The Week in Big Ideas - April 25, 2025
Mental health was top of mind this week.
The world mourned a pope, the stock market came up for air, and it got harder to tell if the war in Ukraine is winding down or escalating. In a world that’s impossible to control, it’s good to spend some time on the things you stand a chance of actually influencing—things like your mental health. That’s a topic that came up repeatedly as we here at Next Big Idea Club surveyed the best ideas we heard and listened to this week.
This Week on the Next Big Idea Daily Podcast
A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance
Psychiatric meds have been life-changing—even life-saving—for many people. But what happens when they don’t help? Laura Delano spent fourteen years under psychiatric care, working with a variety of diagnosed mental illnesses and trying every drug and therapy that promised to “fix” her. But eventually she started wondering what if the problem wasn’t in her brain, but in the system itself?
Book Bite of the Week
Build Mental Fitness and Revitalize Your Mind
We all know we should take care of our mental health. But the truth is, most of us only start thinking seriously about it when something goes wrong—when the panic hits, the burnout sets in, or the fog just won’t lift.
Dr. Drew Ramsey is a psychiatrist, a leading voice in nutritional mental health, and someone who believes that good brain care isn’t just for when you’re in crisis—it’s something you should build into your everyday life. In his new book, Healing the Modern Brain, he offers a blueprint for what he calls “mental fitness”—a proactive approach that blends brain science, self-awareness, and even your next meal into a strategy for long-term mental well-being.
This Week on the Next Big Idea Podcast
The Art of Editing: Graydon Carter on the Golden Age of Magazines
Remember magazines? Piled high on coffee tables or tucked into seatback pockets. Savored beneath beach umbrellas or skimmed anxiously in dental waiting rooms. Glorious, glossy magazines. Graydon Carter made some of the best. He started with Spy, a sly, sharp-edged monthly that managed to feel both smarter and more mischievous than anything else on the rack. But it was Vanity Fair that became his cathedral. Over his remarkable 25-year tenure as editor, he built the magazine into a financial juggernaut and a cultural touchstone renowned for its ambitious journalism and arresting photography. The hard-won wisdom he gathered along the way — about editing, storytelling, leadership, and how to leave before the music stops — is the subject of his new memoir, When the Going Was Good.
Member Event
As we mentioned last week, we’ve got an upcoming live Q&A with Stanford psychology professor
about his latest book, Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness. The Q&A will be available for NBIC members to join live on April 29th at 1:30pm ET. Not yet a member of Next Big Idea Club? Go here to sign up and secure your spot.Happy Pub Week!
Make some room on your bookshelf because this week saw the release of new stuff from some of our favorite authors—books like Rise Above by
(an upcoming guest on the Next Big Idea podcast), Click by Jake Knapp, Change the Recipe by , The Book of Alchemy by , Conquering Crisis by William H. McRaven, Please Yell at My Kids by Marina Lopez, On Muscle by , More Everything Forever by Adam Becker, and Unforgettable Presence by Lorraine K. Lee.
This Week in Author Insider
How to Build a Writing Career with Gretchen Rubin
We just wrapped up an exclusive AMA with the bestselling author and podcaster Gretchen Rubin, who shared her thoughts on how to build and sustain a writing career in the modern age. The event was limited to Founding Members of Author Insider, our new community for writers, but video will be made available soon to all subscribers.
A lot of good stuff to dive into this weekend. Just make sure you also get plenty of rest and give your brain a much-needed break.