Big Think

Big Think

Big Think is the leading source of expert-driven, actionable, educational content -- with thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, we help you get smarter, faster. Get actionable lessons from the world’s greatest thinkers & doers. Our experts are either disrupting or leading their respective fields. We aim to help you explore the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century, so you can apply them to the questions and challenges in your own life.

Episodes

Grow your brain by moving your body—just 10 minutes a day | Wendy Suzuki

August 18, 2025 • 4 mins
xercise neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki explains how your brain can age gracefully and optimally — and it starts with just a 10 minute walk. Did you know that just three months of consistent exercise can boost your brain function? Exercise neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki explains how working out can strengthen your cognitive abilities. According to Suzuki, even just ten minutes of walking can alleviate anxiety and depression because of ...
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Your reality narrows after trauma — here’s how to expand it | Bessel van der Kolk

August 18, 2025 • 7 mins
What if the way you see the world is shaped by trauma you haven’t fully processed? Psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, explains how trauma isn't just remembered, it is physically lived and relived through the body and brain. He describes how traditional talk therapy often fails to reach the survival centers of the brain where trauma resides. Instead, healing comes through visceral experiences t...
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How the body keeps the score on trauma _ Bessel van der Kolk for Big Think+

August 18, 2025 • 9 mins
Acclaimed psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, author of “The Body Keeps The Score,” discusses the widespread existence of trauma and how it manifests in our bodies. Bessel van der Kolk has studied trauma for 50 years. Though we once considered trauma exclusive to veterans and people growing up in extreme circumstances, we now know it is an extremely common experience. Van der Kolk discusses the impact of trauma and the pathway to he...
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What is effective altruism? Philosopher Peter Singer explains.

August 17, 2025 • 9 mins
Effective altruism isn’t just for the rich. Philosopher Peter Singer shares how we can all be better at doing “good.” Peter Singer, author of "Famine, Affluence and Morality,” talks about the benefits of effective altruism and our moral obligation to help others. Effective altruism focuses on raising the minimum living standards and encourages everyone, not just the wealthy, to give and find happiness in contributing to a better ...
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Why caring for others shouldn’t always be rational

August 17, 2025 • 5 mins
Philosopher Meghan Sullivan is asking us to rethink how we give to others. Instead of relying solely on logic and efficiency, she argues for a love ethic rooted in emotional connection, moral character, and deep respect for human dignity. Giving, she says, shouldn't be reduced to numbers and outcomes but should reflect genuine care for both present and future people. Even those we haven’t met (especially including future generati...
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Improve your critical thinking skills in just 6 minutes | Alex Edmans for Big Think+

August 17, 2025 • 10 mins
“People will claim that something is rigorous because it's by an authority figure, or it's written in a book. But anyone can write a book.” -------------------- We often think the solution to misinformation is fact checking. But just checking facts is not enough. Even if a fact is 100% accurate, it could still be misleading – it could be a large-scale correlation when there’s no causation. The solution to misinformation is not ...
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The delusion of individual control, explained through chaos theory | Brian Klaas

August 17, 2025 • 6 mins
“When you think about this interconnection of all these tiny causes and effects which add up to the way the world unfolds, it becomes impossible to imagine that we have complete control.” Could the tiniest ripple in time alter the future of our universe? Can the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings really cause a hurricane? Professor and political scientist Brian Klaas dives into the deep waters of chaos theory. From the myth of to...
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Can you trust your own brain? A neuroscientist explains | Heather Berlin

August 17, 2025 • 7 mins
Nothing is real and everything is an illusion. Neuroscientist Heather Berlin explains why that’s not exactly a bad thing. Neuroscientist Heather Berlin likens each person's perception to a unique box shaped by their own experiences. Perception, Berlin explains, arises from a blend of internal expectations and external sensory input, creating a subjective experience. Berlin believes our mental state can also profoundly affect our...
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Don’t fall into the determinism trap. Everything is, in fact, random | Lee Cronin

August 17, 2025 • 5 mins
**💥 How Does Something Come from Nothing?** **Spoiler: It’s All About Chaos, Copies, and Cosmic Coin Tosses 🌀🧬** At the very start of *everything*, physics points to the **Big Bang** — an unimaginable explosion of space, time, and energy 💣🌌. From there: ☁️ Energy expands ➡️ Hydrogen forms ⭐ Hydrogen clumps together → stars 🌠 Stars explode → planets are born 🌍 Planets cool → life sparks 🧠 Life evolves ...
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The lost art of accomplishment without burnout | Cal Newport for Big Think +

