Big Think

Robert Herjavec: The hidden reason smart people stop growing | Big Think+

1 apr 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, The smartest people have mastered these 6 core skills | Michael Watkins for Big Think+ ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32z8Ax1j-Q4 Most people spend years searching for a mentor who will change their life, never realizing the most valuable lessons are already happening around them. Shark Tank’s Robert Herjavec breaks down why the traditional idea of mentorship is not only outdated, but actively getting in the way of your growth. Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/the-big-think-interview/robert-herjavec-mentorship/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ►Listen to Big Think Interviews on Spotify Insights from the world's biggest thinkers, now as a podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/7KRYoRD1NdF2aoQcBMyPlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Robert Herjavec: Before he was a star on Shark Tank, Robert Herjavec worked behind the scenes in production and also spent time waiting tables and delivering newspapers. He later rose up the ranks at a technology company through a sales role. Herjavec went on to found several companies, including BRAK Systems, an internet security firm he sold to AT&T Canada for $30.2 million, and The Herjavec Group, a global cybersecurity company. The Herjavec Group merged and rebranded as Cyderes in 2022, and Herjavec stayed on as CEO and board member before stepping down in 2024. Herjavec has appeared as an investor on Canada’s Dragons’ Den as well as the U.S. and Australian versions of Shark Tank. He is also the author of three books: Driven: How to Succeed in Business and Life (2010), The Will to Win: Leading, Competing, Succeeding (2013), and You Don't Have to Be a Shark: Creating Your Own Success (2016).

Toxic positivity is corrupting America | Kate Bowler

31 mrt 2026

This interview is an episode from ‪The Well, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the ‪John Templeton Foundation. Subscribe to The Well on YouTube ► https://bit.ly/thewell-youtube Watch Bowler’s next interview ► Why pain doesn't need to teach you anything https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JlOgjf7Y_8 Toxic positivity has become a cultural system in America, says historian and professor Kate Bowler. She traces how optimism became an emotional mandate in American life: a belief that bright sides and silver linings can solve anything. But when positivity refuses pain, it stops being hopeful and becomes denial. Drawing on personal experience and cultural analysis, Bowler reveals how forced optimism erases nuance, stigmatizes grief, and leaves us unprepared for the parts of life that don’t resolve. Some things aren’t meant to be mastered — they just hurt. Naming that, she argues, is the first step toward something more honest, and more human. Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/the-well/why-toxic-positivity-is-making-us-miserable/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description_bigthink ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Kate Bowler: Kate Bowler is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, award-winning podcast host, and Professor of Religious History at Duke University. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About The Well Do we inhabit a multiverse? Do we have free will? What is love? Is evolution directional? There are no simple answers to life’s biggest questions, and that’s why they’re the questions occupying the world’s brightest minds. Together, let's learn from them. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter ► https://bit.ly/thewellemailsignup ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Join The Well on your favorite platforms: ► Facebook: https://bit.ly/thewellFB ► Instagram: https://bit.ly/thewellIG

Modern physics is forcing us to rethink existence | Michelle Thaller: Full Interview

27 mrt 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=membership&utm_content=bt-ytdesc-text-fi-thaller-RGbZsE7qFgw Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, Brian Cox: The quantum roots of reality | Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO41iURud9c What if space and time aren't the backdrop of the universe, but a byproduct of it? NASA astronomer Michelle Thaller makes the case that quantum entanglement may be the underlying fabric from which spacetime itself emerges. 0:00 How astronomers seek to answer the biggest questions in the universe 2:20 The reality of being an astronomer 4:58 How scientists actually come up with new ideas 7:39 What astronomers actually study vs. big cosmic questions 13:28 Rethinking reality: Einstein, space & time 18:30 Quantum mechanics & the nature of spacetime 25:50 Neutron stars are the most extreme objects in the universe 33:04 The strange physics of empty space 37:41 The hidden danger of the Sun (solar wind explained) 43:55 Could a solar storm wipe out civilization? 52:16 Mining asteroids, magnetic fields & navigating the universe 58:05 When astronomy realized the Sun isn’t what we thought 1:00:20 Big Bang, universe origins & limits of human understanding This idea would mean that distance, gravity, and the passage of time are consequences of the deep interconnectedness created from the Big Bang. Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/michelle-thaller-spacetime/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ►Listen to Big Think Interviews on Spotify Insights from the world's biggest thinkers, now as a podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/7KRYoRD1NdF2aoQcBMyPlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Michelle Thaller: Michelle Thaller is an astronomer and Assistant Director for Science Communication at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Alien contact will challenge every belief system on Earth | Sara Seager

24 mrt 2026

This interview is an episode from ‪The Well, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the ‪John Templeton Foundation. Subscribe to The Well on YouTube ► https://bit.ly/thewell-youtube Watch Seager’s next interview ► What if intelligent life exists, but we can't recognize it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c05kdgwraw Sara Seager, a planetary scientist, astrophysicist, and leading researcher in the search for life beyond Earth, examines how discovering life elsewhere would represent a Copernican-level shift in human understanding. Research into Mars, Venus, and the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn has revealed complex molecules and liquid environments that could support life. Independent origins of life would imply that the galaxy is rich with living individuals, challenging long-held cultural, religious, and philosophical assumptions. The acceptance of major scientific discoveries — and the unexpected practical contributions to pure science — impact how the search for extraterrestrial life may benefit society over time. Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/the-well/are-we-ready-to-accept-alien-life/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description_bigthink ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Sara Seager: Professor Seager is Director for the MIT-led Venus Morning Star Missions to Venus and lead for Project Starshade. In the past she was Deputy Science Director for the MIT-led NASA mission TESS and PI for the on-orbit JPL/MIT CubeSat ASTERIA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About The Well Do we inhabit a multiverse? Do we have free will? What is love? Is evolution directional? There are no simple answers to life’s biggest questions, and that’s why they’re the questions occupying the world’s brightest minds. Together, let's learn from them. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter ► https://bit.ly/thewellemailsignup ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Join The Well on your favorite platforms: ► Facebook: https://bit.ly/thewellFB ► Instagram: https://bit.ly/thewellIG

