Best Kevin Isaacson Podcasts (2026)

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Why the Blockchain Is Still Critical to Our Future 1:09:07

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6m ago1:09:07

1:09:07

Chris Dixon runs a16z crypto, a fund that has raised more than $7 billion. So it’s no surprise that when talking about the blockchain, he says things like, “ I've never seen a situation in technology where the gap between what I believe is the potential of the technology and the perception is so wide.” The thing is, he may be right. From enabling d…

1
Reading Rewired the Human Brain. What Happens If We Stop Doing It? 46:23

9d ago46:23

46:23

Maryanne Wolf is a UCLA professor and the renowned author of "Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain" and "Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World." She says deep reading makes you a better thinker, communicator, and citizen. But what happens if you lose the ability to read slowly, patiently, and critically…

51
How to Make Your Holiday Gatherings Memorable 42:34

14d ago42:34

42:34

This is one of our favorite episodes — a conversation with Priya Parker, a conflict resolution specialist who’s worked on peace processes around the world, about her book The Art of Gathering. What she told him changed how we think about every dinner party, every work meeting, every family get-together we host. Priya’s argument is simple but radica…

1
FLOURISH: Daniel Coyle on the Art and Science of Feeling Alive 1:17:19

23d ago1:17:19

1:17:19

What does it mean to flourish? According to author Daniel Coyle, flourishing is “joyful, meaningful growth — shared.” But how do you achieve that enviable state? The answer lies in Dan’s forthcoming book, “Flourish,” which you can pre-order now on Amazon, Audible, or Bookshop.org. Highlights: (5:11) Life isn't a treasure hunt; it’s more like treasu…

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Kari Leibowitz Loves Winter (And You Can Too) 59:25

26d ago59:25

59:25

In our divided nation, there's one thing many of us seem to agree on: winter sucks. A recent study found that nearly half of Americans would skip winter if they could. Yet not everyone dreads the cold months. Psychologist Kari Leibowitz has spent years studying these winter-lovers, and she's arrived at a surprising truth: people who thrive this tim…

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Best Of: How Successful Groups Work 1:10:57

1M ago1:10:57

1:10:57

Daniel Coyle will soon join us on the show to talk about his forthcoming book, Flourish. Today, we're revisiting our 2022 conversation with Dan about his last book, The Culture Playbook. Here's how we described the episode back then: The filmmakers at Pixar. The servers at Union Square Cafe. The badasses on SEAL Team Six. What do these super succes…

1
AI and the Future of the University 44:01

1M ago44:01

44:01

A few weeks ago, Rufus moderated a panel discussion at Vanderbilt’s New York City campus on artificial intelligence and the future of American higher education. Today, we’re bringing you that conversation. It features Nabiha Syed, executive director of Mozilla Foundation; Nicholas Dirks, president and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences; Julie …

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Best Of: David Brooks on the Art of Seeing Others Deeply 1:05:39

1M ago1:05:39

1:05:39

New York Times columnist and acclaimed author David Brooks has been trying to learn the skills that go into seeing others, understanding others, making other people feel respected, valued, and safe. Such social skills may sound trifling, but mastering them, David believes, could help us all make better decisions, enhance our creativity, and maybe e…

1
STRONG GROUND: Brené Brown on the Daring Leadership the World Needs Now 55:12

1M ago55:12

55:12

In this conversation, recorded live on Zoom with members of the Next Big Idea Club community, Brené and Rufus talk about what drives her, how Texas has shaped her, the leadership skills that matter most, and work-life balance. Plus, our curator Adam Grant makes a surprise cameo. Brené’s new book is Strong Ground. 🎁 Join the Next Big Idea Club today…

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Brené Brown on courageous leadership (from ReThinking with Adam Grant) 46:29

2M ago46:29

46:29

Brené Brown is a researcher, storyteller, and author who hosts the podcast Dare to Lead and has given some of the most popular TED Talks of all time. In this episode, recorded live at an Authors@Wharton event, Brené and our curator Adam Grant talk about her new book, Strong Ground. They discuss how to identify your core values, what courageous lead…

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Walter Isaacson on The Greatest Sentence Ever Written 1:11:54

2M ago1:11:54

1:11:54

What is the greatest sentence ever written? According to Walter Isaacson — former editor of Time, ex-CEO of CNN, and the acclaimed biographer of Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Jennifer Doudna — it’s this: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unal…

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Best Of: Decoding Elon Musk 1:06:50

2M ago1:06:50

1:06:50

When Walter Isaacson, the legendary biographer of Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, and Leonardo da Vinci, started shadowing Elon Musk, he found himself following "a guy who was one of the most popular people on the planet, and ended up with a guy who's the most controversial." Today on the show, Isaacson unpacks the transformation. (…

