We are excited to announce the six finalists for the Next Big Idea Club winter season! Chosen by our curators—Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink—two of these finalists will become the official Next Big Idea Club winter selections, delivered to more than 5,000 subscribers around the world. Read on for a preview of six of the best non-fiction books of the season:
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Following the staggering success of Sapiens and Homo Deus, world-renowned historian Yuval Noah Harari takes on today’s most urgent issues and pressing questions: How do we deal with the epidemic of fake news? What does the future of the workforce look like? How is artificial intelligence changing the experience and meaning of being human? In a time when politics, technology, and social dynamics are in such constant flux, Harari offers a crystal-clear picture of where we are now—and where we’re going.
Farsighted: How We Make the Decisions That Matter the Most
At one time or another, we are all faced with big, life-altering decisions: where to live, whom to marry, what to believe, whether to start a new job or a new company. And unfortunately, these decisions are also the most difficult to make. Drawing upon research from psychology, world history, literature, and more, bestselling science writer Steven Johnson uncovers powerful strategies we can all use to make once-in-a-lifetime choices that we’ll stand by for years to come.
All is not well on today’s college campuses. Speakers are shouted down, students and faculty struggle to speak their minds, and rates of anxiety and depression are rising. First Amendment expert Greg Lukianoff and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt trace these trends back to three commonly held beliefs: What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker; always trust your feelings; and life is a battle between good people and evil people. Lukianoff and Haidt show why these ideas are at odds with both ancient wisdom and modern psychology, and suggest a better, stronger way forward for our society.
Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness
Many self-help experts have been urging us to look inward if we want to find peace and happiness. But designer and TED star Ingrid Fetell Lee offers a groundbreaking new take on the subject: What if the world around us is our most accessible and renewable source of joy? By applying insights from neuroscience and psychology, she explains why people everywhere are mesmerized by cherry blossoms, infatuated with baby animals, and dazzled by colorful sunsets. She then reveals how we can change our own personal surroundings to add a little more joy to our everyday lives.
Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World
Why are clocks in Germany so accurate, while those in Brazil are frequently wrong? Why do New Zealand’s women have the highest number of sexual partners? Why are “Red” and “Blue” States really so divided? Celebrated psychologist Michele Gelfand takes us on a tour through a variety of human cultures, searching for why people around the world think and act so differently. By examining how tightly or loosely we adhere to social norms, she paints a stunning new picture of who we are, what we do, and why we do it.
The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias
It’s one thing to value equality, diversity, and inclusion; it’s quite another to be mindful of them in our daily lives. In The Person You Mean to Be, award-winning social psychologist Dolly Chugh reveals how well-intentioned people unwittingly perpetuate the forces of sexism, racism, and inequality, and explains what we can all do to fight our unconscious biases. She then offers practical advice for talking about politics with family, becoming an ally for minority colleagues, and helping make the world a more just place to live.
Excited to dive into these books and discuss them with the world’s great thinkers? Click here for a free two-week trial of the Next Big Idea Club!
