Your Attention Is Being Hijacked. Here’s How to Take It Back.

"Others notice us less than we imagine. This is liberating: A bad hair day hardly matters. Few will notice. Fewer will care. Of those, fewer still will remember."

6 Apr 202312min

David says we worry about improbable horrors (like plane crashes) while ignoring greater risks (car smash-ups). Today, he explains how performing statistically sound risk assessments can calm our worr...

5 Apr 202313min

We all know it's good for us to nurture our relationships with close friends and loved ones. Today, David explains why chatting up strangers is also important.

4 Apr 202313min

All week long on The Next Big Idea Daily, Michael will be chatting with social psychologist David Myers about the wonder of human thought and action, and how you can use insights from the latest resea...

3 Apr 202313min

In our final episode with Adam Gopnik, the award-winning New Yorker writer and author of "The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery" learns how to box, how to dance, and why there’s “no mastery in the ...

31 Mar 202313min

Today: Why mastery requires idiosyncrasy. Our newsletter comes out every Friday. It features commentary from Michael, links to relevant Book Bites, previews of upcoming seasons, and ways to engage wit...

30 Mar 202312min

Adam Gopnik's first memory of mastery was watching his mother roll out strudel dough, so in midlife, he asked his mother — a linguistics professor by day, pastry maestro by night — to teach him how to...

29 Mar 202311min

It's the second day of our week-long master class with Adam Gopnik, New Yorker staff writer and author of "The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery." Today, he explains how learning to drive at the te...

28 Mar 202312min