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The Big Think Interview

190 episodes
Intimate interviews with the world’s biggest thinkers.
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All Episodes (190)
Illustration of a human head made of cracked material with bandages, set against a cloudy sky background.
The real reason some people adapt faster than others
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26 min
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with
George Bonanno
An older man sits on a chair in front of a white backdrop in a modern, brightly lit room with colorful pillows and minimalist decor.
The happiness shortcut that hides in plain sight
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17 min
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with
Robert Waldinger
A person in a red sweater sits on a stool in front of a white backdrop in a bright room with plants, a colorful rug, and a table with a lamp.
The psychological trap behind wanting your life to “make sense”
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7 min
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with
Anne-Laure Le Cunff
An older man with long white hair wearing a dark pinstriped suit, white shirt, and red tie, looking directly at the camera against a plain light background.
Michio Kaku: How quantum computers compute in multiple universes at once
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11 min
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with
Dr. Michio Kaku
Green decorative geometric shape with the text "Rewriting the Rules of Life" written in black serif font across the center on a light green background.
How your body could outlive the genome you were born with
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16 min
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with
Eric Kelsic
A man in a suit with half of his face and head illustrated as mechanical gears and machinery, blending human and robot features.
3 challenges that AI integration presents in the workplace
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9 min
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with
Martin Gonzalez
A weathered metal sign reading "PROGRESS" with an arrow stands in a barren desert landscape under a blue sky.
The moment every civilization fears: the growth plateau
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14 min
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with
Jason Crawford
Why skill plateaus are inevitable – and how to push past them
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8 min
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with
Atul Gawande
A petri dish with a red agar medium shows various colonies of bacteria growing, with dense streaks on the right and scattered colonies on the left.
How chance and error shaped every living being on Earth
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13 min
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with
Sean B. Carroll
A timeline diagram showing portraits of various scientists, documents, and equations connected by arrows, illustrating the historical development of quantum mechanics.
Why general relativity would’ve been discovered without Einstein
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17 min
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with
Sean Carroll
A black and white soccer ball floats on the surface of the ocean under a partly cloudy sky.
How the myth of destiny distorts our decisions
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10 min
—
with
Brian Klaas
A close up of a hand.
We doubled human lifespans in the last 200 years. Can we do it again?
A rat stands on a concrete floor, casting a shadow on the wall that resembles the shape of a sheep.
How facing adversity can help you live a deeper, more meaningful life
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9 min
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with
Oliver Burkeman
A person stands alone on calm water with the word "STILLNESS" in bold letters over the scene.
How accepting impermanence can end the struggle to “fix” your life
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21 min
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with
Robert Waldinger
A black background with white text and red lines.
Why 2025 is the single most pivotal year in our lifetime
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15 min
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with
Peter Leyden
Are we blinded by our desire to find extraterrestrial life?
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25 min
—
with
David Kipping
Black and white cutout of a smiling man's face with red heart shapes drawn over his eyes on a black background.
The ancient origins of partnering and romantic love
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17 min
—
with
Helen Fisher
Sean Carroll: Can we ever escape the logic of a clockwork universe?
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9 min
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with
Sean Carroll
A person is leaping between two buildings against a clear blue sky.
The alarm bells are sounding for young men. Will we listen?
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21 min
—
with
Richard Reeves
A Möbius strip made from paper with printed text is displayed against a dark background.
Lawrence Wright: Fiction goes where reporting cannot follow
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16 min
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with
Lawrence Wright
A person with curly brown hair wearing a black shirt and gray t-shirt sits against a plain white background, gesturing with both hands raised near their chest.
Jesse Eisenberg: How to rewire your anxiety into authenticity
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11 min
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with
Jesse Eisenberg
A digitally rendered black hole with a dark center and a glowing, distorted ring of light surrounding it.
Brian Cox: The bizarre history of black holes
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23 min
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with
Brian Cox
Why the American dream no longer moves upward
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15 min
—
with
Derek Thompson
A silhouette of a human head with swirling arrows inside the brain, illustrating a concept of circular thought or mental processes.
How to train your nervous system for optimal performance
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9 min
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with
Steven Kotler
Two men in suits face each other against a yellow background, one yelling with a clenched fist, the other pointing and appearing angry.
The 4 hidden forces underneath every argument
Your brain: the most important sex organ in the body
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9 min
—
with
Emily Nagoski
A triangle labeled "The Fraud Triangle" with its three sides named Incentive, Opportunity, and Rationalization, on an orange background.
Inside the mind of a white-collar criminal
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32 min
—
with
Kelly Richmond Pope
An older man with long white hair and a suit looks at the camera, standing in front of a blurred background with bookshelves.
Michio Kaku: Why we don’t even rank on the Kardashev scale
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12 min
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with
Michio Kaku
A person walks barefoot on a slackline stretched high above the ocean, with one arm raised for balance and cliffs visible at each end.
Nate Silver: Habits of highly successful risk-takers
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5 min
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with
Nate Silver
Two red-toned, woodcut-style portraits side by side: one of a gorilla and one of an older man with a beard, on a beige background.
The history of natural selection, in 7 minutes
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8 min
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with
Paul Nurse
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