The Next Big Idea Daily

Whether you're flying, captaining, or working, always focus on the alligator closest to the canoe.

We are stronger when we work together. Literally.

"Talk to me, Goose." Actually, this week we're saying, "Talk to me, Chopper." That was Brett Crozier's call sign when he served as a fighter pilot (and it's what his wife still calls him when she's irritated). Brett has a new book out called "Surf When You Can: Lessons in Life, Loyalty, and Leadership from a Maverick Navy Captain," which charts his journey from "Top Gun" wannabe to commanding offi...

We're wrapping up our collection of summery Book Bites with a few lessons from Smiley Poswolsky's "Friendship in the Age of Loneliness: An Optimist's Guide to Connection." • Subscribe to our newsletter • Download our app • Join our club (code DAILY gets you 10% off) • Send us an email

Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor at UC Berkeley who helped Pixar make “Inside Out,” explores the history and science of awe.

When David Pogue (CBS Sunday Morning) realized that we are already living through the beginnings of climate chaos, he decided to write a book full of action plans for riding out every climate catastrophe that Mother Nature might throw at us. • Download the Next Big Idea app: nextbigideaclub.com/app/

Ice ice baby! Today, journalist and historian Amy Brady shares the astonishing 200-year history of ice in America, from ice rinks to ice cream to modern-day miracles like cryotherapy breast-cancer treatments.

We're trying something different this week. Instead of hearing from one author, you'll hear from five. Together, they'll help you figure out how to have the perfect summer. Up first: comedian and podcaster Jamie Loftus shares a few tasty insights from her New York Times bestseller "Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs." • Use code DAILY to get 10% off your subscription at nextbigideaclub.com

What can the global response to climate change tell us about the health of modern democratic states? • Ben Ansell is professor of comparative democratic institutions at Oxford and author of “Why Politics Fail” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, audio e-courses, and hundreds of author-read book summaries, download the Next Big Idea app

Today, Ben explains why democracy and security are such uneasy bedfellows. • Ben Ansell is professor of comparative democratic institutions at Oxford and author of “Why Politics Fail” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, audio e-courses, and hundreds of author-read book summaries, download the Next Big Idea app

Why is it so hard to create a sense of national unity and civic responsibility here in the Divided States of America? • Ben Ansell is professor of comparative democratic institutions at Oxford and author of “Why Politics Fail” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, audio e-courses, and hundreds of author-read book summaries, download the...

Why has the American political system failed to arrest accelerating inequality, and is there anything we can do about it? • Ben Ansell is professor of comparative democratic institutions at Oxford and author of “Why Politics Fail” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, audio e-courses, and hundreds of author-read book summaries, download...

As you may have noticed, modern democracies aren’t doing so hot. In country after country, income inequality soars while solidarity plummets. Resentment simmers while national unity cools. In places like the US and the UK, beacons of liberal democracy, words like “autocracy” and “anarchy” are thrown around with alarming regularity. Meanwhile, our ability to take action on existential threats like...

In her final mini masterclass, Shelby warns you not to be so focused on reaching the finish line that you may miss the epic views along the way. • Shelby Stanger is the host of REI’s “Wild Ideas Worth Living” podcast and the author of “Will to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, aud...

When scaling a steep rock wall or surfing gnarly waves, it’s easy to let fear get the better of you, but today, Shelby explains how you can use humor to stay loose. • Shelby Stanger is the host of REI’s “Wild Ideas Worth Living” podcast and the author of “Will to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear...

Before you embark on a wild adventure, you obviously need to do some planning. But don’t go overboard. Give yourself a deadline, and get to work. • Shelby Stanger is the host of REI’s “Wild Ideas Worth Living” podcast and the author of “Will to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, au...

If you have a strong why for pursuing a wild adventure, you’re more likely to find a way to get it done. • Shelby Stanger is the host of REI’s “Wild Ideas Worth Living” podcast and the author of “Will to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life” • Want to go behind the scenes of this show? Sign up for our newsletter • To hear more interviews, audio e-courses, and hundreds of author-rea...

Where are you listening to this podcast? In your car? At your desk? Puttering around your house? If Shelby Stanger had her druthers, you’d be listening in the great outdoors — maybe while hiking on a scenic trail, or pedaling down an open road, or sitting astride a surfboard (while wearing waterproof earbuds, of course). Shelby is a journalist and adventurer: as a journalist, her work has appeared...

Data, demographics — these things only take you so far. That's the final lesson Marcus Collins has to share with us. If you really want to get to know someone, he says, you've got to look past what they "do" and try to figure out who they "are." • Use the code DAILY to get 10% off a Next Big Idea Club membership • Learn more about our event in NYC on June 28th by visiting betaworks.com/event/ai-co...

"Meaning," says Marcus Collins ("For the Culture") in today's episode, "is culturally mediated based on how we see the world. Understanding how people make meaning will increase the likelihood of understanding who they are and how they navigate the world."

Today, Marcus Collins ("For the Culture") says that if you want to understand someone, you can learn much more from their tribal communities than their demographics.

Welcome back to our week-long masterclass with marketing magician Marcus Collins. He ran digital strategy for Beyoncé; teaches at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan; serves as chief strategy officer at Wieden+Kennedy; and wrote a great book called "For the Culture." Today, he explains why he thinks the brands that'll succeed in the future will make consumers feel like they're part...

This week: Marcus Collins, who teaches marketing at the University of Michigan's business school and serves as the chief strategy officer at Wieden+Kennedy, shares five key insights from his book "For the Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, and Who We Want to Be."

When we work all the time, it doesn’t just take our best hours; it often takes our best energy, too. In his final lesson, Simone Stolzoff (”The Good Enough Job”) implores us to step away from work and engage in active forms of leisure. --- • Our newsletter comes out today — check it out now!

Your job isn't your soulmate. If it's good enough, then maybe that's good enough.