Big Think

A neuroscientist’s guide to protecting your brain, in 58 minutes | Lisa Genova: Full Interview
Neuroscientist Lisa Genova debunks common memory myths, explains how memory truly works, and provides actionable lifestyle strategies to enhance recall and significantly reduce Alzheimer's risk.

Gut Expert: Eating these 3 foods could improve your mental health | Tim Spector: Full Interview
Dr. Tim Spector, a leading gut health expert, reveals how the gut microbiome directly influences mental health and offers eight actionable strategies to optimize it through diet and lifestyle.

The science of habit: How to rewire the loop running 40% of your day | Charles Duhigg
Charles Duhigg breaks down the mechanics of habit formation and change, revealing how nearly half of daily actions are habitual, and introduces the 'supercommunicator' framework for deeper, more effective human connection.

Body language expert: 7 cues that make you instantly more likable | Full Interview
Learn how to master non-verbal cues and active listening to build instant trust, project competence, and enhance your social influence in any interaction.

Constraints make you more creative, not less | David Epstein: Full Interview
David Epstein argues that embracing constraints, rather than seeking unlimited freedom, is essential for fostering creativity, improving productivity, and enhancing personal well-being.

The quantum realm, the cosmological realm, and the multiverse, in 69 minutes | Hakeem Oluseyi
Astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi demystifies the quantum realm, the cosmological realm, and the multiverse, explaining how these counter-intuitive realities shape our existence and challenge our understanding of space, time, and matter.

The productivity advice that will actually improve your life | Chris Bailey: Full Interview
Chris Bailey, author of 'Intentional' and 'Hyperfocus,' reveals how intentionality, aligning goals with core values, and mastering focus are the true drivers of productivity, not generic advice or willpower.

How music rewires and impacts the human body | Michael Spitzer: Full Interview
Professor Michael Spitzer reveals how music, far older than humanity, has shaped our evolution, brain, and culture, and predicts its future as a personalized, technologically integrated force.

How music rewires and impacts the human body | Michael Spitzer: Full Interview
Professor Michael Spitzer explores the deep history, universal nature, and profound impact of music on the human brain and society, from ancient bone flutes to the future of AI-integrated sound experiences.

The child who learned to disappear is still running your adult relationships | Nicole LePera
Dr. Nicole LePera explains how unresolved childhood trauma, often subtle and not catastrophic, manifests as 'inner child' reactions and maladaptive coping mechanisms in adult relationships, and how 'reparenting' through conscious awareness and new actions can rewire the nervous system for lasting change.

The blueprint for becoming an emotionally mature adult, in 68 minutes | Mark Manson: Full Interview
Mark Manson deconstructs the pursuit of happiness and success, arguing that true emotional maturity comes from embracing struggle, defining clear values, and committing to a process, not just an outcome.

Hustle culture stole the word excellence and gutted its true meaning | Brad Stulberg: Full Interview
Brad Stulberg redefines excellence as a values-aligned, process-driven journey, contrasting it with the fleeting, often detrimental pursuits of hustle culture, optimization, and constant happiness.

The brain on MDMA can go somewhere CBT has never been able to reach | Rachel Yehuda: Full Interview
Rachel Yehuda, a leading trauma researcher, explains how MDMA-assisted psychotherapy offers a profound path to healing PTSD by enabling self-compassion and deeper processing of traumatic memories, surpassing the limitations of traditional cognitive behavioral therapies.

The bizarre phenomena that medicine struggles to explain | David Linden: Full Interview
A Johns Hopkins neuroscientist reveals the biological mechanisms behind the mind-body connection, explaining how thoughts, emotions, and even social support profoundly influence physical health, from hunger regulation to cancer progression.

Modern physics is forcing us to rethink existence | Michelle Thaller: Full Interview
NASA astronomer Michelle Thaller reveals how cutting-edge physics is dismantling our fundamental understanding of space, time, and reality, pushing us to embrace a universe far stranger than human perception allows.

1177 BC: The vanishing of the first globalized world | Eric Cline: Full Interview
Archaeologist Eric Cline reveals how the collapse of the Late Bronze Age, the world's first globalized network, offers critical lessons for modern society facing interconnected crises.

Quantum entanglement and the illusion of time, in 79 minutes | Jim Al-Khalili: Full Interview
Physicist Jim Al-Khalili dissects the fundamental nature of time, from its subjective perception to its role in relativity and quantum mechanics, challenging our understanding of past, present, and future.

Lost technologies and the secrets they hold, in 53 minutes | Sam Kean: Full Interview
Explore how experimental archaeology unearths forgotten ancient technologies, from self-healing Roman concrete to a potent Viking-era antibiotic, and uncover the covert Allied mission to thwart Hitler's atomic bomb program.

Love is a skill, not a feeling | Alain de Botton: Full Interview
Alain de Botton argues that modern romantic culture has been a disaster, advocating for a 'therapeutic age' where love is understood as a learnable skill rooted in self-awareness and psychological insight, rather than a spontaneous feeling.

The most important piece of technology in your lifetime is this tiny chip | Chris Miller
Chris Miller reveals how tiny, hyper-complex microchips, manufactured by a handful of specialized companies, are the invisible engines of modern technology, driving everything from smartphones to AI, and are at the heart of global economic and geopolitical power struggles.

Why SETI might be our most humbling science | Jill Tarter: Full Interview
Jill Tarter, a pioneer in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), shares her journey, the evolution of the field, and the profound philosophical implications of discovering life beyond Earth.
Don't see the episode you're looking for?
We're constantly adding new episodes, but if you want to see a specific one from Big Think summarized, let us know!
Submit an Episode