August 17, 2025 • 9 mins
### 🐢 Slow Down to Speed Up: Cal Newport’s Cure for Burnout 😮 **Tired of pretending to be busy all day?** Your boss can now see your Slack pings, your emails, your every move. Work doesn’t end at 6pm—it follows you home, shows up on weekends, and eats into your peace of mind. We’re burning out, and **it's time to rethink productivity.** ## 💡 Enter: *Slow Productivity* 👨‍💻 **Cal Newport**, computer scientist and author...
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The secret behind Diana Nyad’s incredible 53-hour swim

August 17, 2025 • 11 mins
The one phrase that changed Diana Nyad’s life, and set her on course to become the first person ever to conquer the 110 mile, 53 hour swim from Florida to Cuba. At 64, Diana Nyad swam 110 miles from Cuba to Florida, facing jellyfish, exhaustion, and tough ocean currents for over 53 hours. But this feat was more than just physical - it was the result of a lifetime of mental endurance. As a young swimmer, she faced sexual abuse from...
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Brian Cox: Why black holes could hold the secret to time and space | Full Interview

August 17, 2025 • 85 mins
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Do we actually live in a multiverse? | Dr. Ethan Siegel

August 17, 2025 • 37 mins
"Welcome to the multiverse. Or should I say our one universe within a multiverse of possibilities?" Do we have proof of a multiverse? Our idea of the multiverse stems from the notion of quantum mechanics: The idea that every time we enter a situation there are potentially infinite possibilities to arise as the outcome. But when we make a decision, we only get one of these outcomes. Science fiction as well as our media and film...
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A Harvard career coach’s “unspoken rules” for getting promoted | Gorick Ng for Big Think+

August 16, 2025 • 9 mins
ow do people actually get promoted? According to Harvard career coach Gorick Ng, it’s all about knowing the unspoken rules for success. Looking to bring Gorick’s insights to leaders across your company? Great. This video is part of a 10-part expert class on getting ahead in your career and it’s available to organizations that subscribe to Big Think+. From how to present yourself virtually in meetings to the unspoken rules of ge...
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What is life? A Nobel Prize-winning scientist answers | Paul Nurse Full Interview

August 16, 2025 • 50 mins
"If we're related to every living thing on the planet, do we not have a special responsibility for every living thing on this planet? They are really all our relatives." What does it truly mean to be alive? Nobel Prize-winning geneticist Paul Nurse answers biology’s most fundamental (and elusive) question in his full interview with Big Think. Drawing from decades of research, Nurse explores how five core ideas redefine life, fro...
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"The Blind Side" didn't tell all of Michael Oher's story. Now, he tells us the rest.

August 16, 2025 • 8 mins
The Blind Side” only told part of Michael Oher’s story. Now, he tells us the rest. You might know Michael Oher as the subject of “The Blind Side,” the 2009 movie starring Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw. The film was based on the true story of Oher, a young Black football player, who gained a second chance at life after being adopted by white parents. But Oher’s version of the story is a lot different, and it starts long before t...
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The Fermi Paradox has a potentially terrifying answer: The Dark Forest | David Kipping

August 16, 2025 • 20 mins
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Your brain is biased by default. Here’s how to reset it. | David Eagleman

August 16, 2025 • 11 mins
Expanding your worldview starts with understanding your brain. Stanford neuroscientist David Eagleman explains. David Eagleman, a neuroscientist at Stanford and host of the Inner Cosmos podcast, explores how our brains shape the reality we experience and why we often accept our perceptions as the only truth. From a young age, we develop our understanding of the world based on limited experiences and biases, which can lead us to fo...
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What 85 years of research says is the real key to happiness | Robert Waldinger: Full Interview

August 16, 2025 • 68 mins
“We can make ourselves more likely to be happy by building a life that includes the conditions that make for happiness.” What if the secret to lasting happiness has been hiding in plain sight? Harvard psychiatrist Robert Waldinger reveals insights from the world’s longest study on adult life, 85 years of data that challenge our assumptions about success, health, and fulfillment. Waldinger shares how our relationships and connecti...
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You don’t need a 10-year plan. You need to experiment. | Anne-Laure Le Cunff

August 16, 2025 • 25 mins
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