1177 BC: The vanishing of the first globalized world | Eric Cline: Full Interview

20 mrt 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, Hollywood lied to you about Ancient Rome. Here’s the truth | Mary Beard: Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_yP8C7uo3Y Around 1200 BC, the most sophisticated network of civilizations the ancient world had ever produced, spanning Egypt, Greece, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and beyond, came apart within a single generation.  Historian Eric Cline argues this collapse wasn't the work of one invading force or one bad harvest, but something far harder to stop: An overly interdependent system that had no way to absorb multiple shocks at once. 0:00 Chapter 1: The interconnected world 4:27 Scope of the study 5:44 Economic interdependence of civilizations 11:04 What “collapse” means 15:38 Chapter 2: Who were the Sea Peoples? 20:58 Chapter 3: The perfect storm 24:37 Drought, famine and migration 28:22 Evidence for invaders beyond Egypt 31:30 Destructions and possible internal rebellions 42:48 Multiplier Effects, Domino Effects, and Network Collapse 47:35 Systems collapse and the Dark Age debate 54:44 Uneven survival and the problem of labels 1:00:00 Chapter 1: The rise of the new world order 1:03:42 The new world order after collapse 1:11:04 Chapter 2: The winners and losers 1:17:03 The Mycenaeans, Minoans, Hittites, and Canaanites 1:22:29 Chapter 3: How to avoid civilizational collapse 1:28:18 Leadership and resilience 1:30:23 Seven lessons for today 1:38:14 Tipping points and warning signs 1:41:57 Final reflection Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/eric-cline-bronze-age/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ►Listen to Big Think Interviews on Spotify Insights from the world's biggest thinkers, now as a podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/7KRYoRD1NdF2aoQcBMyPlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Eric Cline: Dr. Eric H. Cline is Professor of Classics and Anthropology, the former Chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and the current Director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at The George Washington University, in Washington DC. He is a National Geographic Explorer, a Fulbright scholar, a Getty scholar, an NEH Public Scholar, and an award-winning teacher and author. He has degrees in archaeology and ancient history from Dartmouth, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania; in May 2015, he was awarded an honorary doctoral degree (honoris causa) from Muhlenberg College.

Your life needs more ‘existential grit.’ Here’s how to find it | Kate Bowler

17 mrt 2026

This interview is an episode from ‪The Well, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the ‪John Templeton Foundation. Subscribe to The Well on YouTube ► https://bit.ly/thewell-youtube Watch Bowler’s next interview ► Why toxic positivity is making us miserable https://youtu.be/ebCqCPxZcV8 Joy is often mistaken for a stronger version of happiness. But historian and writer Kate Bowler argues that they are fundamentally different emotions. Happiness, she explains, depends on things going well. It’s cumulative, fragile, and easily undone. Joy, by contrast, can exist alongside pain, grief, and uncertainty. It doesn’t erase what’s broken — it helps hold it together. Drawing from psychology, faith traditions, and her own experience living with stage four cancer, Bowler explores why joy is less about ease and more about connection, openness, and love. It’s not a mood or an achievement, but a way of seeing reality clearly and still saying yes to life. Joy, she suggests, isn’t a bonus for the fortunate. It’s something that carries us when happiness no longer can. Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/the-well/why-joy-is-stronger-than-happiness/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description_bigthink ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Kate Bowler: Kate Bowler is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, award-winning podcast host, and Professor of Religious History at Duke University. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About The Well Do we inhabit a multiverse? Do we have free will? What is love? Is evolution directional? There are no simple answers to life’s biggest questions, and that’s why they’re the questions occupying the world’s brightest minds. Together, let's learn from them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Join The Well on your favorite platforms: ► Facebook: https://bit.ly/thewellFB ► Instagram: https://bit.ly/thewellIG

Quantum entanglement and the illusion of time, in 79 minutes | Jim Al-Khalili: Full Interview

13 mrt 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=membership&utm_content=bt-ytdesc-text-fi-khalili-8xp3Bs6nZ-Y Preorder Jim Al-Khalili's forthcoming book, On Time: The Physics That Makes the Universe, here: https://www.amazon.com/Time-Physics-That-Makes-Universe/dp/0691267030/ Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, Brian Cox: The quantum roots of reality | Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO41iURud9c Time feels obvious, but physics tells a stranger story about its existence: Theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili explores why our sense of time may be incredibly misleading, including the idea that past, present, and future might all exist at once. 0:00 Chapter 1: Does time flow? 2:42 Why Time Feels Faster as We Age 3:56 Time and Change in Philosophy and Physics 5:28 Einstein and the End of Absolute Time 6:19 Time in the Equations of Physics 7:50 Chapter 2: How do we reconcile quantum field theory with the general theory of relativity? 12:10 Evidence for Time Dilation: Muons 14:29 Gravity Slows Time: General Relativity 19:22 Space-Time and the Block Universe 21:55 Does Time Really Exist? 26:33 The Debate: Eternalism vs Presentism 34:12 Chapter 3: Is There a “Now”? 40:40 Chapter 4: Why Does Thermodynamics Have a Direction in Time? 49:38 Quantum Entanglement and the Direction of Time 55:10 Did Time Begin at the Big Bang? 45:00 Will Time End? 1:05:40 Chapter 5: Is Time Travel Possible? Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/the-big-think-interview/block-universe-alkhalili/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Jim Al-Khalili: Jim is a multiple award-winning science communicator renowned for his public engagement around the world through writing and broadcasting and a leading academic making fundamental contributions to theoretical physics, particularly in nuclear reaction theory, quantum effects in biology, open quantum systems and the foundations of quantum mechanics. Jim is a theoretical physicist at the University of Surrey where he holds a Distinguished Chair in physics as well as a university chair in the public engagement in science. He received his PhD in nuclear reaction theory in 1989 and has published widely in the field. His current interest is in open quantum systems and the application of quantum mechanics in biology.

