On Thursday, Rufus and Robert Wright ( The God Test ) talked about AI as a new stage in the evolution of intelligence — and about the very human traits already showing up in our machines: empathy, deception, power-seeking, seduction. Today, they ask the harder question: what happens when these machines become the object of a geopolitical arms race? 🔗 SPONSORED BY: Fora ➡️ Build and scale your own travel business by becoming a Fora Advisor today at foratravel.com/idea Northwest Registered Agent ...
Jun 29, 2026•34 min
Does the logic of human destiny now lead to artificial intelligence? Are we creating a higher form of intelligence in our own image? And, if so, what kind of image is that? These are the questions celebrated author Robert Wright asks in his new book, The God Test , which was published this week. Bob argues that we should not be surprised to see signs of deception, power-seeking, flattery, and autonomy in AI systems. These are not alien traits; they are behaviors that show up again and again in i...
Jun 25, 2026•1 hr
Most of us swear we have no free time. But the week is 168 hours long. Subtract a 40-hour job and eight hours of sleep a night, and you're left with 72 hours. So where do they go? Today, Laura Vanderkam, author of the new book Big Time , shares her system for reclaiming her free time, including her method for knocking out "someday" projects in small daily bites. 🎬 The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes here . 📱 Follow Rufus on LinkedIn , subscribe to our ...
Jun 22, 2026•57 min
GPAs. Citations. Step counts. Likes. We love a good metric, don't we? It tells you exactly where you stand, no arguing. Mention a 4.0 to a high schooler and they'll know exactly what you mean. Tell a fellow Fitbit-wearer you just hit 10,000 and they'll nod approvingly. But that clarity has a price. To make a metric that clean, that portable, you have to sand off all the nuance, all the context, everything that made the thing worth measuring in the first place. And philosopher C. Thi Nguyen think...
Jun 18, 2026•1 hr 15 min
The World Cup kicked off over the weekend, and so far the mood is meh. Fans are fuming over sell-your-kidney ticket prices, frightened by reports that ICE may target matches, tailgates, and sports bars, and generally feeling down on this quadrennial celebration. We wanted to know: Is there any joy left in this thing? So we called up Simon Kuper. He's a columnist at the Financial Times, "one of the best sportswriters in the English language today" (The New Yorker), and author of the Next Big Idea...
Jun 15, 2026•43 min
Nearly half of all Americans believe AI is bad for humanity. Peter Diamandis is not one of them. On his podcast, Moonshots , and in his new book, We Are as Gods , co-written with the inimitable Steven Kotler, he makes the case that artificial intelligence is already ushering in a world of abundance — think radical life extension, 10 billion humanoid robots, and agents that do your job while you're sipping a latte. He knows it may not be all sunshine and hydroponic roses, but he believes our futu...
Jun 11, 2026•1 hr 6 min
Modern life has not been easy on our brains. Average IQ scores rose steadily throughout the last century. Now they appear to be leveling off. The problem, according to neuroscientists, may be that we have reached our neurobiological limits. Our brains simply can’t work any harder. Luckily, science writer Annie Murphy Paul has a solution. In her book The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain , she draws on a wealth of scientific research to show that we’re smarter when we get out...
Jun 08, 2026•1 hr 13 min
Nicholas Epley is a mind reader. But he doesn’t have ESP or practice hypnosis. He's not telepathic or clairvoyant. Sure, you could ask him to read your fortune, but you'd be better off with a Magic 8 Ball. When we say Nick is a mind reader, what we mean is he studies mind reading at the University of Chicago — studies, as he puts it, "how we make inferences about each other's thoughts and beliefs and attitudes, and mostly how we screw that up." Today, he makes small talk — and big talk — with Ru...
Jun 04, 2026•1 hr 17 min
What do your five senses — sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch — have to do with happiness? According to Gretchen Rubin, a great deal. The world around us, she says, has the potential to dazzle, to entertain, to trigger a state of rapture. If only we pay attention. Today on the show, she shares the tools she's developed to delight in the physical world. She spoke to Rufus in April 2023 about her book Life in Five Senses . Sponsored By: Fora — Become a Fora Advisor today at foratravel.com/idea ...
Jun 01, 2026•55 min
America's a funny place. It's not a country with a fixed geographic or religious identity. We don't have a common story of divine creation. "What we have," writes Ben Rhodes in his new book, All We Say , "are words." The words of the founding documents, yes — but also "the words of speeches spoken by Americans who call us to be that better version of ourselves." Ben has spent more time with great American speeches than just about anyone. For eight years, he was a speechwriter in the Obama Whit...
