The Next Big Idea13 Helmi 2025

The Former Head of USAID on Why Foreign Aid Benefits Everyone

When Rajiv Shah was in his late 20s and didn’t know what to do with his life, he got a job at a fledgling nonprofit, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Before he knew it, he was a driving force behind a global vaccination program that immunized 900 million children and saved 16 million lives. At 36, he became the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), managing a $20 billion budget, overseeing a staff of 10,000, and leading the U.S. response to global humanitarian crises. Today, as president of the Rockefeller Foundation, he’s finding innovative solutions to mitigate climate change and end energy poverty. What connects these experiences? At every step, Raj maintained a big bet mentality. What is a big bet? “A concerted effort to fundamentally solve a single, pressing problem in your community or our world. Big bets require setting profound, seemingly unachievable goals and believing they are achievable.” In this episode, he shares his methodology for creating large-scale change and making the world a better place. (This episode was first broadcast in 2024.) 💿 For more episodes about aid, philanthropy, and how best to solve the world’s problems, check out this playlist 📩 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 from the authors. Sign up today!

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The Bedazzling Mystery of Why We’re Here

We’ve had many bracing thinkers on this show, but Sara Walker might take the cake. A physicist and astrobiologist at Arizona State University, her book Life as No One Knows It: The Physics of Life's E...

13 Elo 1h 49min

How to Lead a More Gratifying Life

We’ve optimized nearly every part of modern life. So why does it feel like we’re missing the experience of actually living it? In The Small Stuff, Ian Bogost argues that our obsession with happiness...

10 Elo 1h 5min

Best Of: Adam Grant on the Science of Achieving Greater Things

We live in a world that worships talent, a world that cheers natural athletes, exalts child prodigies, and venerates virtuosos. But admiring people who are blessed with innate abilities can lead us to...

6 Elo 1h 6min

Are Robots About to Change Everything?

We've spent the last few years watching AI transform the digital world. Now it's coming for the physical one. Humanoid robots are leaving the lab and entering homes, factories, and workplaces. But ar...

3 Elo 1h 18min

You Can Just Do Things

Why do some people seem to create opportunities wherever they go while others spend years waiting for the right break? According to Cate Hall — lawyer turned poker player turned drug addict turned CEO...

30 Heinä 1h 11min

The Lost Art of Asking Questions

In the age of AI, endless information, and instant certainty, philosopher Lani Watson argues that questions — not answers — are humanity's greatest intellectual advantage. Today, she explains why cu...

27 Heinä 1h 15min

Sorry, Skeptics — AI Is Not a Bubble

First, a few numbers. This year Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta will spend more than $700 billion building AI infrastructure. There are 1,500 data centers in development across the country. AI-l...

23 Heinä 1h 18min

Why Creating Beats Consuming | Mark Pincus (Part 2)

Most people think success comes from having an original idea. Mark Pincus thinks that's one of the most expensive mistakes you can make. After building one of the most successful gaming companies in ...

20 Heinä 49min