Think Again – a Big Think Podcast

Think Again – a Big Think Podcast

We surprise some of the world's brightest minds with ideas they're not at all prepared to discuss. With host Jason Gots and special guests Alan Alda, Salman Rushdie, Mary-Louise Parker, Richard Dawkins, Margaret Atwood, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Saul Williams, Henry Rollins, Bill Nye, George Takei, Maria Popova, and many more . . .

You've got 10 minutes with Einstein. What do you talk about? Black holes? Time travel?

Why not gambling? The Art of War? Contemporary parenting?

Some of the best conversations happen when we're pushed outside of our comfort zones. So each week on Think Again, we surprise smart people you've probably heard of with hand-picked gems from Big Think's interview archives on every imaginable subject. The conversation could go anywhere.

SINCE 2008, BIG THINK has captured on video the best ideas of the world’s leading thinkers and doers in every field, renowned experts including neurologist Oliver Sacks, physicist Stephen Hawking, behavioral psychologist Daniel Kahneman, authors Margaret Atwood and Marylinne Robinson, entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, painter Chuck Close, and philosopher Daniel Dennett.

Start listening to Think Again – a Big Think Podcast

119. Aaron Mahnke (of 'Lore') – The Hunger for Mystery

Think Again – a Big Think Podcast

For thousands of years, all over the world, we've told tales of monsters and the undead. Why? Aaron Mahnke, creator of the 'Lore' podcast, on the hunger for mystery.

47 Min

Oct 7, 2017

116. Claire Messud (writer) – All These Falls From Grace

Think Again – a Big Think Podcast

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Author Claire Messud on childhood, growing up, and how we contain the things that scare us.

53 Min

Sep 16, 2017

115. Salman Rushdie (writer) – A Permeable Frontier

Think Again – a Big Think Podcast

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Author Salman Rushdie on the secret life of cities and so much more.

56 Min

Sep 9, 2017

Episode
Podcast
Time
Released
57 min
Sep 2, 2017
i

The deepest, funniest, strangest moments from the past year of the Think Again podcast. Featuring Kory Stamper, Teju Cole, George Saunders, Slavoj Zizek, Jennifer Doudna, and Timothy Spall.

49 min
Aug 26, 2017
i

The deepest, funniest, strangest moments from the past year of the Think Again podcast. Featuring Daniel Dennett, Sarah Goldhagen, Ian McEwan, Alison Gopnik, Erik Kandel, and Alan Alda.

53 min
Aug 19, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Biologist Richard Dawkins on speaking plainly, animal cruelty, Christopher Hitchens and so much more.

56 min
Aug 12, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Comic Ari Shaffir talks about outrageousness in comedy, bipartisan e-rage on social media, and growing up and growing out of bad habits.

72 min
Aug 5, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Oxford historian Peter Frankopan on two millennia of the flow of germs, ideas, commerce, and more from East to West and vice versa.

37 min
Jul 22, 2017
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In one of our wildest episodes ever, comedian Jeff Garlin cuts the surprise clip short to call B.S. on neuroscience and complexity.

36 min
Jul 15, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Authors Neal Stephenson & Nicole Galland on blurring the lines between science and magic.

39 min
Jul 8, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Actor and author Alan Alda on the art of communication (for good and evil), social anxiety, the mind of a billionaire, and more.

53 min
Jul 1, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Geneticist Jennifer Doudna on the profound implications of her CRISPR-Cas-9 gene editing technology for the future of humanity.

58 min
Jun 24, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Actor Timothy Spall on the layers of contradictions and complexities that define a person, and what's underneath.

49 min
Jun 17, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Poet, playwright, and arts educator Liza Jessie Peterson on lessons learned teaching incarcerated youth on Rikers Island.

61 min
Jun 10, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Writer Paul Theroux on tyrannical mothers, colonizing Mars, and an important difference between humans and cockroaches.

43 min
Jun 3, 2017
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Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Writer Ariel Levy on the silence around the animal facts of women's physical lives, her comically awkward experience with the shamanic hallucinogen Ayahuasca, and much more.

44 min
May 27, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on the mind-boggling awesomeness of space.

46 min
May 20, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Author Mary Gaitskill on vulnerability, alienation, and Cerebus the Aardvark.

57 min
May 13, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Physicist Lawrence Krauss on why neutrinos are his favorite particles, light as the protagonist of modern physics, and more.

48 min
May 6, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Neuroscientist Dean Buonomano on how the brain tells time and whether time exists at all.

48 min
Apr 29, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Architecture critic Sarah W. Goldhagen on how the built environment shapes our lives.

54 min
Apr 22, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Lexicographer Kory Stamper on the slipperiness of language and how the sausage of dictionaries is made.

52 min
Apr 15, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Joyce Carol Oates on America, idealism, and the shackles we can and can't shake off.

47 min
Apr 8, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Social Psychologist Adam Alter on the behavioral addictions we all now live with.

47 min
Apr 1, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Turkish-American writer Elif Batuman on truth in fiction, how language shapes us, and more.