1
Andrew Ross Sorkin: What the Crash of 1929 Says About Today 1:09:02

2M ago1:09:02

1:09:02

Andrew Ross Sorkin’s new book, 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History—and How It Shattered a Nation, is an eye-opening account of the forces that led to the worst financial crisis in history and the lessons that disaster can teach us about today’s economy. (7:09) Life before the crash (8:58) How Americans developed a taste for lever…

1
Atlantic CEO Nick Thompson on What Running Can Teach Us 1:03:27

2M ago1:03:27

1:03:27

Nick Thompson is the CEO of The Atlantic. But he moonlights as a damn good runner. At 44, he ran a marathon in 2 hours and 29 minutes, making him one of the fastest marathoners his age on the planet. He later set an American age group record in the 50K. He has run in blazing heat with ice tucked into his hat and in frigid cold with Vaseline dabbed …

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COMMON KNOWLEDGE: Steven Pinker on Awkward Dates, Cancel Culture and the Necessity of Norms 1:01:24

3M ago1:01:24

1:01:24

As promised, today we’re bringing you a full-length interview with Steven Pinker about his new book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows . . .: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life. What is common knowledge? For Steve, it is not conventional wisdom. Instead, it’s when everyone knows something and everyone knows …

1
A Food Crisis Is Brewing. Are We Ready? 46:18

3M ago46:18

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 tech, Sam has a new book out, The Last Supper: How to Overcome the Coming Food Crisis. The situation, he says, is bleak. Almonds,…

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The Future Is Going to Be Great 1:33:58

3M ago1:33:58

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 absolutely going to change the world in the next couple of years more than any change in human history. There's nothing even vaguely com…

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PRIMAL INTELLIGENCE: You’re Smarter Than You Realize 1:05:37

3M ago1:05:37

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 Army’s fourth-highest civilian honor. But when he’s not parsing King Lear or dissecting Hamlet, Angus is pioneering research into nar…

1
STEVEN PINKER: How Common Knowledge and Rationality Make the World Go Round 1:11:57

3M ago1:11:57

1:11:57

Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker shares five key insights from his brand new book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows. He reveals how “common knowledge” — the hidden force of knowing what others know — shapes everything from financial bubbles and political revolutions to why we say “Netflix and chill.” Then we revisit our 2021 conversation w…

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AI & THE BRAIN: How Different Are They? 1:22:13

4M ago1:22:13

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 something resembling a "mind" eventually emerge from the machines we're building? Guests: Gaurav Suri and Jay McClelland Book: The …

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Best Of: Jonathan Haidt on What Social Media Is Doing to Our Kids 1:24:01

4M ago1:24:01

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 week on the New York Times’ bestseller list, the book reveals a startling truth: Starting in 2012, teen depression rates suddenly s…

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ARTHUR C. BROOKS: Success Won’t Make You Happy — Here’s What Will 1:20:28

4M ago1:20:28

1:20:28

Arthur C. Brooks is an unlikely happiness guru. He’s not a psychologist, philosopher, or mystic. He’s an economist and public policy analyst who, for years, ran a prominent think tank. But rubbing shoulders with heads of state and titans of industry made him miserable. Confronted with the sobering realization that for too long he’d privileged work …

1
THE FUTURE OF WRITING: A Conversation with Ethan Mollick and Steven Johnson 54:43

4M ago54:43

54:43

What if, thanks to AI, you can now research and write a book two, three, or even four times faster? For authors and AI pioneers Steven Johnson (Editorial Director, NotebookLM and Google Labs) and Ethan Mollick (Wharton professor and creator of One Useful Thing), that's the new reality. In this episode, they crack open their personal toolkits to rev…

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Best Of: Sebastian Junger’s Journey to the Edge and Back 1:03:10

5M ago1:03:10

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 pancreatic artery had ruptured, flooding his abdominal cavity with blood. His odds of survival were between 10 and 20 percent. "I s…

1
INTUITION: The Science of Trusting Your Gut 58:41

5M ago58:41

58:41

We all have eureka moments, sudden bursts of certainty that seem to come out of nowhere. What if you could summon that feeling on command? Laura Huang, a business school professor, has been studying that question. She’s found that for the world's most successful people, intuition isn't an accident. It's a skill. A tool they’ve sharpened. Today on t…

1
Can Rogue Archeologists Bring the Past Back to Life? 47:59

5M ago47:59

47:59

We have a pretty good idea what ancient civilizations looked like. But what did they taste, smell, and feel like? 📕 Dinner with King Tut by Sam Kean 📱 Sign up for Next Big Idea Club+ on Apple Podcasts, and you’ll get ad-free listening, bonus episodes, subscriber-only shows, and more. 📩 Want to transform your day in just 10 minutes? Sign up for our …