The chemistry on Earth's sister planet doesn't add up | Sara Seager

10 mrt 2026

This interview is an episode from ‪The Well, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the ‪John Templeton Foundation. Subscribe to The Well on YouTube ► https://bit.ly/thewell-youtube Watch Seager’s next interview ► We may find alien life, but will we be able to accept the consequences? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMNIypmhoVI What would it take to find another Earth, if one even exists? Astrophysicist and planetary scientist Sara Seager explores the search for Planet B, a true Earth-like exoplanet with continents, oceans, sunlight, and a thin atmosphere capable of supporting life. The search for Earth’s Twin helps scientists understand planetary habitability, the origins of life on Earth, and how rare Earth-like conditions may be in the universe. Seager’s work centers on exoplanets, Earth-like planets, habitable zones, planetary atmospheres, and chemical signs of life, while also examining Venus, phosphine gas, and why finding a second Earth remains one of astronomy’s greatest challenges. Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/the-well/is-there-a-planet-b-an-astrophysicist-answers/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description_bigthink ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Sara Seager: Professor Seager is Director for the MIT-led Venus Morning Star Missions to Venus and lead for Project Starshade. In the past she was Deputy Science Director for the MIT-led NASA mission TESS and PI for the on-orbit JPL/MIT CubeSat ASTERIA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About The Well Do we inhabit a multiverse? Do we have free will? What is love? Is evolution directional? There are no simple answers to life’s biggest questions, and that’s why they’re the questions occupying the world’s brightest minds. Together, let's learn from them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Join The Well on your favorite platforms: ► Facebook: https://bit.ly/thewellFB ► Instagram: https://bit.ly/thewellIG

The idea so strange Einstein thought it broke quantum physics | Jim Al-Khalili

10 mrt 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=membership&utm_content=bt-ytdesc-text-bti-alkhalili-DeSbdS81xks Preorder Jim Al-Khalili's forthcoming book, On Time: The Physics That Makes the Universe, here: https://www.amazon.com/Time-Physics-That-Makes-Universe/dp/0691267030/ Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, Brian Cox: The quantum roots of reality | Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO41iURud9c Jim Al-Khalili chronicles the technologies emerging from the second quantum revolution: Computers that exploit superposition to solve problems that would take today's best supercomputers billions of years, sensors that read individual neurons firing inside your skull, and cameras that image biological tissue using light instead of touch. Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/the-big-think-interview/quantum-revolution-alkhalili/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ►Listen to Big Think Interviews on Spotify Insights from the world's biggest thinkers, now as a podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/7KRYoRD1NdF2aoQcBMyPlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Jim Al-Khalili: Jim is a multiple award-winning science communicator renowned for his public engagement around the world through writing and broadcasting and a leading academic making fundamental contributions to theoretical physics, particularly in nuclear reaction theory, quantum effects in biology, open quantum systems and the foundations of quantum mechanics. Jim is a theoretical physicist at the University of Surrey where he holds a Distinguished Chair in physics as well as a university chair in the public engagement in science. He received his PhD in nuclear reaction theory in 1989 and has published widely in the field. His current interest is in open quantum systems and the application of quantum mechanics in biology.

Lost technologies and the secrets they hold, in 53 minutes | Sam Kean: Full Interview

6 mrt 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, Hollywood lied to you about Ancient Rome. Here’s the truth | Mary Beard: Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_yP8C7uo3Y History feels distant until you step back and realize that it was lived through all of the senses: the taste of the food, the touch of the tools, and the smell of the life around you. By recreating ancient foods, tools, and everyday practices, Sam Kean uncovers the small sensory details that shaped how people survived and experimented. 0:00 Part 1: Bringing ancient history to life 0:25 Chapter 1: Resurrecting Ancient Practices 3:43 Chapter 2: Africa – 72,000 years ago 10:01 Chapter 3: Egypt – 2,000 BC 18:25 Chapter 4: Roman Empire – 100 BCE 25:00 Chapter 5: Viking – 900 BCE 32:00 Part 2: How the Allies sabotaged the Nazi atomic bomb 32:30 Rumors of a Nazi atomic bomb 38:04 The mission to sabotage Hitler’s bomb 46:08 Ethical dilemmas in the atomic age Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/experimental-archaeologists/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ►Listen to Big Think Interviews on Spotify Insights from the world's biggest thinkers, now as a podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/7KRYoRD1NdF2aoQcBMyPlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Sam Kean: Sam Kean is the New York Times-bestselling author of seven books. He spent years collecting mercury from broken thermometers as a kid, and now lives in Washington, D.C. His stories have appeared in National Geographic, The Best American Science and Nature Writing, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Slate, among other places, and his work has been featured on NPR’s “Radiolab”, “Science Friday”, and “All Things Considered.” The Bastard Brigade was a “Science Friday” book of the year, while Caesar’s Last Breath was the Guardian science book of the year. The Disappearing Spoon was a runner-up for the Royal Society book of the year. The Violinist’s Thumb and The Dueling Neurosurgeons were nominated for PEN’s literary science writing award, and Dinner with King Tut was named a best book of the year by the New Yorker, Smithsonian, Amazon, and the History Channel, and won the Non-Obvious Book Award for most original book.

