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

Money Lessons from the Presidents

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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5 Things Only a Terrible Boss Can Teach You

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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How Common Knowledge Rules the World

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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How to Make AI Work for You

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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Fear is Your Co-Pilot

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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The Science Behind Your Need to Please

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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Five Timeless Lessons for Building Riches and Joy

September 23, 2025 • 11 mins
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’re All Hallucinating. That’s a Good Thing.

September 22, 2025 • 13 mins
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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Is Earth Exceptional?

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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Big Food Is Making Us Sick — and Getting Rich Doing It

September 18, 2025 • 14 mins
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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We Need to Talk About Disney Adults

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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You and We: A Leadership Call for Overcoming Divides in a Polarized World

September 16, 2025 • 18 mins
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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The A.I. Will See You Now: Why Your Doctor's Days Are Numbered

September 15, 2025 • 14 mins
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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Introducing 'Totally Booked with Zibby'

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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How to Make Friends and Keep Them

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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Ambition Won’t Save You—Purpose Will

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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When Good People Make Bad Teams

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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5 Aztec Secrets for a More Rooted, Resilient Life

September 9, 2025 • 14 mins
When modern Americans go looking for meaning, happiness, or a little self-help, we often turn to ancient wisdom traditions like Buddhism or Stoicism. But those aren’t the only traditions worth listening to. Today’s author shines a light on another: the Aztecs. Sure, the great Mesoamerican empire is best known for its pyramids and, yes, its human sacrifices. But SUNY-Cortland philosophy professor Sebastian Purcell, PhD argues they ...
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The Dirtbag Billionaire Who Gave It All Away

September 8, 2025 • 15 mins
What if the best way to win in business is to do the exact opposite of what everyone else is doing? While most CEOs chase growth at all costs, Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, chose a different path. Starting out as a rock climber and adventurer, when he pivoted to business, he built products to last, created a company culture where surfing sometimes mattered more than spreadsheets, and even risked profits to protect the p...
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The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food

September 5, 2025 • 15 mins
Acclaimed chef and writer Andrew Friedman is here to introduce you to all the people and processes that come together in a single restaurant dish. 📱 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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