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Like it or not, gravity controls life and death on this planet, yet we barely understand it. Crush by James Riordon Pull by Brennan Spiegel Sponsored By: Aura Frames - Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code BIGIDEADAILY at auraframes.com  GoDaddy - Get a domain and professional email plan for just $0.99/month at Godaddy.com/GDNOW Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why acknowledging our own contradictions can make us better friends, colleagues, and citizens. The Hypocrisy Trap by Michael Hallsworth The Status Revolution by Chuck Thompson Sponsored By: Aura Frames - Get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code BIGIDEADAILY at auraframes.com GoDaddy - Get a domain and professional email plan for just $0.99/month at Godaddy.com/GDNOW Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why choosing less leads to more clarity, wellness, and connection. Act One: Less Is Liberation by Christine Platt Act Two: Work Won't Love You Back by Sarah Jaffe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here's how small, smart risks can boost your creativity and strengthen your relationships — at work and at home. Act 1️⃣: Safe Danger by Ben Swire Act 2️⃣: The Leader's Guide to Managing Risk by K. Scott Griffith

A Cure for Darkness by Alex Riley The Empire of Depression by Jonathan Sadowsky

The surprising case for walking, cycling, community—and life after automobile overload. Life After Cars by Sarah Goodyear, Doug Gordon, and Aaron Naparstek Paved Paradise Henry Grabar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why simple neurons—and simple algorithms—can create minds far more complex than their parts. Act One: The Emergent Mind by Gaurav Suri and Jay McClelland Act Two: Journey of the Mind by Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam

We've all been told to bring our authentic selves to work, to be vulnerable, to share our truth. But what if all that authenticity is actually holding you back? What if the pressure to be yourself is keeping you from becoming the person you want to be? Act One: Don't Be Yourself by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic Act Two: Authentic by Jodi-Ann Burey

Now, if you run any kind of business, you know that finding the right talent can be one of your hardest problems. You can spend months recruiting, weeks interviewing, and then hope your new hire works out. But what if that whole model is becoming obsolete? What if, instead of hoarding talent, you could access exactly the expertise you need, exactly when you need it—and have a high-performing team assembled in minutes? Melissa Valentine and Michael Bernstein are Stanford professors who've spent years studying the future of work, and their new book, Flash Teams: Leading the Future of AI-Enhanced, On-Demand Work, reveals how this radical shift is already happening. We'll hear from them in just a moment. Then in the second half we'll hear some Big ideas from the 2024 book Open Talent: Leveraging the Global Workforce to Solve Your Biggest Challenges by John Winsor and Jin Paik.

Today, we're exploring two powerful books about transforming how we care for ourselves and show up for others. First, Sharon Salzberg, the renowned meditation teacher and New York Times bestselling author, joins us with key insights from her 2023 book Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom, a guide to recovering spaciousness and connection. Then, in the second half of the show, mindfulness teacher Shelly Tygielski will share how small acts of radical care can create global impact, as laid out in her 2021 book Sit Down to Rise Up.

Why reviving ancient ingredients may be the key to healthier people and a healthier planet. Act One: The Lost Supper by Taras Grescoe Act Two: Dinner in Rome by Andreas Viestad

First up, the Atlantic's CEO Nicholas Thompson on hidden potential, aging well, and pushing past the limits we imagine. Then we hear from Washington Post sportswriter Sally Jenkins, whose 2023 book The Right Call examines what the greatest coaches and athletes can teach us about work, leadership, and life.

Act One: Team Intelligence by Jon Levy Act Two: Come Up For Air by Nick Sonnenberg

Isolation stresses the body, shrinks empathy, and shortens life — and friends are biological medicine. Act One: Why Brains Need Friends by Ben Rein Act Two: How To Break Up With Your Friends by Erin Falconer

First up, Sandeep Jauhar shares insights from his 2023 book, My Father's Brain, exploring his father's descent into Alzheimer's and revealing what neuroscience tells us about why our brains degenerate with age. Then, in the second half of the show, we'll hear a lighter take on aging from Steven Petrow, author of Stupid Things I Won't Do When I Get Old. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Morgan Housel explains why real wealth isn't about what you buy but about what you appreciate. Then BU's Lawrence Kotlikoff offers practical financial tips.

