Let's Make This Year Unforgettable
This week, we kicked off January with big ideas for the year ahead.
Well, there’s no denying it—it’s officially 2026, and for many of us this moment carries a familiar mix of optimism and self-scrutiny. A new year invites questions we don’t always slow down to ask: What actually matters now? Where do we want to grow—or let go? How do we want to work, love, invest, and create in the year ahead? At the Next Big Idea Club, we’re using this reset not just to look back at the most compelling ideas of the past year, but to look forward—toward the conversations, books, and thinkers that can help us live with a little more intention in the months to come.
Resolve to live better in 2026. Join our community of big thinkers and have the best nonfiction sent right to your door.
This Week on the Next Big Idea Daily Podcast
How can you know your self?
Now maybe you’ve already set some resolutions—exercise more, eat better, be more patient. But here’s the problem: we make these promises to improve ourselves as if our selves are solid, fixed entities that just need a little tweaking. But there might be a wiser approach.
J. Eric Oliver is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, and his new book is called How to Know Your Self. He joins us today to explain why seeing yourself as a process rather than a fixed thing might be the most powerful resolution you could make this year—and how that shift opens up possibilities you didn’t know you had.
Check out five of Eric’s big ideas on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Book Bite of the Week
Why do I keep doing this?
A lot of us are thinking about what we want to change this year. But while we often focus on adding new habits, the real question might be why do we keep repeating the old ones? Why do we fall back into patterns like people-pleasing or perfectionism even when we know better? Licensed therapist Kati Morton tackles this question in the new book Why Do I Keep Doing This?: Unlearn the Habits Keeping You Stuck and Unhappy, revealing how our ingrained patterns are really survival strategies that we can eventually outgrow. Check out her summary on the Next Big Idea app.
This week, Book of the Day is brought to you by The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us — a must-read for those curious about why we seek to matter to ourselves and others. “[An] extraordinary and urgent book.” ―Jonathan Haidt. Pick up your copy today.
This Week on the Next Big Idea Podcast
Why the blockchain is still critical to our future.
Chris Dixon runs a16z crypto, a fund that has raised more than $7 billion. So it’s no surprise that when talking about the blockchain, he says things like, “ I've never seen a situation in technology where the gap between what I believe is the potential of the technology and the perception is so wide.” The thing is, he may be right. From enabling digital ownership to complementing AI, the blockchain is poised to reshape the world. In this episode, which first aired in February 2024, Chris explains how. Listen now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or watch on YouTube.