The Next Big Idea

The Story of Stories

What do the campfire, printing press, motion picture, and smartphone have in common? They're all storytelling technologies. Each one gave us a new medium through which to transmit tales, reshaping how we think, what we believe, and who holds power. And we may be on the brink of the most disruptive one yet. In his new book, The Story of Stories, Kevin Ashton traces the million-year arc from fireside gossip to the screen in your pocket. Now, with AI-generated imagery and displays approaching the resolution of the human eye, we're heading somewhere new: a world where we may not be able to tell the difference between a story and reality. Sponsored By: Bitdefender — Get 30% off your plan at ⁠bitdefender.com/idea⁠ Fabric — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family at ⁠meetfabric.com/nbi⁠ Factor — Head to ⁠⁠factormeals.com/idea50off⁠⁠ and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first box Granola — Get three months free at ⁠granola.ai/idea⁠ Shopify — Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠⁠

Best Of: How To Connect With Anyone

According to Merriam-Webster, the word "conversation" has 36 synonyms, ranging from the alliterative ("confabulation") to the arcane ("persiflage"). Why the linguistic profusion? Because conversing is a fundamental part — maybe the fundamental part — of being human. We chat with our families, friends, strangers, and co-workers, and we communicate in phone calls, text messages, emails, and (occasionally) postcards. When these tête-à-têtes go well, it is oddly thrilling; we become better versions of ourselves — warmer and wiser, funnier, and consistently insightful. Best of all, a good dialogue is a direct route to connection. "The bond of all companionship," wrote Oscar Wilde, "whether in marriage or in friendship, is conversation." But when a conversation goes poorly, when it stays on the surface ("what do you do for a living?") or devolves into a sputtering mess of misunderstanding ("you’re overreacting!"), we don’t feel the invigorating pulse of connection. What we feel, instead, is the emotional equivalent of a busy signal. So, this hour, we’re asking: How can we have better conversations? And to help answer that question, we’re joined by Charles Duhigg, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and the bestselling author of "The Power of Habit" and now Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection. Charles, as you’ll hear, is something of supercommunicator himself — a lithe storyteller who is as well-versed in evolutionary biology as he is in the latest psychology — and after studying the art and science of communication for the last few years, he’s concluded that anyone can become a great conversationalist. You just have to master a few simple skills. Tune in to find out what they are. (This episode first aired in February 2024.) Watch The Next Big Idea on YouTube! You can find our episodes ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Rufus on ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠, subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠, or send us an email at ⁠podcast@nextbigideaclub.com⁠. We love getting fan mail. 🔗 Sponsored By: Bitdefender — Get 30% off your plan at ⁠bitdefender.com/idea⁠ Fabric — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family at ⁠meetfabric.com/nbi⁠ Factor — Head to ⁠⁠factormeals.com/idea50off⁠⁠ and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first box Granola — Get three months free at ⁠granola.ai/idea⁠ Shopify — Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠⁠

A War Correspondent on the Crisis in Iran

As the war with Iran enters its second week, two big questions loom: How did we get here? And how will it end? We put those questions to Scott Anderson. Scott is a veteran war correspondent who has reported from Israel, Lebanon, Egypt, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Sudan, and El Salvador. He’s also the author of King of Kings, a riveting account of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. He helps us unpack the long, complicated history between the US and Iran — countries that were once close allies — and looks ahead at what may come next. "In the Middle East," he says, "things can always get worse." Sponsored By: Bitdefender — Get 30% off your plan at ⁠bitdefender.com/idea⁠ Fabric — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family at ⁠meetfabric.com/nbi⁠ Factor — Head to ⁠⁠factormeals.com/idea50off⁠⁠ and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first box Granola — Get three months free at ⁠granola.ai/idea⁠ Shopify — Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠⁠⁠

How AI Could Change Everything in the Next 1,000 Days

Emad Mostaque co-founded Stability AI, the company behind the text-to-image generator Stable Diffusion, and he now runs Intelligent Internet, which builds open-source AI models. In his new book, ⁠The Last Economy⁠, he argues that AI is about to make human intellect so cheap and abundant that the entire economic order — work, money, meaning — will crack apart. And he thinks this will take place within a thousand days. In this episode, he and Rufus talk about what happens if we sleepwalk into this, and what's possible if we don't. Watch The Next Big Idea on YouTube! You can find our episodes ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow Rufus on ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠, subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠, or send us an email at ⁠podcast@nextbigideaclub.com⁠. We love getting fan mail. Sponsored By: Bitdefender — Get 30% off your plan at ⁠bitdefender.com/idea⁠ Fabric — Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family at ⁠meetfabric.com/nbi⁠ Factor — Head to ⁠⁠factormeals.com/idea50off⁠⁠ and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first box Granola — Get three months free at ⁠granola.ai/idea⁠ Shopify — Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠⁠

Do We Even Need Politicians?

“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers,” sneers a rebel henchman in Shakespeare’s “Henry VI.” Hélène Landemore, a political scientist at Yale, has another idea: let’s fire all the politicians. She has a point, doesn’t she? Most of ’em are beholden to donors, allergic to accountability, and more interested in stuffing their reelection coffers than serving the public good. But what’s the alternative? Well, Hélène believes we could break the partisan gridlock and restore public trust by letting ordinary citizens, chosen at random, set the agenda and craft legislation. That may sound preposterous, but in her new book, Politics Without Politicians, she blends examples from ancient Athens to modern-day France to show citizen rule in action and argue that it might just save democracy. This episode was guest-hosted by one of our favorite citizens, Michael Kovnat. If you’d like more of his dulcet tones and shrewd insights, check out his daily podcast (The Next Big Idea Daily) and newsletter (Book of the Day). Watch The Next Big Idea on YouTube! You can find our episodes ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠. Sponsored By: Bitdefender — Get 30% off your plan at ⁠bitdefender.com/idea⁠ Factor — Head to ⁠⁠factormeals.com/idea50off⁠⁠ and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first box Granola — Get three months free at ⁠granola.ai/idea⁠ Shopify — Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠⁠⁠