The Next Big Idea Daily

The Next Big Idea Daily

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.

Episodes

October 6, 2025 13 mins
AI is writing poems. Cars are driving themselves. It’s easy to think the future is already here. But it’s not. There’s much more coming. The question is: What kind? Flying cars and robot lovers? Social and environmental collapse? Nick Foster, a designer who’s worked with Apple, Dyson, and Google X, says our problem isn’t what’s coming next; it’s how we think about it. His new book, Could Should Might Don’t: How We Think About the F...
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The idea of parallel dimensions has long intrigued scientists and screenwriters alike, but how seriously should we take the concept? Here with some guidance is Paul Halpern, author of the 2023 book The Allure of the Multiverse: Extra Dimensions, Other Worlds, and Parallel Universes. Paul is a professor of physics at Saint Joseph’s University and the author of eighteen popular science books. He’s the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellow...
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Manipulation is everywhere: in ads, algorithms, politics, even workplace incentives. In the new book Manipulation: What It Is, Why It’s Bad, and What to Do About It by Harvard Law professor Cass Sunstein—one of the most cited legal scholars in the world—you’ll learn how subtle design choices and social pressures can hijack your autonomy, plus practical steps to spot and resist them in your feeds, at the store, and on the job. 📱 ...
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October 1, 2025 17 mins
We all know that money can be stressful, confusing, even a little embarrassing, and that applies to pretty much all of us, even the president of the United States. From Abraham Lincoln secretly stashing his paychecks to Gerald Ford’s side-hustle retirement, the financial lives of America’s leaders have been just as messy and fascinating as our own. In her new book, All the Presidents’ Money: How the Men Who Governed America Governe...
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September 30, 2025 16 mins
Have you ever had a bad boss? It's painful, but also kind of useful. Because every nightmare manager is basically handing you a playbook of what not to do. And if you pay attention, those horror stories can turn into leadership lessons. Mita Mallick offers such lessons in her new book The Devil Emails at Midnight: What Good Leaders Can Learn From Bad Bosses. 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or whereve...
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September 29, 2025 14 mins
Today’s big ideas come to us from Harvard cognitive psychologist, public intellectual, and bestselling author Steven Pinker, who’s out with a new book called When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows… Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life​. In it, he shows how public, shared awareness shapes everything from markets and politics to first dates and social media pile‑ons, and why understanding it can make...
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September 26, 2025 12 mins
When it comes to the AI revolution, do you want to be a follower or a leader? To stay ahead of the technology and use it to help your organization thrive, check out these big ideas from The AI-Savvy Leader: Nine Ways to Take Back Control and Make AI Work by David De Cremer. 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen 📩 Want more bite-sized insights from the best new nonfiction delivered s...
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September 25, 2025 14 mins
What could be more terrifying than flying an F-16 fighter jet at supersonic speeds, only feet away from other aircraft? Well, maybe public speaking. Or asking for a promotion. Or simply facing that inner voice that tells you you’re not good enough. Those are the fears Michelle "Mace" Curran needed to overcome. Michelle is an Air Force combat veteran who was also the lead solo pilot for the Thunderbirds, those flying daredevils at a...
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September 24, 2025 14 mins
If you've ever been called a "people pleaser" or found yourself constantly putting others' needs before your own, what you're experiencing may actually be a trauma response called fawning. In the new book Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves--and How to Find Our Way Back, clinical psychologist Dr. Ingrid Clayton explains this often overlooked alternative to fight-flight-freeze, an effort to appease threats by try...
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You may or may not know the name Naval Ravikant, but in Silicon Valley, he’s revered as both a sharp investor and a philosopher of modern life. Eric Jorgenson’s 2020 bestseller The Almanack of Naval Ravikant distills Naval’s wisdom on how to build wealth and happiness without depending on luck. 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen 📩 Want more bite-sized insights from the best new n...
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We like to believe our senses show us the world as it is. But what if your brain is quietly “editing” reality before you ever notice it? In his new book, A Trick of the Mind, psychologist and neuroscientist Daniel Yon explains how the brain builds theories about the world, other people, and even ourselves—and why understanding that process can change how we handle stress, conflict, and decision‑making. 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea...
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September 19, 2025 14 mins
Today, Mario Livio, an astrophysicist who worked with the Hubble Space Telescope, and Jack Szostak, who won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine, take us inside the quest for cosmic life. 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen 📩 Want more bite-sized insights from the best new nonfiction delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for our Book of the Day newsletter Learn more about your ad ...
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Food is supposed to nourish us, but what if the system that produces our food is actually making us sick? According to Stuart Gillespie, a veteran of global nutrition and development, that’s exactly what’s happening. He argues that Big Food has become a machine designed less to feed people than to maximize profit, leaving behind a trail of obesity, malnutrition, and environmental damage. But Stuart says there’s a way out. His new b...
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September 17, 2025 14 mins
What would make a grown man or woman line up for hours to ride Space Mountain, spend thousands on collectible mouse ears, or plan their year around the release of a new Disney churro? AJ Wolfe reports. Her new book is Disney Adults: Exploring (And Falling In Love With) A Magical Subculture. 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen 📩 Want more bite-sized insights from the best new nonf...
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Could some of the most daunting problems of our time — division, conflict, and increasing isolation — stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of reality? That’s the provocative question at the heart of Jim Ferrell's new book, You and We: A Relational Rethinking of Work, Life, and Leadership. Written in the style of a business fable, like his previous bestsellers Leadership and Self-Deception and The Anatomy of Peace, the book we...
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We’re used to hearing “the doctor will see you now,” but in the not-so-distant future, that doctor may not be human. That’s because human docs are prone to misdiagnosis, burnout, and bias — making our current healthcare system a leading cause of preventable death. In Dr. Bot: Why Doctors Can Fail Us―and How AI Could Save Lives, medical researcher and philosopher Charlotte Blease makes the case that artificial intelligence could b...
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September 13, 2025 29 mins
Today, we're sharing a recent episode from the Webby Award-winning, daily podcast Totally Booked with Zibby. Hosted by Zibby Owens — the powerhouse bookstore owner and bestselling author dubbed "NYC's Most Powerful Book-fluencer" by Vulture — "Totally Booked" delivers interviews with the best, buzziest, and underrated authors to share work that’s truly worth your time. In this episode, Adam Met — climate advocate, educator, and ...
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September 12, 2025 14 mins
Many of us struggle to maintain our friendships as careers, romance, and children take over. And making new friends as an adult can be downright impossible. But it doesn't have to be that way. There are concrete actions you can take to cultivate friendship at whatever stage of life you’re in. Marisa Franco explains how. 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen 📩 Want more bite-sized i...
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September 11, 2025 13 mins
A former Navy SEAL commander shares why it’s not enough to run hard. You have to know where you’re going. 📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen 📩 Want more bite-sized insights from the best new nonfiction delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for our Book of the Day newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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September 10, 2025 13 mins
No matter how talented or diligent you are, your ultimate success depends on the people around you. In his new book The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups, organizational scientist Colin M. Fisher says it’s time to ditch the myth of the lone genius and focus on what really moves the needle: groups that work. Our curator Daniel Pink says the book is “essential reading for creators, builders, and leaders.” 📱 Fol...
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