You’ve probably met a psychopath and didn’t know it | Abigail Marsh

3 mrt 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, The neuroscience of extremes: Ruthless psychopathy to extraordinary generosity | Abigail Marsh ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK-UfTCGOdU Most of us think we can spot a psychopath from a mile away, but we likely already have, and didn’t even know it. Far from the cartoonishly evil perception that most of us have, psychopathy is more about emotional deficits hidden behind a veneer of normalcy. Abigail Marsh unpacks what defines psychopathy, how it differs from antisocial behavior, and why terms like “sociopath” only add confusion. Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/the-big-think-interview/sociopath-psychopath-marsh/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Abigail Marsh: Abigail Marsh is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program at Georgetown University. She received her PhD in Social Psychology from Harvard University in 2004.

Love is a skill, not a feeling | Alain de Botton: Full Interview

27 feb 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, The science of sex, love, and attachment | Dr. Helen Fisher: Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORAaaBevtT4 We want to believe that love is guided by instinct, and that following our heart will lead us to our ideal soulmate. Alain de Botton argues that our romantic lives are shaped more by the emotional patterns we learned in childhood than by destiny. 0:14 Chapter 1: Our destructive romantic culture 1:42 How romanticism reshaped love 7:17 The cultural myths that sabotage love 10:02 Chapter 2: Lessons on love from psychotherapy 11:20 What childhood teaches us about love 14:20 Attachment theory and early separation 17:25 When familiarity matters more than happiness 24:40 Chapter 3: The playbook for a successful relationship 26:41 How are you crazy? 29:24 What therapy makes possible 34:41 Why you will marry the wrong person 42:33 Social media and the blame reflex 47:25 Chapter 4: Overcoming status anxiety and loneliness 49:00 Status anxiety in a secular age 50:30 The lost safety valves of older societies 52:31 The need for secular temples 55:02 Love as the bridge out of isolation Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/why-healthy-love-feels-uncomfortable/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ►Listen to Big Think Interviews on Spotify Insights from the world's biggest thinkers, now as a podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/7KRYoRD1NdF2aoQcBMyPlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Alain de Botton: Alain de Botton was born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1969 and now lives in London. He is a writer of essayistic books that have been described as a 'philosophy of everyday life.' He’s written on love, travel, architecture and literature. His books have been bestsellers in 30 countries. Alain also started and helps to run a school in London called The School of Life, dedicated to a new vision of education. Alain's latest book is titled Religion for Atheists and is published in the Netherlands, Italy, Korea, Turkey and Brazil in 2011 and in the UK, US and other territories in 2012. Alain started writing at a young age. His first book, Essays in Love [titled On Love in the US], was published when he was twenty-three.

The most important piece of technology in your lifetime is this tiny chip | Chris Miller

20 feb 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, How an AI chip war could destroy the global economy | Chris Miller for The Freethink Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foYWzdvajvo The story of the chip is a story about geopolitics and scarcity. From $20 billion fabrication plants to machines built by a single Dutch firm, the supply chain behind your devices is both miraculous and astonishingly fragile. Chris Miller sat down with us in July 2024 to explain why the AI race, U.S.–China tensions, and the future of economic dominance, all rest on this tiny square of silicon. 0:48 Chapter One: How to build a microchip 1:40 The center of our modern life 5:00 Inside the microchip 8:00 The unmatched pace of computing 11:32 Moore’s Law in the age of AI 14:07 The cutting edge of chip technology 16:56 Chapter 2: The first chip builders 20:00 Silicon Valley was built on chips 23:20 Chapter 3: Global impact 25:15 How the chip supply chain split apart 31:20 The manufacturing model that changed everything 37:36 The COVID-19 chip shortage 42:46 The ubiquity of chips in modern life 46:53 The CHIPS Act 48:00 Chapter 4: The AI revolution 51:35 The power problem Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/chip-war-chris-miller/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Chris Miller: Chris Miller is a professor at the Fletcher School at Tufts University and is a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a think-tank in Washington, D.C. He is the author of the book Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology.

Your brain wasn't built to hold this much information | Richard Cytowic

16 feb 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, The terrifying ways that social media is altering teenage brains | Clare Morell: Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk_Q4DyWY48 Your brain isn’t broken, but it may seem like that because of how the screen age overwhelms your biology. Neurologist Richard Cytowic argues that attention is a finite energy budget, not a virtue, and modern life is engineered to exhaust it. Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/the-big-think-interview/screen-age-brains/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Richard Cytowic: Richard Cytowic is Professor of Neurology at George Washington University. His books include Synesthesia, The Man Who Tasted Shapes, The Neurological Side of Neuropsychology, and Your Stone Age Brain in the Screen Age.

