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.
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86. Ayelet Waldman (Author) – Yourself, Only Be...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Author Ayelet Waldman on parenting, identity, and how LSD microdosing changed her life for the better.
49 min
152
85. Ben Goertzel (A.I. Inventor) – The State of...
38 min
153
84. Nato Thompson (Artistic Director) – The Fri...
Nato Thompson – Think Again - a Big Think Podcast #84 – The Friendly Face
48 min
154
83. Matt Taibbi (Journalist) – Bread and Circus
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Rolling Stone political journalist Matt Taibbi on the media and political circus of the 2016 campaign trail, the search for happiness, and where we go from here.
43 min
155
82. Bernard-Henri Lévy (Philosopher) – The Mirr...
Spontaneous talk on unexpected topics. Philosopher and Filmmaker "BHL" on torture, the question of evil, and the tipping point at which democracy becomes something else.
42 min
156
81. Isy Suttie (Comedian) – There's Something a...
Spontaneous talk on unexpected topics. Comedian and author Isy Suttie on the terrors of adulthood and more. Surprise ideas from Paul Bloom, Maysoon Zayid, and Slavoj Žižek.
68 min
157
80. Amani Al-Khatahtbeh (founder: MuslimGirl) –...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Media entrepreneur Amani Al-Khatatbeh and host Jason Gots wrestle with tough questions about identity, power, and Islamic feminism.
36 min
158
79. Paul Bloom (Psychologist) – Cold-Blooded Ki...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Psychologist Paul Bloom wants us to abandon empathy as a guide to moral decision making. He's probably right.
48 min
159
78. Peter Godfrey-Smith (Philosopher) – Alien ...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith on octopus consciousness, free will, and an extinct sea-worm he'd like to resurrect.
39 min
160
77. Anne Rice (Author) – In the Blood
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. "Vampire Chronicles" author Anne Rice on superstition, science, and why, in spite of everything, she believes humanity's going to figure things out.
43 min
161
76. Tim Ferriss (Author, Podcaster) – Productiv...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Author, Podcaster, and "Human Guinea Pig" Tim Ferriss on death, ignoring most of the news, and sake as a secret weapon for podcasting.
42 min
162
75. David Salle (Artist) – The Enemy of Art
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Artist David Salle on how even to begin figuring out what "works" in art.
40 min
163
74. Jace Clayton AKA DJ/Rupture - Sonic Veils a...
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Jace Clayton AKA DJ/Rupture on sleuthing for beauty and surprise in the digital-musical landscape.
46 min
164
73. T.C. Boyle (Author) - Lost on Purpose
Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Fiction writer and environmentalist T.C. Boyle on the crazy, contested world we might not be able to inhabit much longer, and what we'll do after that.
41 min
165
72. Slavoj Žižek (Philosopher) - Against Tolerance
The voluble Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek on why tolerance is the wrong way to deal with terrorism, the refugee crisis, and all the other problems we face.
50 min
166
71. Jelani Cobb (Historian) - Shiny New Skin, S...
Spontaneous, deep talk on surprise topics. Historian and New Yorker writer Jelani Cobb on interspecies ethics, the limits of civil discourse, and mathematical symmetry as the defining principle of the universe.
51 min
167
70. Margaret Atwood (Author) - The Good, The Ba...
Spontaneous, deep talk on surprise topics. Author Margaret Atwood on genomes in the cloud, Bob Dylan's Nobel prize, the elusiveness of dead authors, and why technology's a three-edged sword.
41 min
168
69. Jodi Picoult (Author) - Popular Fictions/No...
Spontaneous, deep talk on surprise topics. Author Jodi Picoult and host Jason Gots talk comic books, social justice, and why white Americans need to take the risk (and the consequences) of talking honestly about race and class privilege.
42 min
169
68. William Shatner (Actor, Author) – Yes, I Am...
Spontaneous, deep talk on surprise topics. In this extra feisty episode of Think Again - A Big Think Podcast, actor and author William Shatner and host Jason Gots take sides on whether or not it's a dog-eat-dog world out there.
36 min
170
67. James Gleick (Science Writer) - Everything ...
Spontaneous, deep talk on surprise topics. James Gleick, author of Time Travel - a History, talks with host Jason Gots about why we're so obsessed with something that's evidently impossible.
35 min
171
66. Alton Brown (Chef, Author) - Easy-Bake Oven...
Spontaneous, deep fun. Celebrity chef Alton Brown and host Jason Gots talk about fire, their mutual childhood lust for the Betty Crocker Easy-Bake Oven and how everything worth doing might get you killed.
46 min
172
65. Ian McEwan (Novelist) - A King of Infinite ...
Spontaneous, deep fun. Novelist Ian McEwan and host Jason Gots discuss Hamlet, moral quandaries, and how to set boundaries in a world that wants to pull you in every direction.
38 min
173
64. Mixtape #4 – The Writers' Room
Conversations on surprise topics with some of the world's most creative thinkers. In this episode, host Jason Gots selects some of the most memorable bits of writerly wit and wisdom from the first year of Think Again - a Big Think Podcast
39 min
174
63. Eric Kandel (Nobel Laureate neuroscientist)...
On this week's episode, Eric Kandel and host Jason Gots discuss abstract art, memory, identity, and the nature of evil.
37 min
175
62. Mixtape #3 – a Soupçon of Ornithology
Host Jason Gots curates the best moments thus far of Think Again - a Big Think Podcast, with excerpts from conversations with Paul F. Tompkins, Ethan Hawke, Amanda Palmer, and Chris Gethard
48 min