1
WHAT WE VALUE: A Neuroscientist's Guide to Making Better Choices 1:08:23

5M ago1:08:23

1:08:23

All day long, your brain makes subconscious value calculations. It looks at every decision and asks, "What is going to be most rewarding for me right this very minute?" That creates a gap, doesn't it? A gap between the person you want to be and the choices you actually make. Today on the show, neuroscientist Emily Falk explains the science behind t…

1
SUPER AGERS (Part 2): Eric Topol on Sleep, GLP-1s, and AI 42:16

6M ago42:16

42:16

In part two of our interview with Eric Topol, author of the New York Times bestseller Super Agers, we cover how to get a good night's sleep, why one day everyone may take GLP-1s, and how AI is poised to transform medicine. 1️⃣ Missed Part 1? Listen now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 📚 Become an executive member of the Next Big Idea Club, and we'll se…

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SUPER AGERS (Part 1): The Revolutionary New Science of Longevity 1:12:20

6M ago1:12:20

1:12:20

For years, cardiologist Eric Topol hunted for the rarest people in America: those over 80 who had never been sick. When he finally found 1,400 of them, he made a shocking discovery. It wasn't their genes. These "super agers" were often the last ones standing in families where everyone else died decades earlier. So what separates people who live int…

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GENIUS MYTH: The Dangerous Allure of Rule-Breakers 47:52

6M ago47:52

47:52

Sign up for our Substack! Arthur Schopenhauer said, “Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.” Thomas Edison famously claimed, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Helen Lewis has a different take entirely. To her, the term genius licenses noxious eccentricities, exasperating ego trips, and dow…

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Best Of: Life Lessons From Wired Co-Founder Kevin Kelly 54:50

6M ago54:50

54:50

Sign up for our daily Substack here! Kevin Kelly has made a career out of looking to the future. He helped pioneer online social networking all the way back in the 1980s, and he co-founded Wired, the magazine devoted to digital technology, when the internet was still an infant. But in his new book, Excellent Advice for Living, he looks backward. It…

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AI FIRST: The Tsunami Is Already Here 1:03:01

7M ago1:03:01

1:03:01

AI, according to Andy Sack and Adam Brotman, co-founders of Forum3 and co-authors of the new book AI First, isn't just a neat new tool. It's "a tsunami of technology and capabilities." And if you don't start learning how to use it properly, they say, "you are absolutely gonna be left behind." The problem? Most people are using AI wrong. They're tre…

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Best Of: Michael Lewis Runs Toward Pleasure 1:11:13

7M ago1:11:13

1:11:13

This is one of our favorite conversations from the last year. On the surface, it's an interview we did with Michael Lewis to coincide with the paperback release of Going Infinite, his book about Sam Bankman-Fried and the collapse of FTX. Michael, who spent months hovering over Sam's shoulder, believes he wasn't some malevolent grifter: he was an aw…

1
How Susan Cain Found Her Voice 45:38

7M ago45:38

45:38

Susan Cain always knew she wanted to be a writer. But her path to becoming one was anything but straightforward. She took a creative writing class in college and came away convinced she wasn’t very talented. So she pivoted: law school, white-shoe firm, eyes set on making partner. Seven years later, a senior partner walked into her office with life-…

1
HOPE FOR CYNICS: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness 57:21

7M ago57:21

57:21

We think that cynicism protects us from being disappointed by other people. But Stanford psychologist Jamil Zaki says the opposite is true. When we expect the worst in people, we create a self-fulfilling prophecy that brings out exactly what we feared. So in his new book, Hope for Cynics, Jamil sets out to prove that hope isn't naive: it's smart. 🎁…

1
Rethinking Polling: AI, Accuracy, and Election Predictions 24:23

7M ago24:23

24:23

I interviewed Kyle Lovelace of Eyesover Technologies on how AI is revolutionizing political polling. We discussed declining accuracy in traditional methods and how AI-driven sentiment analysis offers real-time, cost-effective insights. #WaterCoolerPolitics #EyesoverTechnologies #AI #Polling #Politics #ChrisArps #TechInPolitics…

1
Healing the Soul of a Nation: Judy Elias Isaacson on Veterans, Faith, and Black-Jewish Relations 53:37

7M ago53:37

53:37

On this episode of Water Cooler Politics, I spoke with Judy Isaacson Elias, founder of the Heroes to Heroes Foundation, about rising anti-Semitism, shifting political loyalties, and healing our veterans. Judy criticized Democratic leaders like Chuck Schumer for ignoring anti-Semitism and she highlighted the Democratic Partys drift away from Israel.…

1
RISE ABOVE: How to Realize Your Full Potential 45:06

7M ago45:06

45:06

Psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman broke free from resentment and rumination, shifting into what he calls an empowerment mindset. Are you ready to do the same? • Support our show by becoming a Next Big Idea Club member. Learn more here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Next Big Idea Club

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MORAL AMBITION: Are You Wasting Your Talent? 1:20:18

