It’s time to break out the rainbow flags and face paint, because Pride Month is here! For the month of June, LGBTQIA+ communities everywhere are celebrating the beauty and diversity of their identities. It’s also an opportunity for everyone to reflect on the challenges still faced by individuals in these communities. So if you’d like to dive deeper into your own social reality or educate yourself as an ally, check out the five remarkable books below this Pride Month.
The Family Outing: A Memoir
By Jessi Hempel
A striking and remarkable literary memoir about one family’s transformation, with almost all of them embracing their queer identities. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Jessi Hempel, in the Next Big Idea App
The Identity Myth: Why We Need to Embrace Our Differences to Beat Inequality
By David Swift
A historian considers how the boundaries of identities are policed and how diverse versions of the same identity can be deployed to different ends. Ultimately, it is not that identities are simply more complex than they appear, but that there are more important commonalities. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author David Swift, in the Next Big Idea App
Feral City: On Finding Liberation in Lockdown New York
By Jeremiah Moss
This journey through lockdown New York offers an exhilarating, intimate look at a city returned to its rebellious spirit. It’s also an account of the author’s renewed sense of place as a transgender man, weaving together insights from psychoanalysis, literature, and queer theory. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Jeremiah Moss, in the Next Big Idea App
How the Clinic Made Gender: The Medical History of a Transformative Idea
By Sandra Eder
A University of California, Berkeley professor explores the invention of gender in American medicine, detailing how it was shaped by mid-twentieth-century American notions of culture, personality, and social engineering. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Sandra Eder, in the Next Big Idea App
How to Be an Ally: Actions You Can Take for a Stronger, Happier Workplace
By Melinda Briana Epler
Through the power of allyship, each of us can create an equitable, innovative workplace where everyone feels safe, valued, and able to thrive. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Melinda Briana Epler, 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!