Why SETI might be our most humbling science | Jill Tarter: Full Interview

13 feb 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, Sean Carroll explains the biggest ideas in the universe | Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TBNJyztai0 Jill Tarter has spent a lifetime working on a question that resists answers: not whether we believe there is life beyond Earth, but the quest for undeniable proof. Tarter explains why SETI is really about technology, patience, and learning how to tell alien signals from our own. 00:00 Origins of a cosmic detective 03:16 Hooked on the cosmos 06:06 Falling into SETI (a happy accident) 08:45 Women in engineering 14:50 Asking the big question 20:31 SETI the search for extraterrestrial intelligence 25:41 Teaching machines to look 35:02 The Allen Telescope Array 38:57 Proving the concept 40:50 The plane “UFO” incident 44:06 False positives 50:13 Carl Sagan’s legacy 57:43 The future of SETI Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/seti-jill-tarter/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Jill Tarter: Jill Tarter is Director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California. She served as Project Scientist for NASA’s SETI program, the High Resolution Microwave Survey, and has conducted numerous observational programs at radio observatories worldwide. Since the termination of funding for NASA’s SETI program in 1993, she has served in a leadership role to secure private funding to continue the exploratory science. Her astronomical work was illustrated in Carl Sagan's 1985 novel "Contact." The character largely based on Tarter, "Ellie Arroway," was portrayed by Jodie Foster in the 1997 film version of "Contact."

Why fearlessness beats experience every time | Steve Stoute for Big Think+

4 feb 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock Steve Stoute's full class and more exclusive content: https://bigthink.com/my-classes/how-to-lead-with-integrity/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, The smartest people have mastered these 6 core skills | Michael Watkins for Big Think+► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32z8Ax1j-Q4 What if the secret to building a successful company isn’t knowing everything, but rather knowing how to act when you don’t? CEO Steve Stoute has launched businesses in industries he didn’t understand and discovered that good leadership is built upon these 3 guiding principles. © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Steve Stoute: Steve Stoute is an advertising and music industry entrepreneur. Stoute serves as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of UnitedMasters and Translation. With funding from Alphabet, Andreessen Horowitz and 21st Century Fox, the companies are converging music, technology and storytelling

The surprisingly simple rules most investors break | Barry Ritholtz

3 feb 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, The investment traps that destroy wealth and how to avoid them with Barry Ritholtz | Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-UqYUfvwss Most investors think beating the market is about picking the right stock at the right time. Barry Ritholtz shows why that’s mostly an illusion. © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Barry Ritholtz: Barry L. Ritholtz is co-founder, chairman, and chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. Launched in 2013, RWM is a financial planning and asset management firm, with over $6.4 billion dollars in assets under management. RWM was named ETF Advisor of the Year, is on the Financial Times Top 300 Advisors in the US, and is the 4th fastest-growing RIA in America. His career history is filled with cutting-edge innovation and influential new ideas: He was one of the earliest traders to embrace behavioral economics, he created one of the first and most popular market blogs; his podcast was groundbreaking and among the earliest in the investment spaces. Named one of the “15 Most Important Economic Journalists” in the United States, he has been called one of the 25 Most Dangerous People in Financial Media. He writes a weekly column for Bloomberg Opinion (2013- 2021) and wrote a twice-monthly column on Personal Finance and Investing for The Washington Post (2011-2016). His latest book, “How Not To Invest: The ideas, numbers, and behaviors that destroy wealth – and how to avoid them” was published on March 18, 2025.

Do reasons for living eventually run out? | Alex O'Connor

2 feb 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, The strongest arguments for and against the existence of God | Alex O'Connor: Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqWTlUOhowk Most people go through their lives with perfectly good reasons for what they do, and almost no reason to question these reasons. What happens when we ask why ordinary actions feel self-justifying, and what happens when that chain of “becauses” finally runs out? Alex O’Connor explores. Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/the-big-think-interview/nihilism-and-reason/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Alex O'Connor: Alex O’Connor, also known as Cosmic Skeptic, is an English public speaker and content creator recognized for his work on philosophy, ethics, religion, and secularism. He hosts the podcast Within Reason

Why every computer still follows a 1940s blueprint | David Alan Grier: Full Interview

30 jan 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, Why 2025 is the single most pivotal year in our lifetime | Peter Leyden ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5k72A30kUc&vl=en Before computers existed, people performed massive calculations by hand where error, repetition, and standardization shaped the outcome. We tracked comets, mapped nations, and solved problems of scale. That legacy of manual calculation shapes how we live today; our modern algorithms and the shaping of predictive models. Dr. David Alan Grier explains the unexpected link between the Industrial Revolution and artificial intelligence. 0:00 Chapter 1: Computers and the Industrial Revolution 6:30 Computation as a tool of exploration 9:54 Measuring a nation into existence 12:22 From human computers to mechanical ones 20:06 The clockwork foundations of modern computing 24:55 Chapter 2: The power of standardization 29:11 The power of standardization 32:03 Standardizing education 37:55 Chapter 3: Computing the human experience 41:05 Expanding data to the human experience 41:58 Automating the census 46:55 Chapter 4: How computers change us 48:50 From ENIAC to ARPANET 54:45 When computing became personal 58:58 Adapting to algorithmic life 1:03:47 Chapter 5: When machines replace humans 1:12:18 The first data ownership fight 1:19:20 AI is not new Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/industrial-revolution-computing/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About David Alan Grier: David Alan Grier, PhD, is a professor, writer, author, and speaker on issues of technology, society, and organizations. He is the author of several books including When Computers Were Human, which chronicles the 200-year history of how human computers performed calculations by hand. Grier is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).

