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.
126
111. Ari Shaffir (Comic) – The Golden Age of Tr...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Comic Ari Shaffir talks about outrageousness in comedy, bipartisan e-rage on social media, and growing up and growing out of bad habits.
56 min
127
110. Peter Frankopan (historian) – You Can't St...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Oxford historian Peter Frankopan on two millennia of the flow of germs, ideas, commerce, and more from East to West and vice versa.
72 min
128
109. Sheelah Kolhatkar (Writer, Former Hedge Fu...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Author and former Wall Street hedge fund analyst Sheelah Kolhatkar on the reality and the dangers of the financial industry today.
44 min
129
108. Jeff Garlin (Comedian) – K.I.S.S.
In one of our wildest episodes ever, comedian Jeff Garlin cuts the surprise clip short to call B.S. on neuroscience and complexity.
37 min
130
107. Neal Stephenson & Nicole Galland (Authors)...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Authors Neal Stephenson & Nicole Galland on blurring the lines between science and magic.
36 min
131
106. Alan Alda (Actor) – The Spirit of the Stai...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Actor and author Alan Alda on the art of communication (for good and evil), social anxiety, the mind of a billionaire, and more.
39 min
132
105. Jennifer Doudna (Geneticist) - Intelligent...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Geneticist Jennifer Doudna on the profound implications of her CRISPR-Cas-9 gene editing technology for the future of humanity.
53 min
133
104. Timothy Spall (Actor) – That Double Want
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Actor Timothy Spall on the layers of contradictions and complexities that define a person, and what's underneath.
58 min
134
103. Liza Jessie Peterson (Playwright, Arts-Edu...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Poet, playwright, and arts educator Liza Jessie Peterson on lessons learned teaching incarcerated youth on Rikers Island.
49 min
135
102. Paul Theroux (Writer) – Saintly & Scowling
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Writer Paul Theroux on tyrannical mothers, colonizing Mars, and an important difference between humans and cockroaches.
61 min
136
101. Ariel Levy (Writer) – Big Things That Are ...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Writer Ariel Levy on the silence around the animal facts of women's physical lives, her comically awkward experience with the shamanic hallucinogen Ayahuasca, and much more.
43 min
137
100. Neil deGrasse Tyson (Astrophysicist) – The...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on the mind-boggling awesomeness of space.
44 min
138
99. Mary Gaitskill (Writer) – Their Animal Being
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Author Mary Gaitskill on vulnerability, alienation, and Cerebus the Aardvark.
46 min
139
98. Lawrence Krauss (Physicist) – Lux Ex Machina
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Physicist Lawrence Krauss on why neutrinos are his favorite particles, light as the protagonist of modern physics, and more.
57 min
140
97. Dean Buonomano (Neuroscientist) – This is Y...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Neuroscientist Dean Buonomano on how the brain tells time and whether time exists at all.
48 min
141
96. Sarah W. Goldhagen (Architecture Critic) – ...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Architecture critic Sarah W. Goldhagen on how the built environment shapes our lives.
48 min
142
95. Kory Stamper (Lexicographer) – Lair of the ...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Lexicographer Kory Stamper on the slipperiness of language and how the sausage of dictionaries is made.
54 min
143
94. Joyce Carol Oates (Writer) – Oh, That's Soc...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Joyce Carol Oates on America, idealism, and the shackles we can and can't shake off.
52 min
144
93. Adam Alter (Social Psychologist) – Ping!
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Social Psychologist Adam Alter on the behavioral addictions we all now live with.
47 min
145
92. Elif Batuman (Writer) – The Worst Appetizer...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Turkish-American writer Elif Batuman on truth in fiction, how language shapes us, and more.
47 min
146
91. Daniel Dennett (Philosopher) – Thinking Abo...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Philosopher of mind Daniel Dennett waxing wise and wicked about consciousness, dolphins, and more.
47 min
147
90. Scott Aukerman (Comedy Writer) – The Button...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Comedy writer and producer Scott Aukerman on Michael Bolton, transgression in comedy, and cultural turmoil in the USA.
55 min
148
89. George Saunders (Author) – Self-Googling In...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. NY Times bestselling author George Saunders on ghosts and ego and loving your enemy.
51 min
149
88. Gish Jen (Author) – The Self in the World
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Fiction writer and essayist Gish Jen on how fundamental East-West differences in the sense of self play out in art, culture, business, education, and more.
49 min
150
87. Yuval Noah Harari (Historian) – Time's Up
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Historian Yuval Noah Harari, bestselling author of Sapiens and Homo Deus, on the dizzying ethical questions that surround what's coming next.
47 min