Think Again – a Big Think Podcast
We surprise some of the world's brightest minds with ideas they're not at all prepared to discuss. With host Jason Gots and special guests Neil Gaiman, Alan Alda, Salman Rushdie, Mary-Louise Parker, Richard Dawkins, Margaret Atwood, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Saul Williams, Henry Rollins, Bill Nye, George Takei, Maria Popova, and many more . . . You've got 10 minutes with Einstein. What do you talk about? Black holes? Time travel? Why not gambling? The Art of War? Contemporary parenting? Some of the best conversations happen when we're pushed outside of our comfort zones. So each week on Think Again, we surprise smart people you've probably heard of with hand-picked gems from Big Think's interview archives on every imaginable subject. The conversation could go anywhere. SINCE 2008, BIG THINK has captured on video the best ideas of the world’s leading thinkers and doers in every field, renowned experts including neurologist Oliver Sacks, physicist Stephen Hawking, behavioral psychologist Daniel Kahneman, authors Margaret Atwood and Marylinne Robinson, entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, painter Chuck Close, and philosopher Daniel Dennett.
51
186. Josh Clark (podcaster) - It’s the end of t...
Killer robots. Alien invasions. Climate change. Josh Clark of Stuff You Should Know and the new podcast The End of the World thinks a lot these days about existential threats. Believe it or not, he's optimistic.
58 min
52
185. Martin Hägglund (philosopher) – What happe...
So long as value in our world is driven by the profit motive, human freedom doesn’t stand a chance. Drawing on Marx, Hegel, and the everyday contradictions of life under capitalism, Martin Hägglund demonstrates that what we do with our finite lives is the only true measure of wealth.
49 min
53
184. Mitchell S. Jackson (writer) – Notes from ...
In the 1980’s, Northeast Portland was a black neighborhood hustling to survive. Today, it’s full of pilates studios and handlebar moustaches. As a writer, professor, and former inmate, Mitchell S. Jackson has lived in and learned from both worlds. In SURVIVAL MATH, he puts the pieces together.
52 min
54
183. Will Hunt (explorer) – into the Earth: the...
The catacombs of Paris. Secret graffiti beneath NYC. The hidden cities of Cappadocia. Writer and explorer Will Hunt is your philosophical tour guide to what lies beneath.
47 min
55
182. Ha Jin (writer) – the wild and tragic life...
The 8th century AD was a tough time to be a genius from a poor family in China. Poet and novelist Ha Jin on the tortured life of the legendary drunken poet Li Bai. Also: the value of idleness,
45 min
56
181. Marlon James (writer) – don’t get too comf...
The Man-Booker prizewinning author in a freewheeling game of verbal ping-pong on his "African 'Game of Thrones'", ’80’s hip hop, heavy metal, tattoos, and billionaire philanthropy.
51 min
57
180. Benjamin Dreyer (copy chief of Random Hous...
Why does Faulkner use “inchoate” so much? Maybe because Benjamin Dreyer wasn’t his copy editor. The Random House copy chief and author of DREYER’S ENGLISH is here to remind us that there’s no absolute authority on the English language. Still, please avoid “impactful”, “utilize”, and 'very unique.” And you can do away with “just”, “really”, and “actually” while you’re at it.
54 min
58
179. Edith Hall (classicist) – from Aristotle t...
Scholar Edith Hall reminds us that Aristotle’s “virtue ethics” was a sophisticated, subtle approach to the pursuit of lifelong happiness a couple millennia before Oprah thought of inviting us to live our best life.
56 min
59
178. Douglas Rushkoff (freelance intellectual) ...
t’s up to us humans to re-humanize our world. An economy that prioritizes growth and profits over humanity has led to digital platforms that “strip the topsoil” of human behavior, whole industries, and the planet, giving less and less back. And only we can save us.
51 min
60
177. Joseph Goldstein (Buddhist teacher) – Ligh...
One of the most influential Buddhist teachers and writers of the past half-century, Joseph Goldstein helped bring Vipassana (insight) practice to the West. We talk about love, pop-mindfulness, and how even a philosopher can learn to quiet the mind.
70 min
61
176. Area 51 and the epistemology of the unexpl...
30 years later, a new investigative documentary on Bob Lazar’s claims about Area 51 raises some ghosts, some hell, and some unsettling questions.
58 min
62
175. Helen Riess (psychiatrist) – Empathy in th...
Empathy makes us human. Humans make structures that rob us of empathy when we need it most. Helen Riess is trying to help.
43 min
63
174. Ruth Whippman (writer) – A mindful, produc...
With the help of positive psychology and the happiness industry, many of us seem to be running in the exact opposite direction of happiness.
45 min
64
173. Wesley Yang (writer) - The Souls of Yellow...
What do the “seduction movement,” the Virginia Tech shooter, and the Asian-American experience have in common? Wesley Yang thinks and writes with devastating clarity about loneliness, invisibility, and the incoherence of American life.
53 min
65
172. A trans family in the holy land
Amit Tzuk and Ofir Trainin, the subject and director of an FAMILY IN TRANSITION, an Israeli documentary about a small town father of four who becomes a woman.
39 min
66
171. Michelle Thaller (NASA astronomer) on the...
Science and the squishiness of the human mind. The joys of wearing whatever the hell you want, and so much more.
57 min
67
170. Lynsey Addario (photojournalist) – on art,...
For two decades she’s traveled the world, photographing humans in crisis. Pulitzer and MacArthur winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario on what it’s all taught her.
55 min
68
169. Ben Marcus' reality is only slightly askew...
Notes from the Fog author Ben Marcus on Elon Musk, the weird existential joys of the reality TV show Castaways, and whether we will eat in the future.
58 min
69
168. Michael Palin (writer and comic) – So long...
The friendly side of North Korea. Men at sea, dancing! Monty Python, of course, and more!
52 min
70
167. Gary Shteyngart (writer) - Reality catches...
RIding the Greyhounds of hell, from New York to El Paso. The grandiose alternate reality of hedge fund traders. Growing up Russian in Reagan's America, and more.
51 min
71
166. Manoush Zomorodi (journalist) — How blockc...
Fake news, real risk, and the messy rise of blockchain media.
48 min
72
165. Man Booker prize winners Olga Tokarczuk (a...
Man Booker prize winners Olga Tocarczuk and her translator Jennifer Croft on maps that lead nowhere, plasticized anatomies, and humor across national borders.
46 min
73
164. Jill Lepore (Historian) – Why America keep...
A nation born in revolution will forever struggle against chaos. Jill Lepore, author of These Truths, on the surprising roots of the mess America's in.
47 min
74
163. Four Letter You – Merve Emre (scholar and ...
How a mother-daughter obsession became a massive and dangerous industry. The weird history of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
38 min
75
162. Emily Nemens (Editor, The Paris Review) — ...
A seismic shake-up at a venerable literary gatekeeper. Shallow and not-so-shallow consumerism. The Paris Review’s new editor on old ghosts, new voices, and what’s worth keeping.
45 min