47 min
Mar 25, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Philosopher of mind Daniel Dennett waxing wise and wicked about consciousness, dolphins, and more.

55 min
Mar 18, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Comedy writer and producer Scott Aukerman on Michael Bolton, transgression in comedy, and cultural turmoil in the USA.

51 min
Mar 11, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. NY Times bestselling author George Saunders on ghosts and ego and loving your enemy.

49 min
Mar 4, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Fiction writer and essayist Gish Jen on how fundamental East-West differences in the sense of self play out in art, culture, business, education, and more.

47 min
Feb 25, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Historian Yuval Noah Harari, bestselling author of Sapiens and Homo Deus, on the dizzying ethical questions that surround what's coming next.

49 min
Feb 18, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Author Ayelet Waldman on parenting, identity, and how LSD microdosing changed her life for the better.

48 min
Feb 3, 2017
i

Nato Thompson – Think Again - a Big Think Podcast #84 – The Friendly Face

43 min
Jan 28, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Rolling Stone political journalist Matt Taibbi on the media and political circus of the 2016 campaign trail, the search for happiness, and where we go from here.

42 min
Jan 21, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on unexpected topics. Philosopher and Filmmaker "BHL" on torture, the question of evil, and the tipping point at which democracy becomes something else.

68 min
Jan 14, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on unexpected topics. Comedian and author Isy Suttie on the terrors of adulthood and more. Surprise ideas from Paul Bloom, Maysoon Zayid, and Slavoj Žižek.

36 min
Jan 7, 2017
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Media entrepreneur Amani Al-Khatatbeh and host Jason Gots wrestle with tough questions about identity, power, and Islamic feminism.

48 min
Dec 31, 2016
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Psychologist Paul Bloom wants us to abandon empathy as a guide to moral decision making. He's probably right.

39 min
Dec 24, 2016
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith on octopus consciousness, free will, and an extinct sea-worm he'd like to resurrect.

43 min
Dec 17, 2016
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. "Vampire Chronicles" author Anne Rice on superstition, science, and why, in spite of everything, she believes humanity's going to figure things out.

42 min
Dec 10, 2016
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Author, Podcaster, and "Human Guinea Pig" Tim Ferriss on death, ignoring most of the news, and sake as a secret weapon for podcasting.

40 min
Dec 3, 2016
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Artist David Salle on how even to begin figuring out what "works" in art.

46 min
Nov 26, 2016
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Jace Clayton AKA DJ/Rupture on sleuthing for beauty and surprise in the digital-musical landscape.

41 min
Nov 19, 2016
i

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Fiction writer and environmentalist T.C. Boyle on the crazy, contested world we might not be able to inhabit much longer, and what we'll do after that.

50 min
Nov 12, 2016
i

The voluble Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek on why tolerance is the wrong way to deal with terrorism, the refugee crisis, and all the other problems we face.

51 min
Nov 5, 2016
i

Spontaneous, deep talk on surprise topics. Historian and New Yorker writer Jelani Cobb on interspecies ethics, the limits of civil discourse, and mathematical symmetry as the defining principle of the universe.

41 min
Oct 29, 2016
i

Spontaneous, deep talk on surprise topics. Author Margaret Atwood on genomes in the cloud, Bob Dylan's Nobel prize, the elusiveness of dead authors, and why technology's a three-edged sword.

42 min
Oct 22, 2016
i

Spontaneous, deep talk on surprise topics. Author Jodi Picoult and host Jason Gots talk comic books, social justice, and why white Americans need to take the risk (and the consequences) of talking honestly about race and class privilege.

36 min
Oct 15, 2016
i

Spontaneous, deep talk on surprise topics. In this extra feisty episode of Think Again - A Big Think Podcast, actor and author William Shatner and host Jason Gots take sides on whether or not it's a dog-eat-dog world out there.

35 min
Oct 8, 2016
i

Spontaneous, deep talk on surprise topics. James Gleick, author of Time Travel - a History, talks with host Jason Gots about why we're so obsessed with something that's evidently impossible.

46 min
Oct 1, 2016
i

Spontaneous, deep fun. Celebrity chef Alton Brown and host Jason Gots talk about fire, their mutual childhood lust for the Betty Crocker Easy-Bake Oven and how everything worth doing might get you killed.

38 min
Sep 24, 2016
i

Spontaneous, deep fun. Novelist Ian McEwan and host Jason Gots discuss Hamlet, moral quandaries, and how to set boundaries in a world that wants to pull you in every direction.

39 min
Sep 17, 2016
i

Conversations on surprise topics with some of the world's most creative thinkers. In this episode, host Jason Gots selects some of the most memorable bits of writerly wit and wisdom from the first year of Think Again - a Big Think Podcast

37 min
Sep 10, 2016
i

On this week's episode, Eric Kandel and host Jason Gots discuss abstract art, memory, identity, and the nature of evil.