The biggest myth about aging, according to science | Morgan Levine: Full Interview

23 jan 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, Doctors rarely speak about this massive risk factor | Andrew Steele ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxPD4ZiULEU Most of us measure age by birthdays, but what if the number on your ID tells only half the story? Dr. Morgan Levine explores the hidden clock inside our cells, unraveling how the biological age that reveals how fast our bodies are really aging is calculated. 0:00 The science of aging 2:14 How we measure age: Biological versus chronological 3:58 What aging looks like across species 4:45 Aging beneath the surface 5:55 Can we measure aging? 9:39 Slowing aging to extend health 13:33 How we measure age: Epigenetic 15:36 From molecular errors to systemic decline 19:48 Intervening in aging without over-optimizing 24:00 Is aging a disease? 26:31 How disease happens 29:39 The power of lifestyle 30:48 Can we reverse aging? 32:45 Reprogramming cells to a younger state 35:53 Why measuring age changes how we treat disease 40:15 How nutrition enables longevity 41:42 The science behind caloric restriction 44:40 What diet research really suggests 50:20 Living better, not just longer Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/science-of-aging/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Morgan Levine: Morgan Levine was previously a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the department of Pathology at Yale University where she ran the Laboratory for Aging in Living Systems. In 2022, she was recruited to join Altos Labs as a Founding Principal Investigator at the San Diego Institute of Science. She currently leads a research group at Altos Labs working at the intersection of bioinformatics, cellular biology, complex systems, and biostatistics with the overall goal of understanding the molecular trajectories aging cells, tissues, and organisms take through time.

The problem with pretending quantum mechanics makes sense | Sean Carroll

19 jan 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=membership&utm_content=bt-ytdesc-text-seg-carroll-u9YiM7LZ6b0 Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, Sean Carroll explains the biggest ideas in the universe | Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TBNJyztai0 A century after the birth of quantum mechanics, physicists still argue about what the theory is really describing. Does the wave function represent something real, or just our knowledge? Why does “measurement” appear in the laws of nature at all? Sean Carroll reveals how quantum mechanics solved one set of problems while creating a deeper one. © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Sean Carroll: Dr. Sean Carroll is Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy — in effect, a joint appointment between physics and philosophy — at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and fractal faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. Most of his career has been spent doing research on cosmology, field theory, and gravitation, looking at topics such as dark matter and dark energy, modified gravity, topological defects, extra dimensions, and violations of fundamental symmetries. These days, his focus has shifted to more foundational questions, both in quantum mechanics (origin of probability, emergence of space and time) and statistical mechanics (entropy and the arrow of time, emergence and causation, dynamics of complexity), bringing a more philosophical dimension to his work.

Science’s difficult journey to try to understand consciousness | Annaka Harris: Full Interview

16 jan 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=membership&utm_content=bt-ytdesc-text-fi-harris-dNNs2EhroVw Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, Sam Harris: Breaking the spell of propaganda | Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T4dr_YQxrQ Consciousness feels like the most familiar thing in the world, and yet science still can’t say what it is, where it begins, or why it exists at all. Annaka Harris examines the assumptions shaping consciousness research, from the belief that awareness requires complex brains to the intuition that thought drives behavior. 0:00 Defining consciousness 0:20 What does your work in consciousness entail? 1:29 Why did you write your book? 3:23 How do you define consciousness? 6:16 What is the hard problem of consciousness? 7:33 Is consciousness different from thought? 8:44 What is your biggest unanswered question? 9:59 Could consciousness be fundamental? 13:53 What are intuitions? 16:08 How do intuitions impact our grasp of consciousness? 21:53 How do we challenge our intuition on consciousness? 24:01 Can consciousness exist without physical signs? 26:10 Is consciousness necessary for behavior? 28:18 What might be revealed if we’re wrong about consciousness? 33:16 What is the illusion of self? 38:53 What brain processes create the illusion of self? 42:47 Is it useful to recognize the illusion of self? 48:13 How can the illusion of free will be challenged? 50:09 Is recognizing the illusion of free will beneficial? Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/hard-problem-consciousness/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Member Get exclusive access to full interviews, early access to new releases, Big Think merch and more. https://members.bigthink.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description ►Get Big Think+ for Business Guide, inspire and accelerate leaders at all levels of your company with the biggest minds in business. https://bigthink.com/plus/great-leaders-think-big/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Annaka Harris: Annaka Harris is the New York Times bestselling author of CONSCIOUS: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind and writer and producer of the forthcoming audio documentary series, LIGHTS ON. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Nautilus Magazine, the Journal of Consciousness Studies, and IAI Magazine. She is also an editor and consultant for science writers, specializing in neuroscience and physics. Annaka is the author of the children’s book I Wonder, coauthor of the Mindful Games Activity Cards, and a volunteer mindfulness teacher for the organization Inner Kids.

A “progressive Andrew Tate” isn’t the antidote to male radicalization | Richard Reeves

12 jan 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, The real reasons young men are checking out of society | Richard Reeves: Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLIEpbLWWao What if the problem for young boys isn’t radical influencers, but the absence that made them persuasive? Influence doesn’t emerge because someone is loud or offensive; it takes root when there’s no one nearby to push back in good faith or model an alternative worth imitating, says Richard Reeves. Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/the-big-think-interview/online-role-models-boys/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Richard Reeves: Richard V. Reeves is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, where he directs the Future of the Middle Class Initiative and co-directs the Center on Children and Families. His Brookings research focuses on the middle class, inequality and social mobility. Richard writes for a wide range of publications, including the New York Times, Guardian, National Affairs, The Atlantic, Democracy Journal, and Wall Street Journal. He is the author of Dream Hoarders (Brookings Institution Press, 2017), and John Stuart Mill – Victorian Firebrand (Atlantic Books, 2007), an intellectual biography of the British liberal philosopher and politician. Dream Hoarders was named a Book of the Year by The Economist, a Political Book of the Year by The Observer, and was shortlisted for the Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice. In September 2017, Politico magazine named Richard one of the top 50 thinkers in the U.S. for his work on class and inequality. A Brit-American, Richard was director of strategy to the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister from 2010 to 2012. Other previous roles include director of Demos, the London-based political think-tank; social affairs editor of the Observer; principal policy advisor to the Minister for Welfare Reform, and research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research. Richard is also a former European Business Speaker of the Year and has a BA from Oxford University and a PhD from Warwick University.

