Between the suspenseful thrills of winner reveals during The Oscars, entertain your watch party with some thought-provoking discourse about Hollywood.
Check out these six books so that you can light up the room with conversation as brightly as the stars shine onscreen.
Who Better Than You?: The Art of Healthy Arrogance & Dreaming Big
By Will Packer
Trailblazing filmmaker and powerhouse CEO Will Packer presents powerful and illuminating stories from the front lines of Hollywood to offer a clear vision on how to manifest your own success—by believing there is no one more deserving of it than you. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Will Packer, in the Next Big Idea App or View on Amazon
Box Office Poison: Hollywood’s Story in a Century of Flops
By Tim Robey
A riotous and revealing story of Hollywood’s most spectacular flops and how they ended careers, bankrupted studios and changed film history. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Tim Robey, in the Next Big Idea App or View on Amazon
Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV
By Emily Nussbaum
The rollicking saga of reality television—an ambitious cultural history of America’s most influential, most divisive artistic phenomenon, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning New Yorker writer. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Emily Nussbaum, in the Next Big Idea App or View on Amazon
Yesterday: A New History of Nostalgia
By Tobias Becker
A sweeping reassessment of our longing for the past, from the rise of “retro” to the rhetoric of Brexit and Trump. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Tobias Becker, in the Next Big Idea App or View on Amazon
MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios
By Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales & Gavin Edwards
The unauthorized, behind-the-scenes story of the stunning rise―and suddenly uncertain reign―of the most transformative cultural phenomenon of our time: the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-author Joanna Robinson, in the Next Big Idea App or View on Amazon
Culture: The Story of Us, from Cave Art to K-Pop
By Martin Puchner
Witty, erudite, and full of wonder, Puchner argues that the humanities are (and always have been) essential to the transmission of knowledge that drives the efforts of human civilization. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Martin Puchner, in the Next Big Idea App or View on Amazon
The Key Ideas in 15 Minutes
“If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books,” Roald Dahl once famously said. The only trouble is, reading even one book from cover to cover takes hours—and you may not have many hours to spare.
But imagine for a moment: What if you could read a groundbreaking new book every day? Or even better, what if you could invite a world-renowned thinker into your earbuds, where they personally describe the 5 key takeaways from their work in just 15 minutes?
With the Next Big Idea App, we’ve turned this fantasy into a reality. We partnered with hundreds of acclaimed authors to create “Book Bites,” short audio summaries of the latest nonfiction that are prepared and read aloud by the authors themselves. Discover cutting-edge leadership skills, productivity hacks, the science of happiness and well-being, and much more—all in the time it takes to drive to work or walk the dog.
Go Deeper with a Next Big Idea Club Membership
The Next Big Idea App is free for anyone to try—and if you love it, we invite you to become an official member of the Next Big Idea Club. Membership grants you unlimited access to Book Bites and unlocks early-release, ad-free episodes of our LinkedIn-partnered podcast. You also gain entry to our private online discussion group, where you can talk big ideas with fellow club members and join exclusive live Q&A sessions with featured authors.
For a more focused learning experience, we recommend a Hardcover or eBook Membership. Every few months, legendary authors and club curators Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink select two new nonfiction books as the must-reads of the season. We then send hardcover copies straight to your doorstep, or eBook versions to your favorite digital device. We also collaborate with the authors of selected books to produce original reading guides and premium video e-courses, 50-minute master classes that take you step by step through their most life-changing ideas. And yes, it’s all available through the Next Big Idea App.
Learn Faster, from the World’s Leading Thinkers
Whether you prefer to read, listen, or watch, the Next Big Idea is here to help you work smarter and live better. Wake up with an always-fresh Idea of the Day, the perfect shot of inspiration to go with your morning coffee. Then dive into one of our Challenges, hand-picked collections of Book Bites that form crash courses in subjects like communication, motivation, and career acceleration. Later, watch the playback of an interview with U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Stanford psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt, or philosopher John Kaag. And be sure to check the “Events” tab in the app, so that you can join an upcoming live Q&A and personally chat with the next featured thought leader.
If you’re hoping to grow as a person or as a professional, we hope you’ll join us and tens of thousands of others who enjoy the Next Big Idea. Get started by downloading the app today!
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