Best Of: Gretchen Rubin’s Guide to Getting Out of Your Head and Into the World

Best Of: Gretchen Rubin’s Guide to Getting Out of Your Head and Into the World

Author: Next Big Idea Club June 1, 2026 Duration: 54:32
What do your five senses — sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch — have to do with happiness? According to Gretchen Rubin, a great deal. The world around us, she says, has the potential to dazzle, to entertain, to trigger a state of rapture. If only we pay attention. Today on the show, she shares the tools she's developed to delight in the physical world. She spoke to Rufus in April 2023 about her book Life in Five Senses. Sponsored By: Fora — Become a Fora Advisor today at foratravel.com/idea Northwest Registered Agent — Learn more at northwestregisteredagent.com/nbifree Shopify — Launch your business for just $1/month. Start selling today at shopify.com/nbi

Each week on The Next Big Idea, hosts Rufus Griscom and Caleb Bissinger sit down with authors and researchers whose ideas are shaping our culture, education, and understanding of society. The conversations are guided by a unique group of curators-Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink-who help frame these discussions around the most compelling new concepts in science and social thought. This isn't just an interview podcast; it's a deep exploration of the books and theories that have the potential to shift perspectives and spark meaningful change. You'll hear the stories behind the ideas, the personal journeys of the thinkers, and practical insights that extend beyond the page. The dialogue is structured yet spontaneous, offering listeners a genuine sense of being part of a substantive conversation. Episodes are released every Thursday, providing a consistent dose of intellectual curiosity. The podcast is produced by the Next Big Idea Club, an organization dedicated to surfacing and discussing transformative knowledge. Whether you're looking to understand the nuances of human behavior, the latest scientific discoveries, or the forces driving social change, this series serves as an accessible gateway to complex topics. The aim is to make big ideas feel relevant and engaging, without oversimplifying their importance. Tune in for a thoughtful break from the noise, where the focus is entirely on understanding what comes next.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The Next Big Idea
Podcast Episodes
A Food Crisis Is Brewing. Are We Ready? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:18
Caleb is joined by Sam Kass, former senior food policy advisor to President Obama and the chef who cooked dinner for the first family most nights. Now a partner at a venture capital firm investing in food and agriculture…
The Future Is Going to Be Great [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:33:58
Dave Blundin has co-founded 23 companies, co-hosts the Moonshots podcast, runs the VC firm Link Ventures, teaches at MIT, and has been building neural networks since the 1980s. His take: “[AI is] under-hyped. It's absolu…
PRIMAL INTELLIGENCE: You’re Smarter Than You Realize [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:37
Angus Fletcher has a PhD in literature from Yale and teaches English at Ohio State. He’s passionate about Shakespeare. He probably owns a tweed jacket. In other words, he’s the last person you’d expect to receive the Arm…
AI & THE BRAIN: How Different Are They? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:22:13
Today's AI runs on neural networks, a design originally inspired by the human brain. As these systems grow more sophisticated, they're raising a profound question: Even if they don't work exactly like our brains, could s…
Best Of: Jonathan Haidt on What Social Media Is Doing to Our Kids [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:24:01
It’s rare these days for a book to go viral, but that’s exactly what happened with The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt. Now in its 75th w…
Best Of: Sebastian Junger’s Journey to the Edge and Back [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:10
On a June night several years ago, Sebastian Junger, bestselling author of The Perfect Storm and co-director of the Oscar-nominated documentary Restrepo, lay on an operating table, dying. An undiagnosed aneurysm in his p…