May 28, 2026•1 hr 7 min
In his mega-bestseller Four Thousand Weeks , Oliver Burkeman showed that the finitude of life “isn’t a reason for unremitting despair, or for living in an anxiety-fueled panic about making the most of your limited time. It’s a cause for relief.” In his follow-up book, Meditations for Mortals , he invites us to embrace what he calls “imperfectionism.” Accept your limitations, your finitude, your lack of control — because “the more we try to render the world controllable,” he warns, “the more it e...
May 25, 2026•1 hr 19 min
Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic and host of "The Most Interesting Thing in AI," joins Rufus and Caleb to explain why the machines may master our minds long before they master our muscles — and what that gap tells us about where AI is headed. Along the way: why human podcasters still beat AI ones, how Nick learned to stop worrying and love open source, and where he'd point an infinite AI budget. 🎧 Check out Nick’s previous appearance on the show here . 📦 Join the Next Big Idea Club and w...
May 21, 2026•54 min
The Greek philosopher Epicurus made a rather bold claim over two thousand years ago. The key to life, he said, is simple: pursue pleasure and avoid pain. Around this maxim he developed a school of philosophy, Epicureanism, which promised its adherents that if they took care of their basic needs, surrounded themselves with trustworthy friends, and developed a basic understanding of science, they would be happy. But is it really that simple? Can the advice of someone born 2,363 years ago still hol...
May 18, 2026•1 hr 12 min
You can run from uncertainty, but you can’t hide. The thing to do, says Simone Stolzoff, to develop comfort with ambiguity and build tolerance for the unknown. His new book is How to Not Know: The Value of Uncertainty in a World that Demands Answers . Granola ➡️ If meetings are eating up your day, Granola is a no-brainer. You can try it totally free for three months. Just head to granola.ai/idea Incogni ➡️ Protect your personal information online and get an exclusive 60% off an annual plan at in...
May 14, 2026•55 min
In the last 20 years, there has been a dramatic change in our understanding of neuroplasticity — the brain’s capacity to grow new neurons. In the last five years, we’ve learned that your hippocampus, the part of your brain responsible for learning and memory, can get bigger at any age. Majid Fotuhi, who teaches at Johns Hopkins, has been at the forefront of a new body of research demonstrating that lifestyle changes — tweaks to the way you exercise and eat, adjustments to your sleep and mindset ...
May 11, 2026•1 hr 20 min
Is freedom overrated? In his new book, Inside the Box , David Epstein argues that constraints, limits and obstacles are what stimulate creativity, innovation, collaboration and personal contentment. 📦 Get David’s new book delivered straight to your door by joining the Next Big Idea Club! Learn more at nextbigideaclub.com (use code PODCAST for 20% off). 🔗 SPONSORED BY: Granola — If meetings are eating up your day, Granola is a no-brainer. You can try it totally free for three months. Just head ...
May 07, 2026•1 hr 27 min
For the last three years, Will Guidara has been on the road talking about unreasonable hospitality. He's met financiers and prison wardens, educators and athletes, Fortune 500 executives and small business owners. They kept asking the same question: "I get how this works in a restaurant, but how do I apply it in my business?" So Will wrote them an answer. It's called Unreasonable Hospitality: The Field Guide . 🔗 SPONSORED BY: Granola — If meetings are eating up your day, Granola is a no-brainer...
May 04, 2026•1 hr 3 min
In September 2023, Will Guidara told us the story of how he used two words to turn a middling brasserie into the best restaurant in the world. Those two words? Unreasonable hospitality. We're running that episode again today because, well, it's one of our all-time favorites. And because Will is coming back on the show on Monday to discuss his brand-new book, Unreasonable Hospitality: The Field Guide . Consider this the appetizer. Sponsored By: Fabric — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fab...
Apr 30, 2026•1 hr 3 min
Every few months, we pick one book with the power to change how you see the world. Then we build an experience around it: author conversations, reading guides, key insights, and a community of people who love talking about ideas. In this episode, we reveal our latest pick. And stick around for a sneak peek of Rufus's conversation with the author. 📚 READY FOR MORE? Join the Next Big Idea Club at nextbigideaclub.com and use code PODCAST to save 20% on your membership The entire interview is avail...
Apr 27, 2026•40 min
What's standing between you and your goals? Focus? Discipline? Motivation? Nir Eyal points the finger somewhere else. Your beliefs. In his new book, Beyond Belief , he shows you how to trade them in for better ones — and finally get unstuck. The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes here . Follow Rufus on LinkedIn , subscribe to our Substack , or send us an email at podcast@nextbigideaclub.com . Check out Nir’s previous appearance on the show here . The bes...