48 min
Sep 3, 2016
i

Host Jason Gots curates the best moments thus far of Think Again - a Big Think Podcast, with excerpts from conversations with Paul F. Tompkins, Ethan Hawke, Amanda Palmer, and Chris Gethard

42 min
Aug 27, 2016
i

Alison Gopnik, one of the world's foremost experts on child cognition, learning, and development, and host Jason Gots discuss play, artificial intelligence, and the trouble with "parenting" as a verb.

40 min
Aug 20, 2016
i

Spontaneous, deep talk on surprise topics. Nigerian-born novelist, essayist, and NYTimes photography critic Teju Cole and host Jason Gots discuss first drafts, the complexities of home, and the greatest innovation in human history.

34 min
Aug 13, 2016
i

Spontaneous, deep talk on surprise topics. National Book Award-winning Author Jacqueline Woodson and host Jason Gots discuss collective amnesia, organized religion, the power of photographs, and why never being bored is bad for for kids.

45 min
Aug 6, 2016
i

In the second of two "year one in review" mixtapes, host Jason Gots curates the best moments thus far of Think Again - a Big Think Podcast, with excerpts from conversations with Henry Rollins, Kate Tempest, Sarah Jones, Mary-Louise Parker, and A.O. Scott

46 min
Jul 30, 2016
i

The Best of Year One, part 1: with Sam Harris, Junot Diaz, Maria Popova, Saul Williams & Jesse Ventura

47 min
Jul 23, 2016
i

Buckminster Fuller, vicarious sex, taboos and how to get around them

32 min
Jul 16, 2016
i

Squeamishness, Penis transplants, and Dark Matter, oh my!

37 min
Jul 9, 2016
i

Playing many different characters, Tony and Obie award-winner Sarah Jones responds to surprise "big ideas" in Think Again podcast's first ever live show at NYC Podfest

35 min
Jul 2, 2016
i

Demagoguery, colonizing Mars, and the perpetual pendulum of party politics.

38 min
Jun 25, 2016
i

Mean jokes, bigotry, courage, and bringing light vs. darkness into the world.

41 min
Jun 18, 2016
i

Messiness, mystery, and the slipperiness of the words we need most.

48 min
Jun 11, 2016
i

Spirituality, steroids, drone warfare and the complicated past America has left behind.

38 min
Jun 4, 2016
i

Revenge, Hallucinogens, and a spontaneous William Blake Smackdown

33 min
May 28, 2016
i

Death, Bob Marley, parenthood, gratitude, and what to do in the face of incalculable suffering.

36 min
May 21, 2016
i

On the stories we tell ourselves about who we are.

37 min
May 14, 2016
i

"Cult" Comic Chris Gethard talks authenticity, the power of small communities, con artists, improv, and more.

33 min
May 7, 2016
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, National Book Award Winner James McBride

34 min
Apr 30, 2016
i

Money's an operating system. Businesses are apps. We can reprogram them.

32 min
Apr 9, 2016
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, poet Sarah Kay.

33 min
Apr 2, 2016
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, 20 year old educational activist and author Nikhil Goyal.

37 min
Mar 26, 2016
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, Maria Popova of Brain Pickings

32 min
Mar 19, 2016
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, Musician and Artist Amanda Palmer

23 min
Mar 12, 2016
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, Senator Cory Booker

31 min
Mar 5, 2016
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, 'Life of Pi' Author Yann Martel

27 min
Feb 27, 2016
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, NY Times Chief Film Critic A.O. Scott.

27 min
Feb 20, 2016
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, comedian Paul F. Tompkins.

36 min
Feb 13, 2016
i

We surprise the smartest people you know with ideas they're not prepared to discuss. This week, Marc Goodman, author of FUTURE CRIMES.

29 min
Feb 6, 2016
i

We surprise the smartest people you know with ideas they're not prepared to discuss. This week, neurosurgeon James Doty.

24 min
Jan 23, 2016
i

Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, author and skeptic Michael Shermer.

23 min
Jan 16, 2016
i

Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, psychologist Howard Gardner.

29 min
Jan 9, 2016
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, playwright and screenwriter Sir David Hare.

28 min
Dec 26, 2015
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, musician and neuroscientist Daniel Levitin.

29 min
Dec 19, 2015
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, philosopher Alva Noë.

27 min
Dec 12, 2015
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, comedian Ian Edwards.

41 min
Dec 5, 2015
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, philosopher and neuroscientist Sam Harris.

23 min
Nov 28, 2015
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, genre-bending artist Maira Kalman.

27 min
Nov 21, 2015
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, Nobel Laureate Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk.

24 min
Nov 14, 2015
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, actor and New Orleans native son Wendell Pierce

38 min
Nov 7, 2015
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, the incendiary, luminous Saul Williams.

21 min
Oct 30, 2015
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, the multitalented Jesse Ventura.

18 min
Oct 24, 2015
i

We surprise the world's sharpest minds with unexpected topics. This week, longtime Gourmet Magazine editor and New York Times food critic Ruth Reichl.

25 min
Oct 17, 2015
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, the mighty, mighty Junot Díaz.

23 min
Oct 10, 2015
i

Smart people. Surprise topics. Deep fun. This week, legendary TV producer Norman Lear.

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