As the nation approaches its 250th birthday, Oliver B. Libby lays out a centrist blueprint to restore opportunity and rebuild trust. His new book is Strong Floor, No Ceiling. Then, in act two, we hear from Alissa Quart, author of the 2013 book Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Big news: The Next Big Idea Club just announced its nonfiction book pick of the season, and that book is The Greatest Sentence Ever Written, by Walter Isaacson. If you're not already a member of the Next Big Idea Club, you can join to get a signed copy of the book, an invitation to a member-only chat with Walter, and other great perks. To join for yourself, or to give a gift membership, go to NextBigIdeaClub.com. And over at the Next Big Idea, you can hear an in-depth conversation between Walter and Rufus Griscom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This new generation of workers is different, and you can use that to your advantage. 1️⃣ The Future Begins with Z: Nine Strategies to Lead Generation Z as They Disrupt the Workplace by Tim Elmore 2️⃣ The Empathy Advantage: Leading the Empowered Workforce by Heather E. McGowan and Chris Shipley

What does it mean to be human in a world that is increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence? Act One: Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI by Madhumita Murgia Act Two: AI Needs You: How We Can Change AI's Future and Save Our Own by Verity Harding

Journalist Michael Grunwald explains how our food system is destroying the planet—and what it will take to fix it. Later, Amanda Little tells us what we'll eat in a bigger, hotter, smarter world.

Why do we fear the wrong things? We worry about plane crashes but not car rides, strangers but not algorithms, sharks but not sugar. In The Fear Knot: How Science, History, and Culture Shape Our Fears – and How to Get Unstuck, journalism professor Ruth DeFoster and neuroscientist Natashia Swalve explore why our brains evolved to fear what once kept us alive — but now often misleads us. The result is a timely, eye-opening look at how to separate fact from fear in a world that profits from keeping us anxious. In the second half of the show, we hear from Ellen Vora, author of the 2022 book The Anatomy of Anxiety.

What if the battlefield isn't just out there, but also inside our heads? In the new book Warhead: How the Brain Shapes War and War Shapes the Brain, neuroscientist Nicholas Wright draws on his experience advising the Pentagon and the British government to reveal how our brains are built for survival and strategy, in the office and on the battlefield. He shows that the same neural machinery that helps us cooperate, compete, and make moral choices also determines whether we wage war or choose peace. Then, in the second half of the show, we hear some key insights from the 2022 book The New Fire.

First up, we hear from Ranjay Gulati, a Harvard Business School professor whose new book, How to Be Bold, reveals the surprising research on what makes ordinary people capable of brave acts. In the second half of the show, career coach Kathy Caprino shares five key insights from The Most Powerful You. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her 2020 book Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World, Olga Khazan draws on cutting-edge research in psychology and sociology to explore what it means to be different, and why our quirks and peculiarities can be powerful assets rather than liabilities.

Bruce Schneier is a security technologist at Harvard's Kennedy School. Nathan Sanders is a data scientist at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center. They've been studying AI's impact on democratic institutions. Their new book is Rewiring Democracy.

In Food Intelligence, health journalist Julia Belluz and nutrition scientist Kevin Hall deliver a comprehensive guide to food, diet, metabolism, and healthy eating.

Have you ever named your car? Or caught yourself baby-talking to your cat like he's a tiny human? You're not alone, and there's actually fascinating science behind why we do this. We anthropomorphize everything from our Roombas to our houseplants, but is this quirk helping or hurting us? Justin Gregg is an animal cognition researcher, a Senior Research Associate with the Dolphin Communication Project and an Adjunct Professor at St. Francis Xavier University. His new book, Humanish, explores what our tendency to humanize reveals about us—and why it might actually be one of our smartest habits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The CNBC legend reveals why index funds won't make you rich — and how to build lasting wealth by picking your own winning stocks. His new book is called How to Make Money in Any Market.

Five key insights from The Social Biome by Andy Merolla and Jeffrey Hall.

Cory Doctorow calls it “enshittification.” Here's how we got here, and how we can make the internet not terrible again.

We often live like our time is limitless. But what if those who are facing the limits of life are the ones who really grasp what it's all about? Diane Button has worked as a death doula for two decades, sitting beside people at the end of life and learning from their profound insights.

Every leader knows that as tough as it can be to manage others, the real challenge is managing yourself — your insecurities, your bad habits, your distracted thoughts. That's why corporate consultants Suzy Burke, Ryan Berman, and Rhett Power have written a new book called Headamentals: How Leaders Can Crack Negative Self-Talk that helps you learn how to lead, starting with that most important workplace of all — the one inside your head.

Not every decision can be reduced to data. In Choose Wisely: Rationality, Ethics, and the Art of Decision-Making, Barry Schwartz and Richard Schuldenfrei argue that wisdom begins where the algorithm ends.

Amanda Montell shares five key insights from her 2021 book Cultish.

The problem isn't you: it's the data. Gene Ludwig reveals how America's economic scorecards mask widespread struggle.

Technology was supposed to make life easier. Instead, it's draining our attention and creativity. Paul Leonardi is here to help you recharge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does this sound familiar: You sit down to do some real focused work, and within minutes you've checked your phone, opened three browser tabs, and mentally planned your lunch — all without realizing it. Our attention doesn't just wander anymore. It's being quietly, relentlessly pulled apart by a world designed to fragment it, and most of us have forgotten what real focus even feels like. Zelana Montminy is a behavioral scientist who advises Fortune 500 companies and her new book is called Finding Focus: OwnYour Attention in an Age of Distraction.