Apr 23, 2026•1 hr 22 min
In celebration of Apple's 50th birthday, we're probing the company's past and peering into its future with David Pogue — former New York Times tech columnist, current CBS Sunday Morning correspondent, and author of the recent New York Times bestseller Apple: The First 50 Years . We begin by looking backward, exploring the improbable story of the hippie pranksters who built the world's first trillion-dollar company. But we're not just here for the history. We also look ahead, asking: What cool ne...
Apr 20, 2026•1 hr 21 min
Tony Fadell led the teams that created the iPod, iPhone, and Nest Thermostat. In his book Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making , he shares everything he’s learned about building great companies and game-changing products. (This episode first aired in September 2022.) The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes here . Follow Rufus on LinkedIn , subscribe to our Substack , or send us an email at podcast@nextbigideaclub.com . The best way to su...
Apr 16, 2026•1 hr 2 min
When journalist Sebastian Mallaby approached Demis Hassabis, Google's AI chief and a man with a lifelong mission to build superintelligence, about writing his biography, he made the following pitch: "If you're going to disrupt people from head to toe, you owe them an explanation of why you're doing it. What motivates you? Why do something this dangerous?" Today, Sebastian tells us what answers he found. Sebastian's new book, The Infinity Machine, is out now. Pick up a copy from Amazon , Audible ...
Apr 13, 2026•1 hr 14 min
In 2023, Patrick Radden Keefe met a man who told him, "I might have a story for you." When you're Patrick — New Yorker staff writer, author of "some of the most memorable nonfiction books of the last decade" (that's the New York Times talking) — this is a hazard of the trade. But he heard the guy out. The guy said he knew a family whose 19-year-old son had died in mysterious circumstances. "He went off the balcony of a luxury apartment building overlooking the Thames." When the boy's parents sta...
Apr 09, 2026•58 min
It’s a big, bad, scary, lonely world out there. Lucky for us, Jenny Lawson — aka the Bloggess — has collected more than a hundred tricks and tools that have helped her keep going, and she shares them in her heartwarming and hilarious new book, How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay . The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes here . If you enjoyed this conversation, check out Arthur’s previous appearances on the show here and here . Follow Rufus on LinkedIn , subsc...
Apr 06, 2026•48 min
The French filmmaker Jean Renoir said, "The only things that are important in life are the things you remember." But what do you remember and why? That's the subject of Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters by pioneering neuroscientist Charan Ranganath. He explains why you still know the lyrics to the song you loved in eighth grade but can't remember the name of your kid's eighth-grade teacher, how memory shapes your identity, and what you can do right now to impro...
Apr 02, 2026•1 hr 12 min
Let's face it, modern life is kind of a bummer. We're glued to our phones, starved for meaning, haunted by a gnawing sense of emptiness. Enter Arthur C. Brooks. He's a Harvard professor, happiness expert, and a man with a plan to help you find your why and build a life that actually fills you up. Arthur’s new book is The Meaning of Your Life. Learn more at https://www.arthurbrooks.com/the-meaning-of-your-life The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes here . If you enjoye...
Mar 30, 2026•1 hr 2 min
We’ve been told that “oversharing” (TMI) is a social sin. But our guest today, Leslie John, who teaches at Harvard Business School, argues that TLI (Too Little Information) is far more dangerous. In her new book, Revealing: The Underrated Power of Oversharing , she shows how personal, vulnerable, even uncomfortable disclosures are the wellspring of trust, friendship, romance, and professional success. Watch The Next Big Idea on YouTube! You can find our episodes here . Follow Rufus on ...
Mar 26, 2026•1 hr 12 min
On a muggy spring day in 2018, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that transformed America. In a 6-3 ruling, the high court cleared the way for legal sports betting from coast to coast. Since then, all bets have been off: Americans have wagered more than $500 billion on sports. And now, thanks to prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, we're betting on everything — the weather, where the next US airstrike will land in Iran, whether Jesus Christ will return before 2027. McKay Coppins...
Mar 23, 2026•54 min
Last week, we hosted a members-only Q&A with Michael Pollan. We covered food and diet, his writing process, psychedelics, and dreams. We also got into the microbiome, which happens to be the subject of Michael's new book (and a topic he thinks will fundamentally change how we understand health). The conversation was so good that we thought, Why keep this to ourselves? The episodes we mentioned about the origins of life with Sara Imari Walker? You can listen to them here and here . And if you...
Mar 19, 2026•50 min
