On a list of most fun fields of study, you probably wouldn’t find economics. After all, hours spent making graphs, comparing economic models, and crunching numbers isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
But the truth is that economics can be a fascinating and even delightful field, one that yields singular insights about how people behave and how our world works. Don’t believe us? Check out the seven fun reads below to see for yourself.
Fool Me Once: Scams, Stories, and Secrets from the Trillion-Dollar Fraud Industry
By Kelly Richmond Pope
A renowned forensic accounting expert shows fraud in action, uncovering what makes perps tick, victims so gullible, and whistleblowers so morally righteous, while also encouraging us to look at our own behaviors and motivations in the hope of protecting ourselves and our companies. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Kelly Richmond Pope, in the Next Big Idea App
Edible Economics: A Hungry Economist Explains the World
By Ha-Joon Chang
A bestselling author and economist makes challenging economic ideas delicious by plating them alongside stories about food from around the world, using the diverse histories behind familiar food items to explore economic theory. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Ha-Joon Chang, in the Next Big Idea App
Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World
By Henry Grabar
From a Slate staff writer comes an entertaining, enlightening, and utterly original investigation into one of the most quietly influential forces in modern American life—the humble parking spot. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Henry Grabar, in the Next Big Idea App
The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze
By Laura Shin
The recent growth of crypto would have been all but impossible if not for a brilliant young man named Vitalik Buterin and his creation: Ethereum. In this book, a tech journalist takes readers inside the founding of this novel cryptocurrency network. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Laura Shin, in the Next Big Idea App
Money, Magic, and How to Dismantle a Financial Bomb: Quantum Economics for the Real World
By David Orrell
In this colorful tour of the history, philosophy, and mathematics of money, an applied mathematician demonstrates how everything makes much more sense when we replace our classical economic models with ones based on quantum probability. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author David Orrell, in the Next Big Idea App
For a Dollar and a Dream: State Lotteries in Modern America
By Jonathan D. Cohen
This first comprehensive history of America’s lottery obsession explores the spread of state lotteries and how players and policymakers alike got hooked on wishful dreams of an elusive jackpot. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Jonathan D. Cohen, in the Next Big Idea App
The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion
By Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell
The definitive story of the rise and fall of WeWork, by the real-life journalists whose Wall Street Journal reporting rocked the company and exposed a financial system drunk on the elixir of Silicon Valley innovation. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-authors Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell, in the Next Big Idea App
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!
