The Next Big Idea

Five years ago, Michael Pollan — the acclaimed author of The Botany of Desire, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and How to Change Your Mind — went looking for an answer to one of life's great mysteries: "How does three pounds of brain matter generate subjective experience?" The result is his luminous new book, A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness, which comes out tomorrow.

Great journalists like Michael have a nose for story and a knack for timing. Both are on display in A World Appears. It's a page-turner teeming with maverick characters. It's a startling look at the emerging science of plant sentience. And it's an urgent exploration of a question we can't afford to ignore: Could consciousness — that is, "subjective or felt experience," the trippy miracle that when we open our eyes, a world appears — emerge in AI?

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A World Appears is the Next Big Idea Club’s latest selection. To get an early copy, a personal note from Michael, and an invitation to a Q&A with him on March 10, become a member at nextbigideaclub.com⁠⁠. Code PODCAST gets you a super secret discount (spoiler: it’s 20% off).

If you enjoyed this episode, check out our conversations with Antonio Damasio, David Chalmers (here and here), Sara Walker, Paul Bloom, Robert Sapolsky, Sam Harris, and Gaurav Suri and Jay McClelland.

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 ⁠[email protected]⁠. We love getting fan mail.

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The only constant is change. You’ve heard it a thousand times. But here’s what the cliche leaves out: Change may be inevitable, but how you respond to it — and who you become because of it — that part’s up to you.

Maya Shankar knows a thing or two about this. She’s studied change as a cognitive scientist, explored it on her podcast “A Slight Change of Plans,” and now written a book — The Other Side of Change — about how the hardest moments of our lives can transform us … for the better. In the book, she tells remarkable stories of people overcoming colossal change — debilitating diagnoses, amnesia, incarceration — and extracts universal lessons grounded in the latest science.

“When a big change happens to us,” she tells us in this episode, “it can feel like a personal apocalypse of sorts. And that the word apocalypse comes from the Greek word apokálypsis, which actually means revelation. That etymology is instructive. Change can upend us, yes. But it can also reveal things to us.”

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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 [email protected]. We love getting fan mail.

The best way to support the show is by becoming a Next Big Idea Club member. Learn more at ⁠nextbigideaclub.com⁠, and use code PODCAST for a super secret discount (spoiler: it’s 20% off).

That Tim Kreider essay we quoted is called “Reprieve,” and you can find it in his wonderful book We Learn Nothing.

The George Saunders clip comes from his lovely conversation with David Marchese, co-host of “The Interview.” You can listen to it 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

Shopify — Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠

Do you ever feel like you're drowning in health advice? Eat this, not that. Take this supplement, but only after popping this other one first. Here’s the good news: Most of it doesn't matter. In Eat Your Ice Cream, renowned physician Ezekiel Emanuel shares six simple rules for living longer — and gives you permission to ignore pretty much everything else.

The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.

If you enjoyed this conversation, check out our interviews with Russell Foster, Tim Spector, Casey Means, Kelly McGonigal, Chris van Tulleken, and Eric Topol.

Follow Rufus on ⁠LinkedIn⁠, subscribe to our ⁠Substack⁠, or send us an email at [email protected].

The best way to support the show is by becoming a Next Big Idea Club member. Learn more at ⁠nextbigideaclub.com⁠, and use code PODCAST for a super secret discount (spoiler: it’s 20% off).

Today’s episode is sponsored by Factor. Head to factormeals.com/idea50off and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first Factor box plus free breakfast for one year. We’re also sponsored by Shopify. Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠.

If you’ve spent any time on social media in the last few years, you’ve probably noticed the rise of what Brad Stulberg calls “hustle-culture greatness” — influencers who promote labyrinthine morning routines, ruthlessly optimized habits, and ascetic self-discipline. “That is not excellence,” says Brad. “That is a bunch of elaborate kabuki that masquerades as the real thing.” The real thing is about challenging yourself in worthwhile endeavors, focusing on what matters most, and expressing the unique qualities that make you who you are. In a word, excellence. Today, we’ll teach you how to pursue it.

Brad’s new book, The Way of Excellence, is out now. Pick up a copy on Amazon, Audible, or Bookshop.org.

The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! You can find our episodes ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.

If you enjoyed this conversation, check out Brad’s last appearance on the show.

Follow Rufus on ⁠LinkedIn⁠, subscribe to our ⁠Substack⁠, or send us an email at [email protected].

The best way to support the show is by becoming a Next Big Idea Club member. Learn more at ⁠nextbigideaclub.com⁠, and use code PODCAST for a super secret discount (spoiler: it’s 20% off).

We have two great sponsors for today’s episode. The first is Factor. Head to factormeals.com/idea50off and use code idea50off to get 50% off your first Factor box plus free breakfast for one year. The second is Shopify. Start your $1/month trial at ⁠⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠⁠.

In her new book, ⁠Mattering⁠, Jennifer Wallace argues that our deepest crises — loneliness, anxiety, political rage — stem from a single unmet need: the need to matter. How did this happen, and what can we do about it?

The Next Big Idea is now on YouTube! Check out our episodes ⁠here⁠.

If you enjoyed this conversation, we think you'll like Jennifer’s previous appearance on the show, her episode of The Next Big Idea Daily, and Rebecca Goldstein’s book bite for The Mattering Instinct.

Follow Rufus on LinkedIn, subscribe to our Substack, or send us an email.

The best way to support the show is by becoming a Next Big Idea Club member. Learn more at nextbigideaclub.com, and use code PODCAST for a super secret discount (spoiler: it’s 20% off).

Today’s episode is sponsored by Shopify. Start your $1/month trial at ⁠shopify.com/nbi⁠