The Next Big Idea Daily

Great ideas aren’t invented from scratch—they’re discovered through small, often overlooked adjustments.

David Damrosch, Harvard comparative literature professor who mapped insights from 80 global authors. Evan Friss, historian of American bookstores who traces their cultural and political roles. They discuss the sensory joy of browsing, bookstores as community and refuge, literature as a portal across time, and how constraints and storytelling shape understanding.

Kelli Thompson, a women's leadership coach and author who helps women advance in male-dominated fields, and Shadé Zahrai, a peak performance educator and former lawyer who trains leaders at Fortune 500 firms, discuss how self-image and self-doubt shape career trajectories. They explore trainable drivers of self-image, tactics to contain overthinking, habits that rebuild self-trust, and practical moves women can use to close confidence and pay gaps.

Zach Mercurio, researcher and author who studies leadership habits that create significance. Jennifer Breheny Wallace, journalist and bestselling author who studies why feeling valued matters. They discuss what “mattering” means and a four-part framework for it. They share practical ways to notice, affirm, and make people feel needed in work and life.

Justin Blaney, a business professor and entrepreneur who studies how relationships shape outcomes, and Kate Murphy, a journalist who explores why people fall into sync, discuss interpersonal synchrony, biological mirroring, attraction and trust, the risks of negative social contagion, and how to deliberately model and join relationships that change your life.

Karen Dahl, a psychologist focused on workplace mental health and author of Building Psychological Fitness, shares practical frameworks for resilience and self-regulation. Brad Stulberg, a performance coach and author of The Way of Excellence, explores curiosity, quiet discipline, and sustainable mastery. They discuss curiosity-driven growth, real versus performative discipline, psychological fitness training, and the role of connection and purpose.

Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis, organizational psychologists and co-authors of *Both/And Thinking*, discuss how embracing paradoxes improves decision-making and problem-solving. They emphasize the value of reframing dilemmas to find creative solutions, using examples like Unilever's strategy. Kevin Dutton, a research psychologist and author of *Black and White Thinking*, delves into the evolutionary roots of binary thinking and its impacts on persuasion. He highlights the necessity of categorization while exploring its pitfalls and benefits.

James Traub, a journalist and educator, discusses his year-long investigation into American civic education, revealing students' alarming lack of knowledge about key historical texts and polarized narratives. He highlights promising programs that effectively engage students and the need for a rigorous liberal arts approach. Alexandra Robbins, an investigative journalist, addresses teacher burnout, emphasizing it's a symptom of systemic issues like low pay and overwhelming responsibilities rather than a shortage of dedicated educators. Both guests present insightful solutions for a better educational future.

Join emergency medicine physician Ashley Alker, author of '99 Ways to Die,' and veteran war correspondent Judith Matloff, who penned 'How to Drag a Body,' for a riveting discussion on life-saving tips and survival strategies. Alker shares alarming insights about unnoticed bat bites and the realities of serial killers, while emphasizing the importance of vaccines and addressing health biases. Matloff offers practical disaster preparedness advice, highlighting why women need specific training and how everyday items can be essential for survival. Dark humor emerges as a powerful coping mechanism!

Maya Shankar, a cognitive scientist and former Obama advisor, explores how uncertainty can trigger stress and identity loss during change. She shares insights on resilience, encouraging listeners to anchor their identities in core values. John Kaag, a philosopher interpreting the works of Emerson, Thoreau, and James, discusses coping with loss through nature and creative will. Together, they illuminate the transformative power of change and our capacity to navigate personal evolution, finding hope in life's disruptions.