Stoicism for people who don’t want self-help | Massimo Pigliucci: Full Interview

9 jan 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, Why Stoicism fails when treated like self-help | Massimo Pigliucci► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3_EAZd0-rw Stoicism has been flattened into slogans about toughness, detachment, and emotional silence, a version that’s easy to sell, but mostly wrong. Massimo Pigliucci returns Stoicism to its original purpose: a practical philosophy built to help ordinary people make better judgments, set wiser priorities, and live well with others in a world that resists control. 0:00 Chapter 1: What is Stoicism? 2:11 Role ethics 4:29 Eudaemonia 4:59 What constitutes a Eudaemonic life? 5:31 Being a Cosmopolitan 5:45 Epictetus’ 3 fundamental disciples 6:10 Desire 6:39 Action 7:05 Assent 8:00 3 general areas of study 8:22 Physics 9:43 Action 10:07 Logic 11:07 Does Stoicism work? 12:02 Cognitive behavioral therapy 16:03 The risk of Eclecticism 18:42 Philosophical pessimism 21:04 Modern Stoic writers 22:01 Chapter 2: The Stoic toolkit 22:22 Managing our emotions 28:45 Preparing for difficult situations 36:00 Finding peace in a chaotic world 45:08 Making difficult decisions 51:00 Becoming a better person 1:08:21 Chapter 3: Debunking misconceptions about Stoicism 1:10:21 Stoicism’s resurgence 1:13:52 Stoicism as a remedy for bad times 1:16:29 The “stiff upper lip” myth 1:21:05 Two ways to misconstrue Stoicism 1:26:16 Stoicism and pleasure 1:28:00 Preferred indifference 1:34:30 The Stoic Opposition Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/stoicism-full-interview/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Massimo Pigliucci: Massimo Pigliucci is professor of philosophy at City College and at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His latest book is Beyond Stoicism: A Guide to the Good Life with Stoics, Skeptics, Epicureans, and Other Ancient Philosophers (2025). He lives in New York.

Why James Bond would fail instantly as a real CIA spy | Andrew Bustamante

8 jan 2026

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, The 3-step process to CIA training, revealed | Andrew Bustamante: Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3vHJiPRLSo James Bond is designed to be remembered. Real spies are trained to vanish. Charisma, confidence, and visibility are the qualities intelligence agencies work to eliminate. Espionage isn’t about domination or flair; it’s about anonymity, moral ambiguity, and the discipline to move through the world without leaving a trace, says former CIA Andrew Bustamante. © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Andrew Bustamante: Andrew Bustamante is a former covert CIA intelligence officer and decorated US Air Force combat veteran. In 2017, he founded EverydaySpy.com, the first digital platform teaching real-world intelligence techniques to everyday people. Drawing from his 20 years running human and technical operations globally, Bustamante empowers individuals to break social, financial, and cultural barriers using proven spy skills. He's a Fortune 10 corporate advisor, cybersecurity expert, and author of "Everyday Espionage: Winning the Workplace and Social Game." Together with his wife Jihi, also a former CIA officer, Andrew hosts the EverydaySpy Podcast.

The real reason some people adapt faster than others | George Bonanno

26 dec 2025

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=membership&utm_content=btclips-ytdesc-text-btclipsseg-bonnano-eFeFnMcgk1M Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, Why the body doesn't keep the score: the real science of trauma in 90 mins I George Bonanno ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ0ZS6-RWlQ We’ve grown comfortable with the idea that trauma leaves people permanently altered. It’s a tidy story, and a misleading one. Drawing on more than a hundred studies, clinical psychologist George Bonanno explains why resilience is not a rare trait or a heroic exception, but the most common human response to adversity. 0:00 You are stronger than you think 4:30 3 core beliefs of the flexibility mindset 9:45 What’s the problem I can solve right now? 11:50 The fallacy of uniform efficacy 14:30 The value of suppressing emotions 17:15 How can I go out in the world? 19:15 Using positive self talk 23:00 Remind yourself of your strength Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/the-big-think-interview/the-resilience-paradox/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About George Bonanno Dr. George Bonanno is a professor of psychology, chair of the department of counseling in clinical psychology, and director of the Loss, Trauma, and Emotion Lab at Teachers College Columbia University. He’s the author of The Other Side of Sadness and The End of Trauma.

What actually makes a good life, according to 85 years of data | Robert Waldinger

25 dec 2025

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, What 85 years of research says is the real key to happiness | Robert Waldinger: Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CxmzkYPvsg Most of us think happiness is something you achieve: status, money, accomplishment. Robert Waldinger’s work asks a more unsettling question: what if happiness is less about what you get and more about who you keep? Drawing on the longest study of adult life ever conducted, Waldinger traces human wellbeing across 8 decades, from the Great Depression to old age, following people from radically different starting points to see what endures. 0:00 The secret to happiness 2:12 The importance of relationships 3:30 How to study a life 5:19 Can we control our happiness? 6:17 Taking stock of connection 8:20 Childhood lessons and adult repair 11:22 Relationships and emotional regulation 14:41 The impacts of toxic relationships Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/the-big-think-interview/the-happiness-variable/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Robert Waldinger: Robert Waldinger, MD is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a practicing psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and a Zen teacher and practitioner. For the last two decades, Waldinger has been the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development. This study, conducted over more than 85 years, has analyzed the entire lives of 724 families to determine the activities, behaviors, and dynamics that enhance a person’s life-long well-being. Waldinger has dedicated his career to examining these elements and discovering what brings true fulfillment to human existence. He is the author of several books, including his most recent, The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.

