The Next Big Idea

In her new book, “Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away,” Annie Duke says mastering the art of quitting is the key to making smart decisions.---Download the Next Big Idea app today at nextbigideaclub.com/app

For the last 25 years, writer A.J. Jacobs has attempted to live his life as a human guinea pig.“I’ve engaged in a series of experiments on my mind and body,” he says, “some of which have been fruitful, some humiliating failures. I’ve tried to understand the world by immersing myself in extraordinary circumstances.”His book “The Know-It-All” chronicled his experience reading the encyclopedia from cover to cover. To write “The Year of Living Biblically,” he followed every commandment in the Old Testament, including the edicts stone adulterers and avoid shaving the corners of your beard. Now A.J. is back with a new immersive memoir, “The Puzzler: One Man’s Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life.” ---Want to get smart, fast? Want to hear hundreds of the world's leading authors share key insights from their books? Download the Next Big Idea app today: nextbigideaclub.com/app

Tony Fadell led the teams that created the iPod, iPhone, and Nest Learning Thermostat. In his new book, “Build,” he shares everything he’s learned about building great companies and game-changing products.---Download the Next Big Idea app today at nextbigideaclub.com/app

Have you ever found yourself sitting around a table at a luxury resort with five mega-rich strangers who want to know where you think they should build their doomsday bunkers? Absurd as it may sound, that actually happened to media theorist Douglas Rushkoff. Today on the show he explains why the 0.01 percent are obsessed with escaping climate change, global pandemics, political upheaval ... and us.---Download the Next Big Idea app today at nextbigideaclub.com/app

Arthur C. Brooks used to run a prominent think tank where he was paid handsomely to influence public policy. Did all that success make him happy? Nope. So Arthur quit his job and set out to transform his life. Now he has written a book about what he learned along the way, the #1 New York Times bestseller “From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life.”---Want to hear Arthur summarize his new book in just nine minutes? Download the Next Big Idea app and search for Arthur's Book Bite: http://nextbigideaclub.com/app

Demis Hassabis is one of tech's most brilliant minds. A chess-playing child prodigy turned researcher and founder of headline-making AI company DeepMind, Demis is thinking through some of the most revolutionary — and in some cases controversial — uses of artificial intelligence. From the development of computer program AlphaGo, which beat out world champions in the board game Go, to making leaps in the research of how proteins fold, Demis is at the helm of the next generation of groundbreaking technology. In this episode, he gives a peek into some of the questions that his top-level projects are asking, talks about how gaming, creativity, and intelligence inform his approach to tech, and muses on where AI is headed next. This is an episode of "The TED Interview," a podcast in the TED Audio Collective. It's hosted by author Steven Johnson. To check out the rest of their episodes, including a recent mini-series on the future of human intelligence, follow the show wherever you're listening to this.

Ron Shelton is an Academy Award–nominated writer and director, former shortstop for the Bluefield Baby Birds, and author of a humdinger of a new memoir called "The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham — Home Runs, Bad Calls, Crazy Fights, Big Swings, and a Hit." On the show today: How Ron sold the movie before he had a story, wrote the script without a plan, played ball with Kevin Costner, and got directorial pointers from Susan Sarandon.---» Want to hear the world's leading authors summarize their books in 12 minutes? Download the Next Big Idea app today at nextbigideaclub.com/app/

What happens when you put your phone in airplane mode, walk out your front door, and don’t come home for 12 hours? Our producer Caleb finds out, with help from adventurer Colin O’Brady.» To learn more about Colin’s new book, “The 12-Hour Walk,” visit 12hourwalk.com» Want to hear hundreds of leading authors summarize their books in 12 minutes or less? Download the Next Big Idea today: nextbigideaclub.com/app/

The Ohio, Hudson, Mississippi, and Yellowstone — Dick Conant canoed them all. And then he disappeared. In his riveting new book, “Riverman,” journalist Ben McGrath tries to track down the man who may be the greatest American folk hero you’ve never heard of. ---Download the Next Big Idea app today at www.nextbigideaclub.com/app

Close your eyes and picture paradise. What do you see? For many people, it’s a turquoise ocean crashing into a white-sand beach. Where did this fantasy come from? Sarah Stodola, author of “The Last Resort: A Chronicle of Paradise, Profit, and Peril at the Beach,” has a few ideas.Download The Next Big Idea app today at nextbigideaclub.com/app/