8M ago1:20:18

1:20:18

What if everything we've been told about having a successful career is wrong? Rutger Bregman thinks most of us are wasting our working lives and argues we should stop trying to get rich and start trying to solve the world's problems instead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
NVIDIA: Jensen Huang Bet Big on AI. What Comes Next? 1:21:21

8M ago1:21:21

1:21:21

In his new book, The Thinking Machine, Stephen Witt offers a riveting portrait of Jensen Huang, who went from immigrant dishwasher to CEO of the world’s most valuable company. • If you enjoyed this episode, check out our conversation with Walter Isaacson about his biography of Elon Musk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

1
Benjamin Watson: NFL Champion, Pro-Life Advocate, and Speaking Truth in a Divided Culture 15:19

8M ago15:19

15:19

In this powerful episode, Chris Arps sits down with Super Bowl champion and former NFL star Benjamin Watson for a wide-ranging conversation on football, faith, and the fight for life. We start with Benjamins journey from being a first-round NFL draft pick to his thoughts on why Shedeur Sanders may have dropped to the fifth round in this years NFL D…

1
EXPLORATION: Why We Seek Out Big Challenges 52:36

8M ago52:36

52:36

Humans are wired to explore. So why are we less adventurous than ever — and what are we losing because of it? Guest: Alex Hutchinson, author of The Explorer’s Gene Further Listening: Looking for more episodes about adventure? Check out our conversations with Colin O’Brady and David Grann Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoice…

1
AI 2027: What If Superhuman AI Is Right Around the Corner? 1:36:37

8M ago1:36:37

1:36:37

Could AI take over in the next few years? Daniel Kokotajlo thinks so. Here’s why. 💿 Check out this Spotify playlist of our other episodes about AI 📩 Want to transform your day in just 10 minutes? Sign up for our Book of the Day newsletter, and you’ll get daily, bite‑sized insights from the best new nonfiction books — in audio or text — straight fro…

1
THE ART OF EDITING: Graydon Carter on the Golden Age of Magazines 58:53

9M ago58:53

58:53

Remember magazines? Piled high on coffee tables or tucked into seatback pockets. Savored beneath beach umbrellas or skimmed anxiously in dental waiting rooms. Glorious, glossy magazines. Graydon Carter made some of the best. He started with Spy, a sly, sharp-edged monthly that managed to feel both smarter and more mischievous than anything else on …

1
FAMILY DYNAMICS: Unraveling the Mystery of Sibling Success 52:06

9M ago52:06

52:06

You know those families where the kids all grow up to be remarkably successful? New York Times journalist Susan Dominus has spent the last few years getting to know some of them, looking for parenting techniques and life lessons. She's written a book about her findings called The Family Dynamic. "I thought I wrote a book about high-achieving famili…

1
ABUNDANCE: Derek Thompson on How to Actually Rebuild the American Dream 1:12:31

9M ago1:12:31

1:12:31

Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson is probably the most talked-about book in the country right now. And the most hotly debated. It’s a book about how we got here — here being a country without enough housing, a country that has lost its ambitious optimism, a country that has forgotten how to build. The prescription Ezra and Derek offer to c…

1
WHY GIVERS WIN: Adam Grant Revisits 'Give and Take' 1:07:54

9M ago1:07:54

1:07:54

We’re often told that success comes down to talent, hard work, and luck. But Adam Grant's research suggests that view is missing something crucial. In today’s installment of Next Big Idea Classics, Adam revisits his 2013 bestseller “Give and Take,” explaining how our interactions with others determine who thrives and who doesn’t. 💿 For Adam’s previ…

1
BITCOIN: A 15-Year Quest to Unmask the Mysterious Inventor of Crypto 57:35

10M ago57:35

57:35

In 2008, a mysterious figure created Bitcoin — a digital currency without banks or borders that sparked a global financial movement. And then he disappeared without a trace. Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? Why did he vanish? And why hasn’t he touched his $100 billion fortune? Today on the show, we talk to journalist Ben Wallace about his search for answer…

1
Chuck Schumer’s Bad Week, Democratic Infighting, and Black Voter Outreach with Dr. Cornel West 25:22

10M ago25:22

25:22

In this episode of Watercooler Politics with Chris Arps, we break down the rough week Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer endured as members of his own party turned against him. From progressive Democrats publicly criticizing his leadership to moderates distancing themselves, Schumer found himself under fire from both flanks. We also discuss the D…

1
YOU, BUT BETTER: The Science and Promise of Personality Change 50:40

10M ago50:40

50:40

Can you change who you are? When reporter Olga Khazan decided she was tired of being a “high-strung misanthrope” (her words), she turned to science for answers. What she discovered about personality — and how to change it — might surprise you. Host: Daniel Pink Guest: Olga Khazan Book: Me, But Better This episode was recorded live at Politics and P…