3 ways smart people stay stuck in failing patterns | Anne-Laure Le Cunff

22 dec 2025

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, Anne-Laure Le Cunff: The 3 cognitive scripts that rule over your life | Full Interview ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubMghRYqk8o Most of the decisions that shape a life don’t feel like decisions at all. They feel instead like expectations to follow a certain life – thrust upon us by parents, society, peers. The cost of fulfilling these expectations is subtle but cumulative: fewer experiments, narrower options, and a growing sense that life is happening on someone else’s terms. 0:00 The power of cognitive scripts 1:30 The Sequel Script 2:45 The Crowdpleaser Script 3:23 The Epic Script 5:01 The subtle shift to overcome cognitive scripts Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/the-big-think-interview/3-cognitive-scripts/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Anne-Laure Le Cunff: Anne-Laure Le Cunff is an award-winning neuroscientist and entrepreneur. She is the founder of Ness Labs, where her weekly newsletter is read by more than 100,000 curious minds. Her research at King’s College London focuses on the psychology and neuroscience of lifelong learning, curiosity, and adaptability. Her book, Tiny Experiments, is a transformative guide for living a more experimental life, turning uncertainty into curiosity, and carving a path of self-discovery. Previously, she worked at Google as an executive on digital health projects. Her work has been featured in Rolling Stone, Forbes, Financial Times, WIRED, and more.

How evolution works, in 54 minutes | Sean B. Carroll: Full Interview

19 dec 2025

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, The evolution of laziness: Why humans resist the gym ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLY0TNm67hY How does life build complexity from pure chance? Sean B. Carroll takes up the “staircase of evolution,” showing how random mutation and natural selection shape everything from the smallest cells in our bodies to entire species. If you want to understand the forces that silently govern life, this discussion reframes evolution as an active, ongoing process shaping every organism, including you. 0:00 What if life is built on chance? 1:02 How life works: the staircase of evolution 1:22 Mutation and selection 4:45 Icefish evolved antifreeze 7:03 Speciation 9:40 The fossil record and the DNA record 11:47 Common misconceptions about evolution 13:36 How our bodies work: the staircase of self-defense 14:11 Our immune systems 16:36 Hypermutation 17:22 Immunological memory 19:45 Antibody genes and DNA 20:46 How do we make 10 million antibodies? 23:27 How cancer works: the staircase of mutation 25:15 Why does cancer risk increase with age? 26:36 150 gene mutations that drive cancer 26:59 Cancer drivers and breaks 28:03 Cancers in children vs adults 29:47 3 factors that contribute to cancer growth 33:27 Life emerging from chance 35:29The untold story of Alfred Russel Wallace 37:01 Theory of special creation 42:36 Natural selection 47:02 Archaeopteryx 49:36 Wallace and Darwin’s relationship 50:35 The Darwin-Wallace Theory Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/science-of-evolution/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Sean B. Carroll: Sean B. Carroll is an award-winning scientist, author, educator, and film producer. He is Distinguished University Professor and the Andrew and Mary Balo and NIcholas and Susan Simon Chair of Biology at the University of Maryland, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He was formerly Head of HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, and led the Department of Science Education from 2010-2023. He is also Professor Emeritus of Genetics and Molecular Biology at the University of Wisconsin. An internationally-recognized evolutionary biologist, Carroll's laboratory research has centered on the genes that control animal body patterns and play major roles in the evolution of animal diversity. In recognition of his scientific contributions, Carroll has received the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Sciences, been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, named a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and elected an Associate Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization. His latest book is A Series of Fortunate Events.

Screen time limits fall short. Here's what actually beats smartphone addiction | Clare Morell

18 dec 2025

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=yt_desc Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukTDE2i6aCoMnS-Vg?sub_confirmation=1 Up next, Yuval Noah Harari: Why advanced societies fall for mass delusion ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4l1fr-t3ZE Smartphones and social media are hijacking our younger generation’s childhood and development in a frightening way. Clare Morell, researcher and author of The Tech Exit, is sounding the alarm. 0:00 Hijacking our children’s brains 0:42 Smartphones are hurting our children 2:27 Social reward wiring 3:25 Dopamine deficit 4:00 Desensitization 5:34 A child’s brain on social media 11:32 How to exit tech and give your kids a better life 13:14 Why screen time limits fail 14:52 Tech-free families 16:12 Smart phone and mental health quality 18:08 Dumphones 19:33 Social media and social isolation 24:57 Autism and ADHD and Electronic Screen Syndrome 26:46 How smartphones distract us 28:41 Technoference 31:20 How to free your child from the perils of smartphones 32:16 What to focus on after exiting tech 34:18 Getting your kids’ buy-in 45:18 What is a reasonable age for a smartphone? 57:01 The decline of reading scores 57:57 Reading on screens versus reading on paper 1:01:58 Section 230 law 1:08:55 The pornography epidemic Read the video transcript ► [Link to site article]?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description © Freethink Media Inc., All Rights Reserved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Youtube Member Get exclusive classes and early, ad-free access to new releases without leaving Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@bigthink/membership/ ►Become a Big Think Web Member Get the entire Big Think Class library, premium print issues, live events, and more. https://bigthink.com/membership/ ►Subscribe to Big Think on Substack Get all of your favorite Big Think content delivered to your inbox. https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/subscribe/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Clare Morell: Clare Morell is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) and director of the Technology and Human Flourishing Project. She is the author of The Tech Exit: A Practical Guide to Freeing Kids